Anee Stanford <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Everyone-
>
[snip]
>  I have ataxic and athetoid CP.  I use a manule wheelchair or
> electric scooter for going long distances like school and
> shopping.  The use controll of my hands espically my left is
> somewhat limited.  I have slight speech imparment.  I have
> difficulty reading small print because it is hard to stay still
> enough to be able to read.  I have a history of seizures and am
> on medication for that but I have not had one since I was in
> 3rd grade--however every time I go off it for long enough I end
> up having one (that's what happened in 3rd grade...I've been
> taken off it 3 times only to be put back on so I just stay on).
>
Am I right in understanding that you haven't had a seizure since
you were 8, but you have remained on medication since then. It is
my understanding that in some cases the incidence of fits
(seizures) - particularly "petit mal" - is sometimes restricted
to pre-pubescent years.

In my case I was put on phenobarbitone at age 7 to stop recurrent
petit-mal fits but I stopped the medication when I was 15 and
have not had a recurrence - touch wood.

I would recommend you discuss this with your doctor, I do not
suggest you go about it the way I did:-

The boarding school I went to (140 mixed disability) dispensed
all medication from a surgery where you queued after breakfast
before the first lesson. It was a relatively simple sleight of
hand to convince the nurse that the hand briskly clapped over the
mouth followed a "bad taste" grimace was a successful medication
delivery, whereas the truth was the tablet was safely esconced in
my other palm. These unused tablets were then casually tossed
into the top draw of my chest of drawers (this was my eventual
undoing). After about 18months of this, at two tablets a day my
cache amounted to about 900 tablets. The pandemonium which broke
out when this cache was discovered was a sight to behold. The
focus of the questioning was not so much what effect the lack  of
medication had on my condition, but rather what I planned to do
with this biggest "drug bust" in the school's history!! The
school shrink couldn't make up his mind whether I was planning to
put the phenobarbitone in the communal tea urn and put the whole
school to sleep for two weeks, or a more sinister plot to
administer a stronger mix purely for the benefit of the staff
canteen!! The fact I had been fit free for 18 months (and had the
evidence to prove it!!) meant they had no choice but to take me
off the medication.

Now this long reminisce on times long past is simply to
illustrate the folly of youth, you must NOT forego prescribed
medication without the supervision of a doctor. What worked for
me may well not work for anyone else.


[snip]
>
> Yours,
> Anee
> http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Sauna/4441/CPIC.html    (CPIC)
> http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/7132/about.html  (My homepage)
>
>

Cheers,

--
Deri James
Computer: a device designed to speed and automate errors.