#life with seizures

[honeycombhank]

2/25/24

I have had such a busy weekend I can’t hardly believe how much I have done I am so very proud of myself but I can’t wait to slow down again and hold my rats and be close I feel like they are changing all the time and I don’t want to miss any of it ❤️

[xinthislonelyhourx]

My friend has asked me to share this video of him explaining what a Tonic-Clonic Seizure is for those who don't know what one is and how to help.

If you could Reblog this that would be great as well.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i've started using Just Dance as a workout and well. it's super fun, but i've discovered that i have No Coordination. at all <3 i'm having the time of my life flailing around like a dying fish

[bonefall]

Hi there, as an epileptic person I’m so happy to see your changes to Shadowsight’s character (I was SO disappointed that they removed his seizures!) and that you have a whole section dedicated to it in the medicines overview! It means so much to me to have such genuine representation. The only little note I have is that the technical term for a grand-mal seizure is “tonic-clonic,” not clonic-tonic! Other than that you have some really great and well-researched information ^^

Oh shoot, I didn't realize the order was important! Can you tell me why it should be tonic-clonic and spelling it as clonic-tonic should be avoided, so I can share?

With Shadowsight and Sorreltail, I did my research by looking at educational not-for-profits and trying to make sure to listen to firsthand accounts of what it's like to have it, so that the portrayal was more based in life than medical journals. I'm pretty sure I have an old post floating around somewhere with a bunch of sources and links, in addition to the herb guide you saw.

It really is such a shame they did that with Shadowsight specifically :/ you're not the first to pass through thanking me for putting his epilepsy back. I was recently revisiting the earlier books of TBC to answer an ask (ballooned into an essay) and, man, seeing all the setup, with what I know now, utterly wasted is just devastating.

What I mean is, in Book 1, they're describing his auras from his perspective and how there IS a difference between his seizure-visions and his Ashfur-visions. They're establishing that he DID always have epilepsy, it's just ASHFUR that's new. That was a MAJOR hint that something was wrong! The epilepsy was always part of him, but the possessions weren't!

But then, in Book 4, the team unceremoniously decides that no, it was Ashfur all along. Even the seizures. GoodBYE epilepsy! It was literally just a magic spirit.

Though the "seizures give visions" trope is a bit problematic on its own (like "Blind Seer"), I feel like it's even worse to set up representation, and then just yank it away midway through an arc. Like they couldn't just have him lose the visions but keep the seizures.

Frustrating. But, well, this is MY kitchen and I get to decide the disability rep.

[puppetmaster13u]

I have a question.

Batfamily, right? DC and Pokemon crossover. They would definitely have some separate pokemon they use for their civilian identities, competitions, general things etc, than ones who they partner with for their vigilante/battling right?

So hypothetically, wouldn't they also have some separate pokemon for some undercover work. Like say, for the Malones? What type of pokemon and Malones names do you think they'd use/have lol

[katottersart]

I’ve been going through a lot lately, so to cope I’ve been doing these cathartic symmetrical paintings. Lets me add much more detail and try things out in half the time.

Might open some commissions of the like, if people are interested.

[geothebio]

are tears good for the skin because if so boy howdy do i have quite the skincare routine going on

[sleepanonymous]

[harriertail]

Tbh Starclan might also be saving Shadowsight by denying him access to the Wifi. He got seizures everytime they sent him anything, and once as a kit he interpreted a Starclan email into that he had to die/nearly die to stop Shadowclan and Skyclan from going to war. (Which worked, sorta but only because the cat who saved him died and that cat committed basically the first war crime as far as the clans are concerned.)

he got his router rebooted and ended up in hell

[meimi-haneoka]

{drabble} I'm here - Akiho/Kaito

Alright, how do you do any of this...😂

I guess what you need to know it's that it is a Akiho x Kaito / YunaAki drabble, it's based on canon (set 3 weeks after the series ended), and it's based on the assumption that, differently from what the ENG translation said in ch. 80, in the JP Sakura affirmed that thanks to his stopped time Kaito wouldn't be hurting more than that...this means that his seizures would continue, just they wouldn't get worse than what we've seen till now.

