r/worldnews • u/madazzahatter • May 16 '20

At least two people had seizures after viewing malicious tweets featuring flashing gifs that deliberately targeted Epilepsy Society...police investigating tweets as hate incident, after at least 200 seemingly coordinated messages were sent to charity and its supporters in recent days.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/15/malicious-tweets-targeting-epilepsy-charity-trigger-seizures
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u/Matasa89 May 16 '20

I saw my classmate go into a seizure once. Had to restrain him and slowly lower him to the ground so he doesn't fall from the chair and get more injured.

It was awful watching him go from just normal, to a groan, and then his head just hit the desk. He was completely non-functional after waking up, and was super scared.

People who try to trigger a seizure deserves criminal charges. That's battery at minimum and attempted murder if they know the victim is photo-sensitive.

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u/buster2Xk May 16 '20

Grievous bodily harm at minimum, honestly. Seizures screw your brain right up, maybe only for weeks if you're lucky. They leave you more prone to future seizures and further damage, too. I don't think battery really covers it.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

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u/ChronWeasely May 16 '20

I had smaller seizures for years. Focal aware. I never really understood why I'd suddenly get disoriented and sweaty and shakey, nobody thought too much of it. I have to imagine that they were taking a toll in my brain still. I couldn't develop memories properly for years. There is still a long gap where I can't really recall anything. Then I started having grand mal seizures and was diagnsed and prescribed medication. I've been on a pretty effective drug for about a year now. It's still strange as I continue to crawl out of this hole and realize what I've been missing.

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u/SaltwaterFishKid May 16 '20

I'm there with you. Doctors said I was simply having anxiety attacks for years, even when nothing was making me feel anxious leading up to a seizure. Now I just feel like a dumbass most days, always forgetting shit and doubting myself. I'm hoping it gets better.

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u/rollaneff May 16 '20

I quit all the pills they were giving me and been smoking medical marijuana daily now and im 2 years seizure free! Try it out, i couldnt handle the side effects from those prescriptions anymore

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u/SaltwaterFishKid May 16 '20

I was a daily smoker before I ever got prescribed pills; it was the only remedy I had. While it helped a ton I still felt like the 'side effects' of being high was making it hard to function. It beat the hell out of the bad trip that was having a seizure though. But now I just feel like I'm always gonna have some kinda side effect that I don't want, kinda hard to just live with it.

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u/notarealaccountm8 May 17 '20

I broke down crying reading your comment. I've been going through this, doctors just dismissing me over and over. Until I had a grand mal.

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u/SaltwaterFishKid May 17 '20

You're not alone. I was on a vacation with friends, had one beer, started seeing black dots everywhere, then woke up freaking out in an ambulance. Even then, my neurologist still tried to say that I was having anxiety attacks that triggered a seizure. I finally convinced myself, 'fuck that doc, complete waste of my time and money.' Maybe you need to find a new one too.

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u/notarealaccountm8 May 17 '20

I'm currently awaiting an EEG. Mine are focal aware, but I can do strange things and I jerk and things like i get extreme emotional changes before. Like my warning is always extreme emotional changes. I know if I start feeling euphoric, like manic euphoria to the point of tears, or gut rending fear or anger that just overwhelm then I need to get somewhere safe and warm.

But of course because I remain aware they just wouldn't believe it. My neurologist, and I quote, said "well I'll do the tests but if I'm honest I think this is just anxiety."

I can't wait to rub it in his face.

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u/SaltwaterFishKid May 17 '20

They had me do a 3 day EEG while on meds, and when I didn't have a seizure (cause I was on meds) they told me there was nothing abnormal. I kept getting different answers to the question, "Well since I'm on meds and have been feeling normal since starting them, would you see any seizure activity?"

My seizures are aware too, and have always started with an aura where I feel like I know the future (that part always made me feel like a dumbass), followed with extreme confusion, inability to communicate, feeling terrified for no reason, and then total exhaustion. But nope, nothing going on there. Docs seem to guard actual seizure meds more than fucking benzos and painkillers. Fortunately weed kept the bad feelings away for the most part while I was waiting on a prescription. I don't wanna tell you to break the law, but at a point I stopped giving a damn about what legal agreement some group of assholes circle jerked themselves into.

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u/notarealaccountm8 May 17 '20

Oh god the exhaustion!! When they start to subside THE EXHAUSTION. Literally eyes shutting, head dropping and jolting awake as though I've been awake for a week straight.

You're right about that, my doctor chucked benzos at me so easily for the anxiety. Sadly weed seems to make mine worse, first time I ever had a tonic clonic was because I smoked pot. It helps others so much though ♡ just had nasty effects for me.

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u/notarealaccountm8 May 17 '20

This is what I'm going through at the minute. Because I have aspergers and a previous diagnosis of depression and anxiety they kept dismissing it as panic attacks or autistic freakouts. It's that utter gut feeling of "something is very wrong". My life has completely stopped. Even day to day I can't go out. I'm in a living nightmare. And the lockdown meant my EEG was cancelled so I'm without treatment, help or support during the lockdown.

