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vns therapy side effects
Wed, 02/15/2006 - 10:10Comments
Re: vns therapy side effects
Submitted by suebear on Fri, 2009-05-01 - 23:28
Something that I have noticed with a lot of the subjects who get this product are they should not.
In other words. Persons who had received the VNS were still experiencing uncontrolled seizures however those seizures were not breakthroughs, they were full blown. There is a difference between the two. For example, I was seizure free for seven years before mine came back which put me into a category of having breakthrough seizures and made me a candidate for the VNS surgery.
What I am seeing now is there are some neurologists taking advantage of this surgery without considering the fact that it may not work due to VNS is not made to bring seizures to a halt. It is only made to decrease and manage their frequency. I was even told that from my neurologist and neurosurgeon before going into the OR. Lastly, VNS only works in conjunction with a medication regimine and changes will not occur immediately as it takes time for the correct settings to be made to the patient's body type and their seizure habit. For myself, it took six months to find the correct setting. Now I visit the dr every month to check up and ensure it is running correctly. I have gone from four small seizures a day to one seizure occurrance every 10 to 15 days, sometimes 20 days depending.
Regards,
S. Elvins
PS. I am studying for my Doctorate so my response time may not always be the greatest as I am busy with school work and a huge writing project.
Something that I have noticed with a lot of the subjects who get this product are they should not.
In other words. Persons who had received the VNS were still experiencing uncontrolled seizures however those seizures were not breakthroughs, they were full blown. There is a difference between the two. For example, I was seizure free for seven years before mine came back which put me into a category of having breakthrough seizures and made me a candidate for the VNS surgery.
What I am seeing now is there are some neurologists taking advantage of this surgery without considering the fact that it may not work due to VNS is not made to bring seizures to a halt. It is only made to decrease and manage their frequency. I was even told that from my neurologist and neurosurgeon before going into the OR. Lastly, VNS only works in conjunction with a medication regimine and changes will not occur immediately as it takes time for the correct settings to be made to the patient's body type and their seizure habit. For myself, it took six months to find the correct setting. Now I visit the dr every month to check up and ensure it is running correctly. I have gone from four small seizures a day to one seizure occurrance every 10 to 15 days, sometimes 20 days depending.
Regards,
S. Elvins
PS. I am studying for my Doctorate so my response time may not always be the greatest as I am busy with school work and a huge writing project.
Re: vns therapy side effects
Submitted by banffgirl on Thu, 2008-08-28 - 17:29
Hi Marcy,
I understand your concerns. I had many of my own before I had the surgery. Being that she cant make the call for herself, talk about the pros and cons with her doctor. If you are talking about pain with the surgery, the pain at the incision site is very intense the first day but they give you strong enough pain killers to stop it. it does get much better every day after that. the pain killers they give you does take care of it though.
the only discomfort i get now is when i am stressed and tense my neck muscles, i do have some discomfort, not pain, in the left side of my neck when it goes off, but if i just settle down and relax, then it goes away. some people do have side effects, some have no problems at all. like with anything you are going to find people that are happy with it and those that are unhappy with it.
So talk it over with the doctor and get all the info. Ask questions on anything you dont understand. Best of wishes to you and your family.
God Bless,
Banffgirl,
I have a electric personality, my brain is self charging!
Hi Marcy,
I understand your concerns. I had many of my own before I had the surgery. Being that she cant make the call for herself, talk about the pros and cons with her doctor. If you are talking about pain with the surgery, the pain at the incision site is very intense the first day but they give you strong enough pain killers to stop it. it does get much better every day after that. the pain killers they give you does take care of it though.
the only discomfort i get now is when i am stressed and tense my neck muscles, i do have some discomfort, not pain, in the left side of my neck when it goes off, but if i just settle down and relax, then it goes away. some people do have side effects, some have no problems at all. like with anything you are going to find people that are happy with it and those that are unhappy with it.
So talk it over with the doctor and get all the info. Ask questions on anything you dont understand. Best of wishes to you and your family.
God Bless,
Banffgirl,
I have a electric personality, my brain is self charging!