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New Here
Mon, 11/27/2006 - 11:15Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
Hi! I am new to the site. My 8 year old daughter has epilepsy. She has the small seizures. (When she talks to you she will roll her eyes.) Well it kept getting more frequent so we took her to the doctor in feb. 2005 for it. They sent us to Childrens Hospital. They did a EEG on her and found very abnormal activity. So she got put on med. (Lamictal). She has them every now and then. Well last tuesday morning my girls were getting ready for school, and all of a sudden she fell in the floor with a full blown seizure. We called 911 and by the time the ambulance got here she had come out of it but they took her in anyway to be checked out. She hit her head and had a big bump on it. They ended up uping her medicine. (They called children's and talked to them). So far so good. We go back to childrens in Dec for a check up to see how she is doing. It really scared me and my husband. Anyway thanks for reading.
Comments
Re: Re: Re: Re: New Here
Submitted by guinipig on Thu, 2006-11-30 - 08:47
As i write this my thoughts are with you and your and your children. At 35 and a mother myself i recall the distress my mother went through watching me being prescibed many medications. Test after test and never really got to grips completely with my diagnoses of Epilepsy. As a young child i was diagnosed with Petit Mal. In my late teens and early twenties i had five Grand Mal seizures; hormonal changes may have contributed to this. I stll have absense seisures daily but it is hardly recognisable. I have learnt to disguise it. I believe the more you understand your diagnoses the better, however always stay open minded. Trust your gut instinct and learn to question things. Your doctor will not always be right in some cases. Epilepsy does change, the most important thing is to assist your child understand it and accept it. Don't hide away from it. As a child it is easy to become confused with all the medical jargon. Explain this to your child in a positive way and put them in control in an indirect way. Look up medications side effects and watch for them. Most importantly listern, i know i don't have to say this but it comes from the heart. As you learn to question and develop your knowledge about Epilepsy bring your child on the same journey. Believe me it helps everyone.
I don't know if you have looked into alternative medicines but i ask you to keep it in mind.
I am personally about to start researching it myself and i believe their are always alternatives. Medicines in general were developed through natures research in many ways. some times we loose touch of that and think experts no best.
Epilepsy is very complex and requires proffeshionals. Work as a team, never walk alone.
Routine the medication, missed medication can trigger seizures.
Everyone is different. Myself i can be affected by lack of sleep and stress. Try to maintain a calm atmosphere, it will help you all.
Take care,
Liz.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: New Here
Submitted by INACLASSBYMYLONESOME on Thu, 2006-11-30 - 11:34
Hello, I'm new to this site, but not new to epilepsy at all. I totally understand, being diagnosed as a child what its like to be forced to deal. I was totally confused in a sense as to what it all really meant. I only had two when I was a child thankfully, but the thought of having one, scare dthe daylights out of me. I went through high school seizure free. I went away to college for a year following hs seizure free. I cam ehome in 1998 and thats when I had my first one in over 6 years, I was behind the wheel of my mother's van. By the grace of God I wasn't injured, although I hit a brick bldg in my neighborhood. I woke up petrified and disillusioned, which wasn't out of the norm, for me following a seizure. The following year yet another seizure behind the wheel of a car, this time, I hit a brick bldg in a shopping center. Ever since I've had maybe two a year and its disheartening because I'm now a grown adult and can't live a fufulling life, because the threat of having a seizure scares the daylights out of me. I now have things my neurologist labeled as episodes, in which I feel as though I'm going to have one, but don't. I apologize for getting off topic...
Expectation is the mother of disappointment....
Re: Re: Re: New Here
Submitted by Essie on Thu, 2006-11-30 - 07:13
Hi Jeana You know, I'm not even sure where I read about the 2 year-frame. It could've been this site. But, it was spesific to Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy. I'm not sure if and how it will apply to other types of epilepsy. I know that there are people who only get absences all their lives, and then there are people who get the whole range of seizure types. My son's type of Epilepsy is a very specific type, with a certain way it develops and progresses. It helps to know which type, but even in his case they're not 100% sure. They believe it's that, but it is SO difficult to put an EEG into a type of epilepsy. You know, I have a way to search (usually google), for everything. Then I read through it, and if it seems like valid, good information, I copy it into a document. And then I organise it. It takes ALOT of time, but it helps me understand SO much, and then I give this document to family, hubby, friends, teachers, etc. to read and learn just the basics and most important information. If you want to, you can read my document. I'll email it to you. Or I'll probably be able to put it as an attachment on my blog. But, as I said, it's specific to my son and the juvenile myoclonic epilepsy type. But do go to the main site, www.epilepsy.com, and read through all the types of epilepsy, the seizures, the way the brain works (there's a nice animation), news articles, etc. It has SO much information that helped me alot. Also, go to the professionals' site (there's a link on the top of the epilepsy site). It's interesting reading doctor's stories. Good luck, I hope you can find more information on your daughter's seizures. Read as much as you can before her next appointment, then you know what questions to ask. Take care, Essie