Stopped smoking, stopped having seizures

[FlemClandango]

Hi. I just wanted to share my experience here in the hope that it might help others.

Four years ago I crashed my car whilst having, what I later found out to be, an absence seizure (I crashed into a lorry, luckily no one was hurt). I went to the doctor, surrendered my driving license and booked an appointment to see a neurologist and that was that: I was diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed Keppra.

It wasn't just driving where I experienced seizures, and not all were absence seizures; occasionally walking - I would find myself confused, sometimes standing in the middle of a road (again lucky this didn't end badly), I would often seizure whilst jogging - hitting the ground and then coming-to, confused and bloodied, sometimes just sitting down to eat I would have a seizure, staring into the distance. Frustrating didn't begin to describe it.

I was also a smoker, using marijuana with rolling tobacco at night time to help with problems sleeping. I smoked for nearly 30 years and not just medicinally, I would meet up with friends on a weekend night and smoke recreationally.

Fast-forward, 4 years later, I was still having seizures sporadically, sometimes once a week, sometimes three times a week. I had experimented, removing food groups from my diet in the hope that it was something I was eating or drinking that gave me the seizures, but they still persisted. Then, I decided to do the one thing I should have done from the start: I quit smoking. It worked.

I've been seizure-free since giving up smoking tobacco (I still use marijuana as a sleep aid via vaping). Granted, it's early days -I'm only two months seizure -free but it feels like a revelation, nonetheless. The seizures have stopped, i've come off Keppra and I feel optimistic that I might, at some point, be able to drive again.

So, if you experience seizures and you smoke, I would urge you to try removing cigarettes/tobacco and all the poisions that come with these products from your body and brain. A simple search on the internet will show that tobacco and seizures go hand-in-hand. It worked for me, hopefully it might work for others too.

[Caesard]

That's impressive achievement, congrats! I hope it continues to improve your body response.

Being able to get off meds by itself is a major step forward.

If i may, would like to pop some questions

How old are you?

What type of epilepsy syndrome have you been diagnosed with and have they ever found a cause?

Are there any symptoms and/or comorbidities?

You are weening out under medical supervision or you are doing it on your own?