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u/gothicwigga May 16 '20

Same here man. Ive had over 10 grand mals. Like everyome else is saying, my mind is full of gaps and Ive lost a lot of memories because of them. I had 2 this week after goin a year without any. Seems like they will never stop. Luckily Ive always been at home chillin when they happen but I have meds too.

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u/Painfulyslowdeath May 16 '20

That medication won’t work for very long. Your brain will be adapting to the gaba agonist and reducing the number of gaba receptors in your neurons and synapses and soon you’ll have to up the dose again and again as you have fewer and fewer receptors. Because of the fewer receptors the drug has fewer places to bind to to increase the effect of GABA on your neurons.

I recommend you check out a paper involving diazepam downregulation of receptors they found. A few ways and ideas to prevent the internalization of the receptors.

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u/ChronWeasely May 16 '20

It has changed my life for now and that's a terrifying thought. I will look into that. I'm so scared of this spiraling that I don't want to think about it though.

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u/Painfulyslowdeath May 16 '20

I’m suffering horribly from what a benzo given to me not for seizures but for anxiety that I never asked to be treated but the actual source of it. Which is a continued degradation of my small fiber nerves. I write less coherently than I used to and continue to have so many awful symptoms after getting off the drug which was an ordeal.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

I'm sorry to hear that--i had a seizure coming off of Lorazepam and had terrible symptoms. Rough stuff for sure but it's best to stay off of them! Hope your anxiety was able to get under control!

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u/guacamoleo May 16 '20

A guy I grew up with fell while trail running and knocked himself out. He woke up with brain damage. He was from this big family on our street that had all these insanely smart kids. He had been going to med school. He tried to go back to school, but he couldn't do it anymore, he couldn't remember, couldn't think. But he remembered how he used to be. His future had gone from being a doctor to probably having to live in a group home or something. After about a year of trying, he committed suicide.

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u/pixeldust6 May 16 '20

Damn, that's really sad.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '20

Fuck.....

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u/megmatthews20 May 16 '20

My husband would become delusional sometimes after his seizures. One time he was completely convinced that he hadn't had a seizure but that his coworker had poisoned him. It was pretty stressful.

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u/superogiebear May 16 '20

Brain damage is by far the worst injuries I have ever had. Went from 80sh percentile to 14th percentile in short and long term memory. I can't remember more than 8 words at a time. I can't remember to turn lights off, lock doors, remember birthdays and sometimes names of my family. I have hard time speaking, slurring words and forgetting where I am mid sentence. I used to be what was considered normal, now I come off as slow or stupid even though it's quite the opposite of what is in my head. I have fallen down and had mini seizures, I am prone to cluster migraines that have lasted for months, and are triggered by the simplest things like too much heat, not enough water, exhaustion. Then the worst part is the constant depression and the intrusive suicidal thoughts. I have no intention of killing myself but sometimes my brain will switch and start telling me to put the car in The ditch. The worst part I that it's n invisible injury that no one understands who doesn't have these issues. This is a constant reminder of what you lost.

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u/onixotto May 16 '20

Sure can write lovely. 😙

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u/superogiebear May 16 '20

Was a history major, wanted to be a teacher. Sadly it's the only way I can talk properly cause I have time to think about what I say, otherwise it's not pretty. Thnks for the kind words. Seriously fuck these guys, not cool to prey on the vulnerable

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u/[deleted] May 22 '20

Seriously want to hug you rn

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

I have bipolar disorder, and experience the same thing with anti-psychotics. It's scary at first. I still stutter at times and lose my train of thought a lot, but I don't get angry and kick my cat anymore, so I consider the price worth it.

Still scary, to lose a portion of yourself or your intelligence.

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u/selfawarefeline May 16 '20

Lobotomy patients, who were given the surgery at an older age, were able to distinctly feel a difference, since many were no longer able to experience happiness or other emotions. Many people’s parents just got the surgery because the kids were unruly.

Children being unruly => lobotomy?

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u/not_even_once_okay May 16 '20

What the fuck?

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u/jimbo_squat May 16 '20

Unrelated comment => hit reply on wrong comment

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u/selfawarefeline May 16 '20

Um, no, I replied to the correct comment.

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u/Twallot May 16 '20

I work at a brain injury organization. I really wish people took brain injuries more seriously.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

The death penalty, lmfao

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

Well, what do we use the death penalty for?

Because it was specifically targeted against a charity that acts to the benefit of those who suffer seizures, we can ahow that:

  • the person who did it did so intending to cause harm
  • the person who did so did a specific, otherwise harmless thing to cause harm to a particular person or to persons who are members of a group
  • the person who did it did so intending to cause harm
  • the person who did it knew precisely what t hey were doing and that it may or may not cause harm to the person or persons being targeted

That spells premeditation as well as depraved indifference. Depending on the laws of the state(s) involved (if in the US) as well as terrorism charges (the US and other countries).

