Resetting the Countdown

So eight and a half months after the last little cluster I had another series of partials yesterday afternoon. I lost count as to how many as they varied a lot in intensity but the worst were the usual altered perception, especially hearing and spacial, tied with a general feeling of strangeness.

The after effects took a fair while to clear. It really screwed with my memory for a while. For example I couldn't remember Mike and Catherine's surname at all, despite my best endeavours (and I see them most Sundays!) so that was long term memory buggered. It also hit short term: an email from Hugo which I'd read just before it all started and needed replying to fairly quickly went completely out of my head until quite late in the evening.

An odd thing the brain.

Anyway I seem to be OK this morning but I'll be taking it very easy for a few days.

As to what triggered it who knows. My suspicion is that, like my migraines, it's not one thing but a number of factors together which conspired to tip me over. Possible factors includes:

• You're not really meant to drink at all when on anti-seizure meds but a lot of people do. The general advice in the community is a little and not every day. I had a glass of Madeira on Tuesday night and a small glass of Calvados of Wednesday night - which is more than I normally drink in the week. Normally I have a beer¹ on Sunday, most weeks I have a beer on Friday, and then it's not unusual for me to have a short or a fortified wine on Tuesday or Wednesday, but not both.
• I had bad migraines on Wednesday and Thursday.
• My right eye stopped focussing at all for most of Friday.²
• I was out in the pub on Friday night with friends - I'd envisaged it being just me or me and a couple of people however we had a good turn out but I did enjoy myself and was there for a good three hours, which is a long time for me post stroke.

Meanwhile that's reset the clock on getting my driving licence back as I need a year clear of daytime seizures, including partials, before I can re-apply. I only had 3.5 months to go before this.

The only saving grace is that given where we live I can walk, cycle, bus, and train³ to most places I want to go regularly and taxis and good friends fill in the gaps. Beth loves driving⁴ so when we go anywhere together she's happy driving. And as I can't drive I get a bus pass, so that's free travel after 9:30am on weekdays and all day at the weekend and no struggle with trying to find somewhere to park when you get there.

1. And by "beer" I mean 1.5 pints of the lowest alcohol bitter the pub has.
2. It does this sometimes. I went to the optician the first time: he said it was "cramp" in the my lens muscles and it would go away. It did.
3. Using my Disabled Adult Railcard, which gives me 1/3 off (even at peak times, unlike other discount railcards).
4. She's a much better driver than a passenger ...