This is mainly a hurt/comfort drabble, with glimpses of happiness. After all, Akiho is happy with him. And it's mainly a way for me to vent some complex feelings about the finale of Clear Card. I have a Kaito POV on the way (edit: here's the link, go read it after you finished this one!), but it's more difficult to write for him (and, uh, more depressing) so it'll come in the next days.

Easter egg: a line is a direct reference to the lyrics of Anata by Hikaru Utada. 😉

I'm not a native English speaker so forgive me if any line sounds weird!

Finally, I have to thank the "enabler" dandelion-stuff-and-fluff (not tagging in case you don't want to!) for giving immediately support to my whims! 😂

Excerpt:

I could feel the tears emerging, but I kicked all of them back, as I threw my 13-year-old self out of the window and summoned the part of me that helped me survive all these years. The resilient one.

Akiho's POV 

Three weeks had passed by, from that fateful night. 

Most of our stuff was packed, and our days were spent between checking everything for the imminent departure and hanging out with Sakura-san and the rest of the group, making the most out of the remaining time. Everyone was so lovely to us, showing all the support we needed. I really felt like I had acquired a family in Tomoeda, and the thought of it made me incredibly happy.  I was going to miss them so much. Just like I would miss this big mansion full of memories.... and mysterious protective forces, apparently, as I was told by him. 

Kaito-san revealed to me that when we came to Tomoeda almost one year prior, he had chosen this mansion specifically to protect me, as I was carrying a dangerous magical artifact that my own clan had engraved in me.  We talked quite a lot over the span of those three weeks, and swallowing the truth had been hard, at first.  But all of that was gone now and like waking up from a nightmare, the memories of it were getting more and more hazy as time went on. Only a permanent scar remained. 

Both of us were in the kitchen, cooking dinner. The clang of kitchen utensils, the sizzle in the frying pan made me strangely happy. It sounded warm. It sounded normal. I love cooking with him. This was the corner of the house where we declared to each other how much we cherished one another, without even fully realizing it. 

“Akiho-san, could you hand me the salt?”  “Here you go!” I said, smiling brightly at him.  He smiled back at me in that soft way that made my knees weak.  God, please, give me this for the rest of my life. Every day, immutably. 

“Done! We’re ready.”  Removing our aprons, we were getting ready to bring everything to the table. 

And then I saw it.  

He stopped in his tracks, his complexion paling by the second. 

Another one was coming.   My blood ran cold, and I rushed to the other side of the room, while he slowly crouched to the ground, out of breath, groaning in pain.   Each cry stabbed me in the chest like a knife. I could feel the tears emerging, but I kicked all of them back, as I threw my 13-year-old self out of the window and summoned the part of me that helped me survive all these years. The resilient one.   I hastily opened a cabinet and took out a finely decorated small box, toppling other items in the process. I didn't care.   Hiiragizawa-san had sent us, through a magic portal, a series of pills he made weaving a complex magic spell over them, to help Kaito-san cope with the seizures. He said they wouldn't do any miracle, but hopefully they could reduce the duration of the seizures and ease the pain a little bit. Cause the pain he was experiencing wasn’t caused by anything ordinary, and no ordinary medicine would’ve been effective. 

I grabbed a towel, flung it over my shoulder and ran back to Kaito-san with a glass of water, spilling some of it in the process. I watched him as he struggled to swallow both the pill and the water. 

How many times did he experience this excruciating pain, completely alone?   How many times did he force himself to not crumble down in front of me, to protect my peace of mind? Just thinking back to all the times I could feel something was not right, and how he tried to deceive me to keep dealing with it all alone.... it brought back in me an anger I didn't know what to do with.  

Yes, I didn't get over it yet. The wound was still so fresh.  But we agreed that we would’ve dealt with this together, from now on.  ...And just like that, the fit of anger quickly vanished, as a gentle feeling got a hold of me, and I began unbuttoning the collar of his shirt to let him breath better, then dabbing his damp forehead with the towel.   "It's okay.... it's okay... I'm here" I whispered softly, like a lullaby. 

