Medic Alert Bracelets - Do you wear one?

[squirrel]

Hi,

A couple of hours ago, I fell off a train, as i started seizuring just before my foot reached the platform! (Just like to keep people on their toes! ) Now, luckily, my boyfriend was there, and able to inform people, it's ok- i'm just seizuring and will be fine. But it's worried me a bit because, if he wasn't there, I suppose it might have been much more embarrassing- staff wouldn't have known what was going on, maybe made a big fuss, called an ambulance, etc. Plus I don't like the idea of people assuming I'm on drugs as has happened before.

I don't wear any kind of medic bracelet, but now I'm thinking it would be a good idea in case of similar situations when I'm alone. I've found some funky beaded-bracelets at a UK website (not allowed to post link cos I'm a newbie, but if anyone's interested will give you the link in a PM or something). I guess if I wear the tag bit to the back, it will be quite subtle and just look like girlie jewelery, but then would that defeat the purpose and nobody would notice it might be some kind of tag at all? And are people more likely to check a wrist, or around the neck for a dog-tag style thing?

 

[paradise survivor]

Aloha Squirrel! Sorry to hear about your train 'accident' but you are thinking right about disguising your medical alert tag. If it looks like jewelry it will hardly do anything to help in an emergency!! The one I have here in the states is well recognised and includes a service that notifies my family members as well as gives all necessary info such as medications I am currently taking and problems with certain meds in the past--no guessing!! I don't care if the general public sees it on me but I darn well want the EMT's to see it, and they are trained to look for it, not to assess my 'accessories'. For me it is a no-brainer when it comes to my health and well being. My pride will not help me in an emergency. The medic alert people will include as much info as you want to give ...so if they can't reach one they can reach the other including my daughter who is 3thousand miles away but knows my history. The bracelet has a number to call toll free that gives all the details, the back has printed the two primary physical problems so even a non paramedic can figure it out. :soap:

 

[Meetz1064]

Oops

I hit a button I didn't mean to there, Squirrel, sorry. *blushing* My bad.

If you would like to type in the link, with it sort of spaced apart, I will fix the link and enable it myself.

I'm one of the bad ones who does not have a Medic Alert ID of any sort. I've gone thru several of them--and just not been able to find one that I can keep on. For any reason. So, I do without. Besides, at this point, I have far too many problems to list on the thing anyway.

I know, I know *shaking head* I'm a bad example.........

But go ahead and type the link as something like www . link . com and I will fix it from there.

Take care.

Meetz
:rock:

 

[paradise survivor]

OK, Meetz I know an excuse when I see one! The medic alert bracelet has a lobster claw clasp. I have had two in ten years, the first one lasted nine years. They list the two most life threatening conditions and any thing else is reported when toll free number is called...IT WORKS! OK, I'm done preaching...for now, Aloha

 

[Ruth]

Hi Paradise Survivor
I am glad you like it and that it works for you. It works for me, as well.
feast

 

[Tilei]

I have a medic alert tag too. It was a bit more difficult for me to find one as I am allergic to all types of metal. Even the hypo-allergenic stuff. They had one designed for athletic use with a cloth backing.

Some might think it odd that I wear one(nocturnal seizures), but if ever I have a breakthrough seizure during the day or early evening...I don't want any doubts by the people around me. And my medic alert card is face-front in my wallet any other ID is behind that card.

Being very, very independent it is important that people are communicated too.

 

[stilldancing_98]

Its time for me to get one to. I am on some new meds that I am researching. And I just got out of the hostpital. So its time to put one on. And get a dog to I think.

 

[Ruth]

Hi Tilei

I did not know that they had one for hypo-allergenic people. That is great!! I have learned something new. I am not allergic to metal but I sure believe in Medic-Alert. It has worked for me.

I have heard that some epileptics do have dogs to sense when they are going to have seizures and they protect you from getting hurt. I do know one person who has a dog and it works for her. Her dog protects her.

 

[Crystal11]

I wear a medical ID and also a member of Medic Alert. I have a file on their computers which I can update myself online. I have phone numbers, medicaions and dosages, address, close contacts, my guide dog's info, and conditions which can all be accessed by calling the phone number on the ID and providing the member ID number. I never really liked the pendants or bracelets by Medic Alert Co. so I had one made by American Medical Identification made of Sterling silver and had my conditions listed, then I added the Medic Alert call center number as well as my member ID on it. So I got the pendant that I wanted but still have my file with Medic Alert. I also put "wallet card" on it so that more information om my Medic Alert card can be read. Behind that card is one that explains about complex partial seizure and what to look for and how to treat someone during a CP. I have those behind my State ID (since I obviously don't drive) Hehe.
One day while in school, we had a substitute for P.E. and I started to have a seizure which most of the times doesn't look like a seizure that most people think of. The teacher can up to me and slapped me in the face mildly because he though I was falling alseep standing up. My friend who also has focal seizures/simple partials knew I had complex partial seizures and told the teacher that a seizure was happening. Then he called the health center and I was taken there. I lived on campus at the school for the blind. After that event and knowing the teacher did that, I started waring a medical ID real fast. During complex partial seizures, you may look "high" or "drunk" or out of it and sometimes can walk around- so I knew that it was majorly important to wear one. I am also blind and hard of hearing and have a PDA staple in my heart- so I also considered those and something important to know if I were not able to speak for myself.

