Do you have epilepsy? Know someone who has it? Have you witnessed it? I know this can be a sensitive thing for many people. Please be warned, I do not want to offend anyone here, and this is definitely not my intention. I'm creating this thread purely to educate.

I'm going to post a link from youtube. It is of a man having a seizure while he is in hospital. Basically, he has wires glued to his head (for an EEG test), and they keep a video on him at all times in case he has a seizure. If he does (which he did), it helps doctors to understand what type of epilepsy a patient has, whereabouts it's coming from in the brain, and it gives them an idea of how to treat/medicate it :)

Please note that if you're sensitive to sort of stuff, I'd advise to definitely not click the link. It can be pretty horrific for both the person having seizure and for those who watch it (more so when it's someone you love). I'd also definitely advise to not view it in front of small children that may be about. I know when I saw this link on an epilepsy forum, I was fascinated, as I suffer from epilepsy and I'm unconscious when I have one, so I'm not aware that I have one or how it happens until I wake up. Whereas some of my family members when I went to show them the link refused to watch it, as they've witnessed me have seizures and it's tough for them. AJ has witnessed one of my seizures, but she's able to watch the videos. She's pretty strong, I have to admit. The one that I had in front of her was um.. very inconsiderate of me ;)

The link can be found here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2vH1igOoh0&mode=related&search=Teenager%20teenage%20boy%20epileptic%20epil epsy%20seizure%20blackout)

I found it fascinating in an educational sense. And hopefully you will, too. That's my reason for sharing it. I've passed it onto a mod, already, who gave me the all clear. So I hope I do not offend anyone here. I know that sometimes when I say "epilepsy" not everyone knows what it is. So hopefully this video will be an eye opener. It was for me, and I have it! For more information, you can click on a few links in my signature :) or ask questions, if you wish. I'm happy to answer any questions (if I'm able to) :)

Well, that wasn't as bad as you made it out to be! I thought he was going to have a horrific fit. I was bracing myself for it. But then again, I suppose I'm already educated in that sort of thing so perhaps it's not so shocking for me.

I can understand why some of your family don't want to view it but there's no point in hiding yourself away from these things as you could be able to help somebody in the future.

However, I don't think that link particularly educates anybody about epilepsy. What people need to know is what to do if they see somebody having a fit so to click your bottom link would be better! Some people might think it best to try and stop the epileptic from shaking by holding them down etc. Best way to educate people is to tell them what to do in a situation like that. Just a suggestion!

I lived with an epileptic roomate for a year. In that year she had about 15 to 20 seisures, about once or twice a month. It's nothing that'd can't be dealt with, but one has to be well informed to live with a person with that condition, there's a lot of myths running around on how to deal with seizures and what epilepsy is.

Perhaps this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWeYN9DdyXU) might help with what to do. It's very basic and you may have to excuse the bad acting, I'll admit I did find it distracting but I guess for kids it's quite useful. Heh, I think it would have helped me when I first saw nerdy's seizure. Everything I did was pretty much a guess at the time but I did everything right :)

I find myself talking with that reassuring voice after nerdy has a seizure now, "It's ok, you just had a seizure..." Although after nerdy's last seizure I asked her "did you just have a seizure?" and she went "no" all innocently whilst touching her bitten tongue to which I replied "erm... I think you did" D'oh! me for even asking! Also, nerdy's memory is really bad after a seizure, so I said "Just so you know, you're getting married next month, do you know that?" thankfully she did!

I've asked nerdy for her permission to post about the seizure I saw which was June last year.
I noticed she was having a seizure because of the way she was behaving. She tried to say something to me but all she did was stutter, for a split second I thought she was just struggling to find the right words (cos she kinda did this a lot after her first few seizures) but after about the third stutter I asked "is she...?" to my other sister, which is when nerdy stood up and started walking over to me during her seizure. At the same her left arm was being stretched up high (like the guy did in the clip she posted) only it stayed there. She walked about 5 metres across our living room towards me which is when she fell into my arms, thankfully I stood up when she started walking otherwise when she fell she would have whacked her head on the corner of the radiator which was where I was sitting.

I lay her down and we put a cushion under her head. I think her arm was still up in the air but she slowly put it down, albeit above her head. During the seizure her body was tense and her fists were clenched. She frothed at the mouth a little bit but not too much and we could only wipe that away after the seizure was over. During the whole thing her entire body was jerking. When it was over nerdy was unconscious and we put her in the recovery position. I timed when the seizure started and when it finished then I timed when she went unconscious until the time that she woke up. I think altogether the whole thing lasted 5 minutes but obviously it felt a lot longer.

