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bentwanderer

bentwanderer

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Two months before I turned 68 I had my first seizure on August 27, 2013. After many diagnostics it was concluded I didn't have a brain tumor, my cerebral vasculature is healthy, and I didn't have a stroke, I was diagnosed with Complex Partial Seizures (CPS). I was put on Keppra 250 bid. Six weeks later I had an episode which I'm believing was a Simple Partial Seizure (SPS). My Keppra was increased to 375 bid.

As you would expect, I have been doing a lot of reading about seizures the last 2-1/2 months and am now wondering if I might have been having SPS since I was a child manifested by leg automatisms and maybe spacing out.

Also wondering if I'm continuing to have SPS since being on the Keppra manifested by nausea, a sensation of a disconnect between my cognitive processes and motor activity. I ride my bike 1,000-1,200 miles a month. I've needed to abort two rides when the above symptoms manifested and I didn't feel safe continuing to ride.

I've also feel like since the August 27th initial seizure (CPS) that my mental status has been diminished manifested by a decrease in energy, enthusiasm, efficiency, productivity, and endurance.

I'm so new to this whole epilepsy thing I don't know how to discern whether what I'm experiencing are, indeed, SPS? Am what I'm experiencing post ictal responses? Am what I experiencing side effects from Keppra?

Hmmm. Hoping some of you who are much more experienced than I can help me get up to speed.

Also hoping you can direct me to which of the 'rooms' in the forum would be the most appropriate for me to hang out in.

Susan
 
Hello and welcome! It sounds like you're getting up to speed pretty quickly on seizure types. As someone who has has both simple and complex partial seizures (and several tonic-clonics) for at least 30 years, and possibly much longer, I can tell you that the seizures, even when they are "only" partials, can totally wipe you out! My partials usually last for 20 -30 seconds, I don't lose consciousness and I can pretty much continue with whatever I'm doing (even riding one of my numerous bikes, which include a Sun Tomahawk recumbent, and another Sun semi-recumbent, but we can talk about bicycles later in a private message!) Re: the possibility of unrecognized partial seizures as a child, I believe that happened with me, manifesting as odd feelings and a bit of spaciness.
As for the med side-effects vs. the effects of the seizures, that can be kind of hard to tell unless you have tried different meds and had more seizures so you can kind of get a baseline for yourself as to what causes what. Does that make sense? (I personally hated Keppra. I am currently on Lamictal and will probably have a VNS placed in the next month or so to attempt to reduce the number of partial seizures I have. They seem to be really starting to mess up my short-term memory, and at age 55 I am waaaay to young for that to happen!
I hope that helped some. I'm sure others will chime in as well. Best of luck! Keep riding! (What kind of 'bent do you have? The pic looks a bit like a Tomahawk, but I can't tell for sure because of the size and angle of the shot.)
 
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Can someone recommend which forum room would be the best for me to post my newbie questions about epilepsy? As I mentioned yesterday, I'm 68 yrs old and was diagnosed for the first time with epilepsy 2-1/2 months ago. So, quickly trying to get up to speed with the basics that most of you have been knowing for years. No need to rant and rave at this time, just have Q's and am hoping for A's.

Susan
 
bentwanderer

Post ictal sid effects I have them and I never Know when I might have them myself.
Anyone can have post ictal side effects from a seizures, I can laugh or I can cry or I can be mad.

The padded room would be a good place for you to go , to vent unleash in post how you feel about your epilepsy.

I've had epilepsy 50 years and I've kept myself informed about it and the new meds.
 
Thanks, Belinda. I'll check out the padded room. Not really feeling the need to vent right now. So new to this whole thing (less than 3 months), just trying to understand/learn what it is that I'm experiencing. No context or history from which to draw. Gotta hang out in a lot of these rooms to see what's what.
 
Hi bentwanderer, welcome to CWE!

The CWE forum for asking epilepsy-related questions is The Kitchen, though you'll most likely reply even if your post is in a different Forum. Descriptions of the different CWE forums can be found here: http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/

When epilepsy is new (and even when it isn't) it can be tough to get a handle on what's going on. As noted above, it may take time to be able to distinguish what is a seizure symptom, what is a post-seizure symptom, and what is a medication side effect. It can help to keep a detailed "symptom diary" that keeps track how you are feeling as well as other factors that might affect your health -- things like stressors, diet, sleep, etc.
 
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