[neurogirlfriend]

My name is Cara and I am here because my boyfriend Ben has a neurological condition that no doctor can figure out. He has epilepsy, and has had 3 grande mal seizures before, but he also has "seizure like activity" on a regular basis. This means he twitches with tremors ranging from moderate to severe, and his eyes can flutter or roll back but he is conscious.

Several years ago, after a battery of doctors, tests, and medications that almost killed him without ever helping him, Ben finally went to a naturopath and was told he should not eat wheat and should avoid white potatoes. Since he put these restrictions into place he has been able to resume a fairly functional lifestyle. His Seizure Like Activity (SLA) may happen for a week at a time, but he has weeks without any tremors at all. Before he changed his diet, Ben was not functional and had to live with his parents. He was in his late 20's then and is now 33.

Because all of this counts as a preexisting condition, he can't get health insurance to cover further attempts at diagnosis. I constantly tell him he needs to look into it more, for the sake of our future since we don't know if this is degenerative or what, but my argument breaks down when he asks what I have in mind that he hasn't already tried. I wish there was a real life "Dr. House" who specialized in Neurology and practiced for free.