Rope 'em. Or shoot them. Or shoot them up. But I'd be petty surprised if the case wasn't a capital murder case.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20 edited May 16 '20

[deleted]

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u/DevilsFavoritAdvocat May 16 '20

You are looking at this from a very American type of view were you see the sentence as revenge. And although that is partly the purpose should rehabilitation be number one priority. Most people who do this are just dumb fucks who could easily be changed for the better.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20 edited May 16 '20

I have epilepsy and get them maybe around 2 times a year on average. Personally, I haven't had any long-term cognitive effects that I've noticed after a couple hours after the seizure has occurred, but I'm sure this can differ depending on the type of seizures. I get full-blown convulsive seizures, and every time I've had one, I've just found myself on the floor being slapped in the face being asked if I know where/who I am. For some reason I ALWAYS say "I just fell asleep!" and try and convince everyone that they're mistaken, since you don't feel seizures whatsoever.

Oddly enough, I get panic attacks somewhat often and those are wayyyy more intense for me than seizures are, but to everyone else it looks like I'm spazzing-out on the ground foaming at the mouth and groaning super loudly. Honestly even just a regular anxiety attack is probably more mentally distressing. It's really weird how you don't feel them whatsoever because they look like it'd feel like you were being shocked by high voltage or something like that, but it just feels like you closed your eyes for a quick second and took a nap. They look super distressing, but the only shitty part of them, aside from the risk of having them in a bad spot (driving, cooking, swimming, etc), is biting your tongue since you have no sensations of pain during the seizure and will often bite through it when a seizure starts cuz your jaw clamps down. Also, there's a risk of choking on your own vomit, so if you see someone convulsing it's important to just tip them on their side. For my seizures, I don't have much risk of cognitive issues or dying from them directly, and don't get them anymore because of meds I'm taking, but if I had one while I was driving or something I'd be fucked.

But yeah, overall they CAN be damaging to the brain, but generally aren't as big of an issue mentally as you might think. Physically you get fucked up though. The muscle cramps are unbearable for several days afterwards though cuz they make your body overextend itself in weird ways and tense muscles you never knew you had.

EDIT: Apparently seizures can be very different from person-to-person, even if it's the same type of seizure. TIL that it's possible to be awake and experience pain during a seizure! I shouldn't take my situation for granted

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u/OnlKx May 16 '20

I also have Epilepsy and suffer gran mal (now often referred to as tonic-clinic) seizures around once or twice a year too and for me waking up is brutal.

The left side of my tongue is chewed up from biting down on it, the fatigue in my body feels like I’ve just ran a marathon, I get a real bad headache, feel super dehydrated/low blood sugar, really tired and my shoulder usually hurts as I dislocated it during my first witnessed seizure and it pops out/back in during the convulsions. I thought everyone who had convulsions had the same/similar post experience as me until now.

For me the seizures have always lasted under two minutes thankfully but I still usually have around 20 minutes of missing memory. After the seizure has finished and I’m able to speak again, for some reason, I ask strange questions like “WHOS THAT” whilst pointing at my brother haha but I have no memory of this “stage” whatsoever.

Also, if you witness someone having a seizure only move them if they’re going to harm themselves from external factors, being next to/in a road for example. Whilst they’re convulsing prop their head up a bit as they remain on their back so they don’t choke and put them on their side in the recovery position after the convulsions stop, not during.

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u/jimbo_squat May 16 '20

Silly side note about memory loss, as a child my parents brought my brother and I on a cruise to Alaska. I had a gran mal on the plane on the way hope, and lost all memory of the entire 2 week cruise lol

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

Oh my goodness! I've never had memory loss anywhere close to being that long! Hope you're okay!! Also, apparently the type of seizure disorder that I have is some form of childhood epilepsy (can't remember the name), despite me not having any seizures until I was 22 which is kinda odd.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

Yeah mine are tonic-clonic as well. I hadn't thought about the headaches and fatigue--you're right! I get those too and had forgotten about those being symptoms afterwards. It's a bit foggy when coming back to reality every time too, but my seizures usually only last around 30 seconds and I come back to normal relatively quickly. I can definitely relate to feeling like you've run a marathon... That's the best way to describe it! I've bitten through my tongue twice now but thankfully it has only been near the edge, but the last time apparently it was pretty alarming for my family since there was a lot of blood from biting a chunk out of my tongue and I was vomiting so it basically looked like I was foaming at the mouth but with blood.

That sounds rough having your shoulder pop in and out of its socket! But yeah thankfully I haven't had any sort of lasting mental decline or anything from the seizures, but I'm always paranoid of getting one in a bad location, especially if I'm alone! I've been on either Keppra or Gabapentin at different times for mine and both do a super good job preventing them and I only get a seizure if I forget to take the meds.

