First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for sharing their experiences here. I am a 34 year old single male living near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In October of 2001, I had a subarachnoid aneurysm. I had absolutely no symptoms until I felt a "giant" headache and then began to vomit. I also recall feeling very "cold" all of a sudden. I didn't know what was happening at the time so I drove to my doctors office which is only a few minutes away. I was quickly transferred to the University of Iowa hospitals where I had surgery to "clip" the aneurysm the following day.
The surgery was a success, but while I was recuperating, I had several "minor" seizures. The kind where my cheek would jiggle and shake and I was completely conscious during this time. I also had blurry vision for a few weeks, but after the muscles behind my right eye had time to strengthen, my vision was back to normal.
I was back to work full time in 11 weeks and my recovery seemed to go quite well. I've been on Dilantin for over a year now in doses ranging from 500 to 700 mg a day. I have taken the Dilantin in one dosage in the morning and I've tried splitting them into morning and evening dosages. The problem I have is that either the Dilantin makes me "very" tired and lethargic or it is just a side effect from going through this kind of surgery. I have had several seizures spread out over the course of 5 or 6 months and they happen at night in my sleep and I wake with no recollection of them. (Except for a sore tongue from biting it and sore shoulders from thrashing)
I would like to hear from anyone who has had similar problems and if you found that another seizure control medication worked for you without the side effects of Dilantin.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.