your first PUBLIC seizure?

[Rae1889]

So I have had a few 'public' seizures *I have undone my blouse in a crowded mall, plus seized at work but only in front of coworkers and friends* but I have not had a seizure in public alone.

I'm curious to know your details. Where were you, who were you with the first time? Or how you handle your first one alone. What did people do? What did you do? What triggered it? Etc etc.

I'm going to be busing by myself in the afternoons home from work and my seizures generally happen between 530 and 830pm and I'll be on a bus some time between then and I'm scared

 

[RobinN]

Rebecca's public seizures were most often at school. Hers were always generalized tonic clonic. Usually a friend would put a soft jacket under her head, turn her to the side and someone else would notify the ASB office. One dear friend would monitor the situation, and if she felt the EMTs should be called she did. Other times she would take Rebecca back to the nurses office. I always would be called and I drove to be with her until she was feeling well enough to continue with her day.

Rebecca has been seizure free for 6+ months. She takes the bus and metro all over town these days.

 

[Minkels]

My first public seizure was my first seizure ever---June of this year---and it was at work, right outside of the office on the manufacturing floor. I have the tonic-clonic variety of seizures.

My assistant was with me, as well as about 7 people who work for me. Neither I or the doctor know what triggered it or the other seizures that followed it, but I've found that sleep deprivation, flashing lights, and being on my menstrual cycle tend to make me more prone to seizures. I haven't dared to miss a dose of meds (yet), but I am guessing that would also probably be a trigger for a lot of us who tend to have seizures.

Everyone except my assistant freaked out the first time I had the seizure!!! My assistant is a retired LPN from the military, so she knew what it was and stayed calm during the whole episode and put me on my side after it. She said it wasn't the first seizure that she had ever seen and it didn't really seem to bother her.

The people that worked for me started to panic and someone called 911, 2 of them started to cry, one of them pulled a fire alarm, and the other one called my manager at home...at 2am (I work midnights). It was absolute chaos. I guess if you are the supervisor of a manufacturing department, it's probably not a good idea to have a seizure out of nowhere.

Do you wear a medical alert ID? If you do, then people might know what is going on. On the other hand, someone still might end up calling EMS on you if you have a seizure. Is there any kind of medication you can take to fend off a seizure if you get a warning before you have one?

I'm hoping that your trip was uneventful and you arrived home safely.

 

[Meetz1064]

My first

public seizure (that I know of, anyway) was in front of 500 people at a family reunion. And I got yelled at for it by my mother...according to hubby, who says he told her to shut up, and that several others had to...put her in a different area while they dealt with me.

I had t/c's then....I've only recently developed the other 3 types.

 

[Nakamova]

Like Minkels, my first public seizure was my first one ever. In a realtor's office, after I had just filled out all my contact info. Very convenient. Not too far from the hospital where I eventually regained consciousness and had to come to figure out how I got there. To this day, I don't know who ended up driving my car home for me.

I've had plenty of other public seizures, but almost all of them with friends around to help out. I had one in the middle of the Red Sox 2004 Victory Parade! That one was triggered by low blood sugar and low blood pressure. It happened right when I hoisted a kid up on to my shoulders -- the act of raising my hands above my head, combined with the kid's weight compressing my carotid artery combined to limit blood flow to the brain.

 

[BuckeyeFan]

My first public seizure? Probably back in 1987 at work. That sucked so bad!!! For my first several years, most of my seizures were when I was at rest, though that definitely changed over the years.

I don't believe that I have ever had a full blown tonic-clonic while completely alone. Not to the extent of waking up by myself. Of course I may have when I had them at night and never knew it was a seizure, just felt like hell in the morning.

Had several really bad auras while alone to the extent of even walking in circles (always to my left, everything pulls left for me).

 

[knothing]

Tonic-Clonic on a call center floor at work. With no training and no experience my coworkers handled it perfect. Sure I was surprised to go from talking to someone to being on the ground with a paramedic standing over me. I will never forget a coworker saying "Dude, everything is going to be alright." over and over.
Thankfully I have never been alone for a seizure.

