I have epilepsy (grand mal seizures) I have a great deal of side effects to most convalescents, suggestions?

I see some of the best Doctors in the feild - NW Epilepsy Center. I have undergone a week long non-stop EEG in the hospital. Yet, no medication can either stop the seizures completely or the side effects are so great that I would rather just go jump off a bridge as to deal with them. Right now I have told my doctor that I want to continue to see him but I want to be cut loose from the meds - to get a base line diagnosis with nothing in my system. Good idea, bad idea? I have had two seizures in the last week since I have cut down on the meds. Am I just parinoid?

The meds are in all probability necessary they wouldn't be prescribed to you otherwise. Anti convulsents are serious medication they don't dish them out like M&M's.
That said you can help yourself, diet and sleep patterns are the most important with epilepse.
A diet high in starchy foods like potatoes,rice, bread & cereals,
often helps. These are all foods which release energy at slow and regular intervals, so you mantain a balanced blood sugar level.
Also try to get lots and lots of sleep. As an epileptic you should be aiming for at least ten to twelve hours sleep a day.
Unfortunately both the above can sometimes result in weight gain, so you may well find you have to watch your intake of fatty and sugary foods, as well as maybe exercising more to keep your weight down.
Another thing to avoid where possible is bad posture don't sloatch
when sitting watching TV ,try to maintain a streight back and keep your head up.
This will allow your body to breath with less effort increasing your oxygen intake.
Avoid things which cause eye strain watching TV too long or reading small print. Source(s): My wife suffers from epilepsy and these are all little tricks which we have found seem to help her, or ease the severity of her attacks.

No you are not paranoid? may be you should check around for another Epilepsy clinic, there is always new ideas coming up and new discoveries in medicine--may be it's not the medication it could even be the food or combinations of foods that are causing the effects. check the Internet for epilepsy clinics and private physicians. look for support groups
I'm sure others have gone through what your going through. good luck
this can be a idea i have many friends who have seizures and iv heard of brain mapping to treat it. and i have also seen it on discovery health channel.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/awake-brain-su...
Not many epileptics are fortunate enough for their meds to eliminate seizures completely. I'd say depending on how well your meds are working would determine whether you want to try something else to eliminate the side effects, but many anticonvulsants do have some side effects to go with them. Another idea if the meds are just not working well and the side effects are really awful, investigate the idea of maybe getting a vagus nerve stimulator. It's a kind of pace maker for the brain that for me has been a miracle worker.