How did you first handle epilepsy when you were diagnosed?

Being diagnosed was a huge relief. I randomly developed temporal lobe epilepsy when I was 18, right before I started university in a new city. I spent the entire year thinking I had developed schizophrenia or something, and it was horrible. I became very depressed and socially withdrawn because I’d be talking to someone and have a seizure, and I wouldn’t be able to respond properly. it wasn’t what the common idea of a seizure (i.e tonic clonic) was, so I had no idea that it could be epilepsy and just thought that I was losing my mind. I went to the school psychiatrist who put me on lexapro, which obviously did not work.

After I came home for summer break, my mom (a nurse practitioner) realized something neurological was going on and she sent me to a neurologist, and I was finally able to get a diagnosis after catching one on an EEG. My MRI was clean so there wasn’t any brain tumor causing it or anything. I was actually incredibly relieved: I’d spent a whole year thinking I had schizophrenia or that I was otherwise going crazy. I’m able to handle epilepsy much better now, and it’s more of an annoyance that I deal with than a looming life sentence.

/r/Epilepsy Thread