What if others say they're afraid you'll have a seizure?
A friend recently came to town and he wanted to get together for lunch. On the way to the restaurant, he looked at me with trepidation and asked, "What do I do if you have a seizure?" Many of us are so used to epilepsy we don't even think twice about what it must be like for our family and friends to be with us. During the holidays, I once again saw some of my family giving me some distance, especially while I had a mini-absence seizure at Costco (not convulsive, but...well, you know). I'd love to know how you have handled this, especially getting together with people you haven't seen in ages.
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Epilepsy & Seizures Support Group.
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Thank you Laura.
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1 Reactionthank you for the helpful.
@royanthony that is a shame on the 15 because i believe in people still and not a lot of people do now days. some its just the way they are. others the way they were raised. even more that think they are too good to be around you. i have noticed in years gone by, but people don't instill the good stuff in their kids anymore. and its a shame. i see it way to often especially around stores or malls. but i still believe in good. sometimes have to dig for it but its there. even in your case. check a little deeper.
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2 Reactions@royanthony that's sad so many but in reality so few. mine right now are mainly family or associated the others are too far away to just get up and go see, kind of reached that stage where life doesn't give you a lot of choices. right now just waiting on results to be read by doctor and go from there. what really is disturbing is i am the last one to know with my daughter taking over my primary care and life. I'm kind of like a shadow if anything were to happen to my daughter I'm not sure what would happen with me . fend for myself best i could I'm sure. my true friends i can count on one hand. that's life
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6 Reactions@randallshields56 Correct, Dan, Randy. You'll know who your true friends are. I learned I had only 3 friends, out of about 15 with whom I routinely associated. I now know them as past casual acquaintances.
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3 Reactions@randallshields56
Epilepsy has a long history of being stigmatized and misunderstood. And some people I think don’t want to deal with the disease because of the stigma involved instead of the straightforward medical issues. This can be hard for those of us with epilepsy to deal with.
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3 Reactions@methel thank you for your post, yes i have watched a few videos and my daughter checks often for new information because or her health issues and possibly one day a grand seizure. they can be scary and her wife has studied long hours to help us both in times of need. spreading the word helps so that others can help when out and about. just like so many things that can go wrong, there is classes or multiple web sites you can visit and getting better every year. best we can do is to give who are worried, places on the web to check or videos or numbers to call. try to put their minds at ease. hope this helped.
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3 Reactions@marianne72
I have been really lucky, I guess, because my kids who are local have seen me with a seizure and treat them as “ this is just what mom does”. ( It makes you wonder what other things I do they think are odd. ) I once electrified my church group with a generalized seizure, but the retired RN recognized it and knew how to handle it.
The epilepsy foundation has a video on their website showing you what to do for someone with a seizure. If you know someone who says they are worried about this, tell them to look for that video.
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6 Reactions@randallshields56 It is very hard when seizures are started off by TBI's, tumours etc. It is hard to know what sets them off. There is a list a mile long of triggers. I know what you mean about too much in your head, or stress.
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3 Reactions@marianne72 last comment tonight. your healing and improving. its taken me more than a year to get this far but im thankful for the journey and if anyone of your family has a question ill gladly respond to an email or chat here in the group. the mind has a remarkable way of healing. mot just brainwaves but the body. just have to believe and fight for what you want. Thank you so much 💓
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4 Reactions