Seizure Management of Post Traumatic Brain Injury

Seizure Management Post TBI: Craig Part Nineteen

Craig talks about seizure management after his traumatic brain injury.  His seizures came in the form of shaking and tremors.

Now, you went back to the hospital initially because of the tremors, the shaking.

And the pain.

Give me a sense of the progression of the shaking.  Were there actual seizures involved?

In the beginning yeah, they were.  I would shake and then I’d go into a cold sweat,   and even my wife at that point she would say hey he’s having seizures. And the doctor would say, he’s not having seizures.

Of course I didn’t want to have seizures because you lose your license.  So I would agree with the doctor at that point. I’ve maintained  them  pretty good, but   if I get myself too unhealthy and they come back, fairly regularly.

Do you remember these episodes after you have had them?

Oh yeah, and they’re not like severe seizures, but they’re enough to where… you’re shaking,  I mean, typically this arm would shake and it’s kind of interesting that it was the arm that I have problems with.  It would shake and my feet would shake a little bit.   But the weirdest sensation is that the tips of my toes and the tips of my fingers would get numb, and I’d say that’s the weirdest thing.  And I can tell when I’m going to have a seizure and it’s been a while, but my tips of my fingers will be the first things to get numb and I’ll feel just a little tingling.

Has anybody suggested that that could be migrainal and not seizure?

No, never.

What was the older medicine they gave you that gave you the best success with?

Oh, Kipra.

With the Kipra, did that seem to help with seizure management and all these odd sensations as well?

It did. When I took the Kipra it was sedative too and so it pretty much made it so I couldn’t do too much.

Are you still on the Kipra for your seizure management?

No.  If I get pushed, it was probably about a year and a half ago, it was my last episode and, I went in there and they didn’t have the Kipra, they gave me another class medicine and, and it almost killed me over the holidays last year.  So I really have to manage them.

So are you taking any medicines now for seizure management?

Nothing, no medicines, supplements, fish oils.

You’re not taking anything for the headache?

No.

Next in Part Twenty – Sleep after TBI – Learn to Park Thoughts