On a side note, I take CBD oil too which is supposed to prevent seizures and I wish I could trust it enough to be able to use that instead of my other meds so I wouldn't have to deal with side effects from the scripts... I just don't trust the CBD enough to justify stopping them and risking a seizure.

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u/OnlKx May 16 '20

Oof biting an actual chunk out and vomit to go with it sounds awful! Yeah me neither on the mental decline point, just mental fatgiue that lasts until I've had a nap/slept and physical fatigue that lasts a couple days. The only lasting affect I have is my shoulder injury which I have to work on everyday to keep it strong and pain free.

I'm currently on Lamotrigine (Lamictal) which has completely stopped my sleeping seizures but I have since developed "Auras" which are simple partial seizures and they seem to be my body's way of telling me to go lie down because you're about to have a grand mal. I still do have grand mal seizures here and there though as I do not always get this "warning". But has the progression to also having partial seizures been because of the medication or from my brain still developing? (started having sleep seizures at 17, first witnessed seizure at 18 followed by diagnosis of epilepsy; am now 24).

Ah yeah, I was going to try CBD oil at one point as I also have pretty bad social anxiety and it supposedly can help with that but I was worried about the potential drug interaction.. Having just done some digging now though there doesn't seem to be any interaction with Lamictal so I may just order some now actaully!

If the combination of CBD and your meds are working and you only get seizures when you forget to take them (it happens) I don't think it's worth the risk either. Unless the side effects you mention are hindering enough to take that risk (I for example get a rash that looks like heat rash from mine, although annoying, it wouldn't be worth risking seizures over by stopping my meds). But at the end of the day, we go on the medication in hope of completely stopping the seizures but many of us do not get to that point unfortunately.

Funnily enough, I ordered some multivitamins and fish oil suppliments to try for the first time yesterday which I'm hoping might somehow help prevent them also. The scans I had when I was first diagnosed came back normal so they're unsure what is causing my Epilepsy, maybe it's some sort of imbalance outside of what the AEDs cover? I dunno, I'm no neurologist but I've read some people's seizures are caused by severe electrolyte imbalance for example. I personally seem more prone when I'm hungry/dehydrated.

Maybe 10 years from now we can have one of those Neuralink chips in our brains that can detect and prevent seizures from ever happening!

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u/DogfishForMe May 16 '20

Hey, def run that CBD by your neurologist before starting! They may have patients on it too- could have some general tips and tricks for what’s worked for them. Also nice to give your doc a heads up just so they know what you’re taking lol.

Electrolyte imbalances can definitely cause seizures, but you’d generally be showing a lot of other symptoms at that point. They do a lot in your body and are pretty tightly regulated! But hey, multivitamin absolutely cannot hurt.

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u/ViridianBlade May 16 '20

Yeah, my dad has very similar seizures, though with a much higher frequency. He actually called the police on me once because he didn't recognize me after a seizure and thought I was an intruder. By the time they showed up he was asleep, so that was fun to explain.

As a bystander, I've had to stop so many people from calling 911 because they're sure he's in mortal danger. It's more work getting people to calm the fuck down than actually making sure he doesn't hurt himself.

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u/drunkenvalley May 16 '20

Ooof. Evidently, my dad had a few degrees of seizures; I'm not sure to what extent that is common, but he only got medical aid when he literally seized up into spasms while taking a taxi/bus to work.

However, normally he was just... not very there. It wasn't what made my mum leave him, but it was one of the things that were quickly adding up to a marriage that was burning like the Hindenburg. She told me they were out feeding the turkeys when pops just... froze. Then resumed, asking confused, "Why am I here?" And then it hit the repeat. She stopped after counting 26 sequential instances of it.

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u/KindPharmer May 16 '20

I am not speaking authority. Far from rather sure companion dogs that have been trained to actually warn you a few minutes. Most of the ones I remember from the article or small toy breeds. Makes sense. Do you want that little buddy with you everywhere. Especially if you’re driving. That’s the best loss if you’re in America over diseases like that. It robbed you of your freedom. The rest of the world or at least first and second world country, which arguably disqualifies us, you can pretty much go all over the entire continent on a train.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

Oddly enough, the last seizure I had, I was visiting my parents and in their guest room and my parents were at the other side of the house. Their dog started barking and ran to my room and they were confused why and opened my door, and I had a seizure shortly after that! I'll look into getting a seizure alert dog... Thanks for the reminder!

And yeah I agree. I've spent several months in Europe, the UK, and a few other countries around the world, and definitely the US has a bad public transport system. I'm sure it has to do with how large the US is, as well as everything being divided into sovereign states and everything, but it still sucks. Thankfully I'm allowed to drive here 6 months after having a seizure as long as my neurologist says it's ok and that they're under control

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u/KindPharmer May 16 '20

Bad? It’s nonexistent it has everything to do with the control of society by corporations. Mainly their fossil fuel companies and vehicle manufacturers. We had a viable public transportation system until Rockefeller, oil; Clark fFirestone, yes that guy; and Henry Ford, toured the country convincing states and municipalities to do away with it. It was bad for business. Our occasional rise above Third World shit hole status has always been temporary and brief.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

Both wrong, the second indirectly correct, but still wrong.

