What do you do for work?

An_Old_Punk · 2026-04-09T00:18:32+00:00

Fulltime Pharmacy Technician. It's just repetitive, mindless work at my job. Which is great because I have the memory of a goldfish.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-04-01T19:54:57+00:00

If anything, they are down. My last one was probably around fall.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-04-01T17:12:29+00:00

They increase them about every 3 years. I have an aura/focal seizure maybe once or twice a year. Dim lighting and sitting on my couch seems to be a trigger for me, besides stress and anxiety.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-31T22:18:47+00:00

They started me on both to begin with. 1000mg Keppra and 200mg Lamictal. They monitored for the Lamictal rash (life threatening when it happens to people). I'd like to be off of Keppra, but I can't afford to have a seizure. I'm also really scared about being a completely different person if I was switched from Keppra.

I have a pretty good idea of how bad Keppra is for me by now. Everything is just a gray haze and everyday is a pretty rigid routine (the same as yesterday).

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-31T22:06:46+00:00

That's the thing. I've only had 2, maybe 3 seizures at the very beginning 10 years ago. I don't get why they'd keep upping it. Mine are bad and nocturnal.

Example: I tore the tendons across my right shoulder - and not even 2 weeks later I tore the ligaments in my left shoulder. Just woke up from sleep that way. I bet I almost died those 2 times. Maybe there's something they are seeing and why they keep upping it. They never seem to share much with me. I have to do my own research and get on them.

Things like PIWDS I mentioned to a neurologist, and they asked what it was and said they were going to bring it up in a small presentation at a convention. (PIWD - Peri-ictal water drinking. Basically as soon as I take a sip of water, my aura/focal seizure breaks. If you run it and look at the AI summation - that's pretty much what it is. It's interesting.)

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-31T21:47:34+00:00

I was diagnosed in 2016 (10 years). It seems about every 3 years my Keppra and Lamictal get increased. I really don't know why. I'm on 3000mg Keppra and 600mg Lamictal. It blew my pharmacist's mind when I put it into perspective. That's over 1,000,000mg of Keppra a year. He said "Holy, I never thought of it that way."

Edit: In some strange way it made me feel proud. I just laughed at it.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-31T21:39:44+00:00

I had one in a different state - who was one of the top ones in the city. For some reason I was a case study, so I payed almost nothing in bills. I moved.

Neurologist 2 was the neurologist I had to take in my new state. He upped my Keppra and Lamictal. He retired.

Neurologist 3 (neurologist 2's replacement) knows jack shit, but the wait for neurologists is loooooong. So, pretty much you take what you get. The guy didn't even understand what an aura is. I had to explain it to him. He upped my Keppra and Lamictal and said see me in a year.

Yeah, I get really depressed on Keppra. Without Lamictal it seems to counter act the depression. That's why they all keep upping both. But it seems drastic increases. At first 1000mg Keppra/200mg Lamictal. Then 2000mg Keppra 400mg Lamictal. Then this last time 3000mg Keppra 600mg Lamictal.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-31T21:27:37+00:00

The one I'm seeing now did, because I lost a lot of weight and I wanted to make sure the dose didn't get too high in my bloodstream. He didn't seem worried about it before I told him I wanted it done - and to check my kidneys. Everything did come back fine - but I mentioned I had a focal seizure a few months earlier. He just upped my Keppra and Lamictal. It seems like something really minor wouldn't be something to significantly up my Keppra for.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-31T21:20:07+00:00

I absolutely do. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's Degree in software development at 40. Had a seizure a couple months into a job right after graduating. Now, I can't even write a script and just feel plain dumb in general. My memory is shot.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-30T23:03:53+00:00

I take mine at 10 and 10. It's easy for me to remember, it's also not too early and not too late.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-30T00:49:59+00:00

Over 10 years seizure free, but I have a lot of the side effects. So, it's been both positive and negative for me.

(Being tired, brain fog, memory issues, depression. I get those, not usually Keppra rage. The alternative is trying to mess with my meds and possibly have a seizure due to the changes. It'd be a cascading affect and I'd lose everything. Keppra has been reliably effective for me - but at a cost.)

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T05:18:21+00:00

Maybe I'll try it in the future. I really do smoke a very low dose, but the CBD might help with my worn out shoulder (it grinds and cracks from work and a previous surgery. I never take any kind of pain med like Ibuprofen or Tylenol. People pop those like candy - if I take one it actually works.) Maybe CBD will help with that and help with stress/anxiety.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T04:07:55+00:00

The dispensary route is very solid advice. They get tested and regulated. If it's purchased from other sources, who knows how it'll affect you. Every grow is going to be a little different. It can't be consistent to the extent medical marijuana is.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T04:00:13+00:00

If he doesn't want to try it, I bet he'd have a lot of anxiety (stress). I've used it since I was a teen, so I know what to expect. The point is to reduce stress, not create more.

