Hawke’s Bay woman Antoinette was diagnosed with adult-onset epilepsy in her mid-40s after two years of confusing and upsetting seizures. She tells the Herald why it was a relief to find out she was epileptic. Antoinette remembers brushing her teeth with her kids one night.
The next moment, she was tucked up in bed, fully dressed with her shoes still on. Other times she would look at her children and not know who they were, or arrive places without remembering the journey. When these episodes began at the age of 42, shortly after having her youngest child in 2019, Antoinette was told she was likely suffering the effects of fatigue from having a baby.
“I was extremely tired anyway from having a baby. One of the first times I remember, somebody had brought me a coffee and I was sitting on the sofa. I don’t remember where my son was.
Suddenly everyone was yelling at me and I was tipping coffee down myself,” said Antoinette, who wanted to be referred to only by her first name. As the episodes continued, with varying levels of severity, she started to fear the worst. She started googling her symptoms, and was alarmed to find results suggesting causes such as early-onset dementia or brain tumours.
“My mental health was falling through the floor. All I could think about was, ‘If this is early dementia, how long will it take to progress? What can I do? What do I do to prepare for that?’” Epilepsy had never occurred to her, as she only associated it with grand mal or to.
