Sea Sick

I have now been tapering off of Topiramate (generic Topamax) for nine days and I'm feeling sea sick. The first five days felt fine, now I have low level nausea and headaches in my eyes.

I don't know yet if my "sea sickness" is from drug withdrawal or if it's neurological. My motivation at my job these last couple of days has been low; however I am still feeling sharp and accomplishing tasks. I've found it helps me feel better to put on nice music and to keep the light levels low. Right now I'm enjoying Iron and Wine's compilation with Calexico titled "In the Reins."

My husband is worried about me so I am sure to keep my cell phone charged and with me at all times. This makes me feel loved and protected, but it also makes me feel dependent and trapped. It's hard. Only in August I won my independence back with driving again. I had been grounded for nine months until my neurologist and the state both agreed that Topiramate manages my seizure disorder well enough for me to drive. I grew wings with my returned license; I was weightless with my independence. Now my husband has to drive me everywhere, once again, as I test this theory out. Thus far I've had no Alice-In-Wonderland symptoms.

Right now I maintain a very low sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol diet. My first neurologist recommended this strategy so I follow it. At first it was extremely difficult, I felt like a Nun. I was a few years past my pub crawling, Man Ray dancing lifestyle, but still... Supposedly this discipline helps keep my temporal lobe from over-firing, a bit of natural neurological maintenance. Did you know that the human brain uses 30% of a person's calorie intake? Since so much of what I put into my body goes right to my neurons, I've grown very careful about the quality of things I ingest. I think every person who has a seizure disorder should journal about how they feel related to what they eat, drink, and how much they sleep. I did and it revealed a lot. I bet everyone will be different, but I'm sure that many people will find that sugar, caffeine and alcohol cause more ill effects than desireable ones. Yeah, bummer, but better the perennial designated driver than passed out once with a bloody tongue and no license for 6 months or a year.