 

[Endless]

As far as I know, I think I had one when I was 17-18. I was at a wedding and apparently said something pretty wacky to some other wedding guests. I didn't remember anything about it. At the time that puzzled me, but I just shrugged my shoulders and forgot about it. Looking back now I'm pretty sure it was a complex partial.

 

[Loopy Lou]

The first one i ever remember was a complex partial when i was about 11. I didn't know it was a seizure though, i only got properly diagnosed when i was 22ish. It's only with the benefit of hindsight i suppose that i recognise it now.

I remember my friend talking to me and then the next thing i know is that both her and her dad are staring at me with blank expressions and asking me to repeat what i'd just said. I didn't have a clue, and apparently i'd been running my mouth for the last 30secs or so, talking absolute nonsense. It just got laughed off, and i felt pretty embarrassed.

I got diagnosed with epilepsy after having my second tonic clonic in a nightclub in town. I can't remember the seizure, but my brother told me that i'd sat down next to him and my hand tipped my drink over his leg and then i fell to the floor whilst convulsing, knocking over a table on the way. I vaguely remember the paramedics asking if i was on drugs, and then apparently i point-blank refused to go to the hospital, and just walked home with my brother afterwards. I got some whopping bruises from that haha.

After being diagnosed, and having had two tonic clonics whilst being awake (ie not in bed) i realised that i'd been having seizures for years and just brushed it off.

 

[seizingbeauty]

I tend to forget alot of things, ecspecially the time around my seizures. The one that comes to mind is coming to with a man standing over me with a huge pair of scissors. I had seized on the escalator and my hair had gotten eaten by it they were trying to cut me out but I started to freak. Other than that I remember waking up at random hospitals with no idea how I got there.

 

[VR4Legacy]

My first public seizure was my first diagnosed seizure. I was in college and had been working 2 jobs all summer, double shifts on weekends waiting tables. I was in between shifts one saturday doing side duties with another waitress when I started to feel an odd sensation I now have come to recognize all too well, I remember her looking at me and asking if I was ok, then I remember a paramedic over me asking me what the date was, what year it was, who the president was.... One thing I remember the most is that I remember knowing the answers but having the hardest time forming words to convey it. Apparently I had a gran-mal seizure.

Looking back I think there were a few times I had seizures in my sleep and a few auras too, at the time I shrugged them off, now I know the sensations and recognize what they were.

My seizures are still unexplained, but fortunately with alot of experimenting and tweaking I am on a mix of meds now that has had me seizure free for over 2 years now.

 

[gr33nr0se]

gym class

op:my first public seizure happened at school. i was walking on the track and reading, this was on the fourth day of school in september. this was not only my first public seizure but it was my first seizure. i started to see rainbows in my right eye moving right. i covered my eye and i saw it in my left eye. my left arm jerked and the next thing i know, people are around me. apparently my gym teacher had my head in her lap and the ambulence came. i was in denial and i kept telling them nothing happened. when i finally heard what they said and understood, it was an hour later in the hospital and my mom had just shown up. i was hysterically crying. talk about public, my entire gym class of 84 high schoolers saw me have a tonic clonic seizure which included grunting, drooling, and eyes rolling. i also almost punched my gym teacher.

 

[Elsie]

I had a t-c at a women's meeting. We were all sitting around in someone's living room and I woke up on a guerny being rolled through the door. Doesn't sound too bad except these women were all kinda high-society types. I never really fit in with most of them. After this, I definitely didn't. A couple weeks later I was asked out to lunch by the higher-ups and uninvited to be part of the group. Yuck.

 

[Endless]

Elsie,

I'm so sorry those women treated you like that. I wish that they were better educated about seizures. Then they would have helped, not judged.

They sound like a superficial bunch, anyway. You'll find a more compassionate and well-balanced set of women to hang out with. (Not all wealthy people are callous like they were. I'd say most aren't. I've met some with incredibly big hearts. They are like the general population, just more resources.)

 

[ericksonmj]

Elsie,

Thats not real friends anyway. True friends wont care if you happen to have a T-C, they will just ask you when they can or should do to help if it happens again to help you, and not treat you any different.


You will find a real group of friends or others to hang with, and its not a "Class" problem, its a total misunderstanding of what we go thru through out the general population as a whole.