Another time I was taking a test and an aura started and I was not able to speak. The evaluator saw my ID on a necklace chain and checked it and knew a seizure probably was happening and called the health center nurses.
I think it is a MUST for people with conditions that could cause trouble in communicating or requires medical attention if you're alone. All people with Epilepsy definalty should have one no matter kind you have.
Everyone take care and be safe.

 

[Ruth]

Hi Crystal

That is a good idea, having the best of Medic-Alert and also having the pendant you want from the American Medical Identification. I have never heard of them.

I have the same things you do from Medic-Alert. Do you have a guide dog for your epilepsy? You said that you were at the school for the blind. Are you blind?

When I was in high school, I stood up to answer and went into a standing up seizure. I was never told what type of seizure it was, at that time epilepsy was kept a secret. I have forgotten what year it was about 16 years old. About 1959, I was a Junior in High School. I was never ashamed about my epilepsy though. I figured my friends would accept me as I was, if they did not they were not friends at all. That day in high school though, I woke up in my brother's car. He was a Senior in the same High School. He took me home.

It was a long time later before I got my first Medic-Alert. A friend got one for me and told me about them. I have had one ever since. That was years ago, about 1968. I am 65 years old. In a few months I will be 66. I have had epilepsy since I was 6 years old.

 

[electrogirl]

I used to wear a Medic-Alert bracelet 24/7. Swimming, showering, it never left my wrist. But... my psychogenic absence-type seizures don't look like what Joe Paramedic thinks of as "epilepsy". People ALWAYS called 911 on me, and even if the paramedics bothered to look for a bracelet, they didn't connect it with my symptoms. Part of this is probably because I go completely limp- no residual muscle tone- and my eyes dilate. If there isn't someone nearby who knows me and can explain, medical personnel treat me for diabetic coma, drug overdose, or CNS injury.

Eventually I just gave up on the bracelet, and on going out alone altogether. It was one of the hardest lessons of my life, but being completely limp and helpless at isolated bus stops isn't safe for anyone...

 

[Rach_nc1984]

I voted no...I do not wear a bracelet, but I do wear a necklace.

 

[Ruth]

Hi

A necklace is just as good as a bracelet. I am sorry if I mislead anyone that they have to wear a bracelet. I wear a bracelet.

The necklace is just as effective Rach.

Electrogirl, you can give all of your information to Medic-Alert and they in turn give it to the doctors. You say that you are not going out alone anymore. I am the same way. My husband is encouraging me to do more things and go out once in a while. I do not know where you live but in some large cities, bus stops can be dangerous.

I know, because I take buses, since I cannot drive. I live in a small town. I have lived in large cities, where it was more dangerous to walk the streets than to take a bus. Just my opinion.

 

[Keri67]

Catamenial Epilepsy

I have over 14 years of information and proof that my seizures are effectively caused by the hormones during my menstrual cycle. I kept this data on my calenders then suffered a couple of bad days of "complex partial", simple partial or absense seizures. This was at about days 20-22 of my cycle. I could almost predict when it would occur. But, now at the age of 42 years, it is getting worse and I'm also having falling seizures!! Is this because I may be perimenopausal and more oestrogen may be in my system, causing more seizures more often? Info please!!

 

[s10sleeper]

I have a bracelet, that although it does not show my meds or that I have epilepsy, it states that I have an electrical device implanted in my brain and that life saving measures should be performed. The reason for this is that I cannot go through any type of metal detectors such as at airports or through procedures such as ultra sounds and MRI's

 

[ziggidypoo]

Hi

A necklace is just as good as a bracelet. I am sorry if I mislead anyone that they have to wear a bracelet. I wear a bracelet.

The necklace is just as effective Rach.

Electrogirl, you can give all of your information to Medic-Alert and they in turn give it to the doctors. You say that you are not going out alone anymore. I am the same way. My husband is encouraging me to do more things and go out once in a while. I do not know where you live but in some large cities, bus stops can be dangerous.

