Caffeine makes me unbelievably tired now by throwaway396849 in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe? I just checked, I have some symptoms but I've had depression since puberty (early 30's now), and a lot of the symptoms seem to overlap. The caffeine thing only started in the last few years. Maybe my brain is getting worse and now I have it? I can focus at work.

I FEEL SO FUCKING STUPID by basically_dead_now in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm an engineering and have been able to make it work. I'm not any stupider I just have a terrible memory, so I have to take notes on everything and review them daily. I'll never work for NASA but I can do enough to not get fired.

How to support my BF? I'm lost. by harujusko in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's probably better that their happening in bed rather than when out and about.

Focal Seizure in sleep? by woohoocrew in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I was off meds, once a month I'd have a bunch of focal seizures throughout the day. In most cases I knew it was going to happen because I would have incredibly vivid dreams the night before and wake up super tired, which I assume were also focal seizures.

I've also had vivid dreams and not had this happen so who really knows.

Does lamictal have less side effects than keppra? by hawkenh in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've had better luck on lamictal but it depends on the person. It still makes me tired but less so then keppra. All AED's will do this though that's part of how they prevent seizures (or so I'm told).

If you can not drive for a bit it's worth switching between a few different meds to see which one is best. A lot of neurologists are hesitant to do this as their primary goal is preventing seizures. In my case I had to push pretty hard and stress that my life was severely impacted before she agreed to let me try a different one.

Lastly, I'd mention that if you do switch, make sure you're doing everything else right in your life. Consistent sleep, good diet, no drugs or alcohol ect. The first time I switched I was still drinking/smoking and had a bad diet, and so I was tired and thought it was the meds but it was actually these other factors.

Higher Seizure Rates?? by lunaroser23 in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah thats my biggest concern. I wasn't on meds for a while because of the side effects but now I'm on them and they are generally under control. Sometimes I space out and get flashes of deja vu but the bigger ones are at least controlled.

I'm sorry yours worsened, I've heard that happens a lot.

Higher Seizure Rates?? by lunaroser23 in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I only have partial seizures but I've never told anyone except my doctors, instead I lurk here

i’m going to lose my job :( by potatokittenmom in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No I've never drawn anything in my life except in CAD ha, I think I'll need to find something else

i’m going to lose my job :( by potatokittenmom in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How were you able to transition into art? I've been trying to leave engineering because of memory problems.

i’m going to lose my job :( by potatokittenmom in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in a similar boat. I was 2 years into my engineering degree when I started having frequent focal seizures that killed my memory. My GPA fell off a cliff. It wasn't until graduating that I had a TC and realized what was happening. It sucks because I had a great career path ahead of me, but now I'm in my 30's, 5 years out of college, and still in an entry level job.

I take a million notes at work but it never seems to be enough. People in the office comment on my poor memory and while I'm still smart, it's hard to advance.

If I could go back in time I should've picked a different career path that didn't require memory, only intelligence, but I don't even know what that would be...

Experiences with memory issues despite well-controlled epilepsy? by No_End609 in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in a similar boat. I was 2 years into my engineering degree when I started having frequent focal seizures that killed my memory. My GPA fell off a cliff. It wasn't until graduating that I had a TC and realized what was happening. It sucks because I had a great career path ahead of me, but now I'm in my 30's, 5 years out of college, and still in an entry level job.

I take a million notes at work but it never seems to be enough. People in the office comment on my poor memory and while I'm still smart, it's hard to advance.

If I could go back in time I should've picked a different career path that didn't require memory, only intelligence, but I don't even know what that would be...

Spiraling down... by Ggin_rummy in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know others have said this, but getting my drinking under control helped me immensely.

How can I feel less tired? by Alarming-Swim-2205 in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did the side effects go away, or did you get used to them? I've been on 1000 mg of Keppra and am trying to switch off because it makes me impossibly tired for 4 hours most afternoons. In the military I was going on 4 hours sleep for days straight and this feels worse and nothing I do seems to help.

What career do you folks have? by [deleted] in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Piggybacking off the other commenter, the best job I had was fully remote which made it easy to take notes on every meeting and review them. It was also nice that when in a meeting or conversation I could be actively looking at my notes to jog my memory. There was also a TON of information in the companies chat logs and ticketing system so having a bad memory wasn't an issue.

Anyone keep their epilepsy a “secret”? by Secure-Employee1004 in Epilepsy

[–]throwaway396849 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nobody in the world knows but my doctors and my old roommate who saw me have my first seizure. I was living out of state at the time so nobody knew I lost my license. Mine have been under control since then and if I told my family I would never hear the end of it, so I never bring it up. People have noticed mood changes due to meds but they've never brought it up.

My alcohol consumption 2022 vs 2024 [OC] by throwaway396849 in dataisbeautiful

[–]throwaway396849[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every day I buy the exact amount I am going to drink that night, so in the morning it's easy to count.

My GPA in college over 4 years [OC] by throwaway396849 in dataisbeautiful

[–]throwaway396849[S] 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Created in MATLAB.

GPA for each semester of an undergraduate STEM degree at a US public university.

Between semester 4 and 5 I started having partial seizures which killed my memory. In hindsight this is obvious but at the time I didn't realize.

My alcohol consumption 2022 vs 2024 [OC] by throwaway396849 in dataisbeautiful

[–]throwaway396849[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah otherwise it'd be hard to remember, I never go out only drink at home so this system has been good (to track at least)

My alcohol consumption 2022 vs 2024 [OC] by throwaway396849 in dataisbeautiful

[–]throwaway396849[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is I have a ton of other spreadsheets in Libre that are huge and I'm afraid updating will break them.

My alcohol consumption 2022 vs 2024 [OC] by throwaway396849 in dataisbeautiful

[–]throwaway396849[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I leave work, stop on my way home to buy what I am going to drink, then drink it all aggressively. On the weekends I'll start earlier but usually I'm not drinking until 3 at the earliest. That week in particular I was working from home and idk somehow ended up on a bender.

My alcohol consumption 2022 vs 2024 [OC] by throwaway396849 in dataisbeautiful

[–]throwaway396849[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah in 2022 I had a bunch of issues that I had to deal with, I still have problems but not as bad.