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Non-Medication of Childhood Absence Seizures
Thu, 10/21/2004 - 18:39Comments
RE: Non-Medication of Childhood Absence Seizures
Submitted by egeorge on Tue, 2004-09-14 - 01:47
RE: Non-Medication of Childhood Absence Seizures
Submitted by mexican_fire on Sat, 2004-09-18 - 14:29
NOT A GOOD IDEA!
I am a walking reminder of what unmedicated Absence can do.
Now I am 31, and not only do I still have Absence, I also have Simple Partial, COmplex Partial, Secondarily Generalized, and Myoclonic seizures.
I was severely abused by my dad as a baby even, and my mom said I got stiff and scream when she tried to feed me after my nap. My dad did things throughout most of my life like pick my eup by the neck and bash the back of my head on the wall, or wall corner, he would take 2x4s and hit my head like it was a ball on a tee (one time he even broke my jaw, but wouldn't let me get it checked or treated, I had to suffer), he even pushed me offthe landing of the attic steps and I fell 20 feet to the ground.
I was having trouble in school missing information, and having"behavior" problems. THey labeled me as ADD and put me on Ritilin which turned eveyrhing upside down.
I was told tha I was a daydreamer, a time-waster, inattentive, didn't pay attention, etc.
It went on like that for most of my life even through 10 years of college.
My dad wouldn't let my mom take me to the doc, and had she this mess woudln't exisit the way it does now.
Absence have the ability to either go away in the late teens, either to stay gone, or morph into other seizure types.
Not medicating that type is not good. He does not have Benign Childhood Epilepsy, that has infrequent sporadic seizures and only at night, and those stop at 15 years old.
Absence seizures are called a generalized seizure because both sides of the brain are effected at once when the seizure starts. A person with them can have as many as 500 in one day, if you don't catch them. It can do some brain damge but it is not severe or impairing.
Please don't leave him untreated. I can say that because I was untreated, and now look at what I have to deal with.
I have FIVE types, 3 of which make up the epileptic syndrom TLE, and have to take two AEDs to control them. The max of Neurontin at 3600 mgs, and Depakote ER at 1000 mgs.
I have already failed 7 other drugs.
Good luck,
Nancy
NOT A GOOD IDEA!
I am a walking reminder of what unmedicated Absence can do.
Now I am 31, and not only do I still have Absence, I also have Simple Partial, COmplex Partial, Secondarily Generalized, and Myoclonic seizures.
I was severely abused by my dad as a baby even, and my mom said I got stiff and scream when she tried to feed me after my nap. My dad did things throughout most of my life like pick my eup by the neck and bash the back of my head on the wall, or wall corner, he would take 2x4s and hit my head like it was a ball on a tee (one time he even broke my jaw, but wouldn't let me get it checked or treated, I had to suffer