Saw the Neuro Psychiatrist yesterday

[pita300]

On the request of Julie Wishes in an eariler post I am posting a follow up on my journey with non-epileptic seizures.

I had a seizure last Tuesday. Was having a bad stressful day with my job. She knows that these are caused by stress and anxiety. So now on top of citalopram for depression I will start clonazepam to help ease anxiety. I told how frustrating it was to be having seizures in my head just not in my brain. She was quick to try and change my mindset that these are real just my brains way of dealing with the everyday stress of life. We also discussed how if these seizures were non epileptic these are very similar to the seizures I had before surgery. Was I having non epileptic seizures before they removed part of my right temporal lobe??? She gave me some psycho bable and basicly dodged the question. I have to believe that was not the case but it does make me scratch me head and go hmmmmmm!

The therapist is trying to get me to open up and not close up when I get into a stressful situation. im am definatly an introvert!

Thats it in a nutshell. I go back in 2 weeks and will keep you posted.

 

[Nakamova]

I hope you start to feel better with clonazepam, but if you don't, let your docs know. I do think that very few doctors are really experts in non-epileptic seizures, and many of them are a bit shaky when they try to explain inconsistencies in their diagnosis.

 

[Endless]

I'm so glad you are seeing a neuro psych and a counselor. I'm hoping they will help.

I'm very glad you are keeping your own logic and thinking intact while you talk with them. Sometimes they don't have all the data or fully understand the situation or your history.

How long will you be taking clonazepam, and what dosage?

Did your psychiatrist talk with you about clonazepam and side effects? Here's info about clozanepam from Livestrong. Not the A#1 best source of info, but it was the easiest to read, and the basic info came from drugs.com.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/87590-benzodiazepines-treat-anxiety/

Also this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonazepam#Tolerance_and_withdrawal


Clonazepam is a benzodiazapine. As I understand it, those are usually used for short-term treatment because people build up a tolerance for it and they are possibly addictive. Whatever you do, talk to your doctor if or when you ever decide to stop taking it - you need to taper off properly or it could cause seizures or psychiatric side effects.

On the bright side, it works. And it works quickly. And it's used for seizures as well as anxiety. All very good things.

 

[MuayThaiFighter]

Make sure you do gain trust with the person you see. I think it is extremely important that you don't feel they dodge questions or throw theory after theory at you. Have to maintain strong trust, with any doctor. Otherwise you might find yourself getting stressed by even seeing them. Just make sure you find the right person for you and always keep the doctors up to date with your medications. Any changes, you definitely want them to know. God bless and I hope work becomes less stressful.

 

[julie wishes]

Thank you so much pita for the update. I bet it is scary to think they removed part of your brain and wonder if it was proper medicine. If I were you, I would avoid those thoughts for now. They sound a little too stressful and not helpful. Can't really change that part of your past. Im glad endless pointed out the benzo information as something to keep in mind . Sounds like a good temporary Med for your specific situation. I too am an introvert. In person I clam up fast and over the dumbest stuff. Learning how to talk about your innermost feelings is not easy. The good thing about this type of treatment is that you can talk about anything, so when you are in there just blurt it out quick if something comes to mind. Don't wait, if you wait it gets harder and harder to bring up, then all of a sudden your hour is up. . It is their job to try to pull you through the counseling and make the best use of the time Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. I am looking forward to hearing about your progress. Keep it all in one thread if you don't mind so we can follow the whole story easier. I'm not sure if its right to say this, so forgive me if not. I don't want to undermine any medical diagnosis and make this any more confusing than it already is... but if it were me, I would hold loosely to the non E diagnosis. I would play along and do what they ask, but remain open minded to the fact that they might be wrong, as nakamova said, not the most "understood" medical condition. I keep telling myself to remain calm about my own diagnosis... ha ha... easier said than done

 

[pita300]

Thanks everybody. Endless. I read that same article on Livestrong. I'm starting at.25 MG twice a day. The neuropsychiatrist did say it may make me a zombie and I don't think she is going any higher than that. I guess we just play it by ear. Its not the first time I've been on a med that was possibly addictive. I was on Phenobarb as a child and also as an adult. I can remember going for a job interview once and had to take a drug test. I had to be upfront with them about how they would probably come back positive since Phenobarb is a barbituate! Julie Wishes. I am trying to keep an open mind about this and trying to not let it bring me down. The person with the biggest issue with this is my wife. There are times I feel she thinks I'm faking it. The neuropsychiatrist wants me to bring her with me for my next appointment. Im afraid she might think were ganging up on her. I will ask her and see how that goes.

Stay tuned!

 

[julie wishes]

Good luck. Positive thoughts coming your way.

 

[pita300]

Hi every one. Here is my follow up. Saw the therapist and neuro Psychiatrist yesterday. The neuro Psychiatrist upped the Clonazepam from .5mg per day (1/2 tab 2x a day) to a 1/2 in the morning and whole at night. She did that because my stress and anxiety level will be increasing because I've been asked to move out of the house and get my own place. I am a little nervous moving out on my own but they both feel that I am not going to get better until i get out of the environment that is causing alot of my stress and anxiety. They are both meeting with my epileptolgist in next couple of weeks. The therapist is going to advise him that I am doing better. Ok so how does that make me feel? Although I have not had a TC I have still had some what I think are simple partials. I see the epileptolgist in the first week of September. At that time depending on what he says I think that is when I will start considering a second opinion. I'll post a nother follow up at that time.

 

[Nakamova]

I hope the move goes well! Don't forget to keep a journal tracking how you feel, including possible simple partials.