That time was possibly one of the worst seizures she had cos she had constant twitches after that in her neck and legs and she had to be taken to hospital. She pretty much spent the whole day there and me and my sister stayed with her.

I think the worst part is knowing that you have to sit there knowing that there's nothing you can do except watch... helplessly.
I find online clips easy to watch possibly because I'm not there in person but probably more because it's not a loved one going through it. Obviously it is sad and traumatic watching anyone have a seizure, but when it's a loved one or someone you know. The effect it has on you is a lot worse.

When the seizure happened I remained calm throughout, my reflexes were ace and I used my head. I'll admit to "losing it" when I came home from hospital that night without nerdy, firstly because she wasn't allowed to come home and secondly because I had the whole thing on a loop in my head. I remember coming home, saying a prayer for nerdy and then crying my eyes out lol. Well I actually had a panic attack and started hyperventilating. Then I ran downstairs and one of my other sisters had to calm me down! :embarrassed:
Thankfully nerdy came home that night, not twitching, so my prayers were answered :)

Well, that wasn't as bad as you made it out to be! I thought he was going to have a horrific fit. I was bracing myself for it. But then again, I suppose I'm already educated in that sort of thing so perhaps it's not so shocking for me.

Yeah, same here.. but I wanted to give a warning because not all of us feel the same, and we all react differently. I just don't want to offend or touch a sensitive spot.

However, I don't think that link particularly educates anybody about epilepsy. What people need to know is what to do if they see somebody having a fit so to click your bottom link would be better! Some people might think it best to try and stop the epileptic from shaking by holding them down etc. Best way to educate people is to tell them what to do in a situation like that. Just a suggestion!

Which is why I have the link. I think it's important. :P Seriously though, I agree that the video isn't as educating as knowing what to actually *do* while having a seizure, however, at least it informs people of what exactly is classed as a seizure (even if there are different types - this is one of many). I know that my parents did not have the knowledge of what a seizure really is when I had my first one (they are not alone!), especially since I didn't jerk during that one (but there were other typical seizure signs there), so they assumed I had just fainted. If they knew what exactly happens, as sometimes there are typical common things that happen, then I suppose they may have known straight away that it was a seizure and could have told the doctors the same thing. Plus, they did all the wrong things, lol. They tried to wake me up. But now with their knowledge, they know not to :) I do think it's important to educate what to do though, so I'm with you that one. If you haven't clicked my sig link, please do so, people. I once saw someone have a seizure and had no idea what to do. Mind you, there were other adults there dealing with it, anyway, BUT, they were all doing the wrong things (now I know that).


I find myself talking with that reassuring voice after nerdy has a seizure now, "It's ok, you just had a seizure..." Although after nerdy's last seizure I asked her "did you just have a seizure?" and she went "no" all innocently whilst touching her bitten tongue to which I replied "erm... I think you did" D'oh! me for even asking! Also, nerdy's memory is really bad after a seizure, so I said "Just so you know, you're getting married next month, do you know that?" thankfully she did!

Rofl.. that's still funny :) I remember laughing about that - after I came to my senses! I bit all around my tongue and I tell Aj that I didn't have a seizure.. hehe! I wasn't totally aware of what happend in that moment.. :X

My youngest sister has had epilepsy almost all her life, we have seen less of it in the last 5 years, the doctors say that she may have grown out of it.
As every seven years you are supposed to either grow out of it or keep it, weird eh.
Anyway i just wanted to say that living with my sis and her illness dident really change our family much we learned to cope with it and got on with our life.
My sister says in her own words that there are much more terrible things in life to bear other than her fits, shes one remarkable women in my eyes, she dosent go on about it all the time its just a small part of who she is end of.
My father also has had fits since the age of 11 due to him being diabetic, when he goes hyopglicemic, excuse the spelling<<< he is really wild.
He kicks out can hurt himself and others around him, cause of being diabetic he has other serious issues such as brittle bone diesese, bad heart and other harmfull things.
So although yes i do feel bad for my sister being epilectic, i feel my father is more seriously ill and he dosent carry on and moan about it either.
I think any family worth there salt will learn to cope with anything that an ill relitive has its called human nature and dedication to the ones you love.
Lets be thankfull for life itself its a big gift.

