Under my old neurologist, who was an epilepsy specialist, (in my old town) when I had tonic clonic seizures, I had to go into his office and he'd hook me up to an EEG. If there was still epileptic activity, he'd stick me in hospital on a drip and tell me I was in status, even though I was conscious. I'd feel bad enough to begin with, but in most cases, after a day or so, I'd be walking around the hospital with my drip writing the features I had due that week. Even so, my neuro wouldn't let me go home. He'd have a go at me for not taking the situation seriously enough.
I remember one day having a simple partial that lasted hours. I called the neuro (as I was trained to in the early days) and he sent me to hospital to have an exam by the attending neuro. Can't remember if he did an EEG; only that he made me do the drunk walk in a straight line test and because I didn't pass it, he stuck me in hospital on a drip.
The literature I've read tells me, more or less, that if your TC lasts longer than five minutes, it's status and you need an ER. If you have a partial that lasts longer than 20-40 minutes, it's status and you need an ER.
I was talking to my doc this last week and telling her of a day when I was completely out of it. Can't remember the symptoms but she told me it was a simple partial. I told her it could not have been a seizure because it lasted the entire day. If it had been a seizure, surely I would be brain dead, or just dead. She insisted that it was a seizure and said nothing more about it.
Yesterday I had a really bad day--I walked down to my DVD store and I couldn't walk in a straight line. I was weaving all over the road, falling all over the place, and when I was at home, I was a complete wreck. I barely remember any of it. I struggled to keep my eyes open the whole day, and I did sleep for much of it. Yesterday I thought that the situation was just the result of my new medication dosage having gone up recently but today there are no such problems.
It has me thinking about what we're told about status, how our neuros react to what is supposed to be status, and how we (as I read over and over in these forums) under-react to protracted seizures. If I knew for a fact that I was having a simple partial and it lasted the entire day, I would not go to the doctor or the ER, contradicting everything I'm told. Basically, I just don't believe what I've been told about simple partial status. I am one to believe what doctors tell me, but then again, I also have to believe my own experience, and the fact of the matter is I have never gone into a coma or died (clearly) as the result of supposed status, and I have to take that into account as well. I'm also very much aware that there are things I choose not to believe even when I know that's irrational, purely because I have to live in a way that isn't swallowed by fear--things like I will never fall down the stairs during a seizure, I will never burn myself in the shower, I will never go into status while alone at home, and there is no such thing as status in simple partial seizures.
Do you believe the timing we're fed about simple partial/complex partial status?
Have you ever been hospitalised for being in status during a partial seizure?
Have you ever been diagnosed as being in status and been surprised at how well you felt in comparison to the purported seriousness of the diagnosis?
Do you care if a seizure turns into status and kills you, or have you, as a coping mechanism, had to stop caring so that you can live your life to the full?
I remember one day having a simple partial that lasted hours. I called the neuro (as I was trained to in the early days) and he sent me to hospital to have an exam by the attending neuro. Can't remember if he did an EEG; only that he made me do the drunk walk in a straight line test and because I didn't pass it, he stuck me in hospital on a drip.
The literature I've read tells me, more or less, that if your TC lasts longer than five minutes, it's status and you need an ER. If you have a partial that lasts longer than 20-40 minutes, it's status and you need an ER.
I was talking to my doc this last week and telling her of a day when I was completely out of it. Can't remember the symptoms but she told me it was a simple partial. I told her it could not have been a seizure because it lasted the entire day. If it had been a seizure, surely I would be brain dead, or just dead. She insisted that it was a seizure and said nothing more about it.
Yesterday I had a really bad day--I walked down to my DVD store and I couldn't walk in a straight line. I was weaving all over the road, falling all over the place, and when I was at home, I was a complete wreck. I barely remember any of it. I struggled to keep my eyes open the whole day, and I did sleep for much of it. Yesterday I thought that the situation was just the result of my new medication dosage having gone up recently but today there are no such problems.
It has me thinking about what we're told about status, how our neuros react to what is supposed to be status, and how we (as I read over and over in these forums) under-react to protracted seizures. If I knew for a fact that I was having a simple partial and it lasted the entire day, I would not go to the doctor or the ER, contradicting everything I'm told. Basically, I just don't believe what I've been told about simple partial status. I am one to believe what doctors tell me, but then again, I also have to believe my own experience, and the fact of the matter is I have never gone into a coma or died (clearly) as the result of supposed status, and I have to take that into account as well. I'm also very much aware that there are things I choose not to believe even when I know that's irrational, purely because I have to live in a way that isn't swallowed by fear--things like I will never fall down the stairs during a seizure, I will never burn myself in the shower, I will never go into status while alone at home, and there is no such thing as status in simple partial seizures.
Do you believe the timing we're fed about simple partial/complex partial status?
Have you ever been hospitalised for being in status during a partial seizure?
Have you ever been diagnosed as being in status and been surprised at how well you felt in comparison to the purported seriousness of the diagnosis?
Do you care if a seizure turns into status and kills you, or have you, as a coping mechanism, had to stop caring so that you can live your life to the full?
