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Emergency meds for simple partial seizures?

Sat, 08/19/2017 - 16:18
Hello all, Has anyone been given emergency meds to interrupt clusters of/continuous simple partial seizures? I'm just wondering as I'd always assumed given the risks associated with benzos that they'd only be used for life-threatening tonic-clonic status type situations. However I've now heard that they can be used for smaller seizures as well if they come in clusters and I've been thinking about asking my physician. It would be nice if I could stop these clusters, but I don't want to be overly dramatic. Thanks! Shahar

Comments

Our protocol is to administer

Submitted by echo on Sat, 2017-09-16 - 13:32
Our protocol is to administer 2 mg of Lorazepam as an emergency med to my 14 yo daughter when her seizures hit the 3 minute mark, regardless of the type of seizure. She has both partials and tonic clonic, the latter developing directly out of a partial. In fact, our neuro recently suggested that when we see the tonic clonic starting (which is usually following a roughly 2 minute partial) we should administer the lorazepam at that point, to stop the tonic clonic entirely. And that has worked well. You don't say what your particular med is,  but I do know some people take Lorazepam daily for anxiety, so I don't think it's overly dramatic to use it to stop smaller seizures. 

I have been prescribed

Submitted by Stephen L on Fri, 2017-09-22 - 17:32
I have been prescribed Clobazam for just this, although haven't used them or needed to yet.  I don't think personally I'd want to use them for a SP, unless of course the cluster lasted a long time, but it hasn't.  It's definitely worth the ask though, it definitely helps to think you've got a rescue med on you if anything was to happen when out or alone.

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I

Submitted by Shahar on Sun, 2017-12-10 - 07:25
Thanks for the reply! Yes, I'd probably also be hesitant to use them and it's hard to know when one would start with 'just' a SP. I'm less concerned about being out or on my own as I still function to some extent and it always gets better after a while, but my clusters can knock me out for days and I'd really rather not have that happening. So the idea would be to try rescue meds after the first day or so when it's not getting better.

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