I have had seizures all my life. It only became noticeable when I became older. But it didn’t look like seizures, so no one thought they were seizures. I saw multiple doctors, and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. A doctor figured out I had a chiari malformation, and I had brain surgery to remove it. I was only ten when I had that surgery.

Later, one doctor decided to put me on gabapentin, and it made me go crazy. I lost my ability to walk for almost a year because of the gabapentin. I would abuse my siblings, my animals and my parents. I would also harm myself by hitting and biting myself. Doctors wanted to put me in the psych ward because of my behavior. My mom took me off of the gabapentin after she figured out what it was doing to me. It would cause me to have a seizure a minute which would cause me memory loss and behavior problems. I would also have arm, leg, and head jerks. They were a type of seizure called myoclonic.

Later I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 11. The seizures would make me feel emotional, angry, tired and exhausted. I also would have these things called brain zaps, which feel like a very painful electrocution in my head. After my mom took me off of the gabapentin, and got me on seizure meds, I felt and seemed a lot better. Years later I got onto the ketogenic diet and on magnesium l-threonate. My IQ has improved significantly. I feel a lot less angry, exhausted or miserable. And feel happier, healthier and more alive. Some days I feel bad, which is when I’m at my worst and having seizures. I can’t necessarily tell when I’m having seizures. They come without warning and they can come at any point of the day. They are quick and they come in clusters and are subclinical, which means you physically cannot see them, but it affects my cognition.I feel moody, angry, exhausted and extremely depressed and miserable when I have them unless it is just one quick one and nothing else afterwards.

In 2022 I was diagnosed with GRIN2D. After I was diagnosed with GRIN2D, I was at least glad to know the root cause of my epilepsy. It was really interesting and cool to meet all of the people at the GRI conference. I graduated high school in 2018. I love horseback riding, watching movies and tv shows, bowling, listen to music, playing video games, read comic books, making art, traveling and shopping. I am thankful for all of the things I am able to do.