Interview EP32

Age at interview: 26

Age at diagnosis: 25

Brief Outline:

Diagnosed with epilepsy in 2001. Was put on gabapentin straight away and epilepsy has been well controlled since then. Current medication' gabapentin (Neurontin).

Background:

Technician; engaged, no children.

Tells how he had two car accidents and then a third seizure which his partner witnessed.

Originally it was March of last year, I was driving my car along a bend. I wasn't, I came up to a junction and I wasn't sure what happened. And the next thing I remember is that I woke up in and there was someone next to me in an ambulance and my car was in a shop window. I got taken off to the ambulance, put in the ambulance, taken to hospital. Stayed in overnight.  They carried out a lot of tests on me. They took chest x-rays, checked my blood sugar levels, couldn't find anything wrong. I went to my doctor's on the Monday, 'cos no-one had seen anything it couldn't really say 'It could be this, it could be that' Couldn't give me a definite as to what it might be. 

'And then at my, I had another accident in the car, this one was in July. I was driving along and it was just after I left work as well at a quarter past five. Again, I was taken into hospital... I was kept in for, they ran tests on me. Couldn't find anything wrong, I stayed in overnight. Then it was, I went back to work 'cos they said I was fine and then in August I had one at home and my girlfriend was next to me. And because she was next to me, she saw what had happened. That's was when they were now able to diagnose what was wrong. I went, after that I went to see the neurologist the next day and I was put on immediately I was, he diagnosed me with epilepsy from what she'd seen.

Explains that his epilepsy was controlled with one drug right from the start.

And you were put on gabapentin straight away? 

Yeah 

Do you take that in the morning and in the evening? 

I take three a day, one in the morning, one about 3 and one just before I go to bed. 

And it's always been gabapentin?

Yeah.  It's the only drug I've taken.

The tablets have been great, they've controlled it. After a while you do get used to taking them. You don't really think about it, it just becomes a normal habit to take them. I mean if it is controlled after a while it, it really doesn't affect you that much. You really just get used to it. It's not, it doesn't become, I mean if it is controlled it's not really life threatening or anything. It's not the end of the world. I mean there's worse things out there.