Ever Had a Seizure? Please Share Your Experience.

[Raven]

We are all Brothers and Sisters here. In one way or another, we are all here as a result of a common cause. We seek relief from chronic medical conditions. We suffer from chronic conditions... pain, anxiety, insomnia, and many other conditions which diminish our quality of life. We all seek a solution, and we all desire to live life as best we can, and for as long as we can.

As a demographic group, it is my sense that we, collectively, are at a higher risk for experiencing seizures. Whether you have chosen to withdrawal from your medication, whether your withdrawal has been forced upon you due to financial reasons, whether your medication has been unavailable for an extended period of time due to service interruptions, or whether you have just been careless in stocking a sufficient supply of your med., all of the above may lead to seizures as the normal administration of the medication you are taking is interrupted.

If you have experienced a seizure due to prescription drug use. Then your experience is of critical importance to us all. It may help us to seek aid in time to avoid life threatening conditions. Your experience may help us to learn when such an event is totally beyond our control, and if there are, in fact, meds that we should keep on-hand in order to avoid medical complications or even death due to seizures. My sense is that everyone here on the forum should learn from the experiences of others and that, if possible, develop a plan of action so that you can be prepared for this type of potentially life threatening event.

I look forward to your comments.

Thanks.
Raven

[Charon]

Let me contribute a wee bit later.  i have had seizures. I can usually avoid them now.  My real concern is a massive seizure that leads to another stroke.  i do not want to learn how to talk again for anyone.

I shall be back, but i firmly believe that all  households need codeine, antibiotic, benedryl, and, i believe, valium and emergency phenobarb.

I don't believe in necessarily taking meds every day.  I treat symptoms.  When they start to arise.

I would always tell my son and husband i can see and hear during a seizure.  I cannot compartmentalize what has gone on until later. But, one does fall to the floor and bashes their head a bit.  And, one cannot stop it.

I had always rescued animals and i  trained german shepherds for my office and home.  love them.  my german shepherds knew when i was about to seize and wore my emergency meds around their neck.  it did not hurt them.

The real key is to figure out triggers to prevent the problem.  I get a twinge in the back on my leg.  If i don't take a valium and half a pheno then, i shall have a massive seizure.  But, if one keeps valium and or pheno nearby at all times one can prevent it in my case.

So, let's see how others deal with this. One poor friend of mine has seizures so badly that lighting a lighter will trigger one for him.

I do avoid loud noises, and i used to cover my head to avoid flashing lights when my houseshare would watch American Idol. That would have brought on a seizure. So, does that awful jackson barrett auction house. I could hear the "narrators" voices for hours and hours after the show was turned off. But, my houseshare started getting sick from that show so luckily we don't watch it now. But, one feels sounds amplified in one's head; one also can keep seeing the darn flashing lights. When that happens, the wise woman will take a valium and half a pheno to prevent what seems to be the inevitable.

I think high stress will encourage one's body to seize. So, trying to maintain calm is important. And, being prepared. Fairly sure that one should take nutrition appropriately as that will certainly help one's body remain "normal."

I cannot recall my first seizure. It was when i was an older teen and would live with my medical doctor sister on weekends that she noted the seizures. And she could identify them.

This will be an important thread, raven. thank you.

[cmdline]

Never been close to seizure (touch wood) ,but ton of continued panic attacks over the years.Now ill speak on benzo users perspective thus whoever uses benzos daily prescribed/self medicating or whatever reasons after constant use everyone is at risk of seizure or grand mall meltdown if not tapering down, or running out abruptly.

have attempted multiple cold turkeys over the years,but in most and many cases top amount one can last when they are out or not taking any benzos is 1 to maximum 2 weeks at very low level stress situations.

Since whenever stopping benzos initially theres day or two window where person still will be fine,since even short life benzos build up in system for few days thus its a short life line.
what happens next is usually massive combination of withdrawal symptoms,usually it starts with ear ringing (tinnitus),massive mood changes,happy-sad in minutes.If continuing Insomnia is already present in many cases,then morning panic attacks just waking up feels like nightmare,light sensitivity hardness to maintain decent conversation,eye contact basically body goes into full blown flight mode,initially comes the point where one feels like they are delirious imagine yourself watching action trough the shoulder of yourself . That's how far ive ever managed to be off meds before instantly reintroducing them.

Theres a lot more symptoms that appear and would add to panic attacks or seizure, but in my unprofessional opinion its combination of them all and some sort of stressful situation/s that pose risk of seizure,since when wd starts anyone wants to avoid any exposure,be it not leaving house,job,or usual daily tasks,think the fact that we live constant lives where we dont have our time is main factor that eventually leads in some cases people having seizure.But many times it would be constant panic attacks.Since many of us dont have luxury of being left alone for day let alone weeks,in our daily lives.

For someone who never had seizures in past id imagine they would be less prone to having one,but not out of question.

as preventive measures go in extreme cases,any benzo will help on hand to reduce the risk and put person at ease for duration of time.
as more rare stuff ive hold to few betablockers,phenibut -this isnt much of helpline but in case nothing to choose it works.
Alcohol is many that turn to aswell,but would be any last option in my books,while its clear alcohol works on same gaba a receptors but its more like adding jet fuel to the fire if not having access to meds since each hangover will just make wds that much worse as they already are.

Clear option is always to think few steps ahead,have more then one vendor if that is the route,since done this mistake in the past too many times to know that relying on single person isnt best option for many factors that come into play,and never being certain.

