Epilepsy - anyone with a DH/DP who has this?

[mummydoit]

My DH had a few epileptic seizures as a child. Tests whowed nothing serious and he was never on any medication. He had three fits as an adult. Again, nothing shows up on tests, no medication and the fits were always at least a couple of years apart. He had another seizure five weeks ago and another yesterday. CT scan still shows nothing but could be linked to stress or his current chemo regime (he's got cancer). Obviously, he's going back to his GP and may now be put on medication but I'm just wondering how to cope with the possibility of further seizures. Our DSs are 3 and 4 and I'm worried about leaving them alone with DH in case he has a seizure if I'm not there. I also don't want to leave DH on his own. He doesn't want to be wrapped in cotton wool and wants us to carry on as normal. How does anyone else cope with this?

DH's consultant have said he has the warning signs of epilepsy, he gets a funny taste in his mouth and strange smells, his is because of the position of his brain tumour, does your DH get any warning signs?

He says he feels a 'bit funny'. Very vague! I'll try and get him to see if he can work out specific feelings. It's a bit tricky at the moment as he gets various side-effects from the chemo - funny taste in mouth, feeling sick, etc - which come and go. I'll keep bumping this to see if anyone comes on later who could help too.

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Bump? Anyone?

Yes, my dh has grand mal type seizures. His epilepsy is under control atm, thanks to him taking epilim and tegretol. He has heart problems amongst other things too, due to a genetic condition.

The scariest experience I've had so far was when I was heavily pregnant with our eldest child. Dh started fitting in the bathroom, and managed to get his legs wrapped around the back of the loo and sink as he fell... when I got to him, his head was smacking against the doorframe. I couldn't move him, and just had to grab towels to pad out the doorframe to stop him cracking his head open. The fit lasted ages, and I seriously thought it wasn't going to stop. I can still hear the noise he made as the fit started, it was like a shriek (which is quite common), and anytime I hear a noise anything like it, I go running to see if he's OK...much to his amusement!

Our children are aged 4 & 5, and I would never go out and leave them with dh if he felt "funny". They haven't seen him have a fit, and because his fits are so bad I hope they never do.

Gosh, Tomkat, that sounds really scary! My DH makes that shriek sound too. Thankfully, he's only had one fit at home so far and I got the kids out of the room. I told them Daddy had fallen asleep and was having a bad dream. They've never said anything about it, either at the time or since, so I don't think it bothered them. I'd hate them to see one - they're not pleasant even for a grown-up to see. My problem is that DH only feels funny a very short time before the fit, maybe half a hour. If I were out, there wouldn't be time for me to get home. I guess it means I can't leave them until he's on medication and been fit-free for a while. Do you know how long it takes medication to bring the fits under control?