Go Depakote!

So I am pretty pleased that after about 3 weeks, I am tolerating the Depakote extremely well (knock on wood, fingers crossed!) - by and large my morning dizzy spells are virtually non-existant... a couple of VERY small instances of disorientation/dizziness, but overall I am very happy!
The main issue I DO have is that I am starting to notice what the doctor was talking about when he said that some people gain weight on Depakote. I need to use the old "mind power" to stop myself from gorging, as I do tend to feel much hungrier, and while I have gained a few pounds, I don't want to jump to the conclusion that it is the meds, as Christmas was certainly a food-fest!
But again, Yay Depakote! :-)

Seizure clusters

On Sunday I had another cluster of seizures, my third in as many months. Clearly the Vimpat is not controlling my seizures as well as we would hope. On Monday, my doctor raised the dosage from 300mg to 350mg, and WOW what a difference. I left work yesterday and went home, unable to cope with the enhanced side effects. I was in a stupor for most of the day, completely unable to focus. I tried to do anything that I considered basic and elementary for helping me focus on something, including counting to 100. I got to 72, I think. Very frustrating.
I went to my doctor this morning. Mary came with me. After talking about all the options, we are going to take me off of the Vimpat and try Depakote with the Trileptal instead. After that it looks like we have a few other drug cocktails we could try before we would consider surgery, although the possibility of that seems to be looming out there and it scares the crap out of me.

Drug Interactions

So this morning I am looking up interactions for my Trileptal and Vimpat - I'm on the maximum dosage for Trileptal and about 75% of Vimpat. I've been trying to figure out why my side-effects happen only in the morning - interaction with caffeine from my coffee? Medication still left in my system from my taking it the night before? (I usually take my night meds around 10pm and my morning around 7:30 - do I need to be taking exactly 12 hours apart?)
It's frustrating to deal with side-effects.
But if the drugs prevent the seizures and seizelets (little seizures), is it worth it?
Topamax messed with my memory something fierce, so that one had to go - but is 20-30 minutes of dizzy spells, blurred vision, wacked-out equilibrium, and the occassional inability to come up with the word I want (granted, that could be age, but I feel like I didn't have that problem this often before my medication increases and poly-therapy) worth it?
I'll figure it out, I guess.

is it dizziness?

It's hard to say that I am "dizzy" in the morning. I am at a loss to say why focusing upwards "cures" the symptoms... At least for a couple of moments (sometimes for good).
Should I be looking elsewhere for the cause? Perhaps my morning coffee? I generally only have the one cup a day. Perhaps I switch to decaf? Ugh. I love coffee

more side effects

So perhaps it is something I will have to deal with forever? I continue to have dizzy spells - I had them when I was just on Trileptal (1800mg) and now I am on poly-therapy (Trileptal and Vimpat) with my Trileptal dosage bumped up to 2400mg (the max), I still have these odd dizzy spells occassionally in the morning. They are annoying, but I can generally get through them by either turning my eyes upwards (not my head) and focusing on a point on the ceiling for a few moments. Mary has noticed that during these spells my "eyes twitch." Not sure why the meds would cause such an odd effect, but.... Yet another thing for me to try and remember to bring up when I see the Dr. in February. Dollars to donuts it is something that Mary will remind me to tell him. She's amazing.
We're in the midst of planning for a wedding, which hopefully will happen next September or October. She wants Nantucket instead of NY or DC. We'll see what's in the cards! :-)

feeling flushed

So I often feel flushed. Not sure how best to describe it - simply a very warm feeling throughout my body, particularly centralized in my head, though also strong in my upper body around my chest and back. At times it comes within 20-30 minutes of my having taken my morning meds (I am on Trileptal (2400 daily) and Vimpat (300 daily), as an FYI) and sometimes it happens in the evening at the end of work or on the subway home. I am going to try and make a note of it so I can determine how often it is happening and what might be causing it.
This morning, eggwhite breakfast sandwich w/cheese and canadian bacon on a whole wheat english muffin, OJ, coffee. Meds around 7:30. Started feeling flushed around 8:15. It's 9:30 and I'm still feeling it.
My fiancee is unemployed now, so she is lovingly making me breakfast and lunch. As I think I posted before, she is the most wonderful woman in the world.

My Fiance and her latest gift

About 4 weeks ago, I proposed to my girlfriend of 2 years, and she accepted! I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful woman, who is not only there for me whenever I have my periodic nocturnal seizures (I am fortunate enough to have my seizures only in my sleep). She is there when I wake up with medicine, advil for my headaches, a cold washcloth for my head, and a Nesquik Chocolate Milk to make me feel better! :-)
Today, she brought me a wonderful present - A brand new pillbox!
This thing is sleek - it has a little push-button for each day, and all of my pills fit perfectly inside!