Not i know you want to hear stories of people that actually ended up in that scenario,but i didnt but its nothing close of hell even being close to it.Think if any benzo users does actually end up getting seizure at no thought should always call 911,since if it happens there should be no pride to hide fact if one abused meds or bought them somewhere else,since fact is that person need to get stabilized for whatever amount of time they can before getting needed meds.

[dynalift]

I have never had a seizure but things took a sharp turn for the worse this morning...basically had a panic attack I guess; an extended episode of feeling that feeling when you have a near-miss in a car, surging through my chest and arms, leaving my hands tingling and numb. Actually was worse than any panic attack I'd had before. I could extrapolate this episode could be a precursor to an actual seizure because it did feel like I might lose control of body movements...I live alone, just me and my dog, and it scared me.
I'm into day 8 of forced withdrawal, tapered down from 1mg xanax/day (for 10 yrs) to .125mg this morning. I thought I was getting off easy as of yesterday but now I'm not so sure. I have only 2 more days of .125 then nothing.

[Charon]

Can u contact your former prescriber again? Is it possible to get to a psychiatrist, and its cheaper on college campuses, and explain that u were cut off suddenly and need a month's worth, at least, to withdraw safely?

xanax withdrawal is horrific from what ihave heard. Not maybe seizures, but the withdrawal starts way later than u expect.

and i have read and been informed that people see things moving that are not there.

Especially being alone, try your other doctor or contact a psychiatrist for help. And, I pray they are not all off for Easter.

Will Emergency Rooms provide xanax to a walk in whom was cut off suddenly? Does anyone know?

[dynalift]

Can u contact your former prescriber again?  Is it possible to get to a psychiatrist, and its cheaper on college campuses, and explain that u were cut off suddenly and need a month's worth, at least, to withdraw safely?

xanax withdrawal is horrific from what ihave heard.  Not maybe seizures, but the withdrawal starts way later than u expect.

and i have read and been informed that people see things moving that are not there.  

Especially being alone, try your other doctor or contact a psychiatrist for help.  And, I pray they are not all off for Easter.

Will Emergency Rooms provide  xanax to a walk in whom was cut off suddenly?  Does anyone know?

Thanks again Charon for your reply. You're my hero. Feeling a bit better now. Meeting with my school adviser this evening, he is a good friend and can be trusted. I'm going through my other options...am ready to head to urgent care if anything comes up over the weekend. I could probably get a single dose of Ativan if I show up at the emergency room, but that would be last resort only...(can't afford the $300-600 that my insurance won't cover.)

I think Monday I may try to get into my original doctor if things get worse. I was quite angry at him when he cut me off. I did get a copy of med report from the last visit and he said I was displaying 'abberent' behavior with regards to my meds. Cruel sonofabitch. Yes, I was angry, but totally professional about it.

One thing I realized this AM is I forgot to take my blood pressure med yesterday (losartan) so I'm hoping this morning's incident was due to that more than the w/d's.

[cmdline]

forced wd of xanax after years use is terrible idea,since xanax is like 3-4 hours active then nothing,you did well thou keeping dosage at 1mg.

Now whatever way youll go,id add try to obtain valium/diazepam 10mg pills even if its months worth.If you could pull that off youd need to try to split them into 2.5mgs and this would allow you to extend taper to couple months,and most importantly would get you out of routines where xanax wears off abruptly.Since your doc sounds like real quack,given that theres hundreds studies now for tapering and to put person on diazepam to taper smoothly,since after a year thinking he will get you off in few weeks time is hardly possible,unless you managed to work trough your issues and reduce stress,but what you wrote indicates simple you had enough and get off them attitude,not a single care given.

[Charon]

That sounds to be quite reasonable. Could be the lack of ur blood pressure med.

You have made some valuable decisions in how to handle this.

I think u will get help.

God be with u. And take ur blood pressure med. Keep us in the loop as to how u r doing my friend.

[dynalift]

Hey Charon and Cmdline,
Thanks for your kind reply  ; yet again, this forum has been such a huge help through the last terrible week.
Took my final .125mg sliver this morning. I feel like yesterday was maybe a turning point because I actually felt normal for a few hours. Friday was definitely the low point. Got me thinking about the 'darkest hour comes before dawn'. 
I have a new med coming my way tomorrow. It was all I could get on short notice. I'm not very keen on trying an unknown though, especially something not approved for human consumption (Charon, am I allowed/would it be wise to discuss this med and the source? I did first read about it somewhere on this forum but lost track of where).
Gotta do my taxes...really adds insult to injury at this point! When will our govt wise up and stop this insane drug war? As Dr. Gabor Mate says, you cannot declare war on an inanimate object...the so called drug war is just war on people. Doctors being the first line of offense in the infliction of mass suffering.

[cmdline]

rc benzo derivatives most time are closest to diaz,since not sure if you ever had it, it takes time to build up and switch over,that said any help is good but be aware of dosage youll take as not to rebound onto higher end with your taper,since i found rc benzos to be either weak or bunk in past but some are like diazepam and theres a lot temptation like with any others to take more,specially if not used to slow onset dont be inclined to take more if single pill doesn't seem to work,since many get trapped with RCs that way.

Also read as much info online as you can since as said quality is of doubt in conditions they are made so best to find places where you can compare and someone had used it in the past to get good foundation.GL