OT April Chit Chat

[Howie]

I just lost power for about 3 hours. I do have a Tac Lite, and was reading old VW magazines I have, but I was BORED!!! I'm back, the fan and AC are blowing, and life is good again.

[Sunshine]

All day infusion tomorrow, so will be offline...where is everyone today? We gotta post to encourage the lurkers. They depend on us!

[Howie]

Well, I had some excitement this morning. I didn't sleep last night even though I took 2 of my sleep meds. I went to bed at 10, and waited for the sleep med to work, and strangely, it didn't.

I finally got up after lying there all night, and stretched, and had a seizure like I had years ago, and take a med that totally stopped them....I thought.

Something was different yesterday, but I've thought about it MANY times, but could come up with nothing. It was a normal day, I did nothing I don't do any other day.

It cleared out of my head, and the rest of today, settled back to where it always is.

[agate]

All day infusion tomorrow, so will be offline...where is everyone today? We gotta post to encourage the lurkers. They depend on us!

Absolutely! In fact for some reason lately we've lost about 100 of them, and I have no reason why.

Howie, it's too bad about the seizure. Do you have any idea how long the seizure lasted? I've heard of meds interacting with one another --could the two sleep medicines taken together be creating a problem?

[Howie]

There's just one sleep med, but I take a 2 pill dose. I thought saying 2 sleep meds could be misunderstood. Sorry I didn't clarify it sooner.

I think I have a plan with the BP meds that were added. I read about both, and it said one 5mg dose, twice a day which I was doing, may be too much to start the med on. They said to take 1/2 a pill, twice a day which is half the dosage I've been taking.

So I won't take another dose until in the morning, and then start a half dose, twice a day, and see how that does. Those seizures really freak me out, but I'm willing to try again, but my way based on what I read today.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Howie)))))) ~

I'm so sorry that you had a seizure. What type of seizure did you have ~ what do you experience? Do you get an aura to let you know it's coming?

Sleep deprivation can be a seizure trigger. Jon has bouts of insomnia associated with hypothyroidism, and we always fear that he will seize at those times. Essentially, every tonic clonic he's had in his life has been associated with sleep. Either trying to fall asleep or waking up.

You might want to check all of your medications, including OTC meds, for seizures as a potential side effect. You can look them up on our Drug Info link.

Do you have a BP monitor? One that fits on your finger would be fine, as long as you have something to help you keep track of your BP. Perhaps your 2 BP meds caused your BP to drop significantly, which prompted the seizure.

Anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs) can wear out their welcome over time. The brain can get used to a drug to the point that it is no longer effective. Or it may tolerate the drug and utilize it more rapidly, requiring an increase in dosage.

Levels of some AEDs can be determined through blood tests. It is best taken during the trough period (before taking a dose). Are you on Neurontin? If so, that's an AED that doesn't give accurate blood levels. In fact, our son's neuro offered it to him, when Neurontin was first approved. He told me then that blood levels aren't taken with this drug, which was one of the reasons why we didn't go with it.

The best AED is typically determined by the type of seizure being treated. Partial seizures respond to certain drugs that will not treat Complex partial seizures or tonic clonic seizures. You may need to change your AED.

I recommend that you call your doctor to inform him that you had a breakthrough seizure, especially since you recently started a new BP drug. If you have another seizure, which I am praying that you will not ever have another one, it would be helpful if you could jot down what you experienced, the time of day, how long it lasted, what you ate, drank and did that day/evening.

One other thought ~ if you can establish a regular bedtime and rising time, and ensure that you get at least 6 hours of solid sleep, you might find that you feel better and have more energy. It might also help in preventing another seizure. I can't emphasize enough how important proper sleep is in managing epilepsy. I have 46 years of experience of dealing with every kind of seizure with my sons, and sleep is the Number One trigger.

Sending you lots of healing, positive energy and prayers for you to be seizure-free.

Love & Light,



Rose

[Cherie]

Wow! Seems like a lot has happened in the week and a half I have been gone.

Agate, Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... may be a good place to find what you are looking for at a reasonable price.

Howie, Seizure?

Peg, We sat on the tarmac for nearly an hour while the plane was repeatedly de-iced on the 6th while nearly 3" of snow fell. Coming back in on the 15th it was snowing again.

The MS Cruise was quite nice again this year with temps in mid 80s and sun every day and dropping only to mid 70s at night. Lots of wind so not oppressive. Toured an aloe plantation and processing plant and some general sight seeing in Aruba and Curacao but Dave got hit by a stomach bug by the time we got to Bonaire so I stayed in the room or close by while he slept for 36 hours with intermittent trips to the bathroom. Two nights later it hit me but I was well enough by morning to make the classes for the group. Found out that there were several others that were impacted but everyone kept pretty much to themselves as, it seems, the ship's rule is to quarantine anyone with these symptoms to their cabin for 72 hours....even if it's only seasickness. We had 77 in our group and about 45 attended the educational sessions. I just don't know why anyone would go on this cruise and not avail themselves of the educational component. It was life changing for me in 2003 and continues to be good to this day.

Despite the cold temps and occasional snow here, the Magnolia is starting to bloom and the hyacinth, blues, daffodils and narcissus are in bloom and the grass is starting to green up because of all the precipitation.