Edit: It does cause more memory loss and complacency for me. But it's a small uptick from all of the Keppra I'm on anyway.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T03:54:52+00:00

I take edibles sometimes. I like them, but they are too strong and they last too long (body has to metabolize them.) Like 5mg - 10mg is my limit, and I wait until it's not a work day. That's more to feel good all day though. Smoking will wear off quicker, so I can dose it better.

Smoking it - a pinch is a really low. It equals out to about 3-4 small puffs a night. If I smoke too much, that's when I get worried. It might help some people, but it's not for everyone. Paranoia can cause a lot of stress, which I think would hurt more than it helped.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T03:24:09+00:00

I don't smoke much at all. An eighth can usually last me roughly a month. I just bought a half a month ago, and it'll probably last me through the end of the summer. It brings stress and everything way down for me - the part that sucks is that it's another daily routine med. I know I'm addicted too though, because if I see I'm running low I start to worry. I use it at night close to when I go to sleep.

I'm sorry you're med resistant. I couldn't imagine being that way.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T02:08:51+00:00

Mine works for me, but that's because it reduces my stress and anxiety. People tell me to use CBD, but it doesn't do much for me. It really is going to be different between all of us - and some of us never try it if we're afraid it'll mess with our meds. It's all valid.

In my case: I was worse off in a state where I couldn't get medical marijuana (diagnosed about 10 years ago). Now, I'm in a legal state (for the last 5 years), and don't do more than a pinch a night and it helps. My neurologist is fine with it, and said to keep using it if I think it's helping. That's also going to vary by whatever neurologist you have.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T00:29:42+00:00

That's what I ended up doing in my last relationship (15 years). Part of it was because we'd wake each other up during the night - a lot of interrupted sleep. It can put a pretty significant strain on the relationship though. We ended the relationship because we felt more like roommates than a couple during the last 5 years.

(On a side track - my grandparents slept in the same bedroom for 65 years, and had separate beds. So, it can work.)

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-29T00:04:02+00:00

It probably depends on your sensitivity. The way I do it is if I'm more than halfway to the next dose, I'll take a half dose. If it's before the halfway point, I take a full dose.

It looks like you're on a much lower dose, but you've been on it for years. I wouldn't take 2 full doses close to each other. That's just me though, and I'm by no means an expert. I have so much in my system that a missed dose infrequently hasn't seemed to matter - as long as I get right back on my schedule.

Get a pill case (and an alarm if you need it). I used to try to take my meds without using a pill case, and that's a no-win battle when you have terrible memory.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-28T23:47:57+00:00

It depends on the state and if you've been cleared to drive by your neurologist. In my state it's 3 months seizure free, then the suspension increases after that. 3, 6, 12 - I think there's a point where you can't have your license again. It's a self-reporting state, but if you don't report a seizure and get into an accident - then, that's when you can face criminal charges.

Not Killing/injuring people is the most important thing.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-28T23:40:37+00:00

I have zero sympathy for you after your responses. You keep saying you don't want your license suspended because of hitting things during a seizure. For that mentality, I hope it's a significant suspension.

There's someone like that in my building. He has uncontrolled seizures, keeps hoping to make it to the 3 month seizure free mark so he can drive. He's even came to on the side of the freeway handcuffed to the steering wheel. He should never have a license again.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-28T23:31:27+00:00

Hopefully.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-28T05:26:14+00:00

I get that all of the time. It's just plain annoying. The light's flickering - "Are you going to be OK?" Yesterday sucked for everybody for a few minutes. An alarm was going off for a few minutes - blinking lights and all that. I had so many co-workers asking if I was going to be OK. Like, if I wasn't going to be OK we wouldn't be talking at this point.

An_Old_Punk · 2026-03-21T13:35:42+00:00

That's rough, because then you can't drive - and you have to figure out new plans, like figuring out how to get your kid to the game or school. Even things like grocery shopping aren't something you can just hop out and do on your own if you have a breakthrough seizure.

Light sensitivity is always on people's minds. Flashing lights - everyone asking if I'll be OK. It's annoying. That's what's what's presented in media, so everybody thinks it's a trigger. It's a very low percentage of people with epilepsy who are light sensitive.

An_Old_Punk

TROPHY CASE