If you didn’t have epilepsy, how would you change your life?

[stilldancing_98]

It's tough

I want 2 b a state police officer! I had my firste seizure at 21 two grand mal seizures in one night. Then I'd stopped takin my medicine 3 months later, & had a seizure after 4 months of not taking my med another grand mal & i was 4 months pregnant... I took my med religiously after this but stopped after my daughter turned 1, she's going 2b 3 in March & its been almost 3 yrs since I've had 1. I was wondering since it's been so long is it still possible that I've grown out of them? Have I raised my thresh hold for them? I would love 2b a police officer especially since finding a job within my field has been impossible.

I thing you are tough enough to do what you need to do to get where you want. I have been steered so many different places since I started having siezures. My true love is music. I don't want to go on and on. Love will take you to the right place. My boy 14 has epilepsy to. Be free. Go for it. You will get to where you are suppose to get to. Only by trying, only by love. Welcome.

 

[Dezz]

Thank you so much! I will definitely take your advice!!

 

[Belinda1961]

Dezz,

If your 21 your meds are controlling your seizures 50% of ppl with seizures are controlled by epilepsy medications.
Your to old to have grown out of it unless it happened when you were a teenager.

Belinda

 

[Dezz]

Hi Belinda the thing is I stopped taking my seizure medicine about 2 yrs ago & haven't had a seizure n almost 3 yrs. I read it's rare but possible to grow out of them as an adult. This is why I am curious because it is possible I just want to know for sure. I think I should talk with my neurologist and mayb have an EKG done again to see.

 

[smtobin50]

For the years I was having Grand Mals I didn't travel, I didn't go to Disneyland, I didn't do much...except act on stage (A LOT)....After being "seizure free" for 11 years I wanted to start planning a trip to France. In the last year alone I've been to DC, Chicago, San Antonio, the year before I was in New York...all because I thought I was seizure free...I went to Disneyland tons and rode all sorts of rides and had a blast. Now that I know I am seizuring agaiin, I am afraid again. Fear ran my life for 20 years and I just started to live, now I am back in the land of fear. So if I didn't have Epilepsy, I wouldn't be afraid of heights, of new things, of travel, of staying up late and laughing till I cry and crying till I laugh and love and running a marathon and.....but I have Epilepsy and I don't want to end up surrounded by a group of strangers with blood and froth eminating from my mouth and having lost control of my bladder so I'll stay home again, dreaming wishing and wanting to have my life back, knowing I can't ever be free from the fear ever again.

 

[Eli]

If I didn't have epilepsy but I knew what I know now....I'd have to track down my husband who I married after I became epileptic (and am still married to) and woe him into falling in love with the non-epileptic me!

 

[CQ:)]

I want 2 b a state police officer! I had my firste seizure at 21 two grand mal seizures in one night. Then I'd stopped takin my medicine 3 months later, & had a seizure after 4 months of not taking my med another grand mal & i was 4 months pregnant... I took my med religiously after this but stopped after my daughter turned 1, she's going 2b 3 in March & its been almost 3 yrs since I've had 1. I was wondering since it's been so long is it still possible that I've grown out of them? Have I raised my thresh hold for them? I would love 2b a police officer especially since finding a job within my field has been impossible.

Hi Dezz,

Good luck with your dream of being a police officer, do you know if there is a certain amount of time that you must be seizure free before you can be accepted into the police force?

I don't think you can outgrow epilepsy as an adult but I remember when i 1st joined this forum another forum member said it is possible to go into like a remission. There are a few people on here who have gone years without having seizures & some had even been able to successfully go of their medications.

I used to have epilepsy as a baby & took grandmal seizures (tonic clonics) on a very regular basis until my seizures stopped when I was about 2 or 3 & I was kept on Anti Epilepsy meds until I was about 6 or 7. When I 1st stopped taking the seizures the drs had told my parents I had outgrown my epilepsy.

After being 21 years seizures free I started taking seizures again which is almost 10 years ago when I was 24. Since the seizures returned I have mainly taken auras & complex partial seizures. After the epilepsy returned I tried 5 different Anti Epilepsy meds which didn't help control my seizures & I had surgery on my left front temporal lobe in March 2011 which so far has helped control my seizures as I am currently 10 1/2 months seizure free.

 

[petero]

I want 2 b a state police officer! I had my firste seizure at 21 two grand mal seizures in one night. Then I'd stopped takin my medicine 3 months later, & had a seizure after 4 months of not taking my med another grand mal & i was 4 months pregnant... I took my med religiously after this but stopped after my daughter turned 1, she's going 2b 3 in March & its been almost 3 yrs since I've had 1. I was wondering since it's been so long is it still possible that I've grown out of them? Have I raised my thresh hold for them? I would love 2b a police officer especially since finding a job within my field has been impossible.

some things to consider

have you changed your diet much since giving birth?
maybe stress had been a trigger and your daughter has altered your perspective to stressful issues

welcome to this forum!

 

[rory]

i would be driving. i dragged my feet on the whole driving thing not bothereing to learn till i was 30. finally i learned and was gonna get a car cause it would be handy for college but then my diagnosis came.
but saying that, im almost glad i dragged my feet for so long because i could have killed myself and other people had i been driving beforehand. i'd rather be alive and a non driver than a dead driver.
also i wouldnt have to take so much meds, my epilepsy meds are 4 pills a day on top of stuff i take for other things anyway, so many pills and sprays and stuff.
1 ppi
1 antihistamine
3 for blood pressure
1 for cholesterol (just new, recently found out there is a genetic cholesterol disorder in my family and i am waiting to be tested for it)
3 ssri's
2-4 anti-inflammatories
3 inhalers for asthma daily
4 vit d
1 folic acid
and i know im forgetting something
so yes i would drive and take less pills.

 

[Belinda1961]

If I didn't have epilepsy I never would of met my husband. I met him at a support group meeting in Atlanta. He's been there for me when know one else has.
My husband has epilepsy but he got control through surgery in 1972.

Belinda

 

[Chris515]

If it was a straight and easy choice.. I'd go back in time and become Noel Gallagher's guitar tech. Being a part of the Oasis crew back in the 90's would have been epic. Great music, hard partying.. top of the world.

Realistically though.. if I didn't have epilepsy, things would be completely different. If I didn't have it growing up, I would be a totally different person I'm sure.

A lot of my friends as a teenager were into drinking, and since I couldn't because of the meds, we started to grow apart. I made new friends and ended up on the straight and narrow, going to University, etc.

Who knows where I'd be if the doctor didn't screw up while delivering me.

But I'm happy with who I am.

 

[1iOpen]

If I didn't have epilepsy I would be flying helicopters for the Army, but now im in the process of getting a medical discharge halfway through my contract. Im going to school to get my AA degree in criminal justice because my back up plan was to be a police officer. But with epilepsy I don't know what department would even take me, but I'm just so stubborn I won't let anything make me stop persuing my dream. If I didn't have epilepsy I would know that all of my hard work would get me somewhere other than a dead end.

 

[stilldancing_98]

I would be a lawyer.

 

[Starfish]

I'd watch fireworks, roast marshmellows over he ever flickering + flashing fire, and go to a rave and dance to loud music with strobe lights, and not have to worry about seizures and pain.

 

[Shelley]

Chris
I understand.
I went through a similar situation when I was born.
What would I be today? Queen of the World?
My childhood experiences made it difficult to be friends with anyone.
But, like you, there was no drinking, partying, or really anything except school work.
My meds left me dingy enough that I couldn't concentrate in school.
Even though meds are different today, my lack of concentration skills makes going to University difficult at best. I can only take a few courses at a time.
I would probably be some sort of engineer or chemist instead of a desk clerk.

 

[Ruth]

I would be driving and going places to see the scenic beauty of the mountains and valleys.

I would have become a teacher or a secretary.

 

[Starfish]

I'd also actually be able to go to prom then.... sighs, I"ll just have to keep dreaming...

 

[LJ-Bain]

I would go for a long drive.
I would have large cup of black tea.
I would watch a 3D movie.
I would have a beer or 2 at the end of the day.
I would take the kids to the park by myself along with a picnic.
I would go for a kayak ride by myself.
I would go swimming.
I would be able to answer "How are you doing"? without feeling guilty that I'm not telling the whole truth.
I would go on a ferris wheel ride with my children.
I would still be a vet tech but I would then be able to monitor anesthesia without worrying about who will sub in if necessary!
Life isn't so bad though! Epilepsy has made me switch to part time work and made me realize you can stay home and still have a good time. I am forced to take it easy sometimes and that can be a hard lesson to learn.
It ain't sooooooo bad. I always feel for people living with daily debilitating pain and some people here do. My hat's off to them!

 

[petero]

good one with the 3D movies
I had an apparent seizure while watching The Grey - I guess because of the cinematography and the contrasts, flashes, sharp resolution, etc. (? who knows)
and the idea of seeing a 3D movie with the glasses etc. scares me a bit
I should try it anyway - at least I was with a trusted friend when I was at The Grey...


and the swimming
I've been swimming lately but the thought of the shock of the colder water was definitely far beyond the "uhoh cremaster muscle" territory

 

[Ruth]

I did watch 3-D movies when I was a teenager. I had epilepsy, too.
It was a bad idea. It scared me so much, I took off my 3-D glasses when something came at me.

The last one I went to, a torch in a western came at me. I never went again. It did not cause me to have seizures. At that time, I did not think at how it could affect my epilepsy. Now that they are back again, I realize that it can trigger seizures.

When I find a swimming pool, I do go swimming. It relaxes me and I do not have seizures.

Everyone is different when it comes to what can trigger a seizure.

If I did not have epilepsy, I could ride a bicycle. I found out that when I was a child, I no longer had the balance because of my epilepsy. I always fell off of the bike, a couple of minutes on it.