It's nice physically talking to someone with epilepsy

[valeriedl]

We had a picnic over the weekend with my in-laws and my father in-law, who's 75, has epilepsy. He was diagnosed when he was in his 20's and hasn't had a seizure or taken any meds since he was in his late 30's.

Somehow we started talking about epilepsy and the side effects that meds can give you. The main reason my father in-law stopped taking meds was because he couldn't handle the side effects of them. I was telling him about some of the odd side effects that I have from some of my meds I'm on now. My mother in-law kept telling me, even sort of arguing at times, that I should talk to my neuro about it and see if he could do something, maybe take me off of the med. I told her that I've told him about the odd thing that was going on and that my neuro told me that could happen from 'whichever' med that it is I take. I told her that it's something that isn't that bad and I can deal with it, my father in-law told her the same thing.

I told them that there were some meds that I had to stop taking or change to something else because I couldn't handle the side effects. I said that I can deal with the side effects from the meds that I'm on now, explaining what some of them were, but the worse one was kepprage from the keppra. Again my mother in-law started saying about being taken off of it.

My husband and I told her that it took a good while to find the right meds and dosages to get to the point that the number of seizures I have decreased greatly and they aren't as bad as the ones I had been having.

It was nice to have my father in-law there telling her about side effects and that sometimes you just have to deal with them if you are able to.

 

[acshuman]

When a Person w/E Talks to Someone e/E a Mutual Understaning Exists!

I have seen this many times! I help at a summer camp that EFMN(Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota) holds each summer. There are some kids who come to the camp each year and meet other kids w/E for the first time. Many times they are really surprised by the understanding that they get from the other kids w/E. This understanding lets a person feel comfortable enough to open up and ask questions that they may have had for a long time!
The best time to see is the last day when the kids are leaving. I see kids who were so scared on the opening day that they didn't want to get out of the car wanting to stay with their new friends because of how great they have felt while being around the other kids w/E!
This is something that occurs at all ages for people w/E. Knowing the other person understands what you are talking about gives you a feeling of trust and calmness instead of fear and anxiety. :clap:

ACsHuman