As if surrendering himself to me, he held onto my arms and leaned over, trying to regain control of his breathing. I supported him, thanking in my head a hundred times that his time was halted. Yes, we were trying to look for a way to eventually make it flow again, but it was in moments like these that I remembered how numbing the fear to lose him again was.   I couldn't live with that. With that feeling of hollowness. Not again. 

That's why, I said to myself, this time I would've done anything in my power to not lose him, come what may. I wouldn't have spared any effort. Losing him would’ve been a hundred times more devastating than the pain I was feeling in that moment, seeing him in those conditions. After all, he was feeling like that because of me.  

“Momo...please give me strength”, I thought, missing my beloved bunny more than ever. Who knows how many times she had witnessed all of that, and how she dealt with it. I could’ve used some advice in that moment. 

His ragged breath became more regular, the pill was starting to kick in. He raised his head and looked at me.   Those eyes I loved so much, now covered by a mysterious dark fog - a remnant of the dragon appearance, as they explained to me – seemed to regain finally focus.  His face was so close to mine. In another situation, in another more oblivious period, there’s no doubt my heart would've exploded from embarrassment, red in the face like a tomato. But right now, I was preoccupied with something completely different, as I looked at him holding nothing but worry and sadness in my eyes. 

"I'm sorry...", he whispered. 

I could feel my heart catching fire, and it reminded how much I love him, despite being so hurt by his reckless behavior.  But I didn't answer to his apology. Cause that wasn't what I wanted to hear from him.

Instead, I asked him “can you stand up?” and helped propping him up when he nodded. We proceeded slowly towards the couch in the living room, where I helped him lying down. Despite having tons of lovely memories here, this house was starting to be a bit too big for us and for emergencies of this kind.  Hiiragizawa-san's pills had a sedative that inevitably caused Kaito-san to fall asleep, to recuperate. He looked so exhausted.  I arranged some cushions on the ground and sat down beside the couch, watching him closing his eyes and drifting quickly into sleep. I moved some of his hair to the side and dabbed the towel over his forehead one more time.   Then I went back to stare at his peaceful face, lost in thought. Was I truly prepared for this, when I decided that the life I wanted was this one? Probably not.  Would I have chosen anything else? Absolutely not.  Being with him is my happiness, after all.

[honeycombhank]

It’s three in the afternoon and I have hardly accomplished anything

[chronicallyuniconic]

Barriers I face for appointments

Great, you spent years fighting for your appointments, now you got them. Except the hospital you have to go to is 20 miles away, a 1hr 45 minute train and bus journey, a 25 minute car ride.

Twenty miles really isn't that far. 1hr 45 minutes travel time isn't that bad for the journey. A 25 minute drive is pretty easygoing. For someone who isn't ill that is.

I'm not allowed to drive for a start, it is illegal because of seizures, I had to return my license and until I'm seizure free for at least 12 months, maybe then I can have it back.

Someone like me, cannot manage 1hr 45 minutes on a train and a bus. Sitting up for 30 minutes, is too much for me. Like my body, is physically not capable of sitting up like that. You're generally not allowed to lie down on the floor of a moving bus or train.

Walking between the stops, to catch my next leg of the journey, is not possible. It will take me 3 times longer than an abled person. I will have to stop, every few steps. I will be in pain & out of breath, exhausted. My legs will end up turning into jelly, will bend like rubber and completely collapse underneath me.

You know that big step up there always is, between the train platform, the gap and the train? Yeah I can't do that anymore. It's too high. You think they roll out the ramp for little me? Ha!

So say I walked all that way, I caught the bus somehow, I walked again and I managed to somehow get on the train. I get off at my destination and I have to walk again, for '16 minutes.' times that by 2 or 3 and we're looking at 30 to 50 minutes.

I'm at the hospital. I'm in tears. I'm on the verge of passing out. My body is d o n e. [I could collapse in a heap and they will just say I'm dehydrated]

I go through the appointment as arranged. (Hooray?) I spent all this time waiting and finally it's happened. I hope it reveals answers this time. I hope it provides some insight into my physical and mental states. I feel hope.

