n.miller

i had 2 grand mal seizures at the age of 5 that left me paralyzed on the right side for a week, took pheonbarbitol until i was 14 and had no other incident until i was 28 when i had another doosey that left me with a dislocated shoulder. since then ive been on and off dilantin, the activity has increased and now im on zonegran. the only correlation i can find is the stress levels - maybe - after ive been a bit bugged out when ive calmed down a seizure may occur. but i keep noticing references to sleep apnea in alot of these entries, how do you know if you have it? my boyfriend says i gasp for air just before i start to convulse, (all of mine have occurred in sleep) and another thing, i work a 28 day rotation of nights to days and it seems to happen around the turn around in schedule, which seems to coincide with my period, i can't swear to it, because i am the worst record keeper in the world. i need to start a journal. countless EEGs say, irregular blip on the left side, nothing more, and the epilepsy foundation when i was a kid said i did NOT have epilepsy, of course that was in the early '70s and they thought the phenobarbitol was a good idea as well. it scares the crap out of my boyfriend and the increase in frequency is making me uneasy, the docs just seem interested in shoving more chemicals down my throat, which also makes me uneasy. someone please chat with me, ive never had the chance to talk to anyone about this except the professionals and mom, have felt very alone for many years.