Pain triggered a seizure during labour, necessitating an emergency CS: Jackline Ng'ang'a's battle with epilepsy

Jackline Ng'ang'a' Photo: Courtesy

When I was eight, I started fainting and having fits. The episodes became so frequent that my parents suspected that I had epilepsy. What confused them was that there was no history of it in my family and my symptoms were unlike those associated with the condition – I did not bite my tongue or foam in the mouth. At the age of 10, I was diagnosed with the rare Temporal Lob Epilepsy (TLE) at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

For the next nine years I attended clinic every Monday, where medics performed electrocardiogram (ECG) and Electroencephalogram (EEG) to note my heart and brain activity. They would also change my drugs or dosage as required. The drugs managed the seizures and the frequency abated. I would now have about two attacks monthly. The side effects of these medications included weight gain and suicidal episodes. At 15, I attempted suicide.