My son is an epileptic, he's in college now taking up nursing. he told me that his self esteem is already low

...because of the epileptic attack. I made many procedures, eeg, MRI, Ct scan but it's all normal. he's taking tegretol. I want him to be free from this illness. I'm so upset because i'm a nurse and yet...he's now on his 5th yr of fighting epilepsy. Now, he's 16yrs old and he's my eldest son. pls somebody help me. any advise on what to do?

Hello,
My first seizures occurred when I was in my first year of college; I was 19. I am 33 now and the fight was not easy, but it did produce a positive outcome. Your son's case is similar to mine in the "EEG, MRI, and CT Scan" are all normal. It is does not make sense, eh? The same for me.

I think the best move for your son and yourself is to get him involved with others affected. It can and will be a huge boost for the condition. There are Epilepsy support groups throughout all communities in the US and abroad. If not, do the proactive thing and begin one. Becoming a spokesperson helps in the fact that one begins to "talk" about the seizures - the road to recovery or perception of normalcy begins there. Plus, some day when he is a nurse, he will be able stand up and tell someone else that it is "ok". In my pursuit with seizures, that has been the biggest way to cope.

I hope this helps. Stay strong and good luck.

Please contact your local epilepsy foundation at the website below. Locally-based Epilepsy Foundations provide information and referral services tailored to their communities, many of them through toll-free lines; they sponsor professional education seminars for allied health professionals and educators; they mobilize individuals to serve as advocates; and they participate in public education campaigns.

contact the Epilepsy foundation. There are many local chapters, and they have counselors and support groups.

So you know that epilepsy is a life long condition. What you need is a medication with better control of symptoms and even at best it is not always possible to be symptom free.

He can turn this embarrassment around by sharing his knowledge with his fellow nursing students who have wittinessed it. The teacher should allow him to speak about it himself to the class rather than have the teacher address the incident. This way he owns it and will be sharing and benefiting his fellow students. I think this is far better than the teacher addressing it, which can be more embarrassing as he would be seen as the victim of a disorder rather than the expert on epilepsy, which he is. No one can better explain what it is than one who has it. He could even address the social and emotional impact of having it as anyone who has health problems are impacted not just physically. He would be sharing something very valuable with the class and should feel good about that.

I am so sorry to hear of your situation. Not only is his self esteem low it sounds as if yours is too. If it is any help to you, I have a friend who has epilepsy and he has complex partial seizures and has had them since before early childhood and is looking towards midlife. He has a wonderful neuorlogist who he has been with for a very long time. He has been through a lot in his life but not without support. Please do go and get the support you need because it is out there for you.
My friend and I live in the UK and the foremost place of research here is the National Society for Epilepsy (www.epilepsynse.org). The other contributers have a point though and that is to contact your Epilepsy Foundation of America. If you want to talk to others Yahoo have an Epilepsy Chat area where people are quite knowledgable and can empathise with you and offer help.
If I could I would hold your hand across the miles.