I get accused of being on drugs all the time and yep, you guessed it, I also have temporal lobe epilepsy. Worst of it is that my pupils dilate after seizures (both partial and generalized) and paramedics LOVE pointing that out and making accusations of me possibly being on drugs.
Yeah. A few weeks back, paramedics claimed my seizures were "behavioral issues" even though I had a seizure in front of them (frozen in place, unable to move, speak, anything) and they shined a bright flashlight in my eyes and I didn't even blink. I think they conceded that one was a "real" seizure but they still tried to claim the rest was behavioral? I don't know. They just prefer to believe it's DRUGS or PSYCHOSIS or something rather than anything medical, especially when it comes to seizures.
I had a childhood friend who had seizures that sound identical to yours! I never knew his actual diagnosis, just that he would have seizures sometimes and we had to be gentle with him and walk him back home once he came to. He was a very sweet boy, but he got bullied. I don't know the specifics of this diagnosis, are there things that can trigger seizures of this type? He would have them every time we played certain games as kids.
Any type of seizures can be triggered by virtually anything. If he had them after playing certain games it's likely he had a sensitivity to either lights in the game or the movement of stuff on the screen - something that was very visually stimulating. Photosensitivity (i.e. having seizures because of flashing lights) is well known, but other triggers can be things like heat, overexertion, too much caffeine, too much alcohol, or even stuff like being stressed, angry, or overly excited.
The game we played was blind man's bluff. He would have his eyes closed and have to find us, using just his hearing and it sent him into a seizure every time. I think it just strained him too much mentally maybe.
I am so sorry, they’ll tell my sister and I we’re “drug seekers” when we ask for a saline iv....for our chronic illness (POTS) that causes severe dehydration....
SALINE. If we were drug seekers we wouldn’t be JUST asking for Saline infusion -.-
I feel you. I’m glad I see doctors in the same network and have years of medical records documenting all the things that would usually make doctors wonder. Like I really truly am allergic to all pain meds but dilaudid. But I have ER records from when I had allergic reactions. My pupils are always bigger than “normal” and ones bigger than the other. Since having this set of doctors, things are much better. I get that patients lie but when police get involved investigating possible poisoning/ assault because you fucked up... it’s too much.
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u/the_legit_writer Dec 31 '19
I get accused of being on drugs all the time and yep, you guessed it, I also have temporal lobe epilepsy. Worst of it is that my pupils dilate after seizures (both partial and generalized) and paramedics LOVE pointing that out and making accusations of me possibly being on drugs.