4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Karen & co.]

It's a bit pants really, but ES has recently been seen by a consultant Neurologist and is a present waiting for an EEG, as there is a chance he has a form of epilepy

 

It couldn't have come at a worse time, as he will be 17 in a few weeks and now isn't allowed to apply for his drivers licence untill given the all clear and he is only just catching up with friends and A level PE after breaking a leg playing rugby before Christmas.

 

I know that there are a lots of things it could be, but wondered if anyone has had to deal with this and teenagers?

 

Karen x

[Sunshine]

I know 2 people with epilepsy both through my volunteer work at Cancer Research. They are both in their 40's though. M was the assistant manager at the shop for a year and he would have fits every few months. Often i would down on the shop floor and the manager would come to let me know that M was having a fit upstairs. Then about 30 minutes later his partner would come in and take him home and within a few days he would be back to normal and back at work. Unfortunately he is currently in hospital after suffering a major fit and i have been told its very serious as he has been transferred to 2 different hospitals so far, so i'm crossing my fingers he will get better. (Sorry i know thats not what you want to hear at this time but i think M had lots of trouble with medication etc)

 

The other volunteer J comes in twice a week and cleans the shop. She has to wear a head protector in case she does have a fit(I don't think she has ever fitted whilst at Cancer Research) She can't work so does lots of volunteering to keep herself busy.

 

Both of them leave totally 'normal' lives apart form the fact that neither of them can drive. You wouldn't know M had epilepsy unless he told you.I was very suprised when i found out and I had no experience of people with epilepsy but had wrongly assumed that they would be different.

 

Hope you get the news you want, however its not the end of the world.

 

Emma

[hilda-and-evadne]

It's a bit pants really, but ES has recently been seen by a consultant Neurologist and is a present waiting for an EEG, as there is a chance he has a form of epilepy

 

It couldn't have come at a worse time, as he will be 17 in a few weeks and now isn't allowed to apply for his drivers licence untill given the all clear and he is only just catching up with friends and A level PE after breaking a leg playing rugby before Christmas.

 

I know that there are a lots of things it could be, but wondered if anyone has had to deal with this and teenagers?

 

Karen x

 

Nearly 40 years ago, a young man in my family was diagnosed with epilepsy while in his late teens. I think the hardest part for him was understanding that it didn't make him a second-class citizen, less of a man, or a social "cripple". Yes, if it is epilepsy, then your ES may have to take tablets every day for the rest of his life - but (fingers crossed) it's OK, it is do-able, it is not a great daily drama. My relative went to university and into a career that he loves, travelled, partied, married a lovely girl with whom he had two clever and good-looking children, has a full driving licence, lives in an idyllic part of the UK, and is slimmer and fitter than I am. And still has to take tablets every day. But there are worse things.

 

Hope this helps.

[ubereglu]

My brother has epilepsy, and was diagnosed with it a few years ago-in his early 20s, when he had his first fit, no one knew what was wrong with him and he couldn't remember, just that he was out and was then in hospital, it happened a few years later too after he'd stopped off at Sainsbury's during a driving lesson-again they didn't know what was wrong with him and he had tests done and nothing showed up.

 

It was only until he had a fit at Lords Cricket Ground when he was doing first aid duty that they suspected it may be epilepsy and after a brain scan they worked out that he had it. He's now been on medication for a few years and hasn't had any fits at all and so he's been given the all clear if he does decide that he wants to learn to drive again.

 

Anyway, in some ways it maybe a blessing in disguise if he has epilepsy, especially if it's a mild form because it means that when he gets given the all clear to learn to drive he'll be older and so insurance will work out a bit cheaper.

[Lesley]

My ex husband started having epileptic fits at the age of 18 - shortly after we'd married ( that doesn't sound good does it! )

 

Apart from not being allowed to drive he has controlled it with medication and has led a fully normal life. It took a while to get the right combination of meds. but he's been fine for over 37 years now.

[Egluntyne]

Sorry to hear it. I hope you get good news.

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

I have a friend with it and aside from avoiding flashing things, she's fine. I have had people fit on me, and while it looks scary, the best thing is just to leave them to it. They are incredibly strong while fitting. Unless they're swallowing their tongue or being sick and need their airway cleared, just clear stuff out of the way and let them get on with it. After, put them in the recovery position and let them be. I went to St Johns and that's pretty much what we were told to do.

