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Do seizures cause pain?

Thu, 06/08/2006 - 17:29
Hi I am the mother of a 5 1/2 year old who is progressively getting worse. His name is Danny. He has many types of seizures. He has at least 10 notable seizures a day and probably many more. he often requires interventions such as oxygen, suctioning, extra clonopin or diastat. he is on several medications clonopin, keppra, felbatol, phenobarb, and vigabitrin and several others for gi issues. Danny has tried all the other meds to no avail. We recently were told that there are only options left are to do a surgery that splits the 2 hemispheres or to do nothing. We feel this child is in pain and requires more sedation to be comfortable. The neurologist says that seizures are not painful. Danny is currently functioning at a 0-3 month level. He did progress when he was a baby. He did sit, stand and smile all of that is now gone. I am wondering do seizures cause pain? I think they do.

Comments

Re: Hi Lisa, "You and I know

Submitted by angel_lts on Fri, 2006-06-16 - 06:17
SOL, I dont want to be rude. But if someone is saying they have a symptom, then I believe them, no matter what they say the symptoms should be. I love my doctor dearly, but they also go by the book. I have somethings that has happened to me, that the my doctor could not imagine that it could help or had such a negative effect on me. My doctor is now more open minded. SOmetimes the doctors can learn from us too. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT! Lisa http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/epilepsyapproach/

Hi Lisa, You aren't

Submitted by solis on Fri, 2006-06-16 - 14:38
Hi Lisa, You aren't rude! I'm glad we met. I'm also planning to ask my neuro about some of the great help vitamins can bring, ty to you. (I also agree regular neurologists need far more education... at least the ones I saw sure did as none ever got me controlled) I learned a lot when controlled but still having yearly appoinments with my epileptologist. And if you check, you will see that most of the contributors to epilepsy.com aren't mere neurologists, but epileptologists (ie. neurologists that further specialized in epilepsy.) And there is a HUGE difference! Sometimes, when we are new to something, we are overwhelmend and unable to see clearly. I merely gave Jana a piece from the site, made by epieptologists, to help her sort out the order of things. (I sure wish someone had done something like that for me, so my gesture wasn't intended as 'demeaning'.) As you said: "You and I know that there is no pain for most of us who have a seizure." ~sol

Re: Hi Lisa, You aren't

Submitted by spiz on Fri, 2006-06-16 - 16:42
This has all been very interesting. It has made me really stop and think about seizures -vs- pain. It really is a deep subject, one I never really stop to consider beforehand. Upon really thinking about it, it's not the actual seizure in most respects that are painful, but the result of the seizure. When I have the severe myoclonics and my head snaps back, it wasn't the seizure that was painful but the result of the seizure. The same is true for drop seizures. I can't remember the seizure, but dropping on my butt full force isn't good, again the result of the seizure. T/C's, the same. Shame we don't have wings or a bouncy butt lined with blubber. We could fly or bounce around instead of suffering the results. The silent seizures are weird but not painful. I had always associated the pain with the seizure before now, not separating them at all. But it would be the same if you compared them to tripping or slipping. If I slipped and landed on my tail, I wouldn't say the slip was painful, I would say I slipped and hurt myself. I would separate the two making them the action and result. Same with tripping. The one I can't separate is the abdominal seizure. The whole time the seizure is occuring, it feels like my intestines, colin and whatever else is down there is being manually ripped, torn and twisted from where it is suppose to be. The pain is horrifying and lasts the entire length of the seizure. Unlike the other seizures I have to where I feel the pain after the seizure as a result of the seizure, this one happens with the seizure and the pain stops once the seizure is over. It is totally different from the others. There may be other seizures that fit in this catagory, I don't know. But the abdominal seizure is a seizure from hell and in a class unto itself. I want to thank you both for getting me to really stop and think about the this though. I feel it is perfectly natural to associate the pain or injury with the seizure since it is the result of it, but it is also very important for the parents of epileptics to know the actual seizure itself isn't what is painful. Aggravating, sometimes scary even, but aside from the abdominal, the seizure itself isn't.It's the results that can be. Take care and stay safe! ;) -Spiz

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