i have a question about epilepsy.

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I have tle ( temporal lobe epilepsy) and my docs are saying i have it from drug use, like lsd and junk. they say that's the reason why it waited 24 years to show any signs ( recently, i had 3 seizures in 2 days, which i lost total consciousness, and can't even remember being in the er, or even the emt crew getting me, see i'm navy, living on base). but is there any other cause of tle, because honest to god, i have never done any illegal substances, or even abused legal ones. i think the docs are just using the drug theory to get me out of the navy faster, cuz i'm no use now that i have a pcl disorder and a compression fracture in my back, so i can't be sent with the marines, cus i'm an 8404, civilians call us the devil docs. thank you

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Ryan, are you sure this is a question that would best be answered by a bunch of random strangers who mostly have no medical credentials?

― NA (Nick A.), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

:( best of luck, ryan.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Epilepsy can be caused by lots of things; we don't really know much about it. I don't know anything about TLE specificaly, or if I do, I don't know it by that name; but epilepsy isn't a disease or specific disorder, it's a symptom like "headache." Some people have seizures once and once only because of other trauma, for instance. Some people have them because of other conditions. Brain damage can cause it. And so on, and so on.

But a friend of mine has gone through many different specialists following her seizures, and few of them ever agreed on anything, but the one thing that has become clear is: doctors can rarely say with any certainty what causes a given case of epilepsy. While it's unusual for it to show up later in life, it's not that unusual, and this friend is a few years older than you.

If they're that positive they know what the cause is, tell them to ignore the cause and focus on the treatment.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

as far as asking a question to random strangers like you said, random strangers is all i have right now, cuz the navy docs can't be trusted for any answers. as far as head trauma, i did have migraines the first few years of my life, cuz my melon was to big at birth, had to be born with foreceps. dunno. the only reason why the drug thing concerns me is i the navy is trying to pin bad junk on me cuz i got a stereotype thats false, just because i had one bad incident, plus if they can say it's drug related, they can pay me less separation benefits. i'll tell ya, navy will take care of its own, as long as their healthy, but in a jam, or they make one mistake, they become outcasts

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

but i thank you for the answer, i don't have many people on my side right now. i do have my family, but i don't want to let them know the full scoop, cuz it would be selfish to give them extra reasons to worry about me, all they know is i'm comiing home fairly soon, we'll probably have a long talk about all this when i go home

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

i'll tell ya, this command is bullshit , too. my one mistake is i messed up with alcohol once, and only once. they found me passed out in my room. i don't have an excuse, but there was a reason for me getting so plastered, my fiance left me in a Most bogus way, and even when i told them this, and promised that i knew drinking til i had a bac three times the amount that could have killed me, and i'd never let it happen again, they won't listen. one honest mistake, and i'm black balled now. but if anyone is still here, thank you for paying attention, it feels better to have that off my chest, cuz i've kept it bottled up, never discussed it before

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Whatever the cause, and however they treat it (have you had seizures outside of that 2 day period?) -- be very careful with alcohol and caffeine, and be sure to get enough sleep. Those are major triggers for seizures. Hopefully things will work out for you, and with luck once you get into a routine that isn't seizure-friendly, you may not even have to think about it very often :)

(A discharge is a whole nother matter, but that's not something I know anything helpful about.)

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, i've had seizures since then, but they're just minor. alcohol, i don't consume at all, and i cut my coffee way down ( i hate to say it, but the stereotype about navy and coffee is true:) ) but i maintain a positive attitude, cuz i have no real reason to complain. yeah, this is a little set back, but i'm young, and in other wise good shape, so why go around being depressed, ya know?

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Seriously, a positive attitude is good. Stress is a factor. So well-done :) It's absolutely not the end of the world, and once you get used to it, it'll just be one of those things.

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

++the drug thing concerns me ...the navy is trying to pin bad junk on me cuz i got a stereotype thats false

if youve never done any drugs then ask for a drug test upon discharge.
get some rest, listen to tep. (my dog had epilepsy for many years)

― kephm, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Very strange, I'd never heard the link b/w TLE and drug use before, but I did have a massive siezure once while on LSD which caused me to be hospitalized and actually caused my heart to stop. The doctors were pretty flummoxed. They told me to watch out because they didn't understand siezures very well but that I might be at risk for another one. I very occasionally have slight tremulous feelings around the back of my neck but I think they're from caffeine. But maybe not?

Hopefully I can get disability and sit around on my ass all day!!! Fuck this work shit.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

the drug thing i got beat, cuz i have a interesting genetic..trait, my family's blood is german, norwegian, irish, and native american, all of our eyes are perpetually bloodshot, so the navy's tested me for the last 2 years every chance they get :)

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

dunno, never did drugs, but i refuse to be put on full disability, i'm only 24, i'm still ready to rock and be a productive member of society and stuff, laying round the house..... maybe when i'm like 70

― ryan hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

but discharged from the navy isn't totally bad. shoot, i'm looking forward to growin my hair down to my shoulders, throwin on my joe elliot jeans( the ones that look like ya got in a fight with a wolverine), grabbin my guitar, and rockin the whole state of ohio. yea, buddy.

― ryan t hoffman, Tuesday, 26 August 2003 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

dunno, never did drugs, but i refuse to be put on full disability

I would kill for full disability. I hate my job.

― adam (adam), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Could you get some kind of statement from an outside-the-military doctor? Maybe a neurologist, they're the experts on that kind of thing I believe.

Aside from it all, good luck, hope the seizures get under control & you do just fine.

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Tuesday, 26 August 2003 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

already been to a civy neurologist, he concurs. i guess it's for the best, my chief says losers such as myself, still lovin bill and ted and listening to def leppard and thinkin the 80's were one of the best musical decades doesn't belong or desearve to be in the navy at all. dunno any more, nothing feels real or right right now. but thank you for your kind words.

― ryan t hoffman, Wednesday, 27 August 2003 15:00 (twenty-two years ago)

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