30 Things About Me: Learning the Hard Way

What is something you learned the hard way?

Well, there are many things that I've had to learn the hard way but I thought I would share this one so that you can tell every epileptic that you know. Never, EVER take NyQuil.

I had always heard that I, being an epileptic, wasn't supposed to take NyQuil, or any other antihistamine. I had always assumed that it was because NyQuil/antihistamines makes you sleepy and that doesn't fair well with your meds that also make you tired. While that may be true, that is not all it can do.

In December 2011, I got sick. I hadn't had a cold in what seemed like forever and I decided that in order to get some good sleep I would take NyQuil, I figure if I'm asleep it doesn't really matter if I get sleepy right?! Well, over the course of a couple days I took maybe two doses of NyQuil and felt better so I went back to work. About half way through my first day back I started having a partial seizure.

Now during 2011 I had been having simple partial seizures all year. The seizure was usually just my left hand/arm jerking. I always went home from work when that happened because sure I say "just my hand/arm jerking" but for me that turns into full blown panic attack - it's not pretty. Anyway this seizure was a little different than that. Instead of just my hand/arm, it was the entire left side of my body, to the point where I couldn't really walk. Needless to say I went home and straight to bed.

Usually when I would have my simple partial seizures I would go to sleep, wake up a few hours later and be fine. This time I slept for about 6 hours and when I woke up the left side of me was still jerking about every minute, maybe 2. It continued until about 9pm that night and was only stopped by a very, very short grand mal seizure. It was like a system reboot. If you have a problem with your computer what's the one thing everyone asks? Have you tired turning it off and on again?! LOL My brain needed a momentary shutdown. I can kind of giggle about now but at the time...not so much.

So in short, I learned to always, always follow the directions on pill bottles, take the warnings seriously, and  listen to the advice of others.

Your "thankful that is over" epileptic,
Jessy <3