@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member well shit... you want a dog but the canada will not let you have a dog.
and i know too much cause mom works with med billing. but i know i have a lot to learn. thats why the 2 cents.
and remember to trust your gut. if you think your level of stress is too high... leave the stress. i am into alternitive meds. baby steps is the right way to go.

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A MyEpile...

Thank you very much for adding that key information Bryan!

I am sorry to hear that because the right pet is an extremely loyal friend. And a trained working animal can do wonders to help and protect an epileptic as well.

It is not THEY, but unfortunately too many of them. There are very caring members of every medical profession, but the challenge is finding one. I had a very good one only to lose him to Alzheimer's when he was just started helping me. And I had to endure another one of the other kind for 18 years before my older sister gave me a gift that I can never repay her for when she offered to drive me to Boston whenever I needed in order to find a good neurologist again. And in less than a year after I started with Dr Khoshkhoo at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, I had my last epileptic seizure (April 25, 2022) to date. I am not cured, but I have HOPE and HAPPINESS after never having the latter before. And because the psychologist who conducted my memory test this year and then compared the results with last years and explained to me that all of the areas where I went down were entirely because of depression and anxiety levels being too high and thus recommending I have my therapist lead me through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). And although I still have a little bit of my Wall (CBT term) left, my memory has been reopened to as far back as when I was 2 (1968), and my memory recall level is as least as well as it was (and possibly better) than it was on May 30, 2003. This was the day before God performed the miracle to keep me alive from May 31, 2003 - the day in January 2005 when I got my CPAP machine and mask and could finally have a healthy sleep for the first time in 6 months (my undiagnosed sleep apnea that developed by June 2004 is so severe that I don't get a single complete and uninterrupted sleep cycle (thus useless sleep). As my second neurologist (more out of spite and arrogance than for my benefit) pointed out at my first appointment, my previous neurologist had missed the quite visible sign that should have inspired him to order a sleep test for me in June 2004. And because he did not, I could have stayed awake for the 6 months from then until I got my CPAP machine and got the same benefit as I did from that sleep. Of course, the only point of defense for my second neurologist is that he is too old for it to have been even thought of to test him as a child for Asperger's (highest level in the Autism rainbow), thus a lot of why he functions as he does is because he believes he is smarter than everyone else, thus ignores all published research.

Hi Raggamuffin! I am not sure if you are open and speak freely of your epilepsy so others around you are educated (not saying that is necessary).

I found things quite freeing when I began owning the fact that I live with epilepsy….not that it’s perfect everyday but I share quite freely about it so others can be aware (whether they are good with it is on them and not my responsibility for them to accept it).

It opened up so many things for me…motivated me to question my doctors…Not saying they are stupid but rather not just hearing what they say at each appointment and leaving licking my wounds. Instead asking them to explain and questioning things I don’t understand.

These things have not stopped the subclinical seizures or medication side effects but it has certainly helped me to reclaim the the unique individual I am and give me a life worth living.

Having said that, there are still days when things are rough and seemingly dark…but I have found that adding a cat or two to the family helps quite a bit. I am up to eight now! 🤣

Do you have a neurologist? Or do you, and your neurologist refused to answer this question and you do not have a therapist?

If you do have a therapist, then were you diagnosed with both types of seizures and told by your neurologist that raising of your emotional level while in an intense Myoclonic Seizure will trigger one of your Tonic Clonic Seizures?

In terms of the ways to lower stress and anxiety levels, here is a link to professionals at the US National Library of Medicine on how to do this: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/so...

The point to realize is that it all depends upon the amount of stress and the reason for your stress about whether you can get it out without the help of a professional.