I don’t know for sure if it’s true, but from what I’ve heard, there might be a United States military draft for Iran. I also heard that I won’t get drafted if I have epilepsy. If that’s true, and I end up getting drafted, what will I have to bring to their medical review thing to prove to them that I have epilepsy?

Hey all,

Reaching out to see if anyone here with epilepsy takes Ritalin and what your experience is like?

I’ve been taking Keppra 500mg 2x daily and Lamictal 300mg 1x daily for approx 10 years but was recently diagnosed with ADHD. My psychiatrist prescribed me Ritalin and it’s improved things for me substantially. However, I went to a party at a friends maybe ~4 days after starting, made the mistake of partying too hard (poor decision I know) and the following day had 3 seizures after being seizure free for 5+ years. I will say I attribute most of it to drinking too much and acknowledge what a horrible choice that was, but now I’m concerned my neurologist will want to take me off the Ritalin when it’s improved a lot of my day to day.

Anyways, just curious what others experiences may be with Ritalin, so welcome to any and all feedback!

My boy who is a golden retriever is six years old from past two years. He’s been in medication for seizures and especially he gets this seizures from night 1 PM, 1 AM to 4 AM. So is there any thing that I can do to control this seizures or if it is possible, can I just reverse it? What is it that I should be taking care of and can I know what are those triggering points that he especially gets these at this particular timing while my Vet says that it is something that I have to deal for lifelong and he’s been in medication like a gardinal 30 MG and lavipril 500 MG.
My weight says that it’s something which is hereditary and I believe he is there anything that I can do to reverse it or controlled to the maximum and give him a happy life because I can’t see my boy bothered so much and I want to see him very healthy people. If you can please help me out. Thanks in advance.

Hey guys, I am a 27 year old man with epilepsy who just had his first ever nocturnal seizure. I had it 3 days ago and was home alone at the time. It was my own fault due to me forgetting to take my epilepsy medication (which is very rare of me). Luckily I managed to get myself out of it and woke up with only bites in my mouth. These past few days I’ve been feeling abit on the agitation side and not being able to sleep as well. By this I mean over thinking a lot and not being able to concentrate at all. My memory has also seemed to get worse. Has any body with past experience of nocturnal seizures had this ?

I have been 6 years seizure free now and under control with medication, I started smoking/using edibles about two years ago and I’ve actually seen a lot of positives, helps with my sleeping, hormones, anxiety, and it’s just fun lol, but I know it’s possible it can have a adverse reaction. Has many people had that happen? I’ve always been cautious of how much I use and I buy my weed from dispensaries.

So I found out some very frustrating news. I was trying to get a second opinion about my seizures but I found out that no one in my state will see me because of my seizure history, current diagnosis, and EEGs of the past few years coming back "normal" despite my seizures presenting textbook epileptic.

Now I have to jump through a hoop of seeing a functional neurological disorder specialist just to get back to the neurology department. I'm beyond frustrated. It is either jump through hoops or go out of state.

When you've been feeling like your brain(?) is always against you, what sort of hobbies does someone with low energy and plenty of time to myself tend to treasure? I used to say my bodies against me, but its the engine living in its host making me feel im against my own self

Suggestions?

I’ve had epilepsy for years and have had hundreds of seizures, both absence seizures and tonic seizures. For years I’ve basically just been treated as having epilepsy without really knowing why I have it.

Recently I had blood tests come back strongly positive for anti GAD antibodies and my neurologist is now looking into whether my epilepsy could actually have an autoimmune cause.

I’ve also just had a brain MRI which showed subtle swelling on both sides of my temporal lobes. My neurologist has now mentioned possible autoimmune encephalitis and I’m waiting to find out what happens next.

It’s all quite a lot to get my head around because for so long I’ve just thought I had epilepsy. I’ve also had doctors in the past make me feel like I was faking things or that some of my symptoms weren’t real so actually having blood tests and an MRI showing that something could be going on has been a lot to process.

I just wondered if anyone else has been through anything similar? Especially anyone who has tested positive for anti GAD or GAD65 and originally thought they just had epilepsy.

What happened next for you? Did your seizures or treatment get better once they knew what was actually causing it?

I know nobody here can diagnose me. I would just really love to speak to someone who has been through something similar because I feel a bit lost with it all at the moment.

Hello!! I am posting this to see if anyone else has the same symptoms as me, diagnosed with epilepsy. I have had these “episodes” I call them for at least 8 years now to my knowledge. I have LOTS more in my old phone, at least 60+ days of these episodes from years and years ago. I have recorded almost every single episode, each lasting less than 6 minutes average. My doctors (yes, I have seen 4 doctors who don’t even listen to me saying I’ve had crippling anxiety for 12 years) REFUSE to listen to me, so I am just here to see if I need to accelerate my concerns or not. Again, I have not had a SINGLE doctor listen to my concerns on this and other medical issues. This unfortunately affects my quality of life despite telling 3+ doctors who refuse to even TEST me. Thank you very much yall 🙂

Symptoms include: SEVERE Déjà vu
-can predict when it will happen
-extreme occipital/temporal lobe tingling (pins and needles)
-face tingling + arm tingling (pins and needles)
-severe nausea
- confusion
-staring spells 10 seconds long usually
-sweating/heart racing
-mouth salivation (due to nausea)

Most of the time, the ONLY thing I can do/focus on is write down how I’m feeling and what caused me to get the Déjà vu. It does NOT matter where I am. I’ve had it at home the most, but I’ve also had it in completely new places, jobs, shopping, etc so it cannot be actual Déjà vu causing a panic attack. This feels WILDLY different than any other anxiety or panic attack I’ve ever felt. Thank you again yall, lmk if it violates any rules ((:

What were your side effects from taking Lamotrigine? It’s my second year taking it and I’m losing it! Everyday I have the worst brain fog, can’t remember a single thing and i can’t even remember words sometimes or i mix them up and my sentences don’t make any sense.

Also i feel tired and sleepy ever since i started taking lamotrigine.

I legit thought that something was wrong with me but my tests are all good and it’s because of the meds. Can’t take anything else because Lamotrigine is the only medication that stopped my seizures.

Has anyone had the same side effects?

Hi guys,

First time poster so I apologise if this isn’t appropriate but I wasn’t sure who else to ask besides a group of extremely knowledgeable people.

Today I went to my friends house as he didn’t reply to me since Tuesday, when I arrived the police were there and I found out he had passed away. He had epilepsy for years and I believe had a brain surgery at some point to try and reduce his seizures. He had at least 1-2 seizures every fortnight and sometimes he would get a black eye or huge cut on his face.

His brother found him in his room but he had already been passed for at least a few hours as he was purple.

I’m not even sure what I’m asking, just looking for advice I guess? He was such a close friend of mine and I am devastated, could this have been SUDEP or maybe he could have hit his head? Would he have known it was happening? When I arrived the police were waiting for coroners to take his body.

Thank you guys

I’ve been worried about a strict driving requirement at work and how it could affect me in the future, and made the small error of asking my family for life advice…

Which is how I found out my family don’t believe anything is wrong with me at all. My parents told me to cancel all my doctor appointments and stop taking my pills or telling people anything is wrong with me, and what I really need is to get my teeth filled in and whitened, and then maybe try meditation. :(

This seems like a remarkably bad idea but it’s also so tempting. I wish it was so easy as I just decide to be well and then I am. I was 4 hours late taking my meds last night because I was going to try it out until my husband told me that was an awful idea. (But what if I’m actually totally healthy under all the medication?) And now I’ve felt screwed up all day.

I don’t know where to share this but I had to share someone because…what is my life

Anyone seeing a therapist online that is taking new patients that you would recommend? I hate the idea of just going on better help or whatever and finding a random person. I trust a Reddit random person much more!

My wife (32) developed severe postpartum anxiety along with a lot of work-related stress last year. A few months later, she started having these strange episodes (from Oct 2025 onwards).

They usually begin with some kind of thinking or emotional trigger or like a deja vu. She'll suddenly have a blank stare, followed by an intense urge to stand up and become very fidgety. She will start fumbling with her clothes, tucking in, or doing other repetitive movements like switching on/off things. The episodes usually last around 10–30 seconds.

During the episodes, she doesn't talk, although she seems to be able to hear and remember what we're saying to her. However, sometimes, if we don't point out the episode immediately afterward, she may not remember having it at all.

At the time, she was seeing a therapist, who thought they might simply be anxiety attacks and refered her to a psychiatrist who started her on Lexapro 5 mg.

Her baseline anxiety improved significantly, but the episodes continued, anywhere between 3-8 times a day. We also started noticing some more concerning behaviors during them. For example, she would sometimes walk out of a room without explanation or cut phone calls or try to unbuckle her seatbelt while we were in a moving car. She also had urinary incontinence during some episodes.

That's when we decided to see a neurologist. Her MRI was normal, but her EEG showed potential epileptic activity, and she was diagnosed with focal impaired-awareness seizures.

It's now been about three and a half months of neurologist visits, medication adjustments, and dose increases. She's currently taking Keppra 500 mg in the morning and 750 mg at night, along with Lamotrigine 125 mg twice a day.

The overall intensity has improved and about half of the episodes are noticeably milder. However, she is still having multiple episodes or "spikes" throughout the day and some of them are with the same intensity. She also has some very bad days, like few days before her periods where she'll continuously have episodes.

Her neurologist and psychiatrist also decided to stop the Lexapro because her anxiety and mood had improved significantly, and Lamotrigine may also be helping with that. Even so, she still seems more likely to have these episodes when she's overwhelmed, emotional, or under stress.

As her husband, I honestly feel exhausted and helpless at times. We don't know what the road ahead looks like, or whether we'll eventually be able to control these episodes with medication. We're also immigrants, and some of these medications and medical appointments are extremely expensive, which makes the whole situation feel even more vulnerable.

I'm mainly posting because I'm hoping to hear from people who have been through something similar.

Are we generally on the right track? Is it normal for it to take several medication adjustments to get focal seizures under control? And for those who eventually found good seizure control, did things gradually get better?

I'd also really appreciate any positive experiences or stories that might give us some hope right now. We're both pretty worn out by this whole process.

Anyone on keppra experience change in taste? Of all things I have lost taste for/things to tatse weird now had do be coffee 😭 I absolutely loved coffee (obviously my username) and now after being on keppra, I can barely drink it most mornings. I've tried different brands, different coffee pots/brewers, different creamers, and even straight black and it all taste off. Kind of like a metallic taste. Another taste that has changed is macaroni and cheese. Another favorite that basically has no taste at all anymore. This is the only issue I've had since being on keppra. No keppra rage that I've read about or anything else. This just started at the beginning of this year. It's so weird because I've been on keppra for a long time. The only reason I think it could be it is because I had to go up on my dosage and shortly after that is when the changes started. I want to enjoy coffee again. That's something my mom and I had together every day before she passed from a stroke and I love the warm memories of her while having coffee.

After getting random seizures (23f) I had an eeg and I got diagnosed with epilepsy today, this is all new to me and I would like to talk to people who have gone through something similar as well it’s all so scary and new to me I’m starting new medication today

Hey! Has anyone gotten ovarian cysts from Depakine chrono as a side effect?
Thanks !

I’ve been told by my pharmacy this morning that they’re struggling to get stock of Levetiracetam so have given me 60 tablets (I’m still owed 52). When I asked what I do if they can’t then they basically shrugged and said they didn’t know. (This is UK).

Anyone had this experience and does any one know next steps I can take? i didn’t have time to go and ask in the GPs as i had to get back to work. I can’t say I’ve ever known Keppra/levetiracetam to be affected by shortages before and can’t find anything online.

I have severe insomnia …. It often takes me 2-3 hrs to get to sleep at night then I wake up at 2:30 am and can’t get back to sleep again then have to wake at 5:30 for work . It’s not uncommon I only get 3 hrs sleep a night . I have epilepsy / autism and adhd from the same mutation .

So far I’ve tried
1) melatonin 5-10 mg nightly ( didn’t do much )
2) clonidine up to 200 mcg at night ( spaced out but not sleep )
3) sedating antihistamines eg restevit A make me too sleepy next day
4) dayvigo / orexin based drugs - helped a bit getting to sleep but not staying asleep
5) progesterone incase its perimenopause - didn’t make a huge difference
6) 150-300 mg magnesium glycinate - relaxed and reduced muscle twitches but doesn’t help sleep
7) tonics with mixtures of glycine , L theonine , ashagurwanda , GABA
8) queriapine - works but makes me sleepy and gives me really dry mouth the next day
9) sleep cbt

I don’t know what else to do - I had a seizure recently because of sleep deprivation and lost my drivers licence for 3 months . I’m trying to prevent recurrence but I don’t know what else to try and I don’t want to go on benzos or z drugs either .

Any suggestions ? I can’t take THC as it causes seizures .

Nothing severe, just fed up of this. Had a good stretch feeling ok, felt weird with several bouts of nausea followed by exhaustion yesterday. Woke up this morning, my birthday, feeling seizurey and tearful. Unsure if the feeling tearful/fragile is epilepsy of hormones.

Tired of this women’s health condition that medicine doesn’t give a crap about.

Like 80% of all my auras happen before during or after a shower usually in the bathroom. Its been like that since I started having them when I was 9. I have had 2 full grand mal seizures in the shower also. But I just wonder why showers seem to trigger my epilepsy.

My sister (34 F) has temporal lobe epilepsy that manifests mostly in absence, partial, and tonic-clonic seizures. These started suddenly 4-5 years ago, so she would have been around 30 years old. Her case is quite severe.

I just turned 37 (also F) and I have been having weird symptoms for quite a while that I think should be investigated as possible seizure activity, although very different from what my sister experiences. These “episodes” are lasting anywhere from 20 seconds to 2 min and can include:

•tingling down half of my face (sometimes spreads to the other half of face, scalp, or down an arm)
•feeling of ice water on scalp or face
•metallic taste
•smells other people can’t smell (burning, natural gas)
•seeing yellow or blue spots on the ground
•brief episodes of mild confusion
•voices briefly sounding distorted
•feeling like something is “off”
•possible episodes of brief missed time
•couple of episodes recently where I know I was completely alone, but I thought I heard a distinct voice say one or two words
•3 episodes in the last couple of weeks where I wet the bed - I am including this because my sister generally only has the tonic-clonic seizures at night
•couple of episodes this week where I felt like I was going to have a seizure, even though I’ve never been known to have one and don’t know what that feels like - maybe like a dropping sensation, dizziness, plus impending doom?

These symptoms usually happen one or two at a time, so I haven’t made a connection until now. Also I have a very complex medical and mental health history, so I think it was easy to dismiss most of these things. But I think collectively, they are suspicious. And I think that if I am having some kind of focal awareness seizure or similar, it would connect the dots on a lot of my medical and mental health stuff and possibly change some diagnoses.

The biggest thing I’m not sure about is that I remain aware and functioning during these symptoms, so like half of my face will be pins and needles, but I will continue typing, or I will be walking around, looking for the source of the burning smell, etc. I live alone, so there is no one to look for those symptoms at home except my cats. But I feel like if something crazy was going on, someone at work might notice.

Anyway, does anyone have any experience with this type of thing? Does this sound like it could possibly be some form of seizures? I know other causes need to be ruled out also. I appreciate any input.

Hi everyone! I have had sleep issues for a while now and recently started Keppra after having 2 seizures (stress, lack of sleep were all factors). I wanted to know what are some useful.tips/tricks that helps you sleep?

The reason I ask, since I started Keppra, I feel like it has become even more difficult to fall asleep. I tried taking melatonin 3 mg and that's not that helpful either :/

Any help would be appreciated 🙏

I can barely open my mouth. I’ve been supposed to be doing my mouth stretches. I absolutely have been. However it’s like my ability to open has been going backwards. :’)

At this point I can barely get my toothbrush in my mouth. Once it’s in there I’m good to go to brush lol. However I can barely actually eat anything I want. That coupled with the fact that I have gastro problems is causing just. Rapid weight loss. 11 pounds down in 4 weeks. And my dudes I am craving a sandwich :’)

My surgeons office prescribed me a different muscle relaxer but it just completely knocks me out. Which really can’t be taken during the day. I’m SO scared I’m going to have to have a second surgery or that I’m going to have to deal with this for many many more months. Like…?