Being a lifeguard

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

C

chelsey

New
Messages
16
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I have been a lifeguard for the past three years and want to continue this because I absolutely love it. The only thing is I was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. My Dr isnt even sure that I have ever had a seizure, but i have times that i dont really remember. The only times I have noticed this is when I have been in class, when I am up doing things I dont seem to have a problem. Do you think being a lifeguard is out of the question?

At first i struggled with not letting epilepsy define my life, but I dont want to go to far in the other direction where I make things unsafe for me or for others.
 
In my opinion I would be very reluctant to accept any job where someones safety would depend on me if my seizures weren't controlled (and they're not). I know I would feel awful if someone drowned because I was in the middle of a seizure when I was needed.

I do agree that nobody should not let epilepsy run your life or define who you are but I also feel that we should accept our limits in a realistic manner.
 
Hi Chelsey --

I think you should play it safe until you get a definitive diagnosis for your symptoms, as well as working treatment plan. It is possible for uncontrolled seizures to progress in duration, frequency and kind, so they might become more of a problem.

As Eric said, you have to consider the consequences if your behavior can compromise the safety of another individual.
 
I have seizures when I swim hard, so i gave up my lifeguard certs
it has happened to me 3 times. :-9

But I have a severe case
 
i have only had seizures in lecture classes before or after tests. but after starting keppra have been seizure free for 4 months
 
In that case, you might want to wait until the 6-month seizure-free mark (that's what they do for driving), and see how things are going then.
 
Personally I would check with whoever regulates lifeguards. It isn't necessarily the same state or provincial regulators that are responsible for drivers hence the times expected to be seizure free might vary.

If there is any law against it & someone finds out or something bad happens it might be even more trouble to have to deal with.
 
There is no law against it which is why I was wondering. I have been a life guard instructor for over a year and it was never mentioned in any of my classes and I have talked to other life guard instructors and they said there is nothing saying that I cant it is just something that depends on the location and what their pool regulations are. On the same token my Dr. can not legally refuse me the right to drive or anything due to lack of a definitive seizure. My Dr goes off what I tell him and guesses if I have actually had a seizure. He said that due to me not ever having one while on a monitor the only thing he can say with assurance is that I have the brain activity that is seen in people with epilepsy.
 
Did he specify what that brain activity is? I'd be very curious.
 
No he didn't and I didn't know there was more than one type. I have no idea what types of questions I should be asking.
 
My son is have a pool birthday party at a YMCA. If kids cannot pass a swim test an adult must swim with them. I got help and had a few other adults sign up for that duty. I could not trust another's life in a pool.
 
Chelsey -

I have similar types of seizures consistently, mine is due to a lack of focus. I find that with my epilepsy I found out what causes it then I attempt to avoid it. The way I found out what caused it was simple .......

Replicate what is going on when one is triggered, you say in class. So go into a room with no stimulation for your brain and take your eyes out of focus, see if that causes a seizure, if not than it may be from background. Record your class and see if that causes it, so on and so forth. Mine would be triggered by the lack of stimulation, I have heard of them being triggered by stress etc.

Then, based on information you get from that, determine if it would be safe for you and others. Since mine is based on a lack of focus I would be able to lifeguard but since I also tend to get them when exhausted (which I learned when I was running track) I would exclude myself from it.

Different people have different triggers and different epilepsy. Find out for yourself what causes your seizures and determine whether it would cause you problems while trying to complete your duties.


PS. I was just saved by a lifeguard on Easter, I was having petit mals the entire way back to shore due the exhaustion from trying to save someone else in a rip current. He ended up having to pull both of us in, so I learned my lesson first hand that I could not possibly be a lifeguard (at the beach).
 
Because of my Major I have lecture classes and lab classes, after talking to my teacher about it because I have her for most of my classes she said she only notices me being inattentive like I could be having a seizure during the lecture classes, but not during the hands on classes. I also had the opportunity to go on a trip with one of the schools teams as a student trainer and my teacher and I were in the same room so she paid attention to me the whole time and never noticed me having problems. Also I work out a lot and take swimming classes and told my instructors, the lifeguards and the people in my class so that everyone would know and there would be multiple people watching me (this was when I was first told about it) but they said I was always doing what I was supposed to and was active plus I never felt like I had a seizure.
 
chelsey said:
500 mg twice a day
Click to expand...

I used to have the same things as you do but they were more related to when i closed my eyes in the middle of the class.

Im thinking about taking 500 mg twice a day since now im taking only 250 twice a day and feel its not enough altough i never had a tonic clonic before,only myoclonic for a split second

Do you feel normal while taking it
in a cognitive way,are you tired on that dose or you got used to it?

Im asking because i want to know hwat to expect,i felt tired for some time but got used to it after a while as for cognitive functions im not feeling dumber but i speak with really really fast speed.
 
I feel pretty normal. As far as being tired goes, sometimes I am perfectly fine, other times I have periods of extreme exhaustion but then it goes away after a few min (those are more related to when I forget to take my meds. However I do take a naps on a regular basis to keep from getting to tired because I have a lot that I do during the day.
 
chelsey said:
I feel pretty normal. As far as being tired goes, sometimes I am perfectly fine, other times I have periods of extreme exhaustion but then it goes away after a few min (those are more related to when I forget to take my meds. However I do take a naps on a regular basis to keep from getting to tired because I have a lot that I do during the day.
Click to expand...

Were your seizures tonic clonic or absenced?

P.S=I would recommend sleeping no more than 30 minutes and use it as a power nap.If you will sleep more than that you'll end up even more tired when you wake up.

Im tired because i use computers all day but its changes from time to time,can't blame keppra for everything i guess its because sometimes you got a busier day and sometimes you don't sleep well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom