I was diagnosed with grand mal epilepsy back when I was 18 years old in the Army stationed at Schofeild Barracks HI. I am now 51 years old. I remember the first seizure I ever had, I was with a buddy down in Honolulu and we were about to get on a city bus and go back to Schofeild. I stepped up in the bus and fell back out on the sidewalk. Next thing I knew, I was awakened by a doctor at Tripler Army Hospital and had no idea as to how or why I was there. This was in the late seventies so army hospitals were not that well equipped. The army doctors did not have a clue what had happened to me. I guess just in order to get me out of their hair; they decided it was drug related. I had never touched any kind of drugs, legal or not, I didn't even like to take aspirin. No drugs were found in the blood test they did either. Anyway, my company commander decided that I needed to volunteer for drug rehab. My therapist at rehab sent several messages to my captain telling him that this was wasting their time. I passed every drug test the army could muster. Well, in the mean time; the seizures continued at least twice a month and sometimes more. They even sent me to a psychiatrist. They finally sent me to a neurologist at Tripler. He did several tests and decided that I had Grand Mal Epilepsy from a temporal lobal sclerosis. He said this was probably caused by a head injury I got when I fell and destroyed my knee. I have taken every kind of seizure prevention medicine you could think of, so many I can’t remember the names of them. Finally the doctors at the VA in Birmingham Al decided to try Depakote at 3500 mg a day (7 pills). This got the seizures down to one every 3 or 4 months. I even went 8 months one time without one. Last year in August, I had to have a total knee replacement in my left knee. The surgeons had to stop the operation and wait for a pint of blood platelets to be pumped into me. They said the count was below 50,000 whatever that means. After the surgery, they had to give me more. They all put their heads together along with my neurologist and decided the Depakote was causing this loss of platelets. My neurologist decided then to take me off the Depakote and put me on Levetiracetam, 1500 mg a day. Guess what, they are back. I have averaged 1 to 2 seizures a month sense the change in meds. I do know this, it’s very, very true that seizures get worse with age. Now it takes me a week to 10 days to get over one. I have read that the Depakote is physically worse on the body than Levetiracetam, but the Levetiracetam has some pretty nasty side effects also. I get fighting mad about the least little thing that used to didn’t bother me at all. My wife says that if this medicine is causing this, it has got to go or she will go. She did say it was my choice. Anyway, I have an appointment with my doctor in a week.
My Lord, I didn’t realize this post had gotten so long. Sorry!