My niece, who had gastric bypass two years ago this week has lost nearly 280 pounds in 24 months and is now pregnant at age 41 for the 1st time! Doc told her not to lose another pound because at 208 she has at least 60 pounds of extra skin and is down to basically skin and bones and baby needs sustenance. She is planning to have extra skin removed after baby but figures if she did it now it would just stretch with the pregnancy and the results wouldn't be the best. She has not weighed this little since 9th grade. I am so proud of her and her commitment to being more healthy. She started out at 497 pounds at surgery after having lost the mandatory 35 pounds prior to it.

[Howie]

((((((Howie)))))) ~

I'm so sorry that you had a seizure. What type of seizure did you have ~ what do you experience? Do you get an aura to let you know it's coming?

Sleep deprivation can be a seizure trigger. Jon has bouts of insomnia associated with hypothyroidism, and we always fear that he will seize at those times. Essentially, every tonic clonic he's had in his life has been associated with sleep. Either trying to fall asleep or waking up.

You might want to check all of your medications, including OTC meds, for seizures as a potential side effect. You can look them up on our Drug Info link.

Do you have a BP monitor? One that fits on your finger would be fine, as long as you have something to help you keep track of your BP. Perhaps your 2 BP meds caused your BP to drop significantly, which prompted the seizure.

Anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs) can wear out their welcome over time. The brain can get used to a drug to the point that it is no longer effective. Or it may tolerate the drug and utilize it more rapidly, requiring an increase in dosage.

Levels of some AEDs can be determined through blood tests. It is best taken during the trough period (before taking a dose). Are you on Neurontin? If so, that's an AED that doesn't give accurate blood levels. In fact, our son's neuro offered it to him, when Neurontin was first approved. He told me then that blood levels aren't taken with this drug, which was one of the reasons why we didn't go with it.

The best AED is typically determined by the type of seizure being treated. Partial seizures respond to certain drugs that will not treat Complex partial seizures or tonic clonic seizures. You may need to change your AED.

I recommend that you call your doctor to inform him that you had a breakthrough seizure, especially since you recently started a new BP drug. If you have another seizure, which I am praying that you will not ever have another one, it would be helpful if you could jot down what you experienced, the time of day, how long it lasted, what you ate, drank and did that day/evening.

One other thought ~ if you can establish a regular bedtime and rising time, and ensure that you get at least 6 hours of solid sleep, you might find that you feel better and have more energy. It might also help in preventing another seizure. I can't emphasize enough how important proper sleep is in managing epilepsy. I have 46 years of experience of dealing with every kind of seizure with my sons, and sleep is the Number One trigger.

Sending you lots of healing, positive energy and prayers for you to be seizure-free.

Love & Light,



Rose

Rose, you want to be my doctor? You were right about everything! I do take Neurontin and have for several years.
I did go last night without sleep, but I did try. I have cut my morning coffee down to one cup.

These seizures make me breath fast, and heavy. I'm sure my heart is beating like a bird. I have waves of...electric shocks...for lack of a better description. They last maybe 10 seconds, then when they pass, it's almost a euphoric feeling. While it's happening, I can't do much but breath hard and fast, and wait for it to pass.

I was so glad that this time, it wasn't as bad as before, and was only one. Before, I had 15 in one night. But I saw the doctor the next day, and what he gave me stopped them from ever happening again....until this morning.

After reading about both new medications, I feel sure that cutting the dose in half is going to work. Wish me luck, and thank you!

[stillstANNding]

Glad you are alright, Howie. It must be scary to have a seizure.

Good luck tomorrow, Sunshine. Let me know how you like your hand cycle.

Where is Virginia? I hope she is OK. I always look forward to what she had to eat. She hasn't said if she went out w family this week.

We woke up Sunday to a fire truck parked in front of our house, an ambulance behind that and 3 marked police cars and later figured out 2 more were unmarked cars. After watching for awhile, we saw they were going in and out of my neighbor Ruth's house. When we saw a guy w a camera check it and go into the house we got very scared.

It turned out that when Ruth's sister, Cathy, got there for coffee she found Ruth dead. She was 57. Her daughter came over and told us that they think she may have "been confused and taken too much medicine."

We are very sad. She was a feisty gal. Difficult even but very good with and to me. I will miss her. And the empty house feels creepy.

ANN

[Virginia]

Ann, not feeling great enough to sit at computer long enough to post, but will tell you tonight I had pork loin (barbecued in slow cooker by me today). I also had creamed potatoes. I had asparagus in the fridge but didn't feel like fixing it.

Will be back to my old self soon.

[agate]

ANN, how sad about your neighbor! That must have been a terrible shock for everyone who knew her.

Virginia, I hope that you're on the mend. Eating is good!

[agate]

Oops! Duplicate post! My mistake, once again.

[Pegakafarmgirl]

Hi.. and "again" we have a snowstorm coming in tonight,, about 10 inches with blizzard warnings,,lets hope this our last one,, sounds like it,,

Virginia,, hope U get to feeling better,,and hope everyone is behaving themselves

later

[Catdancer]

We are expecting snow, too, but only a couple of inches. I hope that forecast hasn't changed overnight!

[Sunshine]

So much happening here. But the award has to go to Howie and the seizure. That sounds scary, especially living alone. Rose has great advice.