Hello,
About 4-5 years ago, I was diagnosed with having Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, and at that time was having multiple seizures at a time, at multiple times throughout the week. At that time, I was pretty much a mess. I was unable to go to school, due to the volume of seizures that I was having, that the amount of time it would take for me to recover from the event (days), and wasn't even in a position to try and work again as I had done years before. I was definitely a candidate for surgery, however, in order for them to get enough information to decide if the surgery would be effective, an Invasive EEG would have to be done. This was obviously very concerning to them due to the fact that I become very hostile when in a postictal state; the first time I was hospitalized, I was nearly arrested, and put on a 72-hour hold (I've never been arrested in my life, nor am I hostile person), I've even left the hospital out of anger. Due to this, they chose not to perform surgery, and pursue treatment with medication, which took about two years to reach a combination of seizure medications to work, which have kept me seizure free for nearly two years. But, this has come with quite a cost. I started going back to school with online courses, and it has become even more clear than ever before that the side-effects from my medications have extremely reduced my ability to perform academically. I am unable to read more than a page without getting blurred vision, or a headache. It is nearly impossible for me to sit down and focus, and I can lost my train of thought in the blink of an eye. I am heavily medicated, taking three different medications adding up to nearly 1500mg. daily, along with other medications for other conditions. I know this large amount of seizure medication plays a big role in my inability to complete tasks, but, having gone through a two year period where it seemed as no medication was going to help, my doctors are understandably resistant to lowering my meds, since doing so has had very bad consequences in the past. I am curious if there is anyone who has experienced, or learned how to deal with this problem, or any problems that mount from the side-effects of their seizure medications? Is there some type of therapy that can help? Is there a medication that can help counter these side-effects?
About 4-5 years ago, I was diagnosed with having Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, and at that time was having multiple seizures at a time, at multiple times throughout the week. At that time, I was pretty much a mess. I was unable to go to school, due to the volume of seizures that I was having, that the amount of time it would take for me to recover from the event (days), and wasn't even in a position to try and work again as I had done years before. I was definitely a candidate for surgery, however, in order for them to get enough information to decide if the surgery would be effective, an Invasive EEG would have to be done. This was obviously very concerning to them due to the fact that I become very hostile when in a postictal state; the first time I was hospitalized, I was nearly arrested, and put on a 72-hour hold (I've never been arrested in my life, nor am I hostile person), I've even left the hospital out of anger. Due to this, they chose not to perform surgery, and pursue treatment with medication, which took about two years to reach a combination of seizure medications to work, which have kept me seizure free for nearly two years. But, this has come with quite a cost. I started going back to school with online courses, and it has become even more clear than ever before that the side-effects from my medications have extremely reduced my ability to perform academically. I am unable to read more than a page without getting blurred vision, or a headache. It is nearly impossible for me to sit down and focus, and I can lost my train of thought in the blink of an eye. I am heavily medicated, taking three different medications adding up to nearly 1500mg. daily, along with other medications for other conditions. I know this large amount of seizure medication plays a big role in my inability to complete tasks, but, having gone through a two year period where it seemed as no medication was going to help, my doctors are understandably resistant to lowering my meds, since doing so has had very bad consequences in the past. I am curious if there is anyone who has experienced, or learned how to deal with this problem, or any problems that mount from the side-effects of their seizure medications? Is there some type of therapy that can help? Is there a medication that can help counter these side-effects?