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One Year Seizure Free
Feb. 19th, 2025 03:58 pmI had my last tonic-clonic (tc) seizure on February 17, 2024. I forgot about it until someone in the epilepsy subreddit mentioned they were seven years seizure free. Prior to last year, I was about 29 years tc seizure free. Sure, around 2017 I started having those annoying partial seizures (color auras and auditory hallucinations) due to that toxic box on wheels (VW Tiguan), but it never progressed to a full blown tc seizure. In 2018 I started taking anti epileptic drugs (AEDs) again because of the intensity and frequency of the partial seizures and this right-sided weird sensation.
While I'm grateful I haven't had a tc within the last year, historically my seizures have always been controlled with medication so this isn't a huge milestone. One of the reasons I had a seizure last year was the fact I took myself off my medication of five years, believing I didn't need it anymore. I hate taking any AEDs, because they all have such shitty side effects, but it's better than seizing and killing more brain cells. Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) has worked for me with the least amount of shitty side effects (for now).
Ever since my seizure last February my memory and cognitive function are not the same, some of it is attributed to the oxcarbazepine, but for the most part I blame the seizure itself. Initially, It took me a good two weeks to recover from that seizure, during that time my thought processes and anything related to memory was pretty bad. When I started to take the oxcarbazepine in 2018, there was an adjustment period of a few months before the memory issues got better. It's now been a year and I'm still having very serious memory lapses. For example, this entry is several hours late, because I forgot I had this tab open, lol. Or the time I was buying groceries and used my debit card and completely FORGOT MY PIN NUMBER that I've used a zillion times. I just stood there struggling to remember it and finally gave up and used another card. I recently got notice of a non-renewal because I forgot to send in a simple document related to my auto insurance policy, despite putting it on my to-do list, which I also forgot to check, lmao. Anyways, there isn't anything I can do about it, just gotta continue to cope.
Regardless, of my current memory issues and other side effects, I'm just glad there hasn't been any further seizure activity. Hopefully I can achieve another 29 years seizure free.
While I'm grateful I haven't had a tc within the last year, historically my seizures have always been controlled with medication so this isn't a huge milestone. One of the reasons I had a seizure last year was the fact I took myself off my medication of five years, believing I didn't need it anymore. I hate taking any AEDs, because they all have such shitty side effects, but it's better than seizing and killing more brain cells. Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) has worked for me with the least amount of shitty side effects (for now).
Ever since my seizure last February my memory and cognitive function are not the same, some of it is attributed to the oxcarbazepine, but for the most part I blame the seizure itself. Initially, It took me a good two weeks to recover from that seizure, during that time my thought processes and anything related to memory was pretty bad. When I started to take the oxcarbazepine in 2018, there was an adjustment period of a few months before the memory issues got better. It's now been a year and I'm still having very serious memory lapses. For example, this entry is several hours late, because I forgot I had this tab open, lol. Or the time I was buying groceries and used my debit card and completely FORGOT MY PIN NUMBER that I've used a zillion times. I just stood there struggling to remember it and finally gave up and used another card. I recently got notice of a non-renewal because I forgot to send in a simple document related to my auto insurance policy, despite putting it on my to-do list, which I also forgot to check, lmao. Anyways, there isn't anything I can do about it, just gotta continue to cope.
Regardless, of my current memory issues and other side effects, I'm just glad there hasn't been any further seizure activity. Hopefully I can achieve another 29 years seizure free.
