Occupy Epilepsy
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Hello folks, names Andrew, 22 years old, I was diagnosed with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy when I was 15 after having a seizure in the shower. Since then I've had countless seizures and injuries to accompany them. Started on 10mg of Lamictal and today take 500. I've never met another epileptic in real life outside of this one epilepsy support group I went to which ended up being pretty much just adults. They were all super welcoming and friendly and everything, but being there, seeing how some of these beautiful and wonderful people had to live their lives, did scare me slightly...
Anyways, I'm here because I'm sick of feeling alone. I know I'm not, far from it in fact, but ever since my first episode I've felt like the only youth with epilepsy. I'm sure others were at the schools I've been to, but like me tried to cover it up and live a normal life. I like to think I've done pretty well in that respect, I currently work with a chiropractor as a licensed massage therapist and am very successful at what I do, but even the money and meeting and working with great people all day every day doesn't completely remove that loneliness. What's worse is I feel like this is the only place I can say something like this without being judged. Even some of my closest friends simply don't understand, try as they might....
My epilepsy is fairly well controlled, but I am completely dependent on my medication. If I miss just one dose, it's almost guaranteed I'll have a seizure the next day. I try my best not to - I really, really do, but sometimes I fail, and usually I don't realize it until it's too late. This was the case last Monday. Since then my left leg has a nice bruise, my left wrist/forearm are nicely scraped, the back of my head hurts to touch, can't sleep on my left side and I have barely been able to speak all week, living off soup and ice cream once a day.
I could write an essay, but I know I'm not alone, so I'm simply here looking for some kind souls who actually do understand. They know what it's like to chew the crap out of your tongue and how embarrassing it is when you work somewhere that requires constant communication. So I'll leave it at that, I plan on posting around and hopefully getting to know some of you, from what I've seen you seem like a great bunch and hopefully with your help I can find some semblance of reassurance. At this point in my life...I really need it. Thanks guys...
Andrew :roll:
Anyways, I'm here because I'm sick of feeling alone. I know I'm not, far from it in fact, but ever since my first episode I've felt like the only youth with epilepsy. I'm sure others were at the schools I've been to, but like me tried to cover it up and live a normal life. I like to think I've done pretty well in that respect, I currently work with a chiropractor as a licensed massage therapist and am very successful at what I do, but even the money and meeting and working with great people all day every day doesn't completely remove that loneliness. What's worse is I feel like this is the only place I can say something like this without being judged. Even some of my closest friends simply don't understand, try as they might....
My epilepsy is fairly well controlled, but I am completely dependent on my medication. If I miss just one dose, it's almost guaranteed I'll have a seizure the next day. I try my best not to - I really, really do, but sometimes I fail, and usually I don't realize it until it's too late. This was the case last Monday. Since then my left leg has a nice bruise, my left wrist/forearm are nicely scraped, the back of my head hurts to touch, can't sleep on my left side and I have barely been able to speak all week, living off soup and ice cream once a day.
I could write an essay, but I know I'm not alone, so I'm simply here looking for some kind souls who actually do understand. They know what it's like to chew the crap out of your tongue and how embarrassing it is when you work somewhere that requires constant communication. So I'll leave it at that, I plan on posting around and hopefully getting to know some of you, from what I've seen you seem like a great bunch and hopefully with your help I can find some semblance of reassurance. At this point in my life...I really need it. Thanks guys...
Andrew :roll: