Epilepsy

Seizures that keep coming back for no clear reason - that's epilepsy. Could be tiny episodes where you blank out mid-sentence. Could be the full-blown kind where you hit the floor convulsing. My neighbor's kid has absence seizures - just stares into space for five seconds, dozens of times daily. Meanwhile, my cousin only gets them during sleep. Weird how different it looks person to person.

 

You need two seizures minimum before doctors slap the epilepsy label on you. Not seizures from drinking binges or diabetes crashes - those have obvious causes. True epilepsy means your brain decides to go electric for its own mysterious reasons.

 

The unpredictable nature drives people crazy. Six months seizure-free, feeling confident, then BAM - three in one week. Some folks identify patterns (stress, menstrual cycles, whatever), but plenty never figure out their triggers. Just random brain chaos. Kids develop it, grandparents suddenly start having seizures at 75. No age discrimination with this condition.

Doctors throw pills at you first. Keppra, Depakote, lamotrigine - pick your poison. These drugs basically rewire how electricity flows through your neurons. First medication makes you dizzy? Try another. That one kills your sex drive? Next. Eventually most people find something tolerable that actually stops seizures. Takes forever though.

 

When pills fail (and they fail for 30% of patients), surgery enters the conversation. They'll literally cut out the broken part of your brain if they can pinpoint it. Terrifying? Sure. But I know someone who went from daily seizures to zero after temporal lobe surgery. Ten years seizure-free now.

 

Then there's CBD - the new kid everyone's talking about. Parents were sneaking it to their kids way before doctors caught on. Charlotte's Web, remember that story? Changed everything. Now neurologists actually prescribe pharmaceutical-grade CBD. You still need the boring stuff too - eight hours sleep, minimal booze, stress management. Nobody wants to hear it but sleeping four hours absolutely triggers seizures.

CBD works. Not always, not for everyone, but when it works? Life-changing stuff.

 

This kid in my support group went from 200 seizures monthly to maybe 20 after starting Epidiolex. That's the FDA-approved CBD drug. Not hemp oil from Amazon - actual pharmaceutical cannabis extract with consistent dosing. Dravet syndrome responds especially well. Same with Lennox-Gastaut. The nasty childhood epilepsies that destroy families.

 

But let me be real - half the people who try CBD get minimal results. My friend spent $300 monthly on CBD oil for her son. Three months later? Same seizure frequency. Devastating. The hype makes everyone think it's a miracle cure. It's not. Some patients get 70% seizure reduction, others get nothing. No way to predict who'll respond.

 

You absolutely need medical supervision for this. Proper CBD treatment means blood work, dose adjustments, monitoring for interactions. The corner dispensary budtender doesn't know squat about titrating CBD for refractory epilepsy. Find a neurologist who actually prescribes cannabis-based medications.

CBD knocked my friend's daughter out cold. Kid slept 16 hours daily the first month. Drowsiness hits most patients hard initially. Then comes the stomach issues - some get diarrhea, others can't eat. Weight loss becomes concerning when a skinny kid drops more pounds.

 

Here's what doctors don't emphasize enough: CBD screws with your other medications. Your perfectly balanced Depakote levels? CBD changes how your liver processes it. Suddenly you're toxic on a dose you've taken for years. Or the opposite - your levels drop and seizures return. Blood draws every few weeks become mandatory. Pain in the ass.

 

THC is its own mess. Even tiny amounts make some people paranoid or anxious. I've seen patients who can't handle 1mg of THC without feeling weird. Others need that trace amount for the CBD to work properly. The sweet spot differs for everyone. Pure CBD products avoid the high but might be less effective. Full-spectrum has trace THC that could show on drug tests. Pick your battles.

Standard epilepsy drugs work better for most people. Period. Levetiracetam stops seizures in 60-70% of patients. Cheap, insurance covers it, predictable results. Cannabis can't touch those numbers for general epilepsy. Doctors start there for good reason.

 

Where cannabis shines? The impossible cases. People who've failed six different medications. Kids having drop attacks every hour despite max doses of everything. When nothing else works, CBD sometimes does. I've watched families get their lives back after adding cannabis to the mix. Not cured - controlled. Big difference.

 

You rarely use cannabis alone anyway. It gets layered onto existing medications. My support group has someone taking Onfi, Depakote, AND Epidiolex. The combination finally gave her seizure freedom after 15 years. Would CBD alone have worked? Doubtful. Together they're magic.

 

Insurance coverage tells you everything about effectiveness. They'll pay for traditional meds immediately. CBD? Good luck. Even with FDA approval, prior authorizations get denied constantly. They know the statistics - conventional drugs help more people. Cannabis fills gaps for specific cases but won't become first-line treatment anytime soon. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling something.