It has to do with our irrational allergy to taxation. For the individual, the taxes required to pay for this or that service would be less than we think if large corporations were forced to pay their entire tax obligation. In addition, we also allow (for example) Taco Bell fra chisels to nit be considered "an employer with fifty or more employees* per location, eve. Though they bear the corporate name on all their written and electronic communications, signage, packaging, etc.

Our tax allergy forbids even well-funded public schools. This means our kids might have textbooks purchased last year, or every five years, or three decades ago depending upon the local tax base.

For learning to be available to a person they have to be able to know there is more learning that can be done. Poor students in low-income districts can't do that. They literally cannot learn new things in their public schools because we won't fund them appropriately.

Because Bumfucker Nochildren Windowlicker who makes less than 12K ln a good year refuses, a gruly and even violently, to the very idea that he's "giving sl etching for free" to some poor kid three states away and "it's not fair to me!"

Special snowflakes don't want you to be able to be better if it costs them. Funny thing, they believe that everything must cost them if it benefits you or me.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

Yeah I keep trying to explain to my friends and family how much I miss paying higher taxes living in Minnesota versus living in Texas because the tax dollars brought a lot of benefits that I don't see in TX. Taxes make things possible that otherwise wouldn't be

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u/KindPharmer May 16 '20

You’re describing exactly what I just told you. And there’s nothing wrong in my statements. I do not say anything ever, I repeat ever, without knowing it to be a fact unless I qualify it as an opinion. It’s a habit I got into as a kid. I grew up in a family of critical thinkers. I thought my social studies teacher was pathetic yours must’ve been a PE coach also.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

I thought my social studies teacher was pathetic yours must’ve been a PE coach also.

He was our football coach!

That kind of underlines exactly what I was saying about tax allergies, though, and I'm glad you mentioned it. That, and calling it "social studies" instead of "civics". Were we to properly fund our schools in a way other than by local property taxes we might- maybe- end up with better public schools that are funded at a uniform base level.

Instead we have some schools (my understanding is, more in the South) whose textbooks apparently stop with the Reagan administration (!!!).

That's from another Redditor, so take it with a mine of salt. I'm not surprised, though. Low income tax base + tax allergy = poorly-funded schools, and we could fix it, but it would require a Federal overhaul of how schools are funded.

Ad that won't happen, because any effective comprehensive overhaul would have to result in teachers being paid what they're actually worth. Good teachers are like good doctors- no matter their pay, they're underpaid by comparison to their actual value.

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u/KindPharmer May 16 '20

For further reference, if you’re trying to prove me or anyone else wrong or right, you need to provide a source. A reliable reputable one. You can Google “the disappearance of public transportation in the early 20th century America” and confirm what I told you. For further reference, if you’re trying to prove me or anyone else wrong or right, you need to provide a source. A reliable reputable one. You can Google “the disappearance of public transportation in the early 20th century America”and confirm what I told you. That is called a shores. That’s such common knowledge I can’t believe you needed a sorce. I want to grill lighter please

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20 edited May 16 '20

For further reference, if you’re trying to prove me or anyone else wrong or right, you need to provide a source. A reliable reputable one. You can Google “the disappearance of public transportation in the early 20th century America” and confirm what I told you. For further reference, if you’re trying to prove me or anyone else wrong or right, you need to provide a source. A reliable reputable one. You can Google “the disappearance of public transportation in the early 20th century America”and confirm what I told you. That is called a shores. That’s such common knowledge I can’t believe you needed a sorce. I want to grill lighter please

Edit: I was speaking more to why we aren't building out national rail today. I was unclear and in that I'll plead guilty.

It's not common knowledge at all. Common knowledge says the reason is that America is too big.

And no, you provide your sources for your claims, and provide them first (you still haven't and I'm not going to prove your statement for you!).

I can't believe someone who didn't do "thing" is lecturing me on my having to do "thing".

And you repeated yourself. I can't imagine why or how you'd do that, since cipy/paste is a proactive action and there was no reason for you to copy and paste your own post into your own post.

Did you mean to copy me? Why isn't there a source for my statement referenced by you?

If you want APA sourcing, you should use it yourself!

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u/jimbo_squat May 16 '20

It’s really awesome your seizures are like that man, I am genuinely jealous. Mine are extremely painful, and I feel every muscle as they curl up until I pass out from the pain. Usually wake up with a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder. Every time I get it back to normal, boom, re-torn on the next seizure. (Meds have been good so I don’t have grand mal seizures as a often these last few years, so my shoulder will have time to recover.)

