Moose here - again. Following on from my epilepsy thread.

[moosemama]

Hi folks, we were up to 995 posts, so I thought I'd better start a new thread

Well, all this makes my affinity for show tunes seem kind of lame

I am sorry I have not been active here - I came in, chatted you all up, then disappeared. If you follow me on Facebook, you'll know why I have been all over the place, but I may well spend a while here over the next few days - trying to keep myself awake, if nothing else.

So, I'm back - if you'll have me.

Oh BeeMom I am so glad you posted I have been thinking about you and Bee such a lot.

How is she doing?

(Ps I love a good show tune too. Love Calamity Jane, My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly etc and many more besides. Dh says my music taste refuses to be pigeon-holed - well I suppose that makes sense really as I am always the square peg no matter where I wander in life! )

I typed a music related post earlier but MN ate it - obviously they have no taste in music!

Teen years involved, Crystal Gayle, Carole King, Elkie Brooks, Queen, Bowie, lots of Irish folk and I was a huge Prince fan at the time, but am pretty meh about him these days. Really didn't like any of his later stuff, but was into the really early stuff. Dh introduced me to Thin Lizzy, ACDC and various others of a similar ilk.

Then when dh was at uni, I got into Back the Planet, Dreadzone, Transglobal Underground, Co-creators, Citizen Fish, Senser, RDF, Jello Biafra, Silverfish, Credit to the Nation, The Levellers, The Selecter, The Specials, The Men They Couldn't Hang, ooo and so many more ...

Have consistently been a big Elvis fan thanks to being indoctrinated at a very young age by both parents and Christy Moore also holds a permanent and very special place in my heart - I have perpetuated this by similarly indoctrinating my own children!

Still listen to all the stuff I used to, but current listening, mainly due to it being all I have managed to get onto my mp3 player is Imelda May, Adam Ant, The Levellers, All American Rejects, Green Day.

Sorry to jump on as I have no epilepsy related issues but I thought no one else in the world liked or had heard of back to the planet or dread zone.A couple of years back when we just had two dcs went to see Neil Young in Hyde Park he was amazing.

Ah, you see Autumnsmum I am just an ageing festivalling hippie at heart!

Saw Back to the Planet again last year and the year before, fantastic blast from the past and still every bit as good live as they were way back when.

I think we can let you off Leonie, they are a small alternative UK band that mostly played festivals in the late 80's/early 90's.

Glad your mum was able to reassure you re topomax.

I am feeling horrible tonight. Third night in a row of an overload of tingles, buzzes, cog fog and head pressure. No distinct episodes that I can recall, but I took cocodamol last night in an attempt to sleep - and because my bad foot was really bad after 5 school runs in one day. Slept the first half of the night, then restless until time to get up - but my left eyelid wouldn't open again when I woke up, so wondering if I slept through something. Also woke myself up not long after getting to sleep - I think - by suddenly biting down on my tongue really hard. Never had that before and I guess it could have just been the result of a dream - it didn't feel seizurey - if that makes any sense at all.

Anyway, dh and I are watching season 3 of Farscape on dvd and he's going to get snippy if I don't switch the laptop off soon, so I will bid you goodnight.

Hope you manage to get some good quality sleep. x

Had an answerphone message from a female SW from 'the assessment team' at 'Children's Social Care'.

Am now trying to tell myself that the Male SW that came out because DS1's dad said I was 'making things up' about all my DC's health has actually managed to get the Children with Disabilities team involved.

It would be a touch if he has - I've been trying to for 14 years, and kept getting shunted back to the Child Protection team simply because I'd had prior involvement with them.

I'm trying not to think it has anything to do with bastard GP or 'new' HV. It's best not to, as I have enough stress on my plate already, and I'll find out soon enough on Monday, as I'll have to return the call.

So for now, I'm going to blindly believe that a miracle has happened, and the CWD team is going to finally do an assessment to see what help I need.

I intend to have a non-stressful weekend. So NER to silly phone calls on a Friday afternoon!

I hope you feel better tonight / in the morning, Moose.

And I'm glad you feel a bit more reassured, Leonie.

I'm going to play ostrich tonight, and hopefully get a bit more sleep as I don't have to get up at sparrows fart of dawn to get DC's to school.

I'm definitely feeling it's time for the Easter Hols IYSWIM.

Still, a weekend, 4 more school mornings, and then I might start feeling a little better.

Erm, it could be that your brain is trying to have a seizure, but the meds are stopping it. But at a starting dose, it may not keep it at bay permanently.

I think this sounds very like a seizure that is being controlled by the med, but only just IYSWIM.

Oh, and can the white stuff falling from the sky fuck the fuck off, and when it gets there, fuck off some more?

My 9yo DS2 has already had two meltdowns because "It's Spring and it mustn't snow in Spring. Now the trees won't get their leaves back and the flowers won't grow"

Of course, the routine of the seasons isn't bring followed and he can't get his head around that. It should be warming up, as far as he is concerned, not snowing.

Tbh, I bloody agree!!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you have an allergic reaction to an AED, you really need to give it at least 6 weeks so that you are giving it a chance for the initial side effects to wear off do that you can see exactly how it really works.

Everything I've tried, I've given at least 12 weeks, except for the Epilim that I was really allergic to. Even the Tegretol, it was around 4/5 months before it started to affect my liver and I had to stop.

I ended up being on Topamax for about 7 weeks in total.

Please give it a few weeks to kick in properly, and for initial side effects to fade.

Also, the side effects you have now, will probably return for a couple of weeks each time your dose rises.

That's NORMAL.

Unfortunately, epilepsy treatment is more of a long-term fix than an overnight thing.

Same reason that when you came off the Lamotrigine, the reaction didn't subside for a few days because of the half life - you have to give the Topamax to really build up to a maintenance level in your system.

It's shit when you start a new med or raise the dose.

(((Hugs)))

Stick with it for a while. C

Be easy on yourself. Take more sleep / rest. You NEED to. Starting a new AED DOES take it out of you, you WON'T function at your usual capabilities for a couple of weeks. That's a part of it you just have to accept.

You need to arrange your life around that, make allowances on yourself for it.

See my posts from a couple of weeks ago when my dose was massively upped. I was struggling to function at my normal ability.

I should take my own fucking advice, and make allowances for myself when my dose changes...