Epilepsy

[mountainboii]

Tut tut Gaa Gaa (I laughed like f**k though to be honest...)

Me too

Me three. Lulz.

[Banana Man]

Believe it or not animals can suufer fromit too.

My dog taks the odd fit from it, he doesn't know where he is when he takes the fit then sleeps for a day or two, vet has to give medication for it

[mountainboii]

Believe it or not animals can suufer fromit too.

My dog taks the odd fit from it, he doesn't know where he is when he takes the fit then sleeps for a day or two, vet has to give medication for it

My grandparents' dog had it. Had fits on the road all the time and people kept calling into their house to tell them someone had run over the dog. Would rip its tongue to shite if you didn't get to it quickly enough. Dead now.

[muppet]

Funniest post in the thread is definitely master yodas.....complaining about the pics then reposting them......smart

Yea, I was asking my arse whether or not it was bothered enough for me to post complaining about your post and then I saw that and laughed.

[Farrandeelin]

Hilarious Lady GAGA! I have it myself. Just wondered if anyone else on here had it or not. I'll be on meds for life though. And it only happens at night...thankfully.

[Lar Naparka]

Hilarious Lady GAGA! I have it myself. Just wondered if anyone else on here had it or not. I'll be on meds for life though. And it only happens at night...thankfully.

Yep. I sure do know someone alright...me.
I got hit with five mighty belts of it in a 9 month period but I've been grand for almost 3 years now. I am talking about status epilepticus here; those seizures can last from 4 to 5 hours at a time and are invariably fatal without rapid medical intervention.
But as Fighting Fitzgerald of Turlough House fame once said, "The man born to hang need never fear water!"
There's very little to be gained by getting excited about it. It's just a fact of life and I am happy to be still around.
By the way you write, it seems it has only struck you recently and you appear to suffer from the 'petit mal' form- as it was used to be called. 
They can be more of a pain in the arse than a danger to life but you do need to be aware of the danger at all times. For one thing, you probably know that you are not legally insured to drive until a period of 12 months passes since your last attack. If you haven't done so already, get in touch with the Irish Epilepsy Association and you'll get some help and resources there; doctors don't always know best or so my own fella tells me. Nocturnal sufferers can order a special pillow through the IEA that my doc never heard of. I'm told they cut down on the risk of suffocating in your sleep.
I know that taking meds can be a pain but you get used to it and get on with life.  Once one is found that agrees with you, stay with it and don't get careless or complacent- I'm talking from experience here!
You are most welcome to PM me at any time if you feel I may be of help; by now, I could probably write as much sh1te about epilepsy as I do about Mayo football.

[carnaross]

My eldest son has had epilepsy for nine years and, although, he's on a large dose of Epilum daily, he still has occasional grand mal seizures. They seem to occur at periods of high stress in conjuction with lack of sleep. He used to sleep in a loft conversion in our house and fell through the hatch into another room where his younger was stood. He's also had one in the bath!! Seizures are a horrible thing to witness for anyone - the patient isn't normally aware and sleeps heavily afterwards.

[Celt_Man]

My eldest son has had epilepsy for nine years and, although, he's on a large dose of Epilum daily, he still has occasional grand mal seizures. They seem to occur at periods of high stress in conjuction with lack of sleep. He used to sleep in a loft conversion in our house and fell through the hatch into another room where his younger was stood. He's also had one in the bath!! Seizures are a horrible thing to witness for anyone - the patient isn't normally aware and sleeps heavily afterwards.

Fook me that's scary stuff.  Never thought about it before but I actually don't know anyone who has epilepsy or even know of someone who has it.  How common is it anyway?

[Farrandeelin]

Despite myself falling into a heavy sleep in bed at night, I always remember the bloody things the next day. I have those pillows Lar. One night I had two seizures, (and they knocked the stuffing out of me) this was before I was diagnosed in Oct 2008 and thank God I've only had 4/5 since. Only one since my medication was regulated properly and that was because I didn't take it before I went out. But by Jaysus I've taken it every morning and night at regular intervals since.