Mike

 

[Minkels]

Agree with Endless and ericksonmj...there is a lot of public ignorance in general about epilepsy, and it's not confined to one class or one group...ignorance about epilepsy is an equal opportunity issue, at least from what I've seen.

Sorry you were "dis-invited" from the group. On the other hand, at least you know who you true friends are going to be.

 

[seizingbeauty]

Ditto to all the comments above!
I have T/C's and I have learned who my true friends are. They are the ones who will clean up after you, not hold it against you, change the party plans to somewhere without strobes and be ready to laugh along with you when you are ready to.

 

[ColmanMac]

Hi Rae; Ive had them all over the place - on the train, in the street, in the bank - but my first "public" one which led eventually to my diagnosis was at work sitting in front of a computer.

I use up to 3 computers at a time so, even though I now have a "privilege of rank" & can slow down, at that time I was going like the clappers.

Computers I have to "drive" are 1 for FX; 1 for Private Equity & 1 for FTSE. But then I keep an eye on FX's of other countries like the DOW @ your end; the DAX where I was in Frankfurt the last two days + Financial News progs like Bloomberg & Ordinary News like CNN. On top of that I've 3 e-mails @ my disposal!

They reckon that, monitor-wise, an airline pilot has less to worry about on a flight.

But I remember nothing about my first Sz which was a full blown GM. I recall watching the numbers & then waking up on the floor with my shirt ripped open after a colleague had been pumping my chest, assuming I was having a heart attack! The good thing was that, that resulted in a week in hospital and the beginning of various diagnoses.

I'm lucky in that I still work & though I dont do what I did then, Ive been promoted over the years so Im teaching others how not to have an E episode. At work, because various folk are geared to different markets which open @ different times, there are sleeping rooms, so they can be ready for the bells sounding. I'm again fortunate in that, if need be, I can go & lie down in a room without any hassle.

I seem to be a lot more fortunate than many in that we have a Director who believes that the way to get the best from her teams is to give them the slack they have earned & deserve. You get nowhere by beating someone with a stick coz, if that someone is me, you'll get bitten very seriously.

Looking at the intracacies of my brain injury, it's a true saying that a man who has come close to losing everything is capable of anything. I think that's why my boss says she loves me so much!

Take Care

Col.

 

[Dirt_in_the_ground]

My first public seizure on my own?

Well that was when I went to Dublin to get my passport.So I was 21.Nearly 3 years ago!
I was tired and stressed out,I'd gone into the passport office and they told me to come back in 3 hours to collect my passport.
So I went to St.Stephen's Green park to sit down and have some lunch.I ate my sandwich when I started having simple partial seizures very severely.
I rang my then (dickhead) bf and he told me to calm down and not make a big deal,I tried to explain to him that I was about to have seizure and I didn't know what to do (as I was really confused) and he hung up on me.

So I got up,even though every time I have a simple partial seizure I would fall down.
I went up to complete strangers and asked them for help...I would literally get as far as "I need your help.." and they would push my arm off them and walk away.
In the end I just went up to and older couple and said "I am about to have a seizure please help me to a taxi."
Thankfully they held me and helped me to a taxi.I explained to the taxi driver what was going on and he tried to get me to the hospital but was also trying to flag down police cars.He was my hero that day,him and the couple who helped me to him.

The last thing I remember was him pulling up to a police van and then I remember being in the back of an unmarked police car with 2 policemen and 1 policewoman asking me was I on drugs.
I was trying to explain to them that I had epilepsy but one of the men was being really aggressive and was adamant I was a drug user.

Anyway I was put in an ambulance and brought to the hospital and I was allowed to sleep.A friend of mine at the time came to hospital and sat with me will I came in and out of sleep.

Lovely experience.

 

[Loopy Lou]

I was trying to explain to them that I had epilepsy but one of the men was being really aggressive and was adamant I was a drug user.

Yup, i've been accused of being a drug user or "just drunk" after a seizure too. Mind you, when i had the seizure in a nightclub and they asked me if, or what i'd taken, apparently my answer was "I dunno... ummmm.... nothing?" and they didn't look too convinced

My brother only told me this the next day, but i don't remember it at all haha (I never have taken any sort of illegal drugs whatsoever)