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chopchop 0
Wow! Thanks everyone. It does seem that alcohol contributes although she did not drink yesterday and very little on Sunday. Also, they were consistently late at night and now all of a sudden, they are in the evening. The reason we have more sudden concern is that they came 24 hours apart at an unusual time and the after-effects were new to us. Also, they came on quicker (less warning) than previously. We have never considered the possibility of one without warning and will definitely be discussing this.
chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..
Lotsa Pictures
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..
Lotsa Pictures
hooked 0
QuoteQuoteShe does get a short warning before a seizure comes on which gives her enough time to pull her car over, get out of the hot tub or get to a safe place which is why it seems okay for her to drive right now.
I know how important it is to be able to drive, especially in California.. but what would happen if she had one without the warning while driving?
Get her to the doctor - regardless and NOW. This isn't anything to screw around with. Only a doctor can tell her if it's epilepsy or some other possibly more dire neurological problem. Epilepsy can be controlled with meds, but she can't get the meds if she doesn't go to a doctor.
What she said!!!! I wouldn't delay getting her to see a doctor. Why take a chance of something more serious happening.
J
--------------------------------------
Sometimes we're just being Humans.....But we're always Human Beings.
mailin 0
I am very familiar with epilepsy - before I was diagnosed with my heart condition they thought I had epilepsy (this was 6 years ago)... so they put me on epileptic medication, which when taken by people who don't have epilepsy or in large amounts can cause seizures - ask any dr., this is true. (I haven't had one since I took myself off the medication more than 4 years ago and am now told I never had epilepsy).
Unfortunately my dr. took away my driving privilege immediately. Most states have a '6 month rule' - you have a seizure you loss your privilege to drive for 6 months following it. I never drove during the time and am very glad I didn't as I sometimes had warning, but then started to get no warning at all. She needs to be careful, as the chances of her hurting someone are VERY VERY high. The medication takes approximately 5 months to adjust to, then you regain 'normal function'. Its much better than going without as the longer you go without medication the better the chances of the seizures causing more electrical pathways in the brain thus causing larger, more dangerous seizures.
Please please please please please get help - your hurting yourself by not.
Jennifer
Unfortunately my dr. took away my driving privilege immediately. Most states have a '6 month rule' - you have a seizure you loss your privilege to drive for 6 months following it. I never drove during the time and am very glad I didn't as I sometimes had warning, but then started to get no warning at all. She needs to be careful, as the chances of her hurting someone are VERY VERY high. The medication takes approximately 5 months to adjust to, then you regain 'normal function'. Its much better than going without as the longer you go without medication the better the chances of the seizures causing more electrical pathways in the brain thus causing larger, more dangerous seizures.
Please please please please please get help - your hurting yourself by not.
Jennifer
Arianna Frances
billvon 2,405
>She does not want to go to a doctor because she is afraid of losing her driving priviledges.
My mother continued to try to drive through chemotherapy, which didn't even cause seizures, just some tiredness and confusion. She came to facing the wrong way on a highway with the car stopped and skid marks in front of her. She wasn't injured (fortunately) but it could have been a _lot_ worse.
I can understand not wanting to lose the ability to drive even temporarily, but it may be a matter of her safety and/or survival to not drive until after she sorts out this problem.
> She does get a short warning before a seizure comes on . . .
I'd hate to bet her life on always gettting 30 seconds warning. A doctor is going to be the best one to determine whether it's safe for her to continue driving.
My mother continued to try to drive through chemotherapy, which didn't even cause seizures, just some tiredness and confusion. She came to facing the wrong way on a highway with the car stopped and skid marks in front of her. She wasn't injured (fortunately) but it could have been a _lot_ worse.
I can understand not wanting to lose the ability to drive even temporarily, but it may be a matter of her safety and/or survival to not drive until after she sorts out this problem.
> She does get a short warning before a seizure comes on . . .
I'd hate to bet her life on always gettting 30 seconds warning. A doctor is going to be the best one to determine whether it's safe for her to continue driving.
I do home health care with a little boy that has seizures. I actually went through a training program a week ago about them. please feel free to PM if u like i will be more than willing to give u any advice or info u need.
