Well here goes!

[becca]

I have epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. I was diagnosed with MS in 2003 after a years of symptoms and attacks. I was later diagnosed with epilepsy in 2007 after complaining LOUDLY of memory problems and getting lost.

I have no idea when(in my life) my seizures started, I just thought everyone had staring spells and such. I have "lost time" for as long as I can remember but since I also cover for it I knew on some level it was odd.

During the 90's I was divorced, raising two daughters and had a high level job, so a lot of stress. I was one of those people who could rise to the occasion, handle the crisis, do the impossible!!! Things were ok. I loved my job and I was good at it, I wasn't the best mother in the world but nothing was more important to me than my daughters. I had a lot of balls in the air but I was handling them. At some point, instead of thriving on the stress, I started seizing when stressed. My life fell apart. I had to leave my high level job. My daughters were out on their own by 2000. I was not physically able to work a regular job due to the MS so I tried to consult. Long story short, I probably took 8 years to give up on the dream of trying to be productive in any way.

I finally got my docs attention when I told he about leaving my house to go to the store to get a gallon of milk, getting to the end of the street, realizing I had forgotten where I was going... and deciding I would go to the drug store. I would drive 2 blocks and I had forgotten where I was going, so I would decide to drive to the mall. So I would get on the interstate to go toward the mall and of course...

Wait... What??? I think I'm rambling!

I am not sure where I was going with all that but instead if deleting it I will leave it as an introduction. My mind's a mess!

Thanks,
Becca

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Becca, welcome to CWE!

Ramble away!

Unfortunately it can take awhile for some kinds of epilepsy to get diagnosed, as in your case. It must be tough dealing with epilepsy and MS.

BTW you might be interested in this:
It's a TED talk by a doctor about how dietary changes helped her treat her MS.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Dline]

Becca--YI'm so sad to hear of your MS. In reading your story it did make me smile a little...it sounds so familiar...I was one of those people with a high level job who handle every crisis, put out every fire, and loved doing it. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2008, and it slowed me down a bit. But, I started noticing weird things like my cell phone in the fridge, forgetting things, etc.

These things weren't too far off, since I've always been "spacey". LOVE your milk story b/c my family used to joke that they'd give me money to go get milk and I'd come back from the store without the money and with no milk So I think I've always had something going on, too.

But, not until 2012 did things get really bad. I drove to the end of my street and called my husband crying b/c I couldn't remember how to get to Target (a place I'd been to WAY too many times!). I took the bus to work and had been late a few times because I had gotten off a wrong stops and hadn't realized it. If I went to the store for a few things, when I would get home my husband would be frantic b/c I forgot my phone and my 15 minute trip had taken 2 hours. I wouldn't remember being in the store at all and thought I had been gone for only 15 mins!

Sadly, I lost my job last May due to not being able to keep up anymore. I had also thought of consulting, but my Complex and Simple Partials aren't under control yet --after a year and 1/2 ARG!!--so my scrambled egg brain won't cut it yet to do any of that, which makes me sad. But the bright side I guess is that I get to be home with my two small boys.

Thank you for sharing your story Becca.