Yeah, I know...stroke, seizure, epilepsy, disorder, medicine, side effects,
loosing the ability to drive...it all sucks. Anyway, here is some more
information to be added to this topic. In The Netherlands we have a funny
story about the chicken and the egg...which one comes first??? hehehe :-)

There is a fine balance in the brain between factors that begin electrical
activity and factors that restrict it, and there are also systems that limit
the spread of electrical activity. During a seizure, these limits break
down, and abnormal electrical discharges can occur and spread to whole
groups of neighboring cells at once. This linkage of electrical discharges
creates a "storm" of electrical activity in the brain. This is a seizure.
When a person has had at least two of these seizures, that's called
epilepsy.
The reasons why epilepsy begins are different for people of different ages.
But what's true for every age is that the cause is unknown for about half of
everyone with epilepsy. Children may be born with a defect in the structure
of their brain, or they may suffer a head injury or infection that causes
their epilepsy. Severe head injury is the most common known cause in young
adults. In middle age, strokes, tumors, and injuries are more frequent. In
people over 65, stroke is the most common known cause, followed by
degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.
A stroke is a type of brain injury. Every stroke is different and people who
have strokes are affected in different ways, ranging in severity from
getting better within 24 hours, known as transient ischaemic attack (or TIA)
or mini-stroke, to a stroke which may cause severe damage. Symptoms depend
on the part of the brain that is affected. There are two main types of
stroke:
The most common type ('ischaemic' stroke) happens when blood vessels are
blocked by a clot or become too narrow for blood to get through to the
brain. The reduced blood flow causes brain cells in the area to die from
lack of oxygen.
In a 'haemorrhagic' stroke, the blood vessel is not blocked but it bursts
and blood leaks into the brain causing damage.
When a stroke happens, some brain cells are damaged and others die. Brain
cells which die cannot start working again. However, those just outside the
area of the dead cells may recover as the swelling caused by the stroke goes
down. Recovery can also occur as other parts of the brain take over from
areas that died.
Stroke affects people in different ways. Some people experience a few mild
effects which improve in a short time (sometimes only minutes or hours).
Others suffer many severe effects which last for months or even years. The
effects of your stroke will depend on the part of your brain that has been
injured or damaged, how bad the injury is and your general health at the
time of your stroke. Recovery can continue to occur for several years after
the stroke.