I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been focusing on my health, but I thought I'd come out of my cave and say hello.
I've had a rough time adjusting to the new antiseizure medications (feeling sleepy, dizziness, headaches, nausea, etc.); however, I'm hanging in there!
My neurologist knows that people with CFIDS are often more sensitive to medications than other people (and he knows that I am particularly sensitive to various medications), so he started me on lower doses of the antiseizure meds. This technique would allow more time for my body to adjust to the medications.
I am now on the maintenance doses of both antiseizure medications (as of Friday). The side effects of this level are starting to subside...I think. Well, at least they seem to be better today than they were yesterday.
On the upside, I've FINALLY been sleeping better thanks to a combination of the antiseizure medications and Ambien CR. My memory is starting to improve, and I'm thinking more clearly. Hooray!
I have been doing some digging, and I've discovered a few bits of interesting information related to my new epilepsy diagnosis (absence seizures).
First, I looked up absence seizures on the internet, and found that absence seizures are most common in children and usually do not start in adulthood (though my body has not followed the "getting sick" rules for years).
I also found multiple examples of what absence seizure activity looks like on an EEG (if you click on the above link and scroll down, you can see an example). Unfortunately, my EEG looks very much like the example EEGs I found. What was most striking to me was the following phrase on the Epilepsy Foundation website regarding absence seizures: "the absence attack is always associated with the strikingly typical EEG abnormality of spike and slow wave discharges, usually at a frequency of 3Hz."
Second, not long after my diagnosis a few weeks ago I remembered that I'd had a sleep study done in 2007. Part of a sleep study involves a night-long EEG. Conveniently, I had an appointment with my regular doctor just after I remembered this interesting tidbit and made sure to ask her about my sleep study results (which she had in her possession as part of my medical record).
Long story short: It turns out that the sleep lab did not mention any abnormalities in my EEG. (I should have known this would be the case, since I obviously would have been notified at that time if there had been any EEG abnormalities.)
I have come up with a few different scenarios as a result of all this information: (1) I developed epilepsy recently, (2) I do not have epilepsy and my recent EEG was a fluke, (3) I have had epilepsy since childhood but the first EEG did not catch seizure activity, (4) the seizures are a new symptom of my CFIDS.
I don't know which scenario is correct, but I'm sure I'll learn in time. I just want to be well!
Today's Activities: home. Today's Most Annoying Symptoms: headache, sore throat, upper back pain, air hunger.
Mood (10 is best): 5
Energy Range (10 is best): 1-3
Physical Discomfort (10 is worst): 6
P.S. Happy New Year!
