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Daughter not responding to medicine
Mon, 02/07/2005 - 15:06Hello, I'm new to posting here. My daughter started having absence seizures about a year and a half ago. She has had two bigger seizures it seems while under stress during her first EEG (as she was getting hooked up so it wasn't recorded) and then again she had one at the eye doctor. But for the most part it's absence, the staring spells.
She was first put on ethosuximide and that wasn't showing any improvement in her seizures, it also upset her stomach and just made her kind of grumpy. Now we are on Lamictal, she was recently increased to 200 mg a day and we are still seeing the seizures. She goes in for an extended EEG this week, her last 8 hour one she of course didn't have any seizures except during sleep she had a couple.
My question is, are the medicines supposed to get rid of them 100 percent, or can we still expect to see the seizures daily? She's been on the lamictal for about 3 months now.
She also has a strange thing, that if we say the word seizure or medicine, eeg etc it will make her have a seizure! Is this common?
Thanks for any info!
Comments
RE: Daughter not responding to medicine
Submitted by batman on Mon, 2005-02-14 - 19:03
Being switched off from ethosuximide [Zarontin] and then on to Lamictal apparently was because of her upset stomach and grumpiness. There are many different antiepilepsy drugs [AED] used for specific and different seizures. The neurologist must first diagnose what type of seizure(s) a patient is having and then run through a trial to find which AED works, compared with the side effects, on each patient. All of which can take a huge amount of time to accomplish.
Reason why your daughter was being placed on a low dosage of Lamictal was to see if she would have any bad side effects to begin with. With nothing coming up yet, the next step is to slowly increase the dosage level, more and more if necessary, to find the level necessary to control her seizures. If this dosenÂ’t help, then sheÂ’ll probably be switched over to another AED, or have a second AED added in.
As for the reason why she’s having seizures when the word ‘seizure’ or ‘medicine’ are said may possible be from her being scared, or for another wild-shot, from some people having their seizures triggered from audio [hearing].
Hope this helps ya.
Bruce J
Being switched off from ethosuximide [Zarontin] and then on to Lamictal apparently was because of her upset stomach and grumpiness. There are many different antiepilepsy drugs [AED] used for specific and different seizures. The neurologist must first diagnose what type of seizure(s) a patient is having and then run through a trial to find which AED works, compared with the side effects, on each patient. All of which can take a huge amount of time to accomplish.
Reason why your daughter was being placed on a low dosage of Lamictal was to see if she would have any bad side effects to begin with. With nothing coming up yet, the next step is to slowly increase the dosage level, more and more if necessary, to find the level necessary to control her seizures. If this dosenÂ’t help, then sheÂ’ll probably be switched over to another AED, or have a second AED added in.
As for the reason why she’s having seizures when the word ‘seizure’ or ‘medicine’ are said may possible be from her being scared, or for another wild-shot, from some people having their seizures triggered from audio [hearing].
Hope this helps ya.
Bruce J
RE: Daughter not responding to medicine
Submitted by lorna35 on Mon, 2005-02-21 - 16:42
hi there
this is my first time posting too. my daughter how is now 7 was diagnosed with absence seisures when she was about 8 months old, she was started on sodium valporate and was still having absences until she was 4 when she suffered a grand mal seizure her meds was then changed to epilim chrono which was just a slow release version of sodium valporate she was still having absences and complex partial seizures so she was changed to zarontin which made her worse she is now on 125mg of lamicital a day but still has many many absences a day. her doctor says that since lamicital has stopped her partial seizures we have just to stick with that at the moment, she also said that we may not find a medicine that completely stops the absences and that lamicital may be as good as its going to get. so we will just have to keep at it but it can be a long drawn out process till they find the meds that are right for each person.
yours hoping too!
lorna x
hi there
this is my first time posting too. my daughter how is now 7 was diagnosed with absence seisures when she was about 8 months old, she was started on sodium valporate and was still having absences until she was 4 when she suffered a grand mal seizure her meds was then changed to epilim chrono which was just a slow release version of sodium valporate she was still having absences and complex partial seizures so she was changed to zarontin which made her worse she is now on 125mg of lamicital a day but still has many many absences a day. her doctor says that since lamicital has stopped her partial seizures we have just to stick with that at the moment, she also said that we may not find a medicine that completely stops the absences and that lamicital may be as good as its going to get. so we will just have to keep at it but it can be a long drawn out process till they find the meds that are right for each person.
yours hoping too!
lorna x
RE: Daughter not responding to medicine
Submitted by Hope19 on Mon, 2005-02-07 - 15:06
My name is Hope IM 19 and My mom would tell you the same thing. My epilepsy is not controled by my medicine.I take Dilantian 1600 mg a day kolonipin 8 mg a day and adavian 4 mg a day,I go to a Clinc that is rated number one in our state in hopes that we can control them..Some set offs for mine are smells music lights and some foods..if you would like to chat just get back to meHope