But now I have to get home..

[you bet your a$$ I'm getting a taxi/lift and will be lay strapped across the backseats like a creepy little car goblin, another costly expense (£65 return journey compared to £12 public transport), a kind of disability tax, for being f***ing ILL]

[ribbitflings]

i wish there was a way to go back to all the doctors and residents that told me that im faking or its all psychogenic and in my head and tell them that they were utterly wrong and they were just too lazy to find the actual answer

[bonefall]

Herb Guide for Warrior Cats: Epilepsy

Requested by an Anon!

A guide to providing treatment to a Warrior Cat OC with epilepsy. Still requires a bit of a leap in logic as nothing can replace our friend phenobarbital, BUT, if you would like herbs and strategies for managing a Warrior’s epilepsy, this guide is for you.

I researched herbs historically used for epilepsy, chose plants growing wild in a ‘common’ clan biome (temperate Europe and North America), and removed things that a cat could not use. Because of the nature of epilepsy, I also delved into some other treatments and strategies your medics can use!

So, keep in mind, this guide is written for a Clan doctor treating an epileptic cat. NOT from the perspective of a patient who has it.

I would recommend doing extra research into first-hand accounts of what it’s like to live with epilepsy when creating your patient character.

Disclaimer Time! I tried to filter out as much ‘quackery’ as possible, but remember that I am not a vet nor do I have formal training in pharmacognacy. You are also not a vet. This is for fake battle cats. LOOK AT ME. YOU WILL NOT USE THIS ON YOURSELF OR A REAL ANIMAL.

Below the cut is:

What is epilepsy?

Diagnostics

Non-herbal treatments

Managing the different types of seizures

Preventative herbs

What is epilepsy?

‘Epilepsy‘ is the broad term for dozens of different disorders, resulting in recurring epileptic seizures. A warrior could be born with it, develop it over time, or get it after recovering from brain injury (stroke, infection, head trauma, etc).

Epilepsy also varies wildly, and can be so mild it’s hard to detect, or so severe it could put the cat in too much danger to do warrior duties at all. For most cases, however, the warrior would still be able to do normal tasks* as long as they don’t hunt or patrol alone.

* = Head injury and stress from fighting can worsen epilepsy. Going on battle patrols is a risk the warrior must be made aware of.

Diagnostics

So before anything else, your medic will want to identify what triggers the seizures, if anything. There isn’t always an identifiable trigger such as a flashing light/quickly moving object, but seizures can be made worse by stress, lack of sleep, or hunger. Taking note of the warrior’s state preceding a seizure would be extremely helpful for treatment.

Does Wheatwhisker seem to have more seizures when she’s doing certain activities? When she has one, did she sleep well the night before? What has she been eating lately? She may be able to feel it coming-- including sudden intense emotion, an oncoming headache, hot or cold sensations, so on.

Like dogs, cats can detect oncoming seizures. A good medicine cat would take note of all the behavior before its onset to reduce their frequency.

NON-herbal treatments

Once correlation and causes have been identified, the medicine cat should have some lifestyle changes to suggest.

For example, Wheatwhisker has more seizures when she is tired, so the medic prevents her from going on dawn patrol. They’re sometimes triggered by the fluttering of bird wings, so she’s been told to hunt small mammals instead.

A change in diet can also reduce the frequency of seizures. Fatty foods specifically, such as red meat, eggs, and large fish. Trout and carp would be the two easiest* things for a warrior to hunt on a regular basis-- though if the given Clan can’t catch those, it may be worth it to consider trade with another group.

* = If your warriors can cook with fire, fat drippings can be cooked back into the epileptic warrior’s meals. This would make the special diet much easier to prepare than always catching specific prey.

Managing the Different Types of Seizures

Generally there are three types of seizures- ones localized to a specific body part, ones that may seem like “daydreaming”, and ones that cause the well-known convulsions. Less severe seizures are more common.

Seizures do not usually cause pain on their own, except for fatigue in the muscle or headaches. Injury is sometimes caused by external forces, such as slamming against something during a convulsion, falls, tongue biting, or hitting sharp objects.