TheAnvil 0
Dude, I agree w/Rosa, BillVon, and several others on this. She needs to see a doc and do so in the immediate future. The potential danger to herself and others is substantial with things such as this.
Garycal 0
My wife has had epilepsy for the last 36 years. You need to talk to a DR. We will be in Hollister Sat. maybe we can give you some input.From what i have read you need to get things. Gotta go ill get back to you Gary
Roy you haven't mentioned service dogs on here and I just wondered if either of you knew anything about them...
I have a friend that has seizures (not epileptic, but I can't recall the name..). She has a dog that is trained to sense when she is about to seize; he licks her hand so she can sit down before it comes on. A dog may be a tremendous asset to Lany (sp? sorry)...I just know that my friend's dog is just invaluable to her.
I have a friend that has seizures (not epileptic, but I can't recall the name..). She has a dog that is trained to sense when she is about to seize; he licks her hand so she can sit down before it comes on. A dog may be a tremendous asset to Lany (sp? sorry)...I just know that my friend's dog is just invaluable to her.
~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.
rmsmith 1
In addition to locating a medical specialist, you should get yourself First Aid certified ASAP. Plaything needs to start doing things like cutting her food into smaller pieces to prevent choking and removing things around the house that would cause puncture injury if she fell upon them. I'd also investigate Social Security benefits too.
This is Mrs. Chad.
First, Epilepsy and seizure disorders are two different things. I have a seizure disorder, I do not have epilepsy. I also am a doc, eye doc, but specialize in working with blind people, so know what it means to pull a drivers' license away from someone, and also know what it means to have a drivers' license taken away from me.
If she has already made the decision to not skydive because she feels that her seizures would make her unsafe to do so, what makes her think that driving is any safer to do while under the influence of seizures? At least temporarily, driving has to stop.
Every seizure she has damages her brain. Brain tissue can not be grown back or brought back to life once it is affected. Every seizure sets up certain neurological patterns, these patterns make it more likely for future seizures to occur, and for those seizures to become progressively worse. Bottom line is sooner or later you'll be with a vegetable, not the person you care for now. She won't be able to work at all, much less drive herself to get there. This may not happen tomorrow, or next month, but over months to years, this is what can occur when seizures are going on uncontrolled.
Most people who have seizures do have an 'aura' before hand that warns them, but during that aura, brain isn't quite firing on all thrusters normally either. Visual perception is off, judgement is off, even that is a dangerous time to drive. She will hurt/kill herself or someone else if she keeps driving like this.
Seizures can be controlled by meds, there are a ton of meds out there, different meds for different seizure types, different parts of the brain. She will have to see a neurologist, get an electroencephalograph done which is usually done sleep deprived. It's easy, you just lay there with wires pasted to your head and close your eyes and vege out for a while. No big deal. She'll have an MRI to rule out any tumor or aneurism or other problem that is linked to the seizure disorder (they did find a brain lesion/tumor/scar thing that may be related to mine... scary as hell to know there's something in my head and not know what it is, but better to keep an eye on it every so often than drop dead and never know there was a fixable problem).
After the workup, they'll give meds. Currently I'm on dilantin, but I'm switching over to a new one, Lamectil. I've also been on Carbatrol. They all work differently. All have different side effects. Mine have been virtually non existant, nothing I can't live with and better than having a seizure. I am switching because dilantin is teratogenic and I want kids someday. Lamectil isn't teratogenic.
She needs help and needs it now. Honestly, I think you would be just as much at fault if she hurts herself or someone else while driving or if she progressively gets worse because you don't get professional medical care for her. Call an ambulance or take her to the ER, don't have sex with someone who can't talk or has transient blindness. If you truly care about her, get her the help that she needs instead of trying to do this yourself, take this seriously.
Losing a license is a temporary pain in the ass. Losing yourself, your life, your brain, your health, that's permanent.
Jen Galbraith OD, MS
Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.
Pelt Head #3
First, Epilepsy and seizure disorders are two different things. I have a seizure disorder, I do not have epilepsy. I also am a doc, eye doc, but specialize in working with blind people, so know what it means to pull a drivers' license away from someone, and also know what it means to have a drivers' license taken away from me.
