If I ever have a seizure and wake up from it, I would consider staying
home unless I had violently hit some object on my way down.  I would
obviously get in touch with my Neuro, but the hospital didn't seem to do
much on my first visit other than determine that it's not due to
physical damage or drugs.  On top of that I had a $400+ ambulance bill,
an emergency room bill, bills for MRIs and CAT scans, etc., and the
insurance company helped but it still required alot of cash to be on
good terms with the hospital, ambulance company, etc..

My wife on the other hand says she'll call the hospital regardless, I
imagine that she will be quite disturbed to see it should that ever
happen so I wouldn't blame her, but I don't think it would serve any
purpose other than to make her feel more comfortable (at least until the
bills started pooring in).

--
gorf

 If you find one of Julie's posts earlier on the group, she lists the Idaho
website at end of her posts. Among things listed there are First Aid for
Seizures pages you can print, with suggestions what to do and when to call
for help.
 Also on that site there is a Tips and Tricks section (may not be called
that).  It includes ideas some of us have submitted about Safety and
Seizures.   Things like using a Kettle with an Auto Off setting so it won't
keep boiling if someone has an Absence or Full Seizure, Day of the week
Pillcase and Pill Log,  to keep track of doses to prevent taking 2 doses by
mistake, and other things he can do to reduce risk of injury if he were to
have a seizure while you're not home.
 Those of us who've had absence type seizures, use a Microwave rather than
stovetop to heat meals, since those can be programmed then will shut off
when done, rather than continue boiling (like a stovetop might do).   There
are lots of ideas there that will keep you from having to re-invent the
wheel.   You may as well take advantage of experiences most of us have
submitted there to make things easier to deal with.   G./

Found it, in case you don't see one of Julie's posts.
 Idaho main site (bookmark it once you click to it) is
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org
 There are 2 first aid charts, one you can look up for First aid in Water
if he swims.
 But Page 2 of above has Basic First Aid Chart.   There's a Printer
friendly button top left to Print this page only, that will format it for
printing.
  You can then scroll down to page 10 for Household Safety ideas that has
tips and tricks I mentioned earlier.   General safety page that might take
you direct there anyway is http://www.epilepsyidaho.org/safety/ .
    The General U.S. Ep. Foundation site has a Medications Glossary and
other topics (not as good as Julie's, I thought, but older and more detail
wrt. Medicines etc.)  is at http://efa.org  .     G./

A lot of us here have clean MRI and CAT scans.  Did they do an EEG?

The only time you would really need to call an ambulance is if the
seizures did not stop.  Someone needs to time the seizures really to see
how long it has run.  Someone here will probably give you the time frame
because I can't recall it right now, or you could ask your husband's
doctor.

I worked for a sheltered workshop where many of our clients had seizure
disorders.  Sometimes we would call the ambulance particularly if the
head was bleeding.  We, the staff, were told to cool it on the ambulance
calls because the majority of them were not necessary.  For the head
wounds, we were told there are a lot of blood vessels in the scalp and
the bleeding always looked worse than what it was.  We only had one or
two people who required stitches over all the years I worked there, and
that's pretty good considering there were cement floors and hard
surfaces at that place.  None of these folks wore protective gear except
for one or two people who wore helmets.  In my region, the patient's are
charged for ambulance and fire department calls even though this is a
volunteer fire department and ambulance service.

If your husband is home alone, the environment needs to be made safe for
him.  Don't know if a lifeline type of device would work for him.  He
might need a medic alert piece of jewelry.  He should always carry
identification when outside the house because some people can't remember
their name or address after a seizure.

Environment modifications might include but are not limited to:
appliances that shut off automatically, using the microwave instead of
the range top, lowering the water heater temperature, avoiding or
replacing hard floors and stairs with softer materials, padding
furniture, sharp edges, etc., rounding corners of tables, counters,
reorganizing cabinets so a person doesn't have to climb a chair or
stepladder, taking showers instead of baths, etc.  This kind of safety
list is probably endless.

Barb

Hi Lynn, when I have a tonic clonic seizure (grand mal) I feel very
exhausted, so I go to bed and rest for a couple days.  Some times it takes
about a week to feel back to "normal"  I have never had to go to the
hospital after a seizure.  (I have been in a hospital during a seizure - but
that's another story) ;')

I can tell when I might have a seizure, so when I start to feel dizzy, stars
in the eyes, I lay on the floor, or bed, couch, whatever is handy.

One thought for you, does your husband drink diet soda?  This is a subject
of debate, but my husband brought home a book the other day written by a
doctor that discusses the toxic qualities of nutrisweet, MSG, and other food
additives.  There is evidence that some  diet soda drinkers who had
unexplained seizures, upon stopping the nutrisweet - the seizures stopped.
I knew of someone personally whose grandchild was affected this way.  I am
affected by MSG, so I stay away from a lot of processed food - label reading
is the key.  I don't drink or eat anything with nutrisweet.  This has helped
me to stay seizure free for quite some time.

This link answers questions about when an emergency room visit is necessary.

http://www.epilepsyidaho.org/seizure2.htm

Take care,
Julie, Volunteer Webmaster
Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org

It is always difficult to judge when you really have to call 911 or not.
When you do, then it stops automatically and when it does not stop and you
then call the ambulance, then you are 5 minutes late.

Anyways, my doctor prescribed me with Diazepam which someone will have to
give me during a tonic clonic seizure. This medication will have to be added
via rectal form because I cannot swallow it as I am unconscious. This is
something your doctor can give to you as well -however, when you are working
and he is alone at home, then this won't work of course.

  The Dr. doesn't appear to have a 'name' to explain which condition you
are treating by calling 911.  Since someone mentioned "(rectal) diazepam" on
this thread, you might as well ask the Dr. if Ativan Sublingual (under the
tongue) 1mg. (Lorazepam 1mg.) would work if he has an AURA soon enough that
he could take one of these and let it dissolve under his tongue. (They're
absorbed into blood there and *not swallowed, in order to work.   That's why
it would be better if he took one himself if he had an *aura soon enough for
the relaxant to be able to work *and if it would control his type.  *That's
why the Doctor needed to know the *type of seizure before prescribing this
stuff. The Rectal version, by the way, is also Diazepam. There's a
difference in 'convenience of use' with the Aural version...  )
   After either, he will tend to want to sleep within about 20-30 minutes
of needing to use that.

   Those are relaxants, and can be habit forming, but at peak (for complex
partial ones I had),  I was only at 2-3 per month,  then as we got closer to
full medicine control that dropped to 1-2 per month, to one a quarter.  Last
one I used was more than 4 years ago and I don't expect to need another,
since I haven't needed a pill (mg.) medication change since 1996.
   That meant the difference between staying at a Social Dinner or
Barbeque, if that was (often) where my auras would start, or waking up in
Emergency -- another night ruined.  It was only prescribed after my 6th or
8th seizure and as risk of being seriously injured was evident, *plus I had
a strong enough Aura that I could tell at that point when a strong Complex
Partial seizure was building. (The last seizure I've had was June 1998. )
  G./