Hi ambrteach,

Wecome to the forum! Depression is all part of epilepsy as well as dizziness and feeling tired. I've had epilepsy since I was 10 yrs. old and I'm 49 yrs. old now. You mentioned that you took wellbutrin this drug is an anti depressant which will reverse the effects of your keppra. Also it has been proven that Wellbutrin can cause seizures for some people and you should let your Dr. know about this immediately. If you are having the same type of seizures that others in your family are having then it could be genetic but if you are having a different type of seizure than those in your family then it is not genetic. Years ago my neuro thought my seizures were genetic but all of my family members had grand mal seizures where I only had absence and complex partial seizures. I would get off of the wellbutrin and start taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day to see if that helps or try taking vitamin B Complex vitamins once a day. Cut back on the caffeine, starch foods and carbs. Hormones changing has a lot ot do with it. If you like peanuts or any type of nuts start eating them because they have progesterone oil in them and it helped me control my sz. when I went through my change. I wish you the best of Luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Thanks, darlene and sara for welcoming me. My cousin who has MS told me about Neuro talk and said there is an epilepsy forum.

i am a teacher and so i am out and stressed all day...47 kids in one class...when i had had my seizure before, my neuro said after 3 months of no seizures, that if i couldn't get a ride i could drive back and forth to school on the side roads..no highways, not at night, so that is what i do. I guess I am lucky in that if this is something genetic, I have only had two seizures and now i am on 1000 mg of keppra twice a day. My second one, my daughter said was not as long or violent, so the 500 mg twice a day was doing something. Interesting sara, you said you were artistic...don't know if you have done any historical research on epilepsy, but me being the geek i am know that Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Isaac Newton, all had seizures and it was considered divine...lol...in fact people were supposed to be seers who could foretell the future when they went into fits or a trance..lol..anyway.i have a spike and wave brain pattern..the doctor said my brain waves are too active...i am like "duh, i'm a math teacher"...he also said he sees a lot of scarring behind my eyes..can't think of anything other than a metal swing in my face when i was 5..two black eyes and a bloody nose...lol..in those days no mri, ct etc..i am glad to come to this forum and read your posts and advice..thank u for being here

Hi ambrteach,

I'm glad to hear that you are a teacher. I also work in public school as a teacher aide in Special Education so I can relate to how school can be stressful. I have noticed in the summer months I have fewer seizures than during the school yr. You mentioned that you had some scarring, the same thing happened to me I have scares on both the right and left temporal lobe and this is what caused my seizures. I had brain surgery twice to help reduce my seizures and it was a big help.
I get into writing poetry and short stories as well as studying history. My Dad was a Science teacher and he taught physics which was way to hard for me. I would take Biology any day over physics.
There are many famous people who have epilepsy like Elton John, Prince, Danny Glover, Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christy, Alan Faneca who played professional football for the NY Jets and the Arizonia Cardinals. and many more famous people.
If staff and students use cell phones while at school take note if this triggers seizures for you. I found out that I was cell phone sensitive and when to many people are using cell phones around me I end up having seizures. I saw a pattern with my seizures early in the morning before school started and then again during the lunch breaks at school it was then that my Epileptologist found out that staff and students were using cell phones at this time triggering seizures for me do to the frequency that the cell phones are in. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!
I also had an aunt who lived in Florida that had MS.
Sue

Thanks Sue....my friend who has had epilepsy since she went thru puberty told me her seizures were always early morning, so i try to be careful then. The cell phone thing is interesting. I know wellbutrin can cause seizures now, so no antidepressants for me my neuro said..this med is just making the D so low...i think a third tooth has cracked now. Didn't know Prince and Elton John have seizures..we're in good company...no one in my family has had seizures, so who knows? Glad to be here...

HI,
I started having abscence seizures in June 2011, went to a neuro and they did an EEG, MRI, CT and found nothing to cause them. Unfortunately they did not go ahead and put me on any anti seizure meds either. The abscence seizures, auras, etc continued and I had a GM seizure in Nov. 2011. They did all the same tests again and did not find a cause. Before I got out of the hospital they did suggest that it was due to perimenapause. According to my hormone levels at my previous check ups I had been perimenopausal for about a year. They prescribed 250 mg Keppra twice a day. I started on this but reduced to one per day because I literally did not want to move off the couch. I have had one aura since taking the med, I took another Keppra and it passed fairly quickly. I just turned 50 in Feb, I am hoping that the Keppra continues to work for me.

loridawn,

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. Happy to see you have come to be with us. Just let us know if we can be of any help. There are great number and caring fellow members here, you will see we are supportive and relaxing place. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways.

