I’m Kelly. I’m 39. I have two daughters (ages 14 and 12), a son (2) and a step-daughter (12).
I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy, specifically complex partial seizures, when I was 30. However, once I learned what these seizures were, looking back over the years, I believe that I had a seizure as young as 7 years old. I did not go on medication at first because my seizures seemed to be fairly rare. After having a couple of strong ones, I went on Tegretol. This had the added benefit of being a mood stabilizer which helped with developing depression. I had hoped that I could go off of my medication if I were seizure-free for two years. Unfortunately, I later learned that that may be the case for people with tonic-clonic seizures but not for people with complex partial seizures. I will likely have to be on medication for the rest of my life. Of course, I have gone off of my meds a few times. I was on Topamax for almost a year but felt really aggressive on it. There are some aspects of Depakote that I don’t love, but on the whole it works alright for me in controlling seizures as well as lessening migraines. I have also found that taking high doses of fish oil every day helps my mood and can raise my seizure threshold, making seizures less likely. If I forget to take my fish oil, I notice it. It’s the one supplement I can’t live without.
I have had headaches since childhood and migraines since my late teens. In high school I got to where I was taking Tylenol every day for daily tension headaches. My mother did not take us to the doctor unless we were on our deathbeds, so I did not have any migraine medication. As such, I pinched some of my dad’s pain or sleeping pills when I got a migraine. Of course, I learned later that I was contributing to rebound headaches and a cycle of perpetual pain and reliance upon medication. After trying to be medication free for as long as possible, using meditation and relaxation techniques to lessen headache and migraine pain, I have taking Tegretol, Topamax and Depakote (separately) to prevent migraines and Imitrex or Maxalt to treat a migraine. Today, Imitrex does not always work for me, and Maxalt does not work at all. Depakote ER 1000mg per day helps lessen the severity and frequency of migraines. When I do get one, I take Tylenol and Motrin, have a cup of coffee, smell essential oil of mint, try to relax, close my eyes, sleep if possible, and ultimately take an Imitrex is all else fails.
I started to experience PMS almost as soon as I hit menarche, despite the other women in my family telling me at the time that PMS was a myth. PMS turned into PMDD in my late 20s and was at its worst in my early 30s. I say “was” because I’m hoping that those days are behind me. Over the years I have tried the birth control pill, progesterone cream, evening primrose oil, avoiding chocolate and greasy foods, and taking an antidepressant during my luteal phase. The antidepressant helped the most. The birth control pill helped the least in that I hate being on it and never stay on very long. Currently I have not experienced the extremes of PMDD since breastfeeding my son and taking Depakote, Zoloft and fish oil.
My first deep depression happened when I was 17. The next big one was when I was 28, a few months after my younger daughter weaned herself. Since then, depression has been much more frequent, with seemingly everything and nothing sparking it. I have at one time or other been on Wellbutrin, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro and Zoloft. Surprisingly I never experienced postpartum depression after having any of my kids. Since I am still breastfeeding my son (for 20 months now), I resisted going on any medication even when depression started to hit around the time he turned 1. But, after a few months of intensifying depression, I got to the point of desperation and am now on Zoloft 50mg per day. I read a few studies indicating that little to no Zoloft shows up in the blood of breastfed babies whose moms are taking Zoloft.
I currently work from home as a freelance editor and graphic designer. I have a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in biological anthropology and a master’s degree from Tufts in biology.
