According to the Vital Clinical stats of INDIA, 8 Million people suffer from Epilepsy ! I too have a form of Epilepsy called Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy ( JME ). I was in 11th standard ( 15 years old ) when it was detected and since then lot of things have changed.
I was never ready to understand the disease like any other individual, i thought, it's gonna pass.
But when it didn't pass I started accepting it and understanding the issues, symptoms, treatment method, side effects - the disease overall.
My Journey...
The first medicine i took was Epilex Chrono ( most commonly given medicine ) which made me gain 15 kgs in 2 months . After Continuing the medicine for a period of 1 year I ended up gaining more weight so ( with Neuro's suggestion ) the salt was replaced by a different medicine called topirol.
After taking Topirol for about an month and a half, one winter morning, I woke up with no visibility.
Everything seemed hazy, couldn't see a single visual ! I was rushed to the Eye Doctor and was told that my eye sight has suddenly become weak with a power of +7. Shocking it was for me and my parents to understand that overnight I lost my eye power to this extent. Scared we all were, went to meet the neurologist who stopped Topirol salt intake . After about 3 days, I could see normally again so it was basically a reaction of the changed medicine. Finally, Was put on Epilex Chrono again and took it for 3 years complete.
Never had any episode during the duration of medicine so t was stopped after 3 years and By the Time I joined College, I was a happy child again. Lost weight within 2 months, was ready to take on the world, have fun and enjoy everything that i missed. Little did i Know what awaited ahead. Third year of college and I started to get the episodes again.
Well, after all the side effects i had suffered , first thing was to avoid medication so for a very long time I did not take any medicine thinking it'll be alright.
By the way, the episode that I use to get was minor trembling of hands for fraction of seconds. So, I thought , it would suffice. After 2 years I realized that the frequency episodes has increased from once in 3-4 months to once every month . I still wanted to live in denial and didn't start my medication worrying about weight gain, mood swings and all the possible side effects of the medicine.
After finishing my college, took up software job and 2 years later to that I got a major Epileptic attack with quenching of teeth, stiffening of body and loosing consciousness for few seconds.
Now, that was the alarm which made me understand that I have to manage this as life's priority . It is beyond my control so I went to see a Neurologist and was put on Leveracetamine salt.
It is been year and a half now, I have gained weight and have mood swings as well but an happy to have made the decision of starting the medicine. I am Independent, work on my terms and have clearly stated that I will only marry after telling about my problem to my Boy's parents . My parents initially did not agree but now they understand and are very supportive of my decision of telling the truth about my problem .
All these years I have never found an answer for why it happened and from where it happened to me. There is not enough explanation in medical science of the same but all my experience have definitely made me understand a lot about the disease.
With Epilepsy some measures are very important to take :
7-8 Hours of sleep in the night is must.
Never stay Empty Stomach, eat after every 2 hours.
Avoid driving/swimming unless you are on proper medication.
Avoid driving / traveling in the night. Flashing lights can trigger the episode.
Avoid working on Computer or watching Television for hours together.
Practice Meditation.
Open up about your problem since talking helps !
I was never ready to understand the disease like any other individual, i thought, it's gonna pass.
But when it didn't pass I started accepting it and understanding the issues, symptoms, treatment method, side effects - the disease overall.
My Journey...
The first medicine i took was Epilex Chrono ( most commonly given medicine ) which made me gain 15 kgs in 2 months . After Continuing the medicine for a period of 1 year I ended up gaining more weight so ( with Neuro's suggestion ) the salt was replaced by a different medicine called topirol.
After taking Topirol for about an month and a half, one winter morning, I woke up with no visibility.
Everything seemed hazy, couldn't see a single visual ! I was rushed to the Eye Doctor and was told that my eye sight has suddenly become weak with a power of +7. Shocking it was for me and my parents to understand that overnight I lost my eye power to this extent. Scared we all were, went to meet the neurologist who stopped Topirol salt intake . After about 3 days, I could see normally again so it was basically a reaction of the changed medicine. Finally, Was put on Epilex Chrono again and took it for 3 years complete.
Never had any episode during the duration of medicine so t was stopped after 3 years and By the Time I joined College, I was a happy child again. Lost weight within 2 months, was ready to take on the world, have fun and enjoy everything that i missed. Little did i Know what awaited ahead. Third year of college and I started to get the episodes again.
Well, after all the side effects i had suffered , first thing was to avoid medication so for a very long time I did not take any medicine thinking it'll be alright.
By the way, the episode that I use to get was minor trembling of hands for fraction of seconds. So, I thought , it would suffice. After 2 years I realized that the frequency episodes has increased from once in 3-4 months to once every month . I still wanted to live in denial and didn't start my medication worrying about weight gain, mood swings and all the possible side effects of the medicine.
After finishing my college, took up software job and 2 years later to that I got a major Epileptic attack with quenching of teeth, stiffening of body and loosing consciousness for few seconds.
Now, that was the alarm which made me understand that I have to manage this as life's priority . It is beyond my control so I went to see a Neurologist and was put on Leveracetamine salt.
It is been year and a half now, I have gained weight and have mood swings as well but an happy to have made the decision of starting the medicine. I am Independent, work on my terms and have clearly stated that I will only marry after telling about my problem to my Boy's parents . My parents initially did not agree but now they understand and are very supportive of my decision of telling the truth about my problem .
All these years I have never found an answer for why it happened and from where it happened to me. There is not enough explanation in medical science of the same but all my experience have definitely made me understand a lot about the disease.
With Epilepsy some measures are very important to take :
7-8 Hours of sleep in the night is must.
Never stay Empty Stomach, eat after every 2 hours.
Avoid driving/swimming unless you are on proper medication.
Avoid driving / traveling in the night. Flashing lights can trigger the episode.
Avoid working on Computer or watching Television for hours together.
Practice Meditation.
Open up about your problem since talking helps !