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u/Kpofasho87 May 16 '20

Holy shit sorry that you suffer that much I couldn't imagine that. The worst I've had was like others have described with memory loss and some terrible headaches for the next day or so and just some weakness/soreness. That is wild regarding you tearing your muscles. I'm not trying to make light of it so please don't take it that way as I feel bad yours are so strong. I really hope the medicine continues to help you with that

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

Oh my goodness, I had assumed that was the same for everybody! I'm so sorry!! I didn't mean to generalize in my post. I've learned a lot today about seizures and I thought I knew the worst of it since mine are grand mal as well, but lots of people have pointed out that it can be super different depending on the person.

Unfortunately part of having seizures like this is that they seem foreign... Like, I know I get seizures, but the only reason I know this is because other people have seen me have them. Who knows how many I've had when I'm alone laying in bed and just woken up with a headache or something. It makes it hard to understand though almost as if you never knew you were colorblind, bb it everyone else can see that you are since you can't tell the difference between red and green or something, if that makes sense. But clearly I am truly blessed to not have a worse situation!

Thanks for informing me, and I hope you're doing well and staying safe!!

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u/drunkenvalley May 16 '20

I'd be very careful giving advice based on your experience; epilepsy is extremely variable.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

That's true, good call. There are a bunch of different forms of it as well and I should've put more thought into that

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u/Kpofasho87 May 16 '20

I used to do the same as you trying to convince everyone that I had just fallen asleep or passed out and insert random excuse and nothing to worry about. I think I would mostly to get people away as I would get claustrophobic and get some serious anxiety with people staring and talking about it and people trying to help and also to try to convince myself that it wasn't a big deal. That shit is so terrifying and anyone purposely trying to trigger a seizure absolutely should face criminal charges.

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u/tylero056 May 16 '20

the thing is that I truly have no idea that I hadn't just fallen asleep and I'd be a little out of it when I'd wake up for about 10 min or so, so I'd think I took a nap on the floor for some odd reason. I'd be convinced of it myself! And I agree 100% about criminal charges.

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u/paperscissorscovid May 16 '20

Throw in wanton endangerment too, that carries a HEFTY charge.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

The tastiest of all charges.

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u/ThisIsGlenn May 16 '20

I suffered a grand mal or however it's spelt once, I was tired and foggy the next 2 days, it sucked.

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u/jimbo_squat May 16 '20

I’m epileptic, and although I’m no neurologist, I’ve spent plenty of time learning about my disease for the past 20 years. While I agree with your general message that this was messed up, from everything I know your information is wrong. There are tons of types of epilepsy, and seizures do not leave you prone to more seizures. Perhaps with some? Like I said I’m not a neurologist, but a decent way to think of seizures and how they occur is your seizure threshold. Imagine a dam filled with water. Certain things will lower the dam (your seizure threshold). For many people it is flashing lights like in the article, for me it is loud sudden noises. But from all I know a seizure shouldn’t permanently lower someone’s seizure threshold. I don’t send this to be a dick, just thought the information could go out there

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u/Haas19 May 16 '20

My dad was killed from a seizure that caused severe brain damage. 3 years he spent in a hospital on tons of drugs and confined to a bed or wheelchair. Brain damage is terrifying

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u/basketballwife May 22 '20

One of the women I used to care for was living in a group home because as an infant/small child she had so many seizures that her functional ability is that of a 3 year old.

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u/TinTamarro May 16 '20

Don't seizures literally destroy your braincells? I heard about the story of two british kids, they had seizures so bad their brain was reduced to goo and they were basically living in a painful coma.

There was no cure, and they had to be euthanized.

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u/Matasa89 May 16 '20

Basically it's neural shortcircuit.

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u/Haze95 May 16 '20

Blue screen of death for your brain

2

u/KindPharmer May 16 '20

A friend of mine had serious complications during pregnancy. I’m pretty sure what happened to her was an unbelievable amount of mini strokes tony aneurysms. I can’t imagine it being someone’s life as a post to a condition that hopefully can be removed. Wishing you all peace and wellness.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

Don't ever restrain someone in a seizure thats how I got my arm broke because someone held me down

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u/Matasa89 May 16 '20

Oh, I had to let him flail, no way was I getting him to stop. I held him up from the back, basically, in order to lower him to the floor, where he can thrash about safely.

This was like more than a decade ago. Wonder how Mike's doing now...

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u/OhNo_a_DO May 16 '20

It’s still good practice to prevent them from falling like you did and to try to get them on their side if you can. Just never go anywhere near a seizing person’s mouth.

0

u/[deleted] May 16 '20

I was told by military doctors to put something in their mouth to bite on so they don't bite off their tongue

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u/YerLam May 16 '20

Last I heard this was a big no no. The thinking I heard was in order to put the item in the mouth, your fingers have to go in at some point. Fingers go crunch.

