If I cut and pasted this O.K., below is an older post I did that listed some
of our Prime Sites (except for Howdy Dave's that are listed at end of any of
his posts, when he's around, or someone might have it too).
  It's like a 'book report' on some of the seizure Information sites.  If
your brother gets anything prescribed, there's a Medications Glossary within
the EFA dot Org site (Ep. Foundation of America) that describes how to use
various pills, side effects and whether they're something to contact a Dr.
about, and types of seizures they work for.

   Check the first? of Julie's Idaho sites.   There's 2 (now) First Aid for
Seizures Charts you could print (Second one is for First Aid in water).  The
First one tells what to do, but ALSO gives a good description of what the
Outward Appearances or Behaviours are for each seizure type, and Feelings a
person might have while 'inside one'.

   Look at the descriptions for Complex Partial (older name some sites is
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy), OR Grand Mal.
   Some of what you describe sound like MINE!!  (before I was controlled),
i.e. the C.P. seizure type.

   Dilantin is often prescribed first for that (or some other types) as
it's one of the older medications (1930s?) so more studied and if it works
for people is also the cheapest since the Research and Development costs
have been recovered long ago.    Some of what you described sounded somewhat
like the Aura of a Complex Partial, but look at the others anyway.   All
those sites, plus Dave Naess' one are worth putting on Favourites or
Bookmarks so you can go look at them whenever you want.
  (Several of the Medications-- I don't remember if Dilantin is one, depend
on taking a Fixed Dose each day 1-2x, at a fixed rate.   Interrupting the
schedule by stopping some, like my Tegretol, can produce a Withdrawal
effect, or what I used to call 'recoil seizures', where I'd get worse
seizures than if I hadn't forgot a dose. )

 Julie Walton posts frequently (when she has time), and is the Webmaster of
the Idaho Site referenced here.

 There's also a Tips and Tricks section some of us have contributed to with
ideas to make Living with Epilepsy Easier (e.g. in my case- remembering if I
took my AM pills yet, or forgot, so I don't accidentally take 2 doses, or
miss one).

  I used to also get the 'Brain Fog' you mention.  Sometimes it was part of
an Aura that might mean I could have a seizure (before I was controlled),
and sometimes it came as we increased doses until I got to a stable level
that worked. But the Fog, looking back, was better than the number of times
I woke up on a Floor or in Emerg.  :-<

   Try these Sites  -->   G.R.
**************** below (above your post) is from my older post -->

I did a couple of posts over last ~3 days where I referred a few people to
'the Idaho First Aid Chart' or 'Idaho Website' without seeing it up on any
posts I have right now in my charts.

 So for anyone who hasn't seen these already -->
The General Site that Julie operates for Epilepsy Idaho group is at:
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org .

The 'First Aid chart' I frequently refer to can be located by entering and
wandering about site above, but can be reached direct at
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org/seizure.htm  .
 There's a Second topic added about 4? months ago that goes more into First
Aid in Water, on Aircraft, etc.  It's at
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org/seizure2.htm  .

 Also accessible from top site, but more detail on Learning about Epilepsy
can be found at http://www.epilepsyidaho/learn.htm   .  That one has quite a
few more links, information on kids newly diagnosed? (I think) and general
questions that others might ask, or those newly diagnosed.

  If there's no link there to a Medications Glossary, the Ep. Foundation of
America has one (of several)  within http://efa.org   .        G./

Hi Lialoni and brother, please see my comments below -- Julie

When this happens again ask him if he is feeling different.  Sometimes we get
a funny feeling in our stomach.  Kind of a scary feeling.  Or we may just feel
tired.  I don't drive when I don't feel well, even though I've been seizure
free for so long and I take medication daily.  I know, especially because of
the stress I'm under, that I could have a seizure at any time.

I have an aura before I have a tonic clonic (grand mal) seizure.  I was just
telling my husband this story the other day.  It was over 25 years ago, I was
pregnant with our first child.  It was extremely hot and I walked a few blocks
to a drug store.  I was in the checkout line when I started to feel strange.
I told the checkout girl my problem and she wanted to take me to the back room
to lay down.  I told her I needed to lay down right away.  So I did.  Right on
the floor in the checkout line.  People were wondering what in the world was
going on with this pregnant lady on the floor ;-)  Anyway it worked, I didn't
have a seizure.  I finally got up went to the back room to lay down and got a
drink and eventually went home - rather proud of myself for handling things
the way I did.

Sometimes we do that - refuse to go to the hospital - it does cost money.  If
there were no injuries, no need to go to the hospital, unless this is
something new - never had seizures before.  If he hit his head there could be
a problem.

Probably a good idea to get a bracelet.  I had one and lost it, so I need to
get another ID bracelet.

I go completely unconscious when I have a topic clonic seizure.  It is a very
scary feeling, kind of like fainting - but worse.  After the seizure I slowly
come out of unconsciousness.  My senses come back slowly.  So it can be
confusing, you hear people talking but you can't respond yet.  That can be
frustrating.  I need to sleep for a day or two after a seizure, and I ache so
bad.  It can take a couple weeks before I feel like myself.

