Welcome back, lovely humans.
If you read Part 1, you already know that the year after my back surgery felt like someone pressed the âlife shuffleâ button and forgot to turn it off again.
But nothing could have prepared me for what came next.
Because in January 2025, just when everything was finally âsupposed to be fine,â my life decided to say:
âPlot twist.â
⥠The First Seizures
The first time it happened, I didnât understand what was going on.
I wasnât stressed, running, panicking, or doing anything dramatic.
I simply⊠existed.
And suddenly my body decided to shut down like a laptop overheating during a Zoom call.
I was confused.
My husband was terrified.
And Google was absolutely useless (zero stars, do not recommend).
So we went searching for help.
đ§ The Doctor Marathon Begins
I looked for a neurologist, and I was lucky â very lucky â to find one who truly cared.
From the moment I entered her office, I could tell she would actually listen.
And believe me, in the world of unpredictable diagnoses, that is pure gold.
But even with her help, the next months became a medical rollercoaster:
- dozens of appointments
- specialists with wildly different opinions
- tests, tests, and more tests
- emotional exhaustion
- physical exhaustion
- moments of hope
- moments of âwhat is happening to me?â
And of course, the classic:
a few doctors who should NOT have chosen their profession.
đ„Ž The âItâs All in Your Headâ Episode
Letâs talk about one special doctor â the one who made me feel like I wandered into the wrong movie.
He didnât know what was causing my seizures.
Fair â many donât.
But instead of admitting uncertainty, he kindly suggested:
âYou probably belong in a psychiatric ward.â
Oh yes.
Not âletâs run more tests,â
not âletâs explore your symptoms,â
not even âIâll refer you to a colleague.â
Just:
âYouâre likely imagining it.â
And to top it off, he informed me that the chance that I had epilepsy was âone in a million.â
Thank you, sir.
I always wanted to feel special â but not like THAT.
đ§Ș EEG: Finally, an Answer⊠kind of
My neurologist ordered an EEG â the test that looks at electrical activity in the brain.
And guess what?
Epilepsy was confirmed.
Yep.
I was âone in a millionâ after all.
I should have won a prize.
Maybe a chocolate.
Or at least a sticker.
But even after getting the diagnosis and starting medication, something strange happened:
The seizures continued.
Which meantâŠ
đ„ Epilepsy was real
đ„ But it wasnât the whole story
My doctor suspected a combined diagnosis.
So she referred me to a psychiatrist.
đ The Psychiatrist Who Actually Helped
And again â I was lucky.
I found a psychiatrist who understood, listened, and supported me instead of treating me like a malfunctioning computer.
She explained that sometimes the nervous system reacts to emotional trauma in ways that mimic seizures.
So she prescribed antidepressants.
And yet⊠the seizures continued.
Because sometimes medication needs weeks, even months, to work properly.
And sometimes it takes multiple adjustments to get the dosage right.
Let me tell you:
The doseâfinding phase is not for the weak.
I went through:
- dizziness
- sweating
- emotional ups & downs
- appetite changes
- crying for no reason
- wanting to sleep forever
- NOT wanting to sleep ever
Think of it like trying to find the perfect tension in crochet.
Except instead of yarn, itâs your nervous system.
And instead of frogging mistakes, you cry on your couch.
đ§ And Then Came the PNES Diagnosis
My psychiatrist recommended I also talk to a psychotherapist.
Together, over weeks, we started digging into my life.
We looked at:
- past stress
- childhood
- toxic workplaces
- my surgery
- moving
- marriage
- new cat
- big life changes
- the pressure to be independent
- the fear of losing control
Slowly, we found something important:
â The root cause wasnât my old job.
I had already processed that.
â The real trauma was my surgery and everything around it.
Not the scar.
Not the screws.
But the emotional impact of:
- depending on others
- losing independence
- facing fear
- dealing with pain
- unexpected life changes
- not having time to process anything
My brain never got the chance to rest.
So it kept ringing the alarm â in the form of seizures.
This was the beginning of understanding my PNES â psychogenic nonâepileptic seizures.
A condition where the brain says:
âI canât handle this anymore,â
and the body reacts in a very dramatic way.
đŒ Before Continuing: A Quick Happycapy PNES Explanation
This is where I want to pause the story for a moment.
Because before we go deeper into the emotional and social impact of PNES in Part 3, itâs really important you understand what PNES actually is â in a simple, human, Happycapy-friendly way.
Once you know what PNES means medically and emotionally, the next part of the story will make much more sense.
âš Coming Next: Part 3 â The Mental Side No One Talks About
In Part 3, weâll dive into:
- the stigma
- the invisible disability aspect
- the social impact
- how friends reacted
- how your husband tried to cope
- what your parents felt
- the emotional aftermath
- the cultural taboo around mental illness
- the isolation
- the silent suffering many people never see

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