I had my first seizure in September of 2015 and was fortunate enough to get diagnosed in November of the same year. The diagnosis and explanation of it was about the shortest you could ask for. The doctor walked into the room and told me I had “pseudo seizures”, explained that they were most likely stress induced and told me he would send a psychologist in. This exchange was done in no more than two minutes. After the diagnosis, the seizures would continue to invade my life for the next two years. It left me unable to hold a job, I could no longer drive, social obligations were difficult to keep, and it strained my marriage.
My seizures varied a bit in how they would present themselves. Typically, I would lose the ability to walk, talk, see, and most other movements as well. They almost always showed up in clusters, it was never just one seizure and I was done. I could have a set of three, which was common, or I could have up to 16 in a week. They could last anywhere from 25 minutes to 5 and a half hours per seizure. I was never injured from them, but the level of exhaustion and pain that your body is in afterwards lasts for days.
After a couple unsuccessful years of different doctors, therapists, medications and treatments I finally came across Dr. Moenter online and decided to contact her. I was so impressed with the fact that she scheduled a time to call me simply to answer questions about her work and what I could expect. From then we began doing weekly Skype sessions. From my very first Skype session with Dr. Moenter, I already knew that I was committed to working with her and working towards seeing her in Colorado for treatment in person.
She is not only highly educated and extremely intuitive but she also has a very clear understanding of PNES. After the first session with Dr. Moenter in person, I knew I was in the right hands and I knew progress was going to be made. No matter how little or how much progress was made, it was going to be worth it. She taught me how to breath to calm myself. She showed me how to pay attention to my body so I could feel the precursors to a seizure before it ever started. For the first time in 2 years, I feel like I can really start preparing for my future without worrying that I will never be able to do the things I want to do most. My last seizure was on September 4th, my first session with Dr. Moenter was September 6th, and I am happy beyond words to say that I haven’t had a single seizure since!!
As of today, I am 4 months seizure free! Not only that but I am off of my medications, I am driving again, waking up without worrying if I will have a seizure, and making plans with friends and family again. I am learning to understand and be true to myself, to be comfortable with emotions, and to stop holding myself back. My day to day anxiety has been so much more manageable with the tools that Dr. Moenter has given me to work with as well. One thing that I love about working with Dr. Moenter is how open and available she makes herself to you. She is genuinely concerned about her patients and truly improving their quality of life. She is fully present in your sessions and focused on nothing but you and doing everything she can to teach you the skills you need to live a seizure-free life. I have even had times come up early on working with Dr. Moenter, where I was panicking about a job I had and she worked with me to remain calm via text and I made it through just fine. I thought that if it was even possible it would take me years to get my life back and my seizures under control. With Dr. Moenter it was a matter of weeks and I couldn’t be more grateful.