If she has already made the decision to not skydive because she feels that her seizures would make her unsafe to do so, what makes her think that driving is any safer to do while under the influence of seizures? At least temporarily, driving has to stop.
Every seizure she has damages her brain. Brain tissue can not be grown back or brought back to life once it is affected. Every seizure sets up certain neurological patterns, these patterns make it more likely for future seizures to occur, and for those seizures to become progressively worse. Bottom line is sooner or later you'll be with a vegetable, not the person you care for now. She won't be able to work at all, much less drive herself to get there. This may not happen tomorrow, or next month, but over months to years, this is what can occur when seizures are going on uncontrolled.
Most people who have seizures do have an 'aura' before hand that warns them, but during that aura, brain isn't quite firing on all thrusters normally either. Visual perception is off, judgement is off, even that is a dangerous time to drive. She will hurt/kill herself or someone else if she keeps driving like this.
Seizures can be controlled by meds, there are a ton of meds out there, different meds for different seizure types, different parts of the brain. She will have to see a neurologist, get an electroencephalograph done which is usually done sleep deprived. It's easy, you just lay there with wires pasted to your head and close your eyes and vege out for a while. No big deal. She'll have an MRI to rule out any tumor or aneurism or other problem that is linked to the seizure disorder (they did find a brain lesion/tumor/scar thing that may be related to mine... scary as hell to know there's something in my head and not know what it is, but better to keep an eye on it every so often than drop dead and never know there was a fixable problem).
After the workup, they'll give meds. Currently I'm on dilantin, but I'm switching over to a new one, Lamectil. I've also been on Carbatrol. They all work differently. All have different side effects. Mine have been virtually non existant, nothing I can't live with and better than having a seizure. I am switching because dilantin is teratogenic and I want kids someday. Lamectil isn't teratogenic.
She needs help and needs it now. Honestly, I think you would be just as much at fault if she hurts herself or someone else while driving or if she progressively gets worse because you don't get professional medical care for her. Call an ambulance or take her to the ER, don't have sex with someone who can't talk or has transient blindness. If you truly care about her, get her the help that she needs instead of trying to do this yourself, take this seriously.
Losing a license is a temporary pain in the ass. Losing yourself, your life, your brain, your health, that's permanent.
Jen Galbraith OD, MS
Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.
Pelt Head #3
QuoteI had a friend that found booze made them worse. If this continues, there is probably a good chance she will have to be alcohol free.
Alcohol will absolutely undo any good that anti-seizure meds do. My ex-roommate (now a policeman in Gwinnet, GA) had a few in the army and was put on meds. He continued to drink for a while even though he was warned against it (and continued to seize as a result), but never once seized since stopping drinking.
As to the "what happens if she seizes while driving" question, I can answer that one too. Unbelievably, I know two people who were killed when seizing drivers lost control of their vehicles and ran off the road and over helpless bystanders. This is a veryserious topic to me. One of my best friends was killed when an older driver in a full-grown Cadillac ran right through the fence of a construction site in Manhattan and smashed him between the car and the blade of a Cat bulldozer. The car was going so fast it broke the blade off the bulldozer.
Chuck
DOCTOR. NOW.
nuff said.
nuff said.
Unstable 8
RoysPlaything. Doctor. Now.
Screw the driving privledges, if she loses them, it's for a dang good reason. If not for herself, for the thousands of other motorists on the road.
Screw the driving privledges, if she loses them, it's for a dang good reason. If not for herself, for the thousands of other motorists on the road.
=========Shaun ==========
Blahr 0
Has she been diagnosed as epileptic?
If not, please keep in mind that all seizures are not caused by epilepsy. This could be something entirely different and she should see a qualified doctor or neurologist immediately.
What good trying to preserve driving privelages if doing so puts her life (and others) at risk?
If not, please keep in mind that all seizures are not caused by epilepsy. This could be something entirely different and she should see a qualified doctor or neurologist immediately.
What good trying to preserve driving privelages if doing so puts her life (and others) at risk?
~R+R
Fly the friendly skies...^_^...})ii({...^_~...
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