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Can CBD Oil help my mom? (Long Story)

Fri, 08/18/2017 - 02:24
Okay, this is an extremely long story and I'm new to this site, everyone here seems super nice and eager to help so here I go. Please read the whole story to get a better understanding :) I'll try to make this post in order of all the events that have happened but I apologize in advance if it gets a little confusing. So, on July 12th 2017 at around 11PM my mother had what doctors called a seizure. As of right now in the story, nothing unusual happened during the day. We hung out the whole day, had lunch, shopping, the usual. Right before her episode, my parents were watching television and everything was normal. She even remembers watching television. My dad went to go take a shower and she told me dad she was going to take a little "nap" while he showered before continuing watching their TV show. Dad woke mom up after his shower (around 10ish minutes) and she mom awoke but was in a very strange state. Her eye's were open and pupils were super dilated but it seemed as if she was in a confused/foggy state of mine. She wasn't talking at all but she was looking around, casually putting her hair behind her ear, but was very weak. My dad tried to stand her up as he called me down and she urinated on herself and was still unresponsive, but very much still awake. As a pre-med student I was worried she was having a stroke and immediately called 911. They came in and tried having her squeeze their fingers (unable to), pointed to my father and I and asked if she knew who we were (looked, but unable to), and overall was not able to talk or answer. It honestly looked like I was staring at a scared little girl who was just looking up and around at everyone. The first notion she made was when they asked her to nod if she understood that they were going to the hospital. She nodded, and by the time they strapped her to the gurney she was able to wave back to me. By the time she got to the hospital she all of a sudden said, "Woah, where am I?" and was COMPLETELY back to normal. All her functions were fine and vital signs were perfect. Was able to tell us the day, who's birthday happened recently, the president, etc. During her couple days at the hospital they did a MRI and CT Scan, both of those came out completely spotless. They had her hooked to the EEG and there was some electrical activity that the neurologist said was probably just residue of the episode. Overall was just a bit tired and had a headache but that was probably from the seizure itself and a few of the painkillers they had her on, she's the type of person who is sensitive to medication. The prescribed her with 500mg of Keppra 2x a day for the time being until her next check up appointment. *Side note* my mom does not take any medication other than her thyroid medication that she's been on since she was 18. She's overall a very healthy person. She's in her very early 60's and eats well, stays active, and doesn't have any medical problems. We do NOT have a family history of seizures and my mom has never had a seizure before other than that night. I asked around a few doctors that I currently shadow, and friends to see if this has ever happened to someone they know. My boss told me it sounded what his mother had which was a TIA (mini stroke). After some research it seemed as if that was pretty accurate and it's actually very common to get a TIA from a UTI or bladder infection that's left untreated (and she peed during her episode, which seemed like a big sign). I was sort of relieved but sadly no evidence of TIA and all urine analysis' were fine. After a couple days, the Keppra made her into a completely different person. Very spacey, extremely tired, as if you're talking to someone who has their mind on something else. Also irritable, sad, and just not my mother. She noticed it too and talked to her doctor about it. Doctor switched her to 250mg 2x a day and as soon as she did that she did a 180 degree turn and was back to normal. Only thing was that she would have to take a nap due to tiredness during the day but it was a lot better than her being masked on with that medication. About a week or two later she notified me about something she recently realized that happened that day. Her memory of that day was coming back and she let me know about something that almost gave me relief because I thought I got to the bottom of this. A LONG time ago, my mom was at a normal check-up with her GP. I'm sure many of us have already realized that doctors are always so eager to prescribe you with just about anything you say. In conversation my mom casually brought up about how she sometimes gets uncomfortable driving on the freeway simple because she doesn't like to. Not a big deal, she still drives all the time she was just in a car accident when she was younger on the freeway that made her a bit uncomfortable but she still drives and is completely fine. Her doctor eagerly prescribed her with Lexapro, an anti-anxiety medication and told her to take it every time she drives. My mom shrugged that off and didn't care to take it because A. She doesn't have any sort of anxiety whatsoever B. She doesn't want to go on a medication if she doesn't think it's necessary, which is fair in my opinion. HOWEVER, that night she had the seizure, a couple hours prior, she had to drive on the freeway to run a quick little errand and as the pills were in her sight she decided to take one, just to be on the safe side. About two hours before that she did have a glass of wine with me (we drink one glass a week when we watch our TV show). I'm not saying my mom takes alcohol with her pills, but alcohol does stay in your system for a while even if it's one glass of while two hours before you take a pill. Anyway... two-three hours she took that pill she had the seizure! It makes sense for that to be the culprit right?!. Even during her hospital stay they asked if she took the Lexapro and she denied it simply because she didn't remember and because she usually wouldn't have anyways. After this information I was sort of happy and hoping it was because of that stupid Lexapro, now we could get my mom off that antiseizure med and everything would be back to normal *another side note, my mom is allergic to sulfa. People with sulfa allergies shouldn't drink wine just because it makes your blood sugar a bit lower but it's fine if it's controlled. I think this played a big roll too. So, this Wednesday was her check up and we notified the doctor of this new discovery. Sadly doctors can't give us a "for-sure" reason for a seizure and told us it "could" have been it. We did another EEG in eager hopes that it was all normal and we can put this behind us but the doctor today called and said there is a lot of "electrical activity" that showed up in her EEG and that she's still very much prone to seizures. They want her to go on Lamictal, another medication, and I'm just really not for it. This event has been a constant frustration with everyone because we're trying to find the deep rooted cause. Deep down I still think that Lexapro had a lot to do with it considering it was the only thing different she did that day and she has never taken it before. Maybe she was "prone" to seizures and the Lexapro activated something. If you made it all the way down here, I really appreciate you taking the time to read all this. Here is my question: I've heard a lot about CBD oil and the benefits of how it can help people who have seizures. Do you think this would benefit my mother? I am all for natural homeopathic remedies and would appreciate any feed back whether it's about this situation, the CBD oil, or any experiences you guys have had. Thanks again.

Comments

Thanks for sharing and sorry

Submitted by epihelp on Fri, 2017-08-18 - 11:05
Thanks for sharing and sorry to hear all that has happened to your mom.  People can not feel well for hours or days after a tonic clonic seizure, which often makes it hard to tell what may be related to after effects of a seizure from side effects of a new medicine. it takes some time to find the right medicine and try it for long enough period of time for any side effects to settle down, then see how it works. It's important to give a medicine enough time and if a second one is recommended, also give that time. Many people want to consider CBD because they don't like medicine, but CBD or any cannabis, when used for a medical issue is a medicine. It affects the brain and body, it has side effects, and it can affect how some other medicines work. Also please note that some prescription medicines for other health conditions are derived from plants. While this may help many people, it should not be considered 'natural' or any different from other seizure medicines that need a prescription.Another issue - there is limited information on it's effect. So far a couple controlled trials for people with devastating forms of epilepsy look positive, but it doesn't help everyone. It has never been tested in people newly diagnosed with epilepsy. Their is no known 'usual or best' dose either. I am not against cannabis or CBD. I just encourage everyone to get informed and not think that it's a magic bullet or that it is benign. See an epilepsy specialist and work thru the options where there is much more safety data available. Also see your learn section for more info on meds and cannabis. 

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