Really sorry to hear about your sister and father, Cherry. I hope I don't go on about it all the time. I find that it does fascinate me though. And for me it's still a recent thing.. being 23, I've only had seizures for 3 years. Each time I have one, I still cry and it still scares the monkeys out of me. I'm not there in that "I've got used to this" phase, yet :| I pray that your father has some ease. Both your sister and father sound very strong.

Do either of your sister or father experience Tonic Clonic seizures? (formally known as 'grand mal' seizures). I've read many stories on the epilepsy forums about people who have absent and partial seizures where they're awake during it and are aware that they are having a seizure, so they're able to talk to people, and get to a safe place, etc. I'm aware that Tonic Clonic seizures are the worse kind, and I understand why... :eek:

Dunno why, but the whole thing really does just fascinate me and interest me. I guess part of it is because I have it, so it's encouraged me to research and take an interest. And my dentist taught me something.. he was telling me stories from his past, with other dentists, and told me one thing, "if you have knowledge of an illness and ways to help treat it, then spread it to people, teach people. Even if it's just to one person, you're still helping to spread knowledge". That's why I have those links in my sig. The one with an A-Z of all illnesses and deseases is particularly fascinating/usefull. I find so many people around me are getting ill with different sort of things, and I feel so ignorant not knowing enough about a particular disease.. so I want to learn more.

In the UK, 1 in 131 people have epilepsy, and that's quite a high figure. So when we think about the people around us, and how many we know, it's likely that at least one person we know will have it or has it, so it's good to educate ourselves on it (as is the case with other illnesses).

Not sure if you watch Hollyoaks but they've been dealing with Steph's epilepsy recently and I think putting it on programmes like that, where young and old people will be watching, is a really good idea because it's dealt with in a lighthearted way, as well as getting the message across.

Poor Steph had her last fit in front of Max and suffered with urinary incontinence as well but Max played it down and made her feel better about herself.

Oh and on the health issue, I had CPR training in July and can deal with stopped hearts, stopped breathing, choking, and **my favourite** defib action! No this doesn't mean I've stopped telling fibs! It means I can use the paddles and shout CLEAR! So if any of you are on a Meet with me and you find yourself dying, don't worry! Piggie to the rescue!

I don't watch Hollyoaks, but...

Poor Steph had her last fit in front of Max and suffered with urinary incontinence as well but Max played it down and made her feel better about herself.

Yikes! It's good to see the encouragment of having someone supportive though. I'm actually very, very blessed. Although I have Tonic Clonic seizures (which also have a symptom of urinary incontinence - most of the time), I've been very forunature, and in the 10 or so seizures that I've had, I've not had that problem, thank God. So I do feel very blessed. It's very sad hearing stories of people who have to deal with that :( It's like another frustration on a frustration. Makes me realise how much I should be grateful for what I have.

Oh and on the health issue, I had CPR training in July and can deal with stopped hearts, stopped breathing, choking, and **my favourite** defib action! No this doesn't mean I've stopped telling fibs! It means I can use the paddles and shout CLEAR! So if any of you are on a Meet with me and you find yourself dying, don't worry! Piggie to the rescue!

lol! Those are actually great qualities to have in yourself. :D I wanna use paddles and shout CLEAR! :D (on a dummy though.. lest anyone thinks that I'm hoping something happens to someone :X)

/me wants CPR training!
/me stares at AJ...for no reason.. whatsoever.. :P lol

dont know if this is relevant... but my dog looked an awful lot like that guy when he used to have seizures.. we just petted him and tried to talk to him even though he probably had no idea what he was saying, and when he got up after we tried to make him rest.. but how much can you do when its a dog.. he'll do his own thing anyway... that was the scariest thing, i was home alone with him the first time it happened and it scared me to death

Awww :/ I can imagine that must have been scary to watch for the first time! Seizures in cats and dogs is a very common thing, sadly. I can't remember the stats, but I know it's definitely a lot. There's a clip on YouTube of a dog having a seizure, where it just jerks like crazy for over 2 minutes. Very sad to watch. I can't help but wonder how much cats and dogs realise what's happening to them...

Did your dog get medicated to control the seizures?

no.. we just waited them out, after about a year they had stopped.. but it was scary because we didnt know what was happening to him at first.. he is fine now though so hopefully we wont have to deal with them again.. i think he was really scared after because he always tried to stay close to you so you pet him and stuff

yeah i saw that piggie, i think hollyoaks is good with things like this they have featured steph with the epilepsy she devolped after she was attacked they are now making young girls and boys etc aware of bulima(sp?) and anorexia with the character hannah. they approach it in a sensitive way but also in an educational way to make people more aware of these things.