I know, because I take buses, since I cannot drive. I live in a small town. I have lived in large cities, where it was more dangerous to walk the streets than to take a bus. Just my opinion.

I wear a special made hard plastic - military dogtag sized - necklace w/my info. I live in MIAMI and it really is not safe for me.

I want to have a 2nd tag to wear that explains that my seizures are TLE and my neurologist name and # - EMT's vary - some are terrific and some are jerks assuming (uninformed) that if you aren't thrashing about - it is fake or psych. If it happens in a public place, even the dining room of our facility, it is to the ER, so I only go up to meals if I feel "normal". I do go to the store but Carey is either with me or close at hand. It was better when we had cell phones (can't afford now).

MONEY - the pain - but, I thank God for a place to live - there are many homeless in Miami. Wow, to be homeless and seize!!


HUGS TO ALL!!!! Gail

 

[Meetz1064]

Keri,

the answer to your question is YES. Progesterone is the hormone that inhibits seizures. Estrogen is the one that increases them. Talk to your docs about possibly increasing your dosage of progesterone to help....

 

[ziggidypoo]

I posted this somewhere else on this forum, but I am so proud of myself, I figure it is "PUBLIC" when I seize in the facility dining room and I'm sent to the ER (in the room, Carey knows what to do, and our cat usually alerts us before we know and I know what to do - go pee real quick and jump in the bed for safety and put my cpap/O2 on for COPD/SLEEP APNEA and my mouth guard in for TMJ) then whatever happens happens and I am safe and then sleep it off - I usually have a relatively short seize but very long post-ictal time that is what "outsiders" don't understand - looks like a coma - can't talk or move and when I finally can talk it is slurred and very primary - like 1 word - not sentences - sometimes takes hours for me to be able to move limbs and then takes sometimes days before I can walk - this last one took a week or more before I could walk up to the dining room - and have memory loss - once 35 YEARS!!! and it takes a time to remember again and some is lost forever - sometimes I can be reminded of something and it is like putting a puzzle peice into a jigsaw puzzle and I can fill in the blanks - other times NO recall - or "FALSE MEMORIES". So, I thought what is the difference the "PUBLIC" place and ER of seizing in the dining room or out on the sidewalk or in a store, I wear a tag (necklace - bright red plastic) that tells my facility and its # and medical allergy, etc. - had it made at a place where trophies are made for about $25 - 6 lines. Anyway, I stubbornly decided I refuse to be bound to a room or building and went to the store all alone and even came back home in the dark (dangerous for even "normal" brawny men in Miami) and Carey met me 1/2 way. But, it felt so good to LIVE MY LIFE and not have E control my life!! BTW, have walked to 2 meals/day for 2 days now. Felt REAL wobbly and "weird" walking back to the room after lunch and quick got on the O2/CPAP for about 5 min. and I was ok. I'm wondering if my pulmonary problems may be a major prob. w/ my walking. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Anyway, that's on the tag too. Also, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) - not seizure related - though excess stress sometimes does trigger a seizure???

PLEASE forgive me for talking so much, I've heard it is part of Temporal Lobe Personality - another subject.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Ruth]

Hi Ziggidypoo

PTSD can definetly cause seizures. Any type of stress can cause seizures.

The problem with your bracelet is that most medical personnel only recognize Medic-Alert. I have a Medic-Alert bracelet. They really are not that expensive. They last for years. If you have a seizure will yours break? If it does, it is no good.

Medic-Alert has your illnesses, allergies, a phone number for the doctors in the ER to call your doctor and a way to contact your friends or relatives. You choose what people to be contacted in an emergency. Does yours do that? Or will your loved ones not know what happened to you and worry. Where I live, they will look at my bracelet, but they do not go into my purse. That is the law in California. They can be sued. Call up Medic-Alert. You pay a fee for a year for everything they do. Then you pick out a bracelet or necklace that you like and pay for that. It may seem expensive, but I have had my bracelet for 3 years, now. It is still strong: they make them to last through a seizure.

Doctors and medical personnel will not look at your bracelet. They will think that that it just a bracelet for decoration. They will take it off if they have to. They will recognize a Medic-Alert bracelet or necklace. They will call up to find out what health problems you have. You will put down PTSD. That is a trigger for seizures. They will treat that also.

 

[ziggidypoo]

Thanks for the info, mine is a necklace, bright red, very hard plastic, w/ all my contact info. and basic other info on it - name/facility/phone#/allergies/ conditions/ insurance/ blood type. I have had grand-mal's and it is on a long chain and never broken. Right now, the cost of any other is impossible. I would like to get a medic-alert bracelet sometime. Now, is just not possible. Thanks though. Gail