Yes it is terrifying, you feel horrible and you have no control.  You are
trying to wake up and it takes time.  You start to hear a gushing noise in
your head and people talking, you try to speak and you can't, you try to move
and it hurts.

You are doing exactly the right thing.  My husband used to yell at me after a
seizure trying to get me to wake up.  This was really frustrating to me,
because I couldn't communicate.  So he knows now to talk to me in a calm
voice.

I recommend you discuss seizure safety with his boss.  Pinning him down could
actually hurt your brother.  When we jerk our muscles are going back and
forth.  If someone holds us down it can do damage.  Something soft under the
head and pushing things away from him while he is seizing is the thing to do.
I think people get misinformed about how to handle seizures because of some of
the stuff they see on TV.

That is why he is having seizures every couple months.  Wouldn't he feel
better if he could have a seizure every blue moon?  It does affect your brain
when you have a seizure.  There are new meds out now.  I would encourage your
brother to see a doctor who will work with him to get his seizures under
control.  If Dilantin wasn't a good drug for him, then NO to Dilantin, but
there are other choices.

YES.  Several years ago I started to have more than the usual amount of
seizures (for me).  So I went to a neurologist who gave me another EEG and an
MRI.  (Just in case things had changed in my case - there was no change - I
have epilepsy, we don't know why - but at least I knew there was not a
tumor).  We started on a new drug therapy, I felt terrible.  But because I
kept in touch with my doctor about how I was doing I felt like things would
get better.  He slowly took me off that drug and put me on another drug.  I
couldn't tolerate that drug at all, had an immediate bad reaction and ended up
in the emergency room for a shot to stop the side effect.  Then the doctor put
me back on the old drug I had originally taken, but continued to work with me
until it was at a therapeutic level.  I  still have my bad days when I know I
have to listen to my body, but I feel like we are coping with my seizure
disorder and instead of feeling that I had wasted my time trying the new meds
I understand that we were doing what we needed to get my seizures under
control and I'm glad I went to the neurologist.

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

I'm glad we didn't scare you off.

Sure.  That's what we're here for.

You know, I worked at a sheltered workshop for quite a few years.  We would
often call the ambulance for clients who seemed to have bad seizures or
injuries (always head injuries for some reason).  They told us to stop calling
them for every seizure or injury.  It's hard to know if the other staff
over-reacted especially when they saw lots of blood.  Anyway the staff learned
how use better judgment (we had in-service training for some of that) ,and if
a person needed a few stitches, one of the staff members drove them to the
local clinic.  Our ambulance and fire department is all volunteer and they
charge a fee per run.

That's normal to want to sleep.  Even with the simple partial seizures and
complex partial seizures like I have had, there is a great need to sleep after
a seizure.  This isn't a 'normal' need to sleep like when you're tired at the
end of the day.  It's much more intense.

Hey, there are a whole bunch of other medications available other than
Dilantin.  Your brother could be having a problem with denial, which happens
to a lot of people, including myself, and it can be pretty subtle stuff.
Denial is really tricky and can include things like not following doctor's
instructions, forgetting to take medications, failing to get refills, and all
sort of goofy things.

Yeah, the EEG's are problematic because they aren't going to catch abnormal
brain waves for most people unless the person is having seizures at the time
the EEG is done.  Most people, even those with epilepsy, will have normal
brain waves when they're not seizing.

Sometimes I would force a seizure (I have photosensitivity so just playing
cards on the computer would force a seizure) just to get it over with.  Having
a seizure is kind of like throwing up.  You feel much better right after you
throw up, but then after a little while the nausea comes back (in my case it
was because I wasn't done having seizures).

Well, he could be one of the lucky ones who gets good control with
medications.  And because there are so many medications out there, if the
first one doesn't work, there are always others to try.  I'm telling ya,
without medications I would be a basket case.  Without the medications I would
not be able to function fully, be productive (work), feel safer, feel more
comfotable in general because the symptoms or seizures are not pleasant, and
so on.  I don't think it is fair to yourself (talking about your brother), to
family, friends, co-workers, etc. to not at least try to control the seizures
if they affect any part of your daily life.  I know some people think having
seizures is okay, even folks with epilepsy, but I do not for a lot of
reasons.  I know some people worry about the side effects of meds, and I've
got to admit to having had a couple of gum surgeries because of my meds, but
that is such a minimal event to me if I can function well and safely every
day.  If medication works, it can get rid of the patient's fear (or lessen
it), give you the freedom to do things you wouldn't dare do before, can return
your rights (like driving), and so on.  You can fit in a little better
socially if you aren't having seizures in front of everyone all the time.  I
think we also have a responsibility to not shove off care taking onto somebody
else if we decide not to try to help ourselves; it's not fair to other
people.  Just my opinion.

Barb