After any seizure, nausea or a headache may develop-- feverfew will soothe headaches, mallow or fennel will soothe stomachaches. Even if the Epileptic warrior does not take regular medication, the cannabis and valerian root mentioned in the ‘preventative herbs‘ section can be taken on occasion to help the warrior relax post-seizure.

-Localized

One part of the body (leg, head) seizes or convulses. Can usually be self-managed by the warrior, loss of conscious is uncommon. Rest in a quiet area would be the best treatment afterwards. If the muscle fatigue is bad, kneading the limb will help.

-Daydream

The warrior will seem suddenly ‘absent,‘ like they’ve left their body, for typically less than 15 seconds. They may simply wobble and stare ahead (even pausing mid-sentence), or seem to ‘faint‘ and fall over, but in any case they will not remember the seizure. Prevent them from falling on something dangerous, if this seems likely.

In many cases the warrior will just be able to keep going about their day in a few minutes, or even immediately. If not, just like before, let them rest in a quiet area.

-Convulsions

A panicked cat may make convulsions worse by fearfully running around as a seizure starts-- if a warrior MUST be prevented from doing this, it’s VERY important that they are not completely pinned or restrained. JUST kept laying down. Do NOT attempt to stop the convulsions themselves.

Such a circumstance will be extremely rare in a Warrior Cat setting, where the cats are capable of reasoning like a human. There may be a situation where an epileptic cat needs to be brought out of harm’s way-- that’s fine.

Clear the area of anything sharp or hard that the convulsing warrior could hurt themselves on, like stones, or brambles. Roll them onto their side, if they aren’t already. Lastly, cushion their head with something soft, like moss, if possible.

After the seizure is over, the warrior will probably be disoriented and confused. Don’t overwhelm them or offer food or water until they’re fully alert again. Once they do, they might have partial paralysis, nausea, muscle soreness, a bitten tongue, or any variety of symptoms. Just like before, bring them to a quiet area to rest.

If your warriors wear restrictive accessories, such as belts or collars, the medicine cat will remove or loosen them during a seizure if possible.

-what NOT to do

There’s some harmful ideas out there you may have encountered, so here’s some things to keep in mind your medics would NOT do to treat a cat having convulsions:

They would NOT pin them down (this even happened in the books once yikes) Why: This could cause injury to both the restrained, and the restrainer.

They would NOT put anything in their mouth Why: Could damage their teeth or jaw, it does not prevent them from biting their tongue. (also; while tongue biting is common, it is a total myth that an epileptic will choke on/swallow it)

They would NOT start firing out questions as soon as the seizure is over Why: The warrior will likely be disoriented, and not in a state to answer properly. Give them a minute.

Preventative Herbs

Once a seizure is happening, it will have to play out. Warrior cats do not have the medical capability to stop one once started. The anticonvulsant herbs here will help to reduce the frequency and severity of seizures... but they can’t eliminate them entirely.

Anticonvulsants will need to be taken on a regular basis. Stopping these suddenly will cause dangerous side effects; if the warrior’s epilepsy isn’t severe, or herbs are a scarcity for your Clan, it may not be the best choice to medicate them.

Chamomile

Common, and naturalized all over the world. In high doses, this herb will poison a cat. Careful preparation is required to make it safe for the epileptic warrior-- it needs to be steeped in water, like tea*. The leaves should not be eaten.

* = If your cats don’t have fire to brew tea, that’s fine, it can be soaked cold.

This herb also has a side effect of drowsiness. It may make the warrior lethargic and less responsive.

Cannabis

Cannabis is a golden herb for a thousand reasons, it can be made into rope, paper, cloth, oil... but, the thing of note here is CBD oil. Cannabis grows wild all over the world, but ESPECIALLY in North America-based Clans (where it’s called Ditchweed)

Ditchweed has high CBD content, and low THC content. This makes it safe for your warriors (and also prevents them from getting high). Your cats will NOT smoke it, which will damage their sensitive respiratory systems, they will eat it like a standard herb.

Because cannabis is a depressant, this treatment is best for warriors not involved in active tasks. Epileptic warriors that prefer calm, camp-related activities will use this herb. Den-building, tunnel digging, helping the medics, crafting if your Clan makes accessories, so on.