I started having seizures since I was real young. At this time I am on Keppra and it has help some. I feel you did the right thing and ease on to the medicine. At one time in my life I got too much dilantin in my blood stream and I felt just like you did, so I was eased off my dilantin.

Some of the many things to do are, always stay away from flashing lights as in a theater, take Vitamin B complex, nutra sweet (aspartame) which causes more electrical activity.

Hope I have help you out. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene

Hi,
I'm brand new, and wrote the following on my profile page, but since it IS why I'm here, I guess it belongs there, too.
My story:
I was in my last college class before obtaining my degree in web development when I started having problems with focus and concentration. As an A student, this was especially frustrating, but I was pulling C's and was determined to get through it. Then, halfway through my last class, I experienced a grand mal seizure. I had never experienced a seizure before and epilepsy does not run in my family . Try as they might, two years later, I have been having 2-4 "big ones" and several petit mals a month and they still haven't figured out what is causing the seizures. In the last year or so, I have been experiencing the symptoms of perimenopause and I have a sneaking suspicion that it was somehow the onset of that that is causing my seizures, especially given that my grand mals always occur during my period (which is hard to track - 28 days one month, 23 days the next, 31, or skip...) and at the time I am or would be ovulating. My first grand mal actually occurred at the time I would have been ovulating. Tried Dilantin and it caused a lot of side effects, but did not slow down my seizures. I am now on Lamictal, which has helped with mood, but I am still seizing. My doc blows me off when I bring up the correlation between my cycle and the seizures. I don't know what to do, but I won't give in on what I recognize to be true. I thoroughly believe my seizures began at the onset of perimenopause and that is why I have them, now. I know my temporal lobe is affected by the types of petit mals I have, my short-term memory issues, and my sudden issue with seeing and hearing things that are not there -- thankfully, I do realize these things aren't "real" when they are happening. I am not on HRT, but do wonder if some HRT might help me out -- not thinking of a long-term basis, but something has to give. I need the relief. I want to finish my degree and pursue my career. As it is, I experience vocabulary issues and even the job I have (freelance writing) is suffering. I am here to learn from others and to offer support when and where I can.

Hi Karla,

Welcome to the forum! I have been seeing an Epileptologist for yrs. instead of a neuro and they have helped me a lot. I have right temporal lobe epilepsy where I have absence, complex partial and simple partial (aura) sz. I know that when I went through my change my sz. decreased. I would skip a month of my cycle then it would start up then I would skip 2 months until it was over. This in turn affected my hormones and calmed them down because the estrogen level dropped and it's estrogen that will cause more excitement in a womans body and trigger a sz. My Epileptologist told me that women who have temporal lobe epilepsy often go through their change earlier in life and this can lead to either a decrease or increase of sz.
I had to have a wada test done to pinpoint the exact cause of my sz. which was trauma before my birth which caused to many brain cells to go to the right temporal lobe causing scar tissue on my brain.
My advice to you is to start taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day this will calm your nerves down and help decrease the sz. also if you like almonds or nuts start eating a few of them each day because they have progesterone in them which will also calm the nerves down. This is what I did and it worked great.
I'm glad to hear that you are a writer I've been writing poems and short stories since I was a kid. I find writing along with listening to music helps calm the nerves.
Try using scents like lavender or vanilla with lotions or candles this will also help you. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!
Sue

Karla,

It is great to have you come and be with us. You will fine a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. Please, just let us know how we can help you out. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Sue has given you some great information to go by.

Please keep us up to date on your condition. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

I have recently started having seizures too! I had my first one last month and just had a second two nights ago. NO history of seizures and I am starting menopause. I am 45 so I am going through menopause slightly early also. I seem to have had my 2 seizures when I am supposed to be having my period and am late. This cannot be a coincidence! I just started taking Keppra XR yesterday. I am supposed to be taking 1000mg a day (2 500mg pills a day - my doctors office cannot tell me whether that is 2 pills at bedtime or one in the morning and one at night). I hope these help - it is very scary for myself and my family. So far I am only taking 500mg. Trying to get my body used to the medication. I am insanely tired today. Hope that goes away. I am hoping to see a doctor who can tell me if this is just hormonal and whether I need hormone replacement therapy. The doctors look at my like I'm a freak having my first seizure at 45. My MRI was normal, but my EEG was not.