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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / October 2004Questions about swimming and stuff
Hello all, Hope you are all well. I have a tiny little question regarding some advices my neurologist gave me in February 2004 after diagnosing me with -as some of you already know, primary generalized epilepsy. Since I have been taking 1000 mg of Depakine Crono / Depakote ER / Depakene ER (brand names differ per country), I have not been suffering from any seizures / side effects which is excellent! So, here are the advices my neurologist gave me: 1) you cannot drive a motor driven vehicle by law (needs to be seizure free one year); 2) you can take a shower / you can sport but you cannot take a bath / you cannot swim WITHOUT supervision of an adult (no law but common sense needs to take into account) and 3) some other advices regarding "extreme" sports (what is extreme => again: common sense) which I did not do anyways, so I am ignoring this a little bit. I have taken that second advice seriously (the first one is by law so there is no way I am going to drive a motor driven vehicle). In February 2005 I am allowed to drive a motor vehicle again but does that mean I am allowed to take a bath / I am allowed to swim again WITHOUT supervision of an adult? I do not really care about taking a bath because I used to take showers before and after February 2004 -I am 1.92 meters so I do not really fit in a bathtube by the way...hehehe :-) Maybe my neurologist gave me the second advice regarding the swimming deal while I started taking the medication (call it a "trial-and-error-period") because at that time we all could not know if 1000 mg of Depakine Crono helped me to prevent any seizures from occuring which means I already am allowed to start swimming but I forgot to ask / she forgot to tell me? Swimming is important to me as I used to do that daily before my tonic clonic seizure in February 14, 2004 so I am anxious to start swimming again in February, 14, 2005. It is not only that I really enjoy swimming, it is also to prevent further damage to my muscles because of Repetitive Strain Injury issues I am dealing with (I work in computer related industry). Of course, I can swim already WITH supervision of an adult but I cannot ask someone to join me all the time /daily as these guys have other things to do as well! I do know and understand that primary generalized epilepsy and having a seizure whilst in a swimming pool can be a scarry / killing experience (I read in a Dutch newspaper that a person dealing with epilepsy was killed because of a seizure occuring and the people around him were too late), but how you do you guys deal with this? What do you think? For your information: 1) I am not going to swim in the sea without supervision of an adult after February 2005 as I do not think that this is save. An official swimming pool with loads of people swimming is more save of course though the article in that Dutch newspapers is a little bit scarry but the same applies when I start driving again and 2) my life style has been changed significantly since February 14, 2004 and I am not expecting to receive another seizure in future though no one can be certain about this (knockknock)  SignatureThanks. Marco The Netherlands PS: I am an adult myself (hehehe) :-) If you have Julie's Websites (or bookmarks of ones I've posted about 20x here this year), there's one for First Aid in Water if someone has a seizure. Someone posted here about a year ago that the problem with Seizures in water (for us) is if you have a seizure and drop under the water, you have a tendency to INHALE, so you suck the water into your Lungs. THAT is harder for someone doing CPR (CardioPulmonaryResusitation) to correct even if they were with you. If you swim alone and there's not even a Life Guard who's aware of your condition, they wouldn't notice if you had a seizure in water. If your seizures are controlled enough that you can drive they're probably good enough that you can swim alone. If not controlled, you should wear a medic alert bracelet so they can contact your family if you have a seizure in water. Extreme sports are probably Road Racing, Downhill Skiing, Sky Diving, Archery, or Darts :-< . G. > Hello all, > Hope you are all well. [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] > The Netherlands > PS: I am an adult myself (hehehe) :-) > Hello all, > [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > was killed because of a seizure occuring and the people around him were too > late), but how you do you guys deal with this? What do you think? I always play it safe. I don't think anyone with epilepsy, even if it is currently controlled, can assume they will NEVER have another seizure. I'm saying that because once I did get a bad batch of my medication (for some reason they didn't work) and didn't know it until I had symptoms. I think you need to know as much as you can what possible triggers you might have, if any. I went for a long time having good seizure control, and then I got sick and found out that, for me, running even a slightly elevated temperature for a prolonged period would cause seizures IN SPITE OF my medications which normally controlled everything. So, I just feel more comfortable trying to incorporate safety into every part of my life because you never know. High risk activities include anything where you could hurt yourself or someone else or damage property. You can probably modify or make safer a lot of activities though. My brother-in-law had to leave the welding field, but was able to work on a highline because he was harnessed. Now you have me thinking about the baths and swimming too. You know, all the pamphlets and brochures they give out to us patients, whether or not we are controlled, say the same things to avoid. You would think there must be some kind of safety devices that keep you from drowning, keep you afloat, if you have a seizure while swimming. Barb > For your information: 1) I am not going to swim in the sea without > supervision of an adult after February 2005 as I do not think that this is [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > PS: I am an adult myself (hehehe) :-) > For your information: 1) I am not going to swim in the sea without > supervision of an adult after February 2005 as I do not think that [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > 2004 and I am not expecting to receive another seizure in future > though no one can be certain about this (knockknock) Something that is not essential to your life is a good candiate for dropping. I havent been in a pool in years, especially since one of my grand mals was litterally within 30 seconds (or less) of getting out of a pool... scared me to no end that if it was just a bit sooner, I would have been a gonner. But to be fair this was my second or third episode, before I knew what was happening, so I wasnt on any meds. Howdy! It's a personal judgement call, but others may include: Full contact sports such as tackle football, soccer, lacrosse, hockey, rugby; Fencing; Some track & field (such as hurdles, javlin, hammer throw & poll vault); Sky diving; Some equestrian sports such as jumping or polo; Etc. As I said, it's a personal judgement call... Everybody must decide for themselves what falls under "personal safety" and what falls under "quality of life." My doc just said words to the effect of: "Use common sense" and "Avoid working at elavations, with open machinery and proximity to open flame or electricity." SignatureDave ???? http://www.howdydave.com > Hello all, > [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] > receive another seizure in future though no one can be certain about this > (knockknock) Howdy! re: MARTIAL ARTS -- Any martial arts instructor worth his/her salt is able to adapt the martial art to the student's limitation. If you want to practice martial arts (mine was Tae Kwon Do) and your instructor can not adapt the art to your limitations, FIND ONE WHO CAN!! SignatureDave ???? http://www.howdydave.com > Howdy! > [quoted text clipped - 83 lines] > > receive another seizure in future though no one can be certain about this > > (knockknock) > As I said, it's a personal judgement call... Everybody must decide for > themselves what falls under "personal safety" and what falls under > "quality > of life." Hurrah! Mary > > As I said, it's a personal judgement call... Everybody must decide for > > themselves what falls under "personal safety" and what falls under [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Mary Howdy Mary! Before you "Hurrah!" too much I feel that I must add: "Unless it is expressly forbidden by law!" SignatureDave ???? http://www.howdydave.com >> > As I said, it's a personal judgement call... Everybody must decide for >> > themselves what falls under "personal safety" and what falls under [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > "Unless it is expressly forbidden by law!" Bugger the law - when it's a matter of "personal safety" and what falls under "quality of life." Er - what is expressly forbidden by law? Mary
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