Author: Codrin PO

Some guy who writes about what comes to mind, but mostly about epilepsy and his private life.
Dealing with epilepsy

Attention deficit, concentration and my epilepsy

Codrin PO

I read today 1 in 5 adults with epilepsy also present ADHD (Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) symptoms. Here’s the link to the article: http://bit.ly/ADHDandEpilepsy. Another article I read a while ago (sorry, but I don’t have a link) stated that attention deficit in people with epilepsy is an adverse effect of many anticonvulsants.

I guess this briefly explains my attention deficit problems, if I choose to believe them.

To explain:

In primary school, I was a straight A (10*) student. I had no problem learning, being attentive or memorizing stuff -> no problem concentrating at school. Continue reading “Attention deficit, concentration and my epilepsy” →

Dealing with epilepsy

My medicine so far

Codrin PO

Since I had my first seizure on January 1st 1999 (at 5am), I’ve been through a number of medicine. Each time the problem was that my body got used to them real quickly and doses increased, medicine changed.

I started of with Phenobarbital in 2000 and reached the maximum dose of 400 mg/day in 2002 in a single dose per day. I had quite a few adverse effects: dizziness, vertigo, fatigue, continuous headaches among others.

In 2004, when I started my Bachelor studies (in another city), I changed my neurologist and, of course, she changed my treatment. I started Carbamazepine and reached 1600 mg/day (in two doses) in 2008. Among the side effects were: dizziness, headaches, trouble sleeping, sudden mood swings, ataxia and I could go on. Continue reading “My medicine so far” →

Dealing with epilepsy

My “favorite” seizure: epilepsy at work

Codrin PO

My first job, back in 2008, was in consultancy. To be more precise, I wrote project proposals that helped private/public sector entities to get European funding. My second job was the same.

The field is an extremely tiresome and stressful. It was a job where the smallest mistake could have cause a project to be successful or rejected.

During the one year, I spent in the second company, I had a seizure at work. It came after a few long days, a week or so before a project submission deadline. But my colleague and bosses were great. Continue reading “My “favorite” seizure: epilepsy at work” →

Dealing with epilepsy

Why I started counting my seizures again

Codrin PO3 Comments

For those who read my earlier post, you already know that I stopped counting my seizures between 2001 and 2005. This was the decision of an adolescent (I was 17 years old in 2001) who didn’t want his life overturned by epilepsy.

In 2006, a series of events came into play. I started my Bachelor studies in 2003 and, soon after, I had seizures “out-in-the-open”. I wasn’t ready to tell everyone that I had epilepsy. But, in my junior year, I had a seizure in the IT lab, almost breaking a keyboard with my head (I still have a scar over my left eye). After that I had a seizure in front of the grocery store near my dorm and so on. Before my first exam (math), I had a seizure (5 minutes before to be more precise). Continue reading “Why I started counting my seizures again” →

Dealing with epilepsy

Why I stopped counting my seizures

Codrin PO

Despite what you can see on my “About me” page in my “seizures’ calendar“, between 2001 and 2005, I stopped counting my seizures and writing down the days. What you see in the calendar is an average per year, although in some years there were more, in others less. But I had them each year.

The reason was an obvious one: I did not want epilepsy to take over my life. I recognized (to myself) that I was a person with epilepsy. I said to myself that if I am not fully aware of them, I can carry with “business-as-usual”. It didn’t work out as I wanted.