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Any Briviact experiences to share?
Epilepsy & Seizures | Last Active: 8 hours ago | Replies (75)Comment receiving replies
Hi @louissc
Welcome to the Epilepsy & Seizures community at Mayo Clinic Connect!
I have been diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy with mesial sclerosis on my left hippocampus, with seizures that have been difficult to control.
At one point, I was being considered for surgery on my left temporal lobe, but thankfully decided to seek a second opinion first. That second opinion was against the surgery, as the risks would have outweighed the benefits, and instead recommended exploring other treatment options beyond traditional AEDs. That is how I began treatment with pure CBD — known as Epidiolex in the US — and later incorporated some specific dietary approaches. Together, these have helped reduce my seizures and restore a much better quality of life.
You mentioned that you visited a hospital in another country — I would love to hear more about that! Would you be willing to share which country it was? I am quite curious!
Wishing you all the best, and I hope you find a great deal of support here in this community.
Chris
Replies to "Hi @louissc Welcome to the Epilepsy & Seizures community at Mayo Clinic Connect! I have been..."
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@santosha
Hi Chris,
Thank you for the warm welcome! I am currently seeking treatment in Singapore, a pretty small nation, with only approx 150 newly diagnosed cases of epilepsy annually. Thus, names of many types of epilepsy are still new to me (despite having had it for close to a decade). Same for names of medication, some which I had forgotten.
I went National Taiwan Univesity Hospital (NTUH) in March. An interesting thing about NTUH is them mixing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) together with western. The line for neurological medical care is clearly drawn in Singapore, where I am currently seeking treatment. And I felt since pairing that with the possibility of working with multiple pools of medical doctors from more/different departments will help my case, I decided to explore more options.
I spoke Mandarin during consultation, and communicated via email using Chinese although their International Medical Service Centre (IMSC) staff seemed pretty fluent with English. I just didn't want any misunderstanding.
Taiwanese medical care quality over there are also of high standard. I was advised to set aside at least 2 weeks for my first full consulation which will be a hospital stay. And of course, a visit once every 2-3 months thereafter. However, as a foreigner, I will have to be prepared locals will come before me for medical care due to reason none of us can predict.
Let me know if you wish to know more details! In another thread I was asked if I made a special preparation of any sort for international travel. I will share more of my travel experience there.
Cheers,
Louis