Greetings

[DieterRabbit]

I'm Dieter. I'm currently 22 years old. I live in Cape Town, South Africa.

My history with epilepsy:

One blackout when I was between 6 and 8 years old during which I stopped breathing.
When I was about 9 years old I had a seizure.

Recently, last Friday (19 March), I blacked out in traffic on the highway and rammed my car into the back of another.

Been for scans during the past 2 days and though there is nothing abnormal in my brain I am officially diagnosed as an epileptic now. I've just started taking Lamictal.

I am not allowed to drive which will affect my job in a bad way and I may even lose it if they decide I'm a liability.

So life has been turned upside-down and I don't know where it's going from here.

op:

 

[Rae1889]

Welcome DeiterRabbit

being diagnosed is tough. I got my official diagnosis October 6th, 2009. Im 20 years old, they took my license and I was also put on Lamictal. *I am off now, as I had an allergic reation to it. I am now on Dilantin*

I hope you are starting slow on the Lamictal, as this can cause a serious and possibly fatal rash if increased too quick.

What was the black out described as? did you get a warning? Do you know what caused the black out and what made you stop breathing?

Do you remember what happened before the seizure?

Do you notice anything else odd? like mystery smells, visionual "hallucinations" or audio hallucinations? twitches or small loses of time? these can all be different types of seizures.

Is there any sort of disability or illness employment protect there?

 

[Meetz1064]

Hi, hello

and how do you do, Dieter?? Welcome to CWE!!

Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Bummer deal, it is. Hopefully, the doc is ramping you up slowly on Lamictal, and you've been informed to keep an eye out for any side effects.

Keeping a journal may also be helpful, too. Were there any particular things in common those days that you had the blackouts? Did you not eat? Sleep well? Anything like that? I have a great list of things that might help you track things down. Blood sugar and hormones are two culprits that you just might not even think of........

Feel free to check out all the different nooks and crannies here. We've got plenty of them, and tons of information to be had for you to learn/absorb. The Kitchen and Library are great places to start--and the Padded Room is a great place to vent when you really need to.

The dinner party is grand, and the guests are fun--plenty of friends to make here. Mr B, our host, has built us an AWESOME home here, so feel free to hang out. Kick up your feet and relax. We'll be here for you, no matter what.

Take care.

Meetz
:rock:

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Dieter, welcome!

Since you've had so few seizures, it's a good idea to try and figure what the triggers might have been, as Meetz says above. If you can remove any physiological or environmental stresses from your life, that can potentially help keep you seizure-free.

If you have any side effects from the Lamictal, feel free to check in here at CWE -- there are quite a few members who have tried it or are on it now.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Endless]

Hi, Dieter.

Welcome!

I'm just starting Lamictal, too, so we can be our own little Lamictal ramp-up support group.

You will like it in here. Nice people, tons of info.

 

[RobinN]

Hi Dieter - Welcome to CWE
I hope you find the support that you need here.
Natural methods have been helping my daughter more than the prescriptive variety did.

 

[Zoofemme]

Hi Dieter...you'll find a great support group here and lots of people you will be able to relate too. Many of us are on different types of medication and/or trying to manage our E thru alternative methods. I take Lamictal as well. I was on a low dose for the past 6.5 yrs but due to a recent increase in seizure activity have had my dosage upped. Hope your doctors work well with you and provide the answers you are looking for. Look forward to hearing more from you around the forum

 

[alivenwell]

I'm so sorry to hear about the accident. It does turn ones life completely around, doesn't it?

It's my lifelong dream to see if somebody gets around to building vehicles that drive themselves with built-in GPS, built-in sensors and also detect vehicles without those sensory devices to anticipate a potential accident. It would be great if the car insurance industry got a grip on this futuristic concept.

 

[Bernard]

Hi Dieter, welcome to the forum. :hello:

We'll be happy to share your journey with you and help in any way we can. Make yourself at home here.

 

[DieterRabbit]

Thanks for the welcome!

Thanks everyone. :woot:

Just to respond to everyone (going down through the posts):

I am starting slow on the Lamictal. Week 1 is 25mg in the morning, week 2 is 25mg twice a day, week 3 is 25 in the morning, 50 in the evening and week 4 is 50 twice a day.
The month after I will be taking 100mg twice a day and then they'll check my liver is okay if no other side effects such as the rash have shown up.

I apparently smelled something before my seizure. My mom mentioned it to the doctor. Other than that I had no warnings at all. The blackouts just happened randomly.

I won't be losing my job (thank goodness!) but if I am unable to drive I may be assigned a desk job which won't be as fun.

On the day of the most recent blackout I had a big breakfast (for me, I don't eat too much) but nothing else during the day. I had gotten less sleep in recent weeks but the night before slept really well and for a healthy length of time. I had even taken off from work for 2 days just to destress.
However, I had missed sleep and meals during December when I had to work through a few nights to get things done and I had no blackouts at all.
I also drove home at 6AM after working all night during December (it was a 30 minute drive) and though I was tired I didn't fall asleep or blackout at all. Even caught an amazing sunrise.
I have no idea what might have caused my first blackout and seizure and as for the recent one, there are quite a few factors to take into account.
Possible causes: previous 2 weeks with slightly less sleep, no lunch, cement blocks on the side of the road with regular gaps as they are working on the roads here (could have triggered a photo-epileptic reaction), stress (though I have felt less stressed recently and was on leave).

And with regards to epilepsy-safe vehicles I think we should work on that. It should have sensors that can monitor brain activity and if something happens it can go into automatic mode or activate hazard lights, slow down and stop.

 

[RobinN]

On the day of the most recent blackout I had a big breakfast (for me, I don't eat too much) but nothing else during the day

Nutrition is what feeds the cells which gives your body it's energy. If you are not adequately giving the nutrients it needs then the body can't do much else but "hit the wall." It is something to give some serious thought to. It isn't just about when you eat and how often, but the nutrition that you are getting from each meal and your own body needs.

I want to add, it is also about what you are ingesting that is not nutritious. This puts burdens on the body organs and you don't always know the consequences for some time.

 

[DieterRabbit]

Nutrition is what feeds the cells which gives your body it's energy. If you are not adequately giving the nutrients it needs then the body can't do much else but "hit the wall." It is something to give some serious thought to. It isn't just about when you eat and how often, but the nutrition that you are getting from each meal and your own body needs.

I want to add, it is also about what you are ingesting that is not nutritious. This puts burdens on the body organs and you don't always know the consequences for some time.

This is something I have to keep in mind and change. Sometimes I have to work without stopping for lunch which must stop. I have to take lunchbreaks.
My diet probably has to change a little as I generally eat healthy but I don't eat fruit even though I have no problem eating fruit at all.