Seizure Medications and Headaches After TBI

Seizure Medications: Doug Part Six

One long-term concern for Doug is seizure and headaches. He takes the Depakote for his  seizure medication. He talks about the Depakote seizure medication:

Well just before I was going to leave Clearview, I had what they classified was a seizure. When I moved here to Wausau I just saw another specialist and they still got me on Depakote, but then they got me on another pill for seizures. I can’t remember the name of it, but she wants me to write down every time I have like a seizure or seizure symptom.

I take it at bed, nighttime, but she wants, she wants me to write it down about what happened, when I feel like I have one come, when I get one that comes on, it just feels like my whole head is like wants to explode, and then it just, it goes through my whole, like it just goes through my whole body, and just feels like the weirdest feeling.

I think the Depakote is for seizure activity (seizure medication) and to deal with headaches, for migraines.

It is hard to tell from Doug’s narrative whether he is having seizures or migraines. What is occurring may be in a gray area between seizures and migraines, the type of symptom post TBI that respond to anti-seizure medicines, regardless of the precise etiology. To him they are simply attacks.

I think since I saw this last doctor two weeks ago, I’ve only had two attacks. When I first started having these seizures, I mean I would get like these bright lights, or not like bright lights but like rainbow colors shooting out of my eyes.

Now I’m on the Depakote and now all I see is these sudden all these bright lights, instead of the rainbow colors now it’s, now it’s when I get these attacks now it’s just like seeing all of these, you know, the head, you know, like the brain’s ex, you know, the head’s exploding.

Pain doesn’t get enough attention in the discussion of brain injury. Brain injury is too often thought of as simply a cognitive disorder, but in Doug’s case, it is the pain that is the biggest limiting factor – pain from his spasticity, pain from his attacks.

Next Part Seven – Vocational Reintegration after Severe Brain Injury