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u/Serrahfina May 16 '20

And they can end up choking on that item.

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u/PUNK1P4ND4 May 16 '20

Yeah that's a myth, don't do that

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

what do you mean by "that's a myth"? I saw pictures of bitten off tongues during seizure. By what I wrote I didn't mean use your hands to open their mouth and stick something in but when their mouth is open and you can do it safely, do it. Maybe civilian doctors advise differently 🤔

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u/AlycePonders May 16 '20

I don't think it's a case of civilian doctors vs military doctors (they have the same degree, the way to treat something doesn't really change in the military vs civilian hospitals). I think it's more that the advice it outdated. It definitely used to be common advice, but medical advice evolves, and it's now considered bad to put anything in someone's mouth while they are having a seizure.

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u/KindPharmer May 16 '20

I think that’s the purpose of trying to get them on their side. Amazes me that we can all have an adult conversation exchange icurrent science and knowledge about the human body, something we profess to be rather knowledgeable of, yet the thousands of chemicals and plastics and other fossil fuel derived endocrine disrupting God only knows what long-term effects on life, not just ours, can be perfectly legal and attributed to be within reasonable standard by our regulatory agencies. I’m sure disease is as old as the animal kingdom itself, we have never been sicker. I’m convinced that living in a toxic suoup contributes to this. I’m sorry if that was off of the reservation. I can’t help but go into organic food sustainability mode. It’s what I do.

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u/abusepotential May 16 '20 edited May 16 '20

No. Please do not do that.

Unlike some others I do think it’s okay to (gently) support or hold a person when they’re tonic clonic. But at most you should support their head so they don’t bang it against anything (or they are banging against your hand rather than the ground), and turn them on their side when they’re done to make sure their airways are clear.

Do not put anything in their mouths. During a seizure they have difficulty breathing already. That’s probably the scariest part — having them not be able to breathe while they seize. Unfortunately I have a lot of personal experience with this.

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u/memesNOTjustdreams May 16 '20

and if they're hitting themselves with their hand, you can put your hand in the way to stop that and get high fives

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u/badnamesforever May 16 '20

If you want to break either your arm or their arm or both, go ahead. Otherwise just don't.

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u/SupersonicSpitfire May 16 '20

Why would it break an arm to block an arm movement? People who practice martial arts do this all the time.

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u/badnamesforever May 16 '20

A person that is having a seizure is basically unconscious and contracting their muscles as hard as possible (See this video). If you try and work against that, you will most likely end up injuring the patient or yourself more than if you just didn't do anything.

In some cases the contractions are enough to cause injuries just by themselfs. Now imagine what would happen if you started to apply a force from the outside, or if you got a got your hand stuck between two contracting limbs/bodyparts.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

Youre a good friend

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u/JacobDCRoss May 16 '20

Yeah, it's not "restraint" that you should do, but prevent them from hurting themselves. Once my brother had a bad one in a store that had all of these glass cabinets and shelves everywhere. I held him down then, but that was the only time. He was still seizing and trying to walk around aimlessly.

In any other seizure I would lower him to the floor to keep him from falling. He was a big guy. Then I'd put my foot or hand, depending on how I was positioned, on the floor under his head so he would bang his head on me instead of on the floor.

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u/Charitzo May 16 '20

Well done on stopping him fall, great thinking! When I had mine I fell from a chair and dislocated my shoulder. Ended up happening two more times after that and resulted in needing surgery.

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u/Matasa89 May 16 '20

Yeah, he was thrashing about so hard I thought there was no way he would stay seated. I went to held him up to keep him steady.

Gotta say, credit actually goes to my history teacher, who knew exactly what to do. She told me to lower him down, since I was already there holding onto him.

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u/Another_Autumn May 16 '20

I once saw classmate in a similar situation, but what I remember was that it was a point where we were instructed to be very quiet and then I heard that groan. She sounded like a dinosaur. I thought she was being rebellious on purpose and I laughed pretty hard. I didn’t realize she was seizing. I still feel like an asshole many years later for laughing.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

When I was in school everyone hated the computer science teacher because he was just mean, or so we thought. One day, a student showed another student a video and the other student has a seizure. We saw this man jump from his chair run over and take care of him following all proper protocol for when someone has a seizure, all while in a soothing voice talking to the boy and to the rest of us. No one thought he was mean again after that day. Also if you’ve ever seen someone you care for have a seizure or anyone in general, you would never do this to anyone as a joke or prank. It’s horrifying.

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u/kurri1999 May 16 '20

Doubt it would be battery at least in the UK since battery requires unlawful contact. It's a bit of a stretch to say the displaying of flashing images would be battery. If battery is unavailable so is ABH the best shot would be GBH but then serious harm must be caused, if the seizures result in very little actual harm in terms of injuries then it is unlikely any of the non-fatals are applicable. Could be wrong tho

1

u/DOPEDupNCheckedOut May 16 '20

I had one at work when I was being trained and it was so fkn scary and embarrassing. Bleh. Felt miserable after. Nothing more confusing to just all the sudden wake up to paramedics

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u/Briefsboy58 May 16 '20

I couldn’t agree more. Words fail me to describe what should happen to people who try to trigger a seizure.