Valerian Root

Known as a sleep aid in humans, Valerian has VERY interesting effects on cats; this is the only Epilepsy treatment that can avoid lethargy entirely. However, in contrast to cannabis, valerian will mostly be found in Europe-based Clans.

(with both, however, it is possible to find each in the other continent.)

Valerian Root has catnip-like effects, perking a warrior up and often filling them with energy. There are some cats for whom this herb will act like cannabis, calming them down, but if there’s a choice, the Epileptic warriors who enjoy active tasks will prefer this herb. Hunting, fighting, patrolling, so on.

[striving-artist]

the level of specificity used to describe a kind of headache really tells you all you need to know about whether that person has chronic issues with headaches.

[menelaiad]

hi! what are some of your fav menelaus headcanons??

oh anon you've done it now

tall. like. 6ft tall.

not broad. muscley and clearly strong. but leaner. aga and ajax and the like are certainly wider than him.

has been tall a long time. grew very fast. pissed of aga in the process. has a habit of curving his shoulders because of this. trying to appear shorter than he is.

a follower. hence the shoulder thing. he spent a lot of his formative years just. following aga. listening to aga. he was the second son. he wasnt set up for kingship or anything so he was kinda just left.

protected a lot by aga. i feel like menelaus' kinder nature was allowed to grow and flourish and wasnt CRUSHED by atreus because aga ... protected him. menelaus could be himself around aga.

ginger.

grew his hair fucking super long in sparta like the spartan men. even before the marriage to helen. because of the exile and tyndareus' kindness he just felt like sparta was home. so he kinda ... assimilated himself as soon as he could.

goes freckley in the sun.

he always makes a habit to use helen's name. not an epithet. or a title. her name is Helen.

due to not being prepped for kingship. menelaus can not read or write very well. if at all. he's even dictated to or gets people to write for him. after he became king he probably learnt the basics? but i feel all of atreus' energy went to aga (who also cant fucking read tbh)

i personally think menelaus was kinda ugly. or not like. conventionally handsome. but he's just such a nice freakin dude that people can't help but like him.

menelaus likes birds.

despite his. usually dormant nature. menelaus inherits atreus' anger. and it comes out in bursts. like strong. violent outbursts. like you see in book 3 with paris. when menelaus just drags him around and beats him. it's explosive and heated. it burns hot and dies just as quickly. but that is very atreus of him.

menelaus suffers from aches in his wrist after the paris fight and also he develops a limp from the wound in his thigh where he was shot with an arrow.

emotional. very emotional. with both the good and the bad. feels every emotion very strongly. feels others emotions (agaMEMNON in IOA) very strongly.

sharp features. sharp jaw. sharp nose. high cheekbones.

expressive as all hell. raises his eyebrows. makes faces. he is feeling things and his face will tell you what.

laughs a lot. not afraid to laugh and smile. smiles with his teeth a lot.

his smiles never quite reach his eyes but we'll move on from that.

develops a really close friendship with pat over the course of the war. that stems from them meeting at the suitor thing and they had lil chats then. often laments to him about how different things would be if helen had chose pat instead.

loses his fucking MARBLES when antilochus dies. i feel like the atreus anger would have come out again here.

after pat's death and him returning the body, achilles beats him to shit and menelaus doesn't fight back. he takes the blame ...... and the beating.

unintentionally always one of the funniest people in a room. is funny without even realising he's being funny. makes helen cry laughing several times.

i believe he was meant to marry clytemnestra. or at least that was the OG plan. they have a lot of fond yet awkward memories of each other.

blames himself for aga's death. and by extension - cly's.

iphigenia inherited the HOA red hair. watching her get sacrificed fucked him up tbh.

hermione is so SO SO important to him. especially as she was conceived around the whole 'sterile curse' thing in sparta. she is like a lil miracle to him.

honestly? can sometimes be a bit of a bitch.

gonna stop here cause that got REALLY long. but there's a handful of random ones that i wrote as they came into my head SDFGHJKL