Hi all! I am newly diagnosed with epilepsy and have been on Keppra for only 2 weeks but so far so good. Here is my story....
On a Sunday morning just like any other morning I had my first (and hopefully last) grand mal seizure. My husband is a police officer and had just come home from the midnight shift. I got up and used the bathroom and thought I would just lie back down and sleep in a little more. I have a very brief memory of my husband speaking loudly right in my face and then the next thing I remember is the paramedics trying to get me out of bed. What really stinks is that we live in the town where my husband works and I know really well all of the firemen and paramedics. They saw me in all my glory that morning!
My husband said he fell asleep and then woke up because he heard a gurgling noise. At first he thought it was one of the dogs. We have pugs that sleep in our bed and they make some crazy noises. He rolled over and saw me very rigid and seriously foaming at the mouth with lots of blood since I was biting my tongue. I had also wet the bed. He's seen lots of seizures and immediately knew what was happening. He turned me on my side and held me on the bed until it stopped. Then he called 911 and woke our daughter up (she's 9) so she could get dressed and be prepared for the first responders. The medics tried several times to get a bp cuff on my arm but I was still so rigid that they couldn't get my arm down. I was also cutting into my skin with my fingernails because my hands were in such tight fists. I do have some memory of being put into the ambulance and remember everything once we reached the ER.
My CT scan and blood work all came back normal. The next day I went for an MRI and then an EEG the day after that. Luckily I have some great people in my life that pulled some strings and got me in to see a neurologist the next day after my tests. He started asking me a lot of questions and it turns out that I've been having seizures for 3-4 years and didn't realize what was happening.
The first episode was about 4 years ago and I was walking our dogs in my neighborhood on a route that I've walked hundreds of time. I passed a car parked on the street and as I did a ray of sunlight hit the back window and it hit me right in the eye. I immediately had a very loud siren type noise in my ears.....a tingly sensation around my upper body....felt like I was going to pass out....had a really odd smell/taste in my nose and mouth....and I became very confused. I knew I was in my neighborhood, but it didn't seem right and I couldn't find my way home. I sat on the curb for a while and after about 20 min the fog started to lift and thoughts became clearer. I headed home thinking I was crazy and didn't say anything to anybody for fear they might think I had a case of the crazies!
Around the same time, I started having events....mostly in the morning, but not always. It was a much milder ringing in my ears, a very slight prickly/warm sensation, again the smell/taste but always the weirdest deja vu type feeling. I knew exactly what was going to happen....same pattern and timing and all so incredibly familiar. I would have a mild fog after and it was more annoying than anything else. I almost want to say that in a strange way it felt almost good for a few seconds....like when you sneeze. I seriously thought it was a type of migraine, low blood sugar or vertigo.
I told all of this to my doctor and he said it's all situations he has heard before! I was shocked....and never thought they were seizures. Once I had the diagnosis I wanted another set of eyes to look at my test results, so I am seeing a group of seizure specialists here in St. Louis at one of the best hospitals in the country.
Other than no driving for a while, I feel perfectly fine and haven't been handed anything I can't deal with. I'm glad to have answers to those weird events and am thankful that when the big one came that I was in bed next to someone that knew what was happening and not driving or in our hot tub by myself. So happy to also find this forum and have already had those 'ah hah' moments hearing other peoples stories. I thought while shopping in the grocery store I was have panic attacks.....turns out it's the flourescent lights that affect only an epileptics brain and not the 'normal' brain. :woot: <----happy I'm not on the crazy train! (because I do have a mother that is a serious hypocondriac as well as having a heaping dose of narcisism and sure don't want to spend my life like that). So cheers to you all (with my non alcoholic drink since the real deal has become a no-no) and I look forward to many chats.
On a Sunday morning just like any other morning I had my first (and hopefully last) grand mal seizure. My husband is a police officer and had just come home from the midnight shift. I got up and used the bathroom and thought I would just lie back down and sleep in a little more. I have a very brief memory of my husband speaking loudly right in my face and then the next thing I remember is the paramedics trying to get me out of bed. What really stinks is that we live in the town where my husband works and I know really well all of the firemen and paramedics. They saw me in all my glory that morning!
My husband said he fell asleep and then woke up because he heard a gurgling noise. At first he thought it was one of the dogs. We have pugs that sleep in our bed and they make some crazy noises. He rolled over and saw me very rigid and seriously foaming at the mouth with lots of blood since I was biting my tongue. I had also wet the bed. He's seen lots of seizures and immediately knew what was happening. He turned me on my side and held me on the bed until it stopped. Then he called 911 and woke our daughter up (she's 9) so she could get dressed and be prepared for the first responders. The medics tried several times to get a bp cuff on my arm but I was still so rigid that they couldn't get my arm down. I was also cutting into my skin with my fingernails because my hands were in such tight fists. I do have some memory of being put into the ambulance and remember everything once we reached the ER.
My CT scan and blood work all came back normal. The next day I went for an MRI and then an EEG the day after that. Luckily I have some great people in my life that pulled some strings and got me in to see a neurologist the next day after my tests. He started asking me a lot of questions and it turns out that I've been having seizures for 3-4 years and didn't realize what was happening.
The first episode was about 4 years ago and I was walking our dogs in my neighborhood on a route that I've walked hundreds of time. I passed a car parked on the street and as I did a ray of sunlight hit the back window and it hit me right in the eye. I immediately had a very loud siren type noise in my ears.....a tingly sensation around my upper body....felt like I was going to pass out....had a really odd smell/taste in my nose and mouth....and I became very confused. I knew I was in my neighborhood, but it didn't seem right and I couldn't find my way home. I sat on the curb for a while and after about 20 min the fog started to lift and thoughts became clearer. I headed home thinking I was crazy and didn't say anything to anybody for fear they might think I had a case of the crazies!
Around the same time, I started having events....mostly in the morning, but not always. It was a much milder ringing in my ears, a very slight prickly/warm sensation, again the smell/taste but always the weirdest deja vu type feeling. I knew exactly what was going to happen....same pattern and timing and all so incredibly familiar. I would have a mild fog after and it was more annoying than anything else. I almost want to say that in a strange way it felt almost good for a few seconds....like when you sneeze. I seriously thought it was a type of migraine, low blood sugar or vertigo.
I told all of this to my doctor and he said it's all situations he has heard before! I was shocked....and never thought they were seizures. Once I had the diagnosis I wanted another set of eyes to look at my test results, so I am seeing a group of seizure specialists here in St. Louis at one of the best hospitals in the country.
Other than no driving for a while, I feel perfectly fine and haven't been handed anything I can't deal with. I'm glad to have answers to those weird events and am thankful that when the big one came that I was in bed next to someone that knew what was happening and not driving or in our hot tub by myself. So happy to also find this forum and have already had those 'ah hah' moments hearing other peoples stories. I thought while shopping in the grocery store I was have panic attacks.....turns out it's the flourescent lights that affect only an epileptics brain and not the 'normal' brain. :woot: <----happy I'm not on the crazy train! (because I do have a mother that is a serious hypocondriac as well as having a heaping dose of narcisism and sure don't want to spend my life like that). So cheers to you all (with my non alcoholic drink since the real deal has become a no-no) and I look forward to many chats.
