For five years, I carried around a small bottle of Midazolam, my rescue medication. The drug and syringe served one purpose: to stop a seizure that lasted over 5 minutes. Only once in my life have my caretakers administered it to me. Since my seizures come in clusters of tonic-clonic seizures, sometimes referred to as "TC’s," I never had grounds to use the medication because my seizures rarely reached the 5-minute mark.

Throughout my epilepsy journey, I had to suffer through endless clusters that sometimes lasted days. One day, a miracle happened: my neurologist prescribed me Nayzilam, a prefilled 5 mg nasal spray of Midazolam. My neuro told me that even though my seizures last 1-2 minutes, I can use it to clear up the terrible cluster. I was hesitant to use it at first because it was so new to me. It was one of those moments where I thought, "this is too good to be true." The next cluster came soon after, and I finally decided to self-administer Nayzilam to myself after consulting with my doctors. I shot it up to my right nostril, and the cluster of seizures cleared up almost immediately. I no longer had to stay in bed for the day, waiting for the next seizure. I never thought that a small piece of plastic could change my life forever.

The beauty of Nayzilam is that there are no syringes involved, so you do not have to draw up the liquid medication. Once the drug is administered, all you need to do is throw the plastic and packaging in the trash. Nayzilam is a relatively new drug in America as it was prescribed in March 2020. Each box contains two doses of Midazolam. If you or someone you know is looking for an alternative rescue medication for seizures, I highly recommend Nayzilam since it is fast and easy to use. I genuinely believe that each person with epilepsy should have access to this drug.

-TGWE

*I am not a medical professional and this is a personal experience*