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Phredhead

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Hello everyone, I'm 29 and had my first "seizure" 5 years ago. I then had another 3 within 6 months. I say "seizure" because only 1 was witnessed and was described as my whole body went rigid and I kicked myself out if the chair and hit the ground. I always had an aura before each seizure. Anyway, after Dilantin and Keppra for 2 years along with countless normal EEG's and 3 normal MRI's, I was weaned off medication and was seizure free for 5 1/2 years. My life was finally normal, I got married, finished Nursing School and have started Grad School. Now all of a sudden I had an episode a few weeks ago. I have no idea what it was. My stomach started cramping and I felt like I was going to have diarrhea, then all of a sudden the aura started. I ran to my car and turned the air on high and leaned my seat back. The next thing I knew my sister was opening the door. I know I passed out but I don't know if I had a seizure or not.
I am now seeing a new neurologist who is taking this episode VERY seriously. He has put me on seizure precautions, put me back on Keppra and has ordered yet another EEG and MRI. He has also ordered a consultation with one of the top Neurologists with the University of Miami for a seizure evaluation. All of this is really scaring me because none of my previous Neurologists have taken this situation so seriously, they described my episodes as a fluke. My husband and I were trying to have kids and now everything is on the back burner until we get this figured out. So that's me in a nutshell!!


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Hi Phredhead,

I am glad to meet you. This forum was made by Bernard out of love for his wife Stacy. That love permeates throughout the whole forum.

I know of other's whose seizures started with cramping. Your sister probably told a doctor what had happened. I am glad that you are going to see someone at the University of Miami. They will figure out what is going on.

I hope to see you post and support us. I need it.

I will give you a hint about Keppra. When I was first put on it, my neurologist told me to take a Vitamin B Complex once a day. Otherwise, you will have problems with Keppra. Keppra depletes the body of Vitamin B.

Take care, Ruth
 
Thank you very much Ruth. I'll look into the Vit B complex. As someone trained to treat and handle seizures, I sure feel completely incompetent right now! I guess it's because it's different when it's you. I have already received a lot of support here and I am very grateful to Bernard for creating a place for all of us to come together!
 
We are all grateful to Bernard. It is his wife who has epilepsy. He keeps her diary here. You can read it anytime. It's called Stacy's Diary.
 
My wife also takes a b complex, more because of what we have read about pyridoxine (b6) and b 12 depletion a from meds. She is on vimpat and zonigran

When she was bearing our many children she was on aeds wth 6 of the 8 children she carried to term. Three lost in miscarriage. She is a saint And now with 8 children 10 grand children she is so glad we kept going and none of the feared defects occurred.


Why are we here? Don't live in fear. We. Cry a lot. We laugh a lot too.


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DHMary, thank you for posting about your wife and bearing children. That is one of my biggest fears. My husband and I have already suffered 1 miscarriage at 20 weeks due to an incompetent cervix and now that I'm back on aed's we have decided to quit trying for children right now. The unknown effects aed's may have on a developing fetus is very scary to me. Hearing of your success gives me hope for the future.
 
You are most welcome. For us no med worked really well , so we made balanced choice and went aeds least likely to be debilitating


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You are very welcome to CWE, we will be here for you as much as you are here for us and we all need it. So right now have a coffey and look around, get settled in.
 
lirva

Thank you very much, may both of us enjoy the future.
 
Hi Phredhead, I have 4 children, while on meds for E. I was told by one neurologist not to get pregnant while I was on Depakote or Depakane. I was all ready on the med and all ready pregnant. He should have told me before I got pregnant. I am happy with my son. He is 34 years old now. He is healthy.

I refused to get an abortion. I carried him full term and he was born healthy. When my husband and my newborn son left the room, I hemorragged for no reason. I went into a coma. My husband was told that I was going to die. I am still here. The gynecologist who delivered my son died before he could sign the birth certificate. It was a bigger shock to him than it was for me. That was in 1979.

I had no problems at all when my daughter was born in 1966. She was born healthy.

I will never know if it was the meds or another cause. My twins, after they were born, I hemorragged, too. I was not on very many medicines when they were born in 1965.

It might have been caused by genetics. My sister had a miscarriage.

Find out from your gynecologist what the cause of your miscarriage was. If you decide to get pregnant in the future, ask your neurologist about your medications and pregnancy.
 
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