@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member the person I know started his first seizure with a major drug overdose. I have known him for 20 years. His second one and last one so far was 16 years later.

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A MyEpile...

Update: I had an appointment with my neurologist today. A recent blood test I got revealed REALLY low levels of red and white blood cells, as well as a worryingly low level of sodium. I guess this is a side effect of the carbamazepine I had been taking. It could explain a LOT about why I’ve been feeling so bad lately…plus I had seizures, so clearly it had stopped working for them as well. We’re going to start a medication switch tomorrow and have it complete by mid December.

I also asked him directly about whether I have Epilepsy. We talked for a good while about it—reviewed my history, and all the tests I’d had—and yes, he says I do have epilepsy. It wasn’t something I was born with, but has originated from structural damage in my brain. I don’t really know why, but having this clearly defined is really important to me—it feels helpful also—even reassuring, in a way.

So, it sounds like I'm in the right place. Thanks @A MyEpilepsyTeam Member for your insight. It helped me clarify my approach before my appointment with the doc, and gave me confidence.

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@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member I quit seeing him in April. But he has since his first one and even to now, uses cocaine, marianna, oxycodone, penisilan, harroin and etc.

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A MyEpile...

RandySherman, yeah, my focal aware seizures come with particular smells (before I knew what they were, I called them "Bouillion Flashes"), sometimes tingling, sometimes nausea, dizziness, or double vision, and definite changes in my perception. Things *seem* different somehow. It's like the world around me has become "iconic" in some way. I'm not sure if these have ever led to a larger seizure, but they happen frequently in the few days AFTER I've had a larger event. My neurologist called them "postictal." I have had several focal onset impaired awareness seizures over the years. Before I knew what they were, I just figured I'd been daydreaming, but sometimes I'd come out of one and not know how I got to where I was, or someone would see it happen and be really freaked out. Once I had one while driving and my boyfriend pulled us over. Fortunately he was there. That was really scary.

I'm trying to track my seizures more thoroughly now. I signed up for "my seizure diary," and am getting in the habit of logging everything. Hopefully some insight will come.

If your were to have one incident having a seizure doesn’t alway mean you have epilepsy. The seizure could of happened from a heatstrokes, regular strokes, brain tumors , drug and Alcohol overdose, fever or infections and ect.

Now if you have seizures more than just one time , then your considered to have epilepsy. But you would need to get diagnosed by a neurologist first .

There are more than just one onset Type seizures .

There is Focal onset aware seizures ( person maintains consciousness during seizures )

There is Focal onset impaired awareness seizures ( person loses consciousness during seizure )

Focal onset secondarily Generalize seizures ( person seizures start on one side of the brain and ends on the other side of the brain )

If I were you , I would get a second opinion from another neurologist. If possible, try to find an Epileptologist.