 

St Johns Ambulance can help you with advice on how to deal with a fitting person.

[Patricia W]

My niece has it - diagnosed when she was in her 20's. Once the medication was sorted

(and it took a time to get the right combination) she was and is fine. She's a solicitor, leads an active life and drives. So do reassure him. I'm sure there is a national support organisation so may be worth getting in touch.

 

Tricia

[Lewis]

Someone at school has it who I've known for years, and was only diagnosed a few years ago.

He's on medication and has to stay hydrated, get enough sleep and not spent too long playing on the computer.

[Sheilaz]

Karen, it can definitely be a case of "knowing too much" before the proper assessment. Naturally you are concerned, and it must seem really pants on top of everything else.

 

But, some teenagers develop "absence seizures" (formally known as petit mal), which disappear in adulthood, and may just involve medication meanwhile.

 

These episodes often just look like a brief stare or daydream, and are not connected to the convulsive seizures which you've been reading about here!

 

All types of epilepsy, & how much or how little daily life is affected, vary enormously, so really it's best to wait for a proper diagnosis & prognosis. Anything is much easier to deal with once you know what it is.

 

However, my heart goes out to you all, must feel like a blow. Very best wishes to you all (and I'm not in medicine, just know people ).

 

I thought OH was a doc, or am I confused there...

[Phoebe]

My daughter - now 18 - has it and has done since 10. Started with absence seizures (going blank for a few seconds) many times a day and then went when she was around 13. Then at 15 she had a couple of quite prolonged absences (although remaining conscious) and the EEG showed lots of epileptic activity. she is now on drugs - lamotrigine - and touch wood, seizure free.

 

She is learning to drive as she has not had a seizure since Dec 2007. It took six months to get a licence for her, as the application process takes so long to work through the medical hoops. She knows that if she has a seizure, she loses her licence for at least a year, and this does act as an incentive for her to take her pills - which before she used to be very bad at.

 

We have more trouble getting her to make sure she gets enough sleep and does not drink too much however - not things a teenager wants to hear.

 

For a couple of years, she more or less pretended she did not have it - forgot her pills, did not want to learn about it etc etc. But now I think she has at last accepted it and wears medical jewellry and reads the odd article in Epilepsy Action magazine to find out about stuff relevant to her.

 

Yes it IS pants, and you and your ES have my best wishes. Many people can control it with medication (and its worth trial and error to get the right one - Alice's first drugs took all the "spark" out of her personality, but her current one has no side effects on her at all) and you will just have to hope that this is the case for your ES. There is no good age to develop it, but 17 is a particularly tricky one. His friends will need to know he has it, so they can look after him if he has a seizure when he is out.

 

Sorry, none of this is comforting, and its a tremendous shock for you but in the longer term he (and you) will learn to live with it.

[TAJ]

I have a relative who started aged 18 whilst doing A levels - it was a big worry, but now 3 yrs on it is all under control and the driving license will come back.

 

Tracy

[Seagazer]

My cousin has it and has done since she was a teenager, apart from a couple of accidents whilst she had a fit she has been fine. She has kept it under control with tablets, been married, had kids and studied to become a special needs teacher. Because she has it under control she has been able to learn to drive.

 

I hope that your son is okay.

[Jules.]

My friend ( not a teenager) had an episode once when driving when she had absolutely no idea where she was, even though she had driven that way many, many times.

She went for a brain scan & the conclusion was that she was having migraines but no headaches. Apparantely the headache part of a migraine isn't the " migraine" itself, the migraine is when parts of the brain aren't communicating properly or something like that.

 

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is maybe this is what your son is experiencing, & not epilepsy?

 

I hope you all find out soon, & he gets better x

[Karen & co.]

She went for a brain scan & the conclusion was that she was having migraines but no headaches. Apparantely the headache part of a migraine isn't the " migraine" itself, the migraine is when parts of the brain aren't communicating properly or something like that.

 

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is maybe this is what your son is experiencing, & not epilepsy?

 

I hope you all find out soon, & he gets better x

 

I hadn't thought of migraine I get them so does my sister, and ES gets some headaches, it might be worth mentioning to the consultant

 

Karen x