Epilepsy

[Delphyne]

I know many people suffer from health problems.  Does anyone else here suffer from epilepsy?


I have Temporal Lobe Epilepsy which causes simple partial and complex partial seizures.  Grand Mal seizures (the shaking kind) are the kind most often portrayed by the media and movies.  However, it is only one out many different types of seizures.  Complex partial seizures are not well understood and often people think the person is just being psychotic.

I also have Multiple Sclerosis.

Famous people with epilepsy include Hugo Weaving and the writer Dostoyevsky. 


If you do have epilepsy or a family member has epilepsy, feel free to post here. 


I have had epilepsy all my life.  The seizures were relatively minor and no one ever noticed, except maybe my mother.  Before a seizure, I tend to ask a lot of bizarre questions.  My mother got me to focus on research when I was very young, and that helped.

They got much worse around 2004, after some medical issues.  In 2008, they got very very very very very bad. 


I would be happy to share experiences with other epileptics, and offer others who suffer a safe haven here to complain, cry, and to bond together.

[cutiepie9447]

My 4 year old son has a seizure disorder. He is not epileptic, but I do understand the physical and mental stress it can cause for a person and their families. My son had his first seizure when he was 2 years old. He was medicated according to his weight but a few months later had 8 seizures in a period of 12 hours and was admitted into PICU for 3 days. They ran every test in the world with everything coming back normal. He has tested and been deemed to have an intellect of double his age (a 7 year old). And I personally believe his disorder has a lot to do with him being so smart. His neurologist has since increased his medication to the max dose for his weight and we are at almost a year without a seizure. It is a scary, mysterious and often misunderstood illness.

Best of luck to you!

[Delphyne]

My 4 year old son has a seizure disorder. He is not epileptic, but I do understand the physical and mental stress it can cause for a person and their families. My son had his first seizure when he was 2 years old. He was medicated according to his weight but a few months later had 8 seizures in a period of 12 hours and was admitted into PICU for 3 days. They ran every test in the world with everything coming back normal. He has tested and been deemed to have an intellect of double his age (a 7 year old). And I personally believe his disorder has a lot to do with him being so smart. His neurologist has since increased his medication to the max dose for his weight and we are at almost a year without a seizure. It is a scary, mysterious and often misunderstood illness.

Best of luck to you!

He may develop a seizure disorder (epilepsy) as he gets older.  Epilepsy is usually not fully diagnosed until the individual is older.  I hope he does not have it.

Oddly, many people with Epilepsy have a higher than average intelligence.  No one is quite sure why this is, but it is common among many people with epilepsy.  My intelligence is quite high and so is my daughter's.  (She also has epilepsy.)

Hmmm...typically when a person has 3 seizures or more, they are epileptic.  Infants and small children get them for various reasons, though, so the diagnosis is usually not made until they are older.