greetings, everyone -- I wanted to tell my story here where I am really happy to be a part of a larger community!
I believe my seizures really were triggered through and by an illness that I contracted several years earlier .... This all began a number of years ago, in my late twenties (I'm now in my late fifties).
One day I came down with a cold that seemed to drift down into my nerves and muscles, thereby making them kind of numb. I could still function fine -- even my mind seemed as sharp (or dull!) as ever -- but admittedly my feelings seemed much reduced and kind of cutoff. Oh well, I just kind of went through life like that, but it was weird and very, very frustrating. I could have done more to seek medical help, but I just didn't think there was any solution .....
I have learned since that what happened to me is described under the umbrella term, GUILLAIN BARRE SYNDROME.
At any rate, I kind of drifted on like this, went to school and even worked some. But about four or five years after coming down with this, all of a sudden my brain started to go on the fritz, and for about six months I was pretty loose in terms of remembering things day to day, and then I started having seizures. It took me a while to seek help for them, as I thought they were as unique as my illness. But finally I did get diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy and started on tegretol. I was pretty controled at first, but the seizures came back, and really I can't say I've been under control for a number of years now. I've settled down into a rhythm of complex partial seizures pretty regularly every week to ten days. (I now also take gabapentin.)
It's OK when I have them at home which is most of the time; not so good when I have them on the subway!!
The good news is that the numbness in my muscles and nerves has dissipated with time -- though it's been a long struggle and to me it's clearly been a kind of viral illness - the Guillain Barre Syndrome. If you read about it, people often get over it.
But I don't ever expect to get over the seizures. It's possible, but I doubt it.
Anyway, it's very exciting for me to share my story with you here. I'm sure it's no more interesting than all of your stories, but I am interested to see whether anyone can relate to the link between the syndrome and the seizures
which is so clear in my mind. I could just really feel kind of feel the numbness in my muscles and nerves go up my cerebral cortex into my brain and lodge itself there ......