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Silat

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Hello everyone!

My name is Nathaniel and I've been reading these forums for a while, just for general information and to see what others go through, and I finally decided to break down and make an account. :)

A little history about myself: I've had seizures since I was 17, and I'm currently 22 years old. My neurologists are hesitant to give me an Epilepsy diagnosis because they've been unable to induce, capture, or otherwise document any of the seizures. For me they happen randomly with no apparent cause, and I'll start having an aura about 5-10 minutes before. So for the time being, and for the last 5 years or so, we've just been dealing with the symptoms, because a definite cause has eluded us.

A few things I enjoy... My cats because they're awesome, art, philosophy, and physics.
I also am very passionate about Martial Arts. Specifically Silat (hence the username), Muay Thai, and lately Sambo.

I try to bring a sense of humor to everything I can, and I'll apologize in advance if that bothers anyone. I just prefer to approach things with a smile and a laugh.

I look forward to posting here, and hopefully we'll be able to learn from each other!
 
Hiya Silat! keep diaries of your seizures however trivial they may be at the time. It took me two years to persuade my GP and Neurologist that I probably have epilepsy - eeg's kept coming back as 'normal'. I've been on meds since last year - tegretol 800mg and clonazepam 5.5 and my seizures have come down from 70-100 a month to 1-5.

Enjoy the site!

:)
 
Hi Nathaniel, welcome to CWE!

What kind of seizures do you have and how often do you have them? If they are showing up a lot, it can help to keep a journal -- you may be able to identify a pattern or a trigger that is playing a role.

Best,
Nakamova
 
I've had 3 fully convulsive seizures that I'm aware of. Every attempt they've made to induce one has been unsuccessful.

I've also had numerous spells where I do things and have no memory of them.
Randomly talking, moving things, doing things, walking around... mostly simple things but sometimes some pretty complex tasks. Always preceded by a weird feeling (aura?) and I've never been able to remember any of the things. It leads to fun games like "Where's my cell phone?" :)

I like the idea of a journal. Hopefully that'll help figure out what's going on, or at least get me a step closer to figuring it out. Thank you :)

Oh, guess I should add, I've been on numerous medications, and am currently taking Keppra. The only one that really worked well was Depakote, it stopped all of my problems, however it also stopped my metabolism and despite eating well and exercising frequently I started gaining weight rapidly. To the tune of about 10 lbs per month I was on it. My neurologist decided to try out other medicines to see if I'd be able to find one that had side effects I could tolerate while giving me the same level of control. Thus far it's been unsuccessful, but it's an ongoing process.

As far as triggers go, the only one I've found is the flourescent tube lights at big stores like Wal-Mart. Thus far those lights are the only trigger I've been able to identify. Perhaps if I keep a detailed enough journal a pattern might appear.
 
I've also had numerous spells where I do things and have no memory of them.
Those are also seizures --called Complex Partial seizures -- and you should make a note of them once you get your journal up and running...
This link has info about different kinds of seizure trackers/journals:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/seizure-journals-10776/

I hope the Keppra works for you, but if not, there are other meds/approaches out there to try.
 
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