| Re: vist from a child hood friend
Welp, uh. Alright, we'll start with the childhood stuff.
Don't take my word for this, but I'd say that the recurring epilepsy after dormancy isn't -normal- or occuring -often-, per se, but it does happen.
As for the recent relapse... It sounds like stress itself caused the seizure. Have you been having absence seizures at all before the grand mal incident? I'm assuming there's been no head trauma, that's kinda something you'd mention having been Dx'd with a seizure disorder. ;P. Anyway. Stress plays a -major- factor in a number of conditions, not just epilepsy. For my boyfriend, it's Bell's Palsy (which is kinda funny, just not for him ;P). I personally find that when I'm really worked up, upset, euphoric/excited, under pressure, or feeling anxious or restless, I'm waaaay more prone to staring competitions with myself (absence seizures). Typically, either before or after a seizure, I'll have an extreme mood swing. Unfortunately, the pendulum tends to swing towards depressed/irritable/moody. So it's extremely likely that your change in personality has been due to the seizures.
And, welp, if you refuse to accept that stress caused the grand mal, I'm at a loss. Could've just happened. Brain disorders are like time bombs.
My suggestion? Talk to your Neurologist about treatment options. It sounds like you'd need some combination of anti-epileptics, but I suggest Lamictal. Just because I'm on it and have noticed the mood swings with seizures dissipating, even at the very low dose I'm taking. (I'm on such a low dose because: a) I just started the medication a few months ago, and b) the drug presents a risk of a life-threatening rash, and hasn't been proven safe for people under the age of 18, so we're taking it slow).
I wish I knew what more to say about the childhood stuff. My parents say that in retrospect, they were wrong for assuming that my strange tendencies (completely forgetting what I was talking about mid-sentence or walking away mid-conversation, lack of attention in classes, etc) as a kid were just like a "welp, she's in Gifted Reach Out, she must have something different about her brain". My official diagnosis is "seizure disorder NOS", but my Ndoc is thinking juvenile myoclonic now, having stemmed from a form of childhood absence epilepsy. *Shrugs*
Good luck, mate!
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