Absnece seizures

Hello,

I usually post on the fibro forum, but I have also been diagnosed with a type of epilepsy called absence seizures.  I know that this is highly unusual in adults, but I was wondering if anyone else here has had the same diagnosis.  It would be nice to there is someone else out there  who can relate to this problem. (Not that I hope anybody else is sick) Oh, you know what I mean.

Gentle hugs

Gamma

Hi Darren,

Thanks for the reply.  I know that absence seizures are quite common in children, teachers and parents often mistake it for daydreaming and they usually grow out of it.   My PCP and neuro said that it is very uncommon in adults, but then maybe they just haven't come across it too often.  I was diagnosed about 5 yrs. ago, seizure meds really didn't do much and didn't really agree with me.  It's hard to tell how often I have them, they can be only a few seconds or several minutes.  I could be having as many as 100 each day. Sometimes I am aware of them because they have lasted several minutes, or my husband will come in and find me having one, between this and the firbro fog life can be very disconcerting.  I have had to give up driving, sure don't want to have a seizure while at the wheel.  It's difficult to lose that last bit of independence, being in a wheelchair is limiting enough.

Thanks again.

Gentle hugs

Gamma

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter at only 17 is already in a wheelchair.  It must be tough to accept at that age.  Does she have your basic type hospital chair or is it a custom chair?  There is a wonderful magazine out there for those of us in chair called New Mobility.  It covers all types of subjects and products and helps you realize that there are a lot of people out there just like you.  It always has the latest products to make life easier or more fun.  You can go on line and check out some issues.

My fibro probably does have something to do with my needing a chair, but I also have osteoporsis and osteoarthritis.  I am 55, but when I was 27 i had a bad accident at the roller skating rink and damaged my right knee very badly.  I've had 2 surgeries on it, but the ortho said the main problem is that my knee joints don't fit together the way they should and so I fall alot.

My last MRI was probably about a yr. ago, I don't know how many I've had, too many to count.  I even had, I think it's called an EEG, where they hook all those things to your scalp.  I even had to fall asleep during the test to see what would happen.  All the tests showed nothing significant, and yet I still have the absence seizures.  Sometimes I know when I've had one but most of the time I don't.  Sometimes my husband will tell me, because he has walked into the room and found me sitting there, maybe with my arm up because I was reaching for something, looking like a frozen statue.  Needless to say, I haven't driven since finding this out and last yr. finally gave up and surrendered my liscence.  Most of the anti-seizure drugs either didn't work or had the nasty side effect of causing me to gain weight.  So I just do without.

Hi Hooty,

Sorry to hear about your wife.  I am 55 and know how disorienting it can be.  I have read that you can have as many as 100 petit mals in a day, because some of them can be so quick, just a few seconds, so you don't even realize you've had one.  It must be awful to get them so bad that she even gets a headache, the seizures are bad enough.  I tried Topamax twice, but it didn't do me any good.  Neurontin seemed to help, but it caused me to gain so much weight that I had to stop taking it.  Withdrawal from that was just horrible.  You could be right, I do think it is possible to build up an imunity to drugs you have taken for a long period of time.  Good Luck.

my 2 year old son has these the docs have also told me that it is unusually for a child his age to have em. children usually get these at about 5 but bailey started earlier. take care hun and look forward to speaking to you soon

Hi there, im new to this board, my wife found it (she has ibs, endo, and epi) and im an epileptic(marriage made in heaven). I suffer from clonic tonic, myoclonic, and petit(blankstairs). as for your case, ie the blank stairs mine are really quick, ie half a second or so, but i have hundreds a day so i dont even notice them, but when im at neuro, i light up like a xmas tree. for years they thought i just stuttered or was thinking, and i didnt really no anybetter. but when i get into a mode for having a clonic tonic, my petit and myloconic go into overdrive. I feel for you and completely understand. I make light of my condition, and me and my license are on an on/off again releationship but we have to learn to change life styles, find triggers and smile when we cant :) good luck and my prayers are with you

Reason for edit:

 

Please see rule #3 (https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=46&m=106997) We dont allow people to flame (post insulting comments) about other people regardless of whether they are members or not. Darren

Post Edited By Moderator (djdaz_1985) : 4/12/2008 4:36:04 AM (GMT-6)