[Milltown Row2]

My wee brother had it for years as a child growing up, was scary watching him fit and just us sort of contain him. his medication helped but he struggled in school because of it. Fortunately he has been fit free for many years has been driving and has a trade behind him.

takes me to a story of playing with a lad with epilepsy, he played every game and fitted each time. we were kids trying to get on the reserve team and we just waited on him fitting and we got on. Once on the Falls Park while two games played side by side he fitted, before we knew it he was catching ball and running down the other pitch wit 30 confused players wondering what da fook was gong on

[Lar Naparka]

My eldest son has had epilepsy for nine years and, although, he's on a large dose of Epilum daily, he still has occasional grand mal seizures. They seem to occur at periods of high stress in conjuction with lack of sleep. He used to sleep in a loft conversion in our house and fell through the hatch into another room where his younger was stood. He's also had one in the bath!! Seizures are a horrible thing to witness for anyone - the patient isn't normally aware and sleeps heavily afterwards.

I have heard of a few drownings in a bathtub. Because of their size, children are more at risk here than adults; generally, they also don't have the presence of mind not to panic if they get any advance warning or aura that something is going wrong.
I'm told that epilepsy won't kill you but injuries sustained during a seizure certainly can. I am surprised that your son is having occasional seizures and is still on Epilum after nine years.
Unfortunately, there is no standard way of treating epilepsy; everyone's brain is different and it's a matter of hoping for the best until something is found to be effective. With seizures of any sort but the gran mal ones especially, it's a race against time to find both an effective medication and a correct dosage of it before something serious happens.
The conventional practice is to up the dosage after each attack until a sufficient level of defence is found. Because of undesirable side effects and as one is talking about a lifelong need for this medicine, the lowest possible level is recommended.
That's why I am surprised by your lad's medication. If a safe level of Epilum hasn't been found in nine years, I would have thought he would have been given another sort of defence long ago. The changeover can be deadly dangerous and maybe that's the reason your lad is being kept on Epilum. I was started off on 300mg of Epanutin and had a fairly minor seizure after some weeks. The consultant felt that it wasn't going to work for me and decided to put me on Lamictal instead. I was told that the brain doesn't like changes of any sort where drugs are concerned and the changeover would have to be a very gradual process- upping one and lowering the other every fortnight or so until the changeover was complete. That's where I had the serious attacks. I had one belt after that and the dosage of Lamictal was upped by 50 mg and everything seems to be stable since then.
I was told of the risks and given the choice so I've been lucky I guess. The stats say that 3 in every 100 will experience epilepsy at some stage of their lives. The condition may be there from birth or develop at an early age or it can be brought about by brain injury or a latent weakness in the brain arteries. I've been told that GAA players and boxers are in the high risk category.
The last thing any onlooker should do is to ram something into a victim's mouth- just keep away and try to keep hard or jagged objects out of reach. I'm told it is virtually impossible to swallow one's tongue but a stick or similar can cause the victim to smash his or her teeth and that brings the danger of choking.

[Farrandeelin]

My eldest son has had epilepsy for nine years and, although, he's on a large dose of Epilum daily, he still has occasional grand mal seizures. They seem to occur at periods of high stress in conjuction with lack of sleep. He used to sleep in a loft conversion in our house and fell through the hatch into another room where his younger was stood. He's also had one in the bath!! Seizures are a horrible thing to witness for anyone - the patient isn't normally aware and sleeps heavily afterwards.

Fook me that's scary stuff.  Never thought about it before but I actually don't know anyone who has epilepsy or even know of someone who has it.  How common is it anyway?

Think there's around 30000-40000 people with it in Ireland.

[DirtyDozen12]

Thats actually funny

[Farrandeelin]

Yea it is actually hilarious as I stated myself. 


Lar, just wondering what other problems that could be detrimental to one with epilepsy. I have another condition that VERY FEW people (on here) know about so I'm not prepared to go public about it... yet

[mountainboii]

I have another condition that VERY FEW people (on here) know about so I'm not prepared to go public about it... yet

Will there be a press conference?