lah72

I've had petit mal seizure disorder since 1991. It was discovered when my father saw me slumped over the recliner with drool coming out of my mouth. Luckily my mother is a nurse and she knew what to do, and they took me to the hospital. That was one of only 3 grand mal seizures I have had in my life.

My doctor put me in depakote which I was on until June of 2003. I shook easily, at times I couldn't even hold a spoon properly to eat a bowl of soup. I gained a lot of weight and at times I was rather spacey and my mood would change. I wouldn't get angry or violent but rather somber or quiet. My partner at work at times would ask "are you ok?" Most of the time when I was fine I was jovial, sarcastic, down to earth and joked around a lot. She sensed mood changes in me.
When I went on Topamax. I have lost a lot of weight, which I am happy for, and I don't shake nearly as much. I'm also not as spacey. However I have trouble sleeping, especially when I first went on it, I would wake up 3 or 4 times at night. My brain would click on and be very active at night. My doctor cut my medicene and while I sleep better, I still have trouble and cannot sleep 7-8 straight without it being interrupted. I've also noticed or think I'm noticed problems with concentrating, alertness and short term memory.

It also seems since being on Topamax that my seizures may have increased. I had one in October, and already 2 this year. When I was on Depakote they were few and far between and I was on a higher dosage of Depakote, but I never want to go back to Depakote again.

I also have a hard time describing the seizure to my doctor. I am fully aware of them, but they last only for seconds and then they are over. Rooms either become darker or lighter than what they are. Objects appear farther away. I see rainbow prisms in my peripheral vision, and I become disoriented.

I had one at work the other day and noticed in my left eye there was a red blood spot in the white part(the sclera) of the eye. It wasn't completely red like I had been rubbing my eyes. It was a red squiggly line in the sclera. Could this be related to the seizure or something totally different? It has gone away now, but I thought it was rather strange.