Next time, decide sooner.  I just spent half an hour composing the reply
that just went up ahead of  this !  :-<  G./

In UK too.

Yes, it can seem at first that things ren't changing or even getting worse
but it's important to persevere - if yu've been prescribed them.

Mary

hey barb,

call me rookie ;-).
well, yeah, i'm just trying to find out which triggers provoke which kind
of seizure. i guess, i found out something about the absence seizures:
most of the time they occur in the mornings and in the evenings and - is
it possible that *boredom* is a trigger?! it seems so.
i also found out that it is especially in the mornings, that there is one
absence coming after the other, like a series. at some days i don't really
wake up, it feels.

as for the other stuff - i'm working on it.
simple partials - i can't say when or why. my arm simply starts shaking. i
couldn't find no trigger so far, 'cos it happens in all possible
situations, they don't really have something in common.
the gran mals - hmpf. here one seizure doesn't even look like the other.
sometimes there is an aura, sometimes there isn't. sometimes it starts
with a simple partial, seometimes it doesn't. sometimes i skip the clonic
phase, sometimes i don't. and sometimes, which is worst, there are 3 or 4
seizures following each other...
and the falling attacks? they just happen. i asked my my friends to pay
attention on possible triggerns, in case they're around me an something
happens. i not very good in noticing this kind of stuff. though i don't
seem to have a prob with photosensibility.
looks like i have a large and indeed very suprising reportoire of
entertainment ;-)

yeah ... they gave me some for my "chronical headache", as they call it.
amitryplilin is used for this kind of stuff. though is is a lower dose
than you take it to fight depression.
i stopped taking the stuff after two weeks.
i don't have much memory of these two weeks. though i know, i couldm't
talk right, i couldn`t walk right. i couln't think, i could't do simple
things like doing the laundry etc. my prof asked me if i had a drug
problem. well i din't do well with this "low dose".
i know, two weeks isn't long. but the price was just a "bit" too high. not
that it worked against the headaches. but that's alright, because you've
got to take it for about four weeks until there might be some success...
no thanks. it's a choice between scylla and charybdis.
there'll be some other way.

no way. i'm sort of a private person when it comes to this.
it's making me quite afraid how much i'm talking here.

thx for the advise
yours Raist

 >
 >
 > wrote:
 > > hello, it's me again.
 > >
 > > don't get me wrong. i'm none of these persons enjoying their diseases,
 > > doing nothing but talk about them all the time.
 > >
 > > it's the other way around. i don't know, whom to tell.
 > >
 > > it's the first time in my life i meet a prob I can't handle on my own.
 > > you may find it laughable. but i do have a real problem with it. think i'm
 > > whiny, that's perfectly alright. because i am. and i hate it.
 >
 > It's okay to whine here.
 >
 > >
 > > right now, life seems turned upside down. i mean, i can't go to the
 > > supermarket or to my lectures without anything happen. no, don't get up,
 > > asking myself, if anything will happen during the day. it's more that i
 > > think "no incidents today." well, most of the times i'm wrong. and this is
 > > really pissing me.
 >
 > > hell, i have a future! wanted to write my dissertation, wanted work at the
 > > university - how can do this with the meds slowing down my thoughts,
 > > making it impossible to concentrate for more than 30 minutes at best? how
 > > can anyone take me seriously with that bloody seizures coming and going as
 > > they want?
 >
 > It sort of sounds like you're fairly new to the epilepsy game.  First,
 > you need to keep a daily log of things in your life that could provoke a
 > seizure.  You know, the possible triggers.  The only reason to bring
 > this up is stores and schools have florescent lights, which can bother
 > some people with photosensitivity.  The thing with photosensitivity is
 > the trigger may not provoke an immediate seizure.  It's almost like at
 > times the trigger has to accumulate, build up to a certain point, before
 > it provokes a seizure.  The percentage of people with photosensitivity
 > is low, but we still have to consider it.  Also try wearing polarized
 > sunglasses in the store and during lectures to see if that helps prevent
 > seizures.
 >
 > As far as lectures go, see your student services person or the school
 > representative who works on behalf of disabled students because you may
 > be able to audio record the lectures or they may have other options to
 > help you.  Epilepsy is considered a disability and schools have to
 > accommodate to meet your needs (at least in the US).
 >
 > The concentration issue is a tough one.  That was a real problem for me,
 > but it improved (although it seemed to take forever).  The one thing
 > that improved my ability to concentrate/focus/pay attention was taking
 > antidepressants.  The two other things that helped were taking a class
 > that offered a variety of learning tools and anticonvulsants.  I've been
 > taking an SSRI-type antidepressant for less than three years and, boy,
 > it has made a big, big difference in a lot of things; things that I
 > didn't even know were being affected so much.  It took about seven
 > months in total before the last improvement was noted, so a person
 > really has to stick to the antidepressants for a longgg time in some cases.
 >
 > >
 > > i won't get rid of the seizures, the neuro says. maybe they can decrease
 > > their number, she says, but it's not likely they can stop them. thanks a
 > > lot. up to now, the meds don't work.
 >
 > The neuro can't say that for certain.  If you haven't been on meds for
 > long, they may have to make adjustments by changing the dose or using
 > different meds if it isn't helping.  It took almost a year for them to
 > find the right dose level for myself, so hang in there.
 >
 > >
 > > and what do the people around me do? i can smell their pity, but they
 > > don't understand even a single thing of it. i don't even want to see
 > > anyone no more. see what an idiot i've become.
 > >
 > > but - i'm not going to show anyone. i'll seem as as cool as i ever was.
 > > knowing, that nobody around me understands the way i feel, not wanting
 > > anybody to know. if they knew, it would only cause more pity, more sorrow.
 > > thanks a lot. I neither want that, nor do i need that.
 > >
 > > i don't know why i'm writing this.
 > > i just wanted to tell.
 >
 > There are a lot of social/economic/educational issues around epilepsy
 > that can be a problem.  Some of this stuff a person will get over.
 > Other people sometimes just aren't mature enough to accept this as just
 > another thing that happens to people.
 >
 > I do think you need to talk to your doctor about your feelings (and
 > that's what is board is for also).  You know, depression and mood
 > disorders are much more common in people with certain types of seizure
 > disorders (possibilty related to meds, just part of the electrochemistry
 > of the brain directly due to the epilepsy disorder, etc.).
 >
 > Barb
 >
 > >
 > > thanks for listening
 > > yours
 > > Raist
 > >
 >
 Hi Raist,
 The above is great advice - sounds like the lady has been there and done it all - heed her words, particularly about telling your of your feelings?
 You DON'T need depression on top of the ep. It would just compound it and make things worse! Do NOT feel inferior! You are not!
 You just have something no one else really bothers to try to understand! No! I am being unfair. By nature people generally want to assist you; if you do not want this, you must let them know there is nothing they can do for you when you have a seizure, save keep you out of danger
 Please do try talking to someone or you will be the one who suffers because of any lack of understanding.
 And never apologise for honest remarks in here; we all suffer a similar disability and need to let off steam from time to time, ok?
 All the best,
                   Rich.

hey dave,

thx for your advice.
i've already started workin' with a bulletin board and it works out fine.
it's not really a the memory thing i have to do something about. it's more
about learning again to stay focused.
half a year ago i could take a book and read about 100 - 400 pages. no
prob.
now concentration sucks, i don't even make 2 or 3 pages ... too nervous
for it, you know.
right, i know, let's forget about what was and take a look at what is ;-)

yours
Raist