The Epilepsy Quitting Smoking Pharmacological Cadbury Secret

February 22, 2014 in Blogging, Facts About Patient Anonymous, Harvard, Head Injury, Health, Humour, Life is Stranger Than Fiction, Linkbaiting, Literary, Medicine, Neat Neuro Stuff, Seizures, Self Medication, You Decide

I’d really like to write about this right now but the thing is, I just started to quit smoking and you see, well, I’m kind of all over the map.  If my brain could find a map.  That is, if I could travel anywhere except to well, somewhere here on my keyboard and my blog and well, I don’t think I’m travelling very well to you people.

I fell off the wagon and that’s okay.  I just started and fine.  Not many people just quit and they are successful on their first time ’round are they? Hey, ho! I think not!

It’s been a few days since I’ve been smoke free but a lot of stressful things happened today and well, I fell off the ashtray. Stress and Norepinephrine.  Yep, they’ll getcha every time.  That’s part of my recipe for the drugs and chocolate in yer bean.  Crazy, bouncy NE unless it’s poopy sad NE, but in this case, unless you can’t tell? It’s pretty bouncy when you quit (or I do) and you fall off the ashtray.

Or would that be fall back into it?

You know? I never understood that whole “Wagon Thing.”  Another ANACKRONIZM!

Er. Yeah.  Yeah?

So, if you would like to do so, come back for the startlingly boring or head-noddlingly thrilling information I have to tell you! I’m so happy I can finally prove what I’ve known all the time.  That does make Dr. PA who is not a real doctor very proud.  She can pretend she is smart!

Gotta go.  One cigarette left.  Need to smoke it today but when. Because I’m now on a total bender.  So the question is…do I keep bending myself consistently, or do I wait until I am no longer bendy, and then swiveley-swivel around all over again?

My, my.

I will write this up.  I will.  And this is “Real Time Blogging” folks! I can’t believe my eyes ANY OF MY SENSES!!!

WHOO.

Ticked, Test, but Thoughts

February 7, 2014 in Blogging, Boring Posts, Cranky, Head Injury, Linkbaiting, Literary, Medicine, Meds, Patient Advocacy, Political, Seizures, Technology Sucks, Uncategorized, WordPress Sucks

I was so ticked off with the WP app from Auttommatticc or whoever they are, I simply went to my blog online and put it on my mobile’s desktop, or screen or whatever.  Then, the idea was to simply link and pounce on it (well one of the types of “pounces” out there.)

And voila!

Which is why I’m now testing it.  To see if I get my “voila.”

My thoughts? First, I have comments! Everything went to hell when I had that tiny power loss, yet the weather was so bad, it knocked out my ISP all night.  So on the agenda.

Also,  if by chance Huffington Post Canada and/or Epilepsy Ontario reads my post and starts checking up on me? Because I said I wrote for Epilepsy Ontario?

That was non-PA.  Yes, the person who actually exists behind such a phantom creature here.  Who even has a real name!

So I must contact EO now.  Also on the agenda.

If You Have Epilepsy in Canada? Don’t Worry. You’ll Be Fine!

February 6, 2014 in Blogging, Cranky, Facts About Patient Anonymous, Harvard, Head Injury, Health, Life is Stranger Than Fiction, Literary, Medicine, Meds, Patient Advocacy, Political, Seizures, Therapy

Many of my old readers know this story but they still might be interested in this disaster for me a second time! It might destroy all of the hard work my Neurologist and I have been working on for six months now.  Intensive and over the top levels of two of my other Anticonvulsants–plus the one I lost.  The doses are SO high, people think it’s practising irresponsible medicine.

No.  It’s been the last and only chance.  Throwing a dart at the board blindfolded.

To everyone’s surprise, I have been seizure free since the beginning of August.  Here, it is mandatory for a doctor to report even one seizure so that a person can no longer drive.  If you have zero for a year, you can drive again.  I know I’ll make a full year. Unless this happens?

The drug I “lost” and had to quit cold turkey was called Clobazam. You NEVER quit a drug cold turkey unless it is a medical emergency AND under medical supervision.  I had no choice.  For the first time ever in my life, I was told drug manufacturers could no longer supply pharmacies with certain medications.  I had never had a problem with that in my life.

Losing the Clobazam damn near killed me.  It completely eroded me physically and mentally because first it was gone. Then, when I could finally resume taking the drug, it had lost some of its efficacy.  Thus, I remained undermedicated until last July when we slowly started to fix me up with massive quantities of Anticonvulsants.

There is also a VERY important note I would like to express here. In fact, pound it into every doctor who believes in substitutions for Clobazam and possibly other medications.  Big Pharma and the Government will come later.

Clobazam falls under the category of Benzodiazepines.  However, it is a specialized one.  It is one to treat epilepsy and epilepsy ALONE.  Every Neurologist and even Pharmacist knows this fact. Moreover, it is SO specialized, it is primarily used for Catamenial (occurring during Menses) epilepsy and migraines.

If I lose this drug again, it might not work for me ever.  Again.

So, there is some background material.  Why is it so relevant? I would now like to draw your attention to some very important reading.  You might not care to read it as it’s rather devastating to me.  The links occur in a chain-like fashion.  That’s how I’m going to end this with Big Pharma and the Government.  If you don’t pause to look at everything, the chain of discussion could perhaps lose sense.

Epilepsy Ontario is a wonderful site.  I’ve actually written for them but don’t let that mean I am biased.  They also have a wonderful Newsletter you can subscribe to if you’d like, their website is chock full of information.  Due to this, I might be able to re-work my last piece I couldn’t write before!

Nonetheless click on that link.  That now has me quivering in my boots.  Everywhere else too.  Needless to say, I’ve already contacted my pharmacist!

Now have a look at this.  What’s listed right at the very top of EPILEPSY TORONTO’s website! So, we have Local and Provincial Awareness, Support and Notification.  Sniff, sniff.  Anyone smell something funny?

National.  Unless I’ve suddenly been struck blind, I see no mention of Drug Shortages or other problems anywhere on this site.   What I do see is a lot written about raising money for support and the word “Research.”  That’s rather interesting.

One needs to take Anticonvulsants (or rarely others) for epilepsy. If research is being done regarding medication, who manufactures medications?

There is also a nice little tidbit regarding concerns about Animal Testing (but nothing about epilepsy.)  If you would like more information about what Epilepsy Canada is doing, or the guidelines for Animal Testing in general? Who do you contact?

Canadian Council on Animal Care
1510-130 Albert Street
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1P 5G4

That is a branch of the Federal Government of Canada.

I don’t think I need to sum (Big Pharma saving money as well as the Government) things up any further.  You can all get the picture now I believe.