As I said in regard to myself, I went to psychiatrists for many years thinking
that they were the right kind of doctor to be treating the "feelings" that I
had. As a layperson, I had no way of knowing better. You & your parents are now
in the same situation. Let me repeat what I said before - See a Neurologist!

Those are probably what are called Complex Partial Seizures. You should NOT BE
DRIVING! You may kill somebody with your car during one of your seizures.  It's
happened many times with a condition like yours that is obviously not controlled
by your medications.

I'm sure your parents have acted in good faith. The doctors have let them down,
but it's not your parents' fault.

Finding the right medication is always a problem. We've all been through that
process. I've tried many meds that didn't help at all just like many others here
have.

That would be Neurontin, but you are seeeing the wrong doctor. How do I get you
to understand that you need to see a Neurologist?

I'm sure you have wonderful parents. There was just a brief misunderstanding
here.

You need to see a Neurologist! You should not be treated by a psychiatrist! I
sure wish that I could get that message across to you.

Bob

******************************************

****************************

**G. **  If your Psychiatrist is going to be Treating your Epilepsy, you
should be aware that he's not trained in Neurology, like  Bob said earlier.
  If you had had tests earlier (years ago? or when this started) like EEGs
and MRIs (if they were done back then), they would have identified or
eliminated if the Sensations or Experiences, you were having, were related
to damage which might produce one of the 4-6? main types of seizures.  Also
a Neuro Technician or Neurologist would probably have to interpret the Test
Results of these types of tests.

  As Bob said too, if you have untreated (UNCONTROLLED)  Seizures, you
shouldn't be driving.

  If Insurance companies find out that you caused an accident and HAD
**Uncontrolled Seizures, most jurisdictions your Insurance is Void, and you
could be On the Hook for $100,000+  if a 'Breadwinner' was Killed.  You also
wouldn't do the rest of us much Positive Press if that gets onto the Nightly
News or 'Larry King'.

 If you're going to insist having a Bridge Architect repair a Misfiring Car
Engine,  there's no point posting on a Car Maintenance Group.   (Strange
analogy -- apologies to the Porsches and Volkswagens on the Group!! :-<  )
G./

i feel like im

Hi Chris,

As others have already stated, you need to STOP driving.
The legal aspects of driving with seizures aside, trust me it's damned hard
to live with the knowledge that you've killed someone when you knew you
shouldn't have been driving in the first place. That happened to me about
six years ago. At first I couldn't function at all with the knowledge that a
man was dead because of my stupidity....I recently managed to stop crying
and only get very depressed about it now.

Fortunately it was only one man that I hit and not a crowded sidewalk. I
don't think I could have lived with that.

STOP DRIVING.

I know it's hard to stop and involves a lot of dependence on others for
transport, or on the public transport system, but there are FAR worse things
than that. And life does go on.

I'm not, (and neither are the others) trying to be hard or judgemental by
telling you this, just trying to give you the benefit of our knowledge and
keep you and others safe.

All the best to you Chris.

Darryl.

--
To reply, change daryl to darryl in address.

"It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye"
Quote: My Mum

*** Another thing I thought rereading above (you can Still use the Websites
I posted earlier), a sense of 'lost time' but where you remain conscious
(though 'away' for short periods), might be what are described under Simple
Partial Seizures (which include 'Absences').   Those can vary from brief
(seconds) to longer (5-10 minutes for example).  That's another reason why
those could cause problems with Driving, as well as other things which might
require attentiveness.
   Most of us, for example, use electric kettles that have an Auto-off
Feature, rather than the older style that boil until removed from the stove.
Lots of others also use a Microwave Oven to reheat dinners, or for general
cooking, rather than a stovetop method.  (Many of those safety features are
included under Julie's Idaho website I posted before, under the Tips and
Tricks part, that people have contributed to.)
  That site can be extremely useful, since it'll save you 'reinventing the
wheel' if your symptoms or condition is similar to people who have
contributed to that site.   There are many Safety and Seizures ideas, some
that you might not even have thought of if you're new to this diagnosis.
  I had a problem with short to medium-term memory, so had to develop a way
to make sure I took the pills I use on the schedule prescribed, *but didn't
take *2 doses by mistake, since Either could produce problems I didn't need.
  Others on the group like to swim.  (I swim like a stone!)   For them,
there's information on safety in the water, Plus First Aid for Seizures in
the water.

  Like I said earlier, if you are now prescribed Neurontin?  and didn't get
a writeup from your Pharmacist about possible side effects or conflicts, the
Medications Glossary has most of the common Anti-Ep Drugs (AEDs) listed with
a printable summary page.   (Tegretol, for example, that I use, can be
compromised by both Alcohol and Grapefruit Juice.  Someone not knowing that
could have 'breakthrough seizures'  (my word) and not realize it was a glass
of Grapefruit Juice they had with Breakfast that caused the problem.)
  With Most of the AEDs it's important to follow the schedule that your
Doctor has set for taking it.  Some of them (Tegretol for one) do strange
things if the Dosing rate is interrupted by forgetting some doses, OR by
taking 2 doses by mistake.   Those are the sort of information that's
available on the efa.org site and Julie or Dave's sites.
  Also, if they do Bloodwork to check for medication levels and you're not
using it at the rate the Doctor set, they might Increase your dose if your
Blood Levels are Low on a test, and then you'd end up taking more than the
target dose.   Either extreme can cause unnecessary loss of seizure control.
  Some other things I thought about when I reread your post.  (*I haven't
used Neurontin, but others around here have, if you have specific questions
or problems using it.  Often the Med. type will vary depending on the
Seizure type and which part of the Brain is active during a particular
seizure.   Each medication is designed to take the extremes off the 'spikes'
and stabilize whatever might be triggering the seizures.)

  I guess we'll wait until if they do an EEG etc.  Some people need more
than one, since the EEG only measures erratic electrical signals *if a
seizure happens during the test.  (They have things they do to try trigger a
minor one.)  If they're able to see any erratic electrical activity then
they can more specifically target the newer Meds. for the particular type.
Some people don't show anything, but most of us did the first time.  G./