Hi Sara,

I went through status sz. (seizures) when I was put on neurontin for a concussion. Then I later found out that neurontin can cause sz. for some people and that the drug co. making the drug ended up with $240 million in lawsuits. Once I went off the drug the status sz. stopped.

The main thing that can cause epilepsy. are: difficulty at birth, brain injury, lack of oxygen, drug or alcohol abuse, brain tumors, family genetics,trauma or a bad scare. Also MS (mulitple scoloris) sp? and other neurology disorder can lead to sz. as well as diabetes that isn't under control.

I'm sorry to hear about your and your ex my parents were together for almost 42 yrs. and they got a divorce which led to a lot of stress for me and that in turn triggered sz. (seizures) which caused more brain damage.

Depression is all a part of having epilepsy sometimes people want to end their life and that's part of the depression as well as the sz. med they are taking that's causing this. Often a person will have short term memory problems and that's because the hippocampus has shrunk and gotten harder from yrs. of having sz. When I had my last brain surgery the Dr. removed my right hippocampus because it was very hard and damaged from yrs. of sz.
Sz. med can cause weight loss when I was taking Depakene I lost 75 lbs. in 4 months. The drug can cause anorexia where a person either wants to eat or doesn't feel like eating. I take the drug Diamox, and that drug curbs my appetite now. I also take mysoline and vimpat.

You might want to try the ketogenic diet this diet is for people with epilepsy the diet builds up ketones in a persons system and this helps reduce or stop sz. You can see a dietician about this diet and get the book titled "The Epilepsy Diet Treatment" By Dr. John Freeman. The diet is high in fat but low in carbs and starch foods. It has been a big help to me along with taking vitamin B12 once a day. Stay away from nutra sweet because this can trigger sz. for people and cut back on caffeine.
Wishing You The best of Luck and May God Bless You!

Sue