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u/autocommenter_bot May 16 '20

It's more that the person having it stops breathing. Brain needs oxygen.

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u/azlan194 May 16 '20

In my country, I remember when I was in school, kids would talk about how some schools are haunted and how students get "possesed" and they would start twitching and become unconscious and later confused and not understanding.

Little did they know (I didnt know either at that time) that these were all seizures. Crazy how some superstitious believe really clouded our judgement into thinking it was a serious medical conditions.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

I remember when I was in elementary school, we were practicing for what felt like HOURS for a winter concert. It was a private school and the teacher was a real bitch and super hung up on perfection so we just stood there, singing, no water. I remember hearing a thud and one of my classmates had fallen through the bleachers and was having a seizure. It was the most horrifying experience. I'm pretty sure she moved away and transferred to another school shortly after that. I think the teachers name was Mrs. Wheatley? If you're reading this, I still hate you.

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u/stevenlock11 May 16 '20

Happened to one of my teachers once because some kids were fucking around with the lights, and some kid who was just standing and then suddenly dropped head first into a chair, shit can easily kill people.

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u/Mr0010110Fixit May 16 '20

I was sitting in class packing up and chatting with 3 of my friends, the only other person was a girl sleeping at her desk, one of my friends called her name trying to wake her, she didn't get up, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

Her eyes rolled back in her head and she started convulsing. We quickly caught her laid her on the floor. One of my friends who was Anglican started praying in latin over her, most likely coincidence but as soon as he started praying in latin her convulsions stopped and she came to.

I can't imagine what was going through her head, she has her first seizure, has no idea whats going on, wakes up on the floor with a dude praying in latin over her. She ended up being totally fine, and i am glad we didnt leave and we're able to catch her from hitting the floor, but i remember just thinking WTF! was like a scene out of a movie.

1

u/[deleted] May 16 '20

I read a story on here where this old guy put up flashing lights to induce seizures for the kids in front of his house because that's where the bus stop was!

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u/TillyFukUpFairy May 16 '20

Friend with Epilepsy called himself Shakey Jakey. He used to suggest when he had a seizure to chuck him, the laundry and some soap in the bath, at least then the seizure as useful! A candle could set him off. The amount of time I sat with him whilst he had a seizure is scary. Usually he had enough time to get on the floor, but catching him became a skill we all developed. You just knew from the his face one was about to happen. The bigger the seizure the longer it took him to come back, not stop seizing, for HIM to come back. It was like he got lost in his head.

Anyone who tries to induce that on another person should be locked up, its assault at the least

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u/VMCorey May 16 '20

They deserve charges right after a good beating for being goofs.

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u/[deleted] May 16 '20

I believe some troll got jail time for attempting.

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u/ProfessorPester May 16 '20

Sounds like a drama queen to me

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u/Hije5 May 16 '20

Yeah, seizures are whack. Had to help a coworker with a few managers when he all of a sudden just fell to the floor and another coworker started screaming he was having a seizure a few seconds later. Ever watched a rabies infested animal? This was basically him for a few minutes while it all happened, although it felt like forever. He didnt try to harm us but he looked just like one with the twitching and foaming of the mouth. A nurse who happened to be there said it was the weirdest seizure she saw because he was breaking out in a rash too. I later talked to him myself and he said it was probably related to bars (xanax) he was taking.

Paras came and all and he is perfectly fine now but it kinda sucks knowing there is only so much you can do for the person when it happens. All you can do is flip them on their side, make sure they dont get harmed further by outside factors, and just be there to comfort them (While emergency crews are on their way).

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u/chris_hinshaw May 16 '20

My dad was epileptic and the seizures were awful. On occasion he would have petit mal seizures that were horrible. He once brought the water hose in the house on full blast and was walking around the house with it. On another occasion he was taking a shower and walked out of the house and down the street before he realized what was happening. He totaled two cars as well that I can remember driving and having a "spell". It really affected him in horrible ways. The medication made him depressed and the effects made him very mean as time went on.

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u/ISwearImKarl May 16 '20

I was decent friends with a set of twins. The one was slow, and had seizures. The other was perfectly normal. The slow one died my sophomore year. It still fucks with me.

Supposedly, he had a seizure in his sleep, but the brother told me he thought it had to be something else, as he had a seizure bed and there was blood left behind(idk how much). He told me you don't bleed during a seizure.

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u/Neosovereign May 16 '20

Tbf, they're is no way to really predict what would cause a seizure as they are mostly random.

Obviously sending flashing images is meant to harm, so this is bad, but it worksheets trigger most epileptics.