Posted by Jason Chiu on 4/13/2009, 19:01:42
70.49.221.252
I have been having epilepsy since I was 10 years old and now I am 17 years old. I started having complex partial seizures when I was in Grade 5 and took four different medications to find the right one to control my epilepsy. Trileptal was the final working medication.
It was 4 years before my seizures were gone that my mom started to lower the dosage. After two years of nothing, my seizures returned in Grade 10. I am having simple partial seizures now. My mom started to increase the dosage, but it is no help. Right now, I am taking three 300 mg Trileptal in the morning, one and a half around six in the evening and two before sleeping.
Every time when I have seizures, it is always a deja vu. When I have seizures, weird things may happen. Sometimes when I am washing my face and a seizure occurs, the face washing liquid, which feels like rubbing lotion, starts to feel watery and slippery. Sometimes when I have a seizure, one of my eyes will wink or I may feel like barfing. Other times when I have seizures, I just feel motionless. I may have at least 3 seizures (rarely), 2 seizures (often), one seizure (sometimes), or none (rarely) daily.
The only thing that is different from my epileptic period (Grade 5 to Grade 8) and my recent epileptic period (Grade 10 to now) is knowing if I had a seizure. Since Grade 10, I know all about my seizures.
I have been trying to avoid seizure-causing activities since Grade 10. I do not watch TV anymore or play computer often. I am on my computer mostly, but it is for schoolwork or chatting with friends. My mom also thinks that talking on cellphones or holding applications with electricity such as remote control may also contribute to my seizures. My mom has been recording all my seizures and what might have cause them. Right now, I try to sleep as much as I can and usually I get up to at least 7 hours of sleep. During my most of my free time now, I will play sports or music. I will go biking, play tennis, play table tennis, do fitness in the basement and play piano. However, when I have to work, I am mainly in front of the computer, studying. When I study, I do not look at the computer though.
Right now, my family is trying to figure out what might be causing my seizures. Like I said in the last paragraph, my mom thinks that it is my being at the computer for a long time. My computer is actually the HP Compaq TC4400 Tablet laptop. I also used Logitech VX Revolution mouse and rarely used Logitech Fusion webcam. My mom thinks that my talking on the cellphone may contribute to my seizures. I rarely talk on the cellphone though, but there are some times that when I talk on a cellphone, I talk for a long time. Another likely cause is my lack of sleep. I do not think that it affects my epilepsy because there are some times when I do not sleep a lot, but that very next day, either I have one weak seizure or none at all. It seems that when I watch TV, that my seizures do occur. But those seizures actually occur on the next day.
I hope I gave enough information to help you answer some of my questions.
How come my seizures came back? How did it changed from complex partial to simple partial seizures? I did not have seizures for two full years and it just returns.
Is it normal to feel like barfing, or winking whenever I have these seizures?
How long should I be sleeping and be in front of a computer?
What other causes are there that might contribute to epilepsy? Is there anything I should avoid that I am doing now? I have also heard of photosensitive epilepsy. Do you think that it might be contributing to my seizures?
Is it because I may have develop immunity to Trileptal that I am having seizures now? If yes, should I go to the doctor to make sure? Will the doctor more likely ask my mom to increase the dosage or will he prescribe a different medication to either go with or not go with Trileptal?
Should I be seeing a pediatrician or a neurologist?
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