Intro

[kswindells]

Hello, my name is Karen and I have been suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy for most of my life. I had spinal meningitis when I was 4 months old and it left scar tissue on my right temporal lobe.

After suffering for 15 years from simple partial seizures and never knowing it, I went into a grand mal seizure. This eventually led to the discovery of the scar tissue and diagnosing me with epilepsy.

At age 17 I had a right temporal labectomy at UCLA. The seizures stopped for nine months and then began again. I discovered I was suffering from Depakote poisoning and after the Depakote dosage was cut down the seizures stopped.

Two years ago my seizures began again. In the last year I have had three grand mals and countless numbers of simple partial seizures. Anymore the seizures seem to happen mostly in my sleep and just before my menstrual cycle.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Karen, welcome to CWE!

It sounds like your seizures are catamenial (that is, hormone-related). Are your docs keeping that in mind while treating? There are some meds that are targeted specifically for catamenial epilepsy.

Do you keep a seizure diary? A lot of folks here at CWE have found it useful for tracking not just seizures, but also finding out what triggers them. Hormones can be a factor (see above), also things like metabolism, fatigue, flashing lights, stress...

I hope you feel free to explore all the forums here, ask questions, chat, vent etc.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Ruth]

Hi Karen,

Great to have you here. You have found the best epilepsy forum that exists. It was made by Bernard out of love for his wife Stacy.

I am sorry that you have had a bad time. I am allergic to Depakote, as well.