Limitless or Limited...

[Bluesbrkr]

I saw the movie "Limitless" this weekend. Great flick btw. The concept was great, the story captivating, and the acting was excellent. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.

*** Slight spoiler if you haven't seen the commercials or heard anything about the movie ***

In a nutshell, the main character is kind of a loser who can't get his life together. He gets introduced to this pill that takes you from using that 10% of your brain to using all of it and he becomes brilliant, mega focused and seems like he can do anything.

So the movie ends and I lean over and get my pills and stare down at them thinking... My movie would be called "Limited". It seems the more I take the pills, the more it affects my ability to think straight; to focus; to remember; even to come up with words while talking! Seems like I take longer to get things done and I get lost doing things at work that I used to be wiz at. Can't even type right half the time, and I'm in IT, working on computers all day.. All in all, after watching the movie, it seems like my pills have the exact opposite effect. Fortunately, I have a very understanding boss who sympathizes and work with me, but I know my performance isn't what it used to be, not to mention being rundown all day ..gets pretty depressing sometimes.

Wish I could find one of those pills from the movie... maybe it would take me back to average!!

So I’m curious how other people’s experiences have been. My seizures only started about a year and a half ago, so this is all new to me. I'd especially like to hear from others who have adult onset, who experience similar situations and feelings and how you have made life changes to compensate (if you have) or how you've been able to cope with the difficulties and emotions.

Thanks

 

[travel bug]

I've been on keppra for about 4 years, the first 2 on 1000 mg with almost no side-effects, the second 2 years on 1500, and the last 3 months back on 1000. The last two years and three months I've been extremely tired and sleep about 12-16 hours a day. I'm also very unfocused and disorganized. I'm not sure when the lack of focus and organization skills began, it just crept up on me. It's more frustrating than anything since I don't work outside the house, I'm a full-time caregiver for my dad. But it is worrying. It's especially noticeable when I'm up walking around and trying to multi-task. Cooking or cleaning involves far more trips back and forth than would have been needed before. For example, my dad needed something for his heartburn; I stood awhile at the medicine cabinet wondering if I should take the whole bottle with me or just take the one pill. What I ended up doing was open the bottle, pour out the pill, set the bottle and lid on the counter, take the pill to my dad, then had to go back to put the lid back on the bottle and put the bottle back in the cabinetfft: Frightening! I can focus okay on the puzzles and crosswords I do to try to keep my brain from becoming complete mush, but anything that requires figuring a sequence of actions has become troublesome.

I've also noticed problems with basic math, but that comes and goes. It almost seems like what I call "math seizures". I once was going to buy a dress as a Christmas present for a friend's daughter who was born in June the previous year, so 18 months old, right? No problem! Except when I was standing there in the store and I couldn't figure it out to save my life. I've never been a gifted mathematician, but that was nuts! It really scared me. I've sort of become used to it and I know that it will only last a few minutes, but it's embarrassing when it happens at the grocery check-out stand.

So anyway, I'd love a pill that would take me back to average, too!!!:agree:

 

[petero]

I wondered about the movie because isn't a seizure using more of the brain than usual?
I guess it's not involving a decisve process whereas the movie indicates the decisiveness
but I know what you mean - I'll have simple/partial seizures, I guess, that make me babbly and even just blank-slate of sorts, non-interpretive, and forget what I'm typing at times...
and not like I just did because I glanced up to watch some Jimmy Kimmel, but just unable to interpret a thought process
I was experiencing that earlier today and so now I'm over-compensating a bit right now...
I've been thinking about a different med - maybe you could consider that too
I'm still relatively new with the epilepsy too, 3 years now, and I'm 41 now

 

[huskymom]

I was diagnosed when I was 45 (now 51). I guess I look at it a little differently. Sure I would rather not have to take 9 pills a day, but by taking them I have managed to only have seizures a few times a month. I would also like to be able to add numbers, but then people might expect more from me. I was able to spend the weekend in a great book, but now can only manage to read a chapter at a time. Upside to that too....the story lasts longer! So in short, sure it sucks, but all in all, not so bad. There are an awful lot of things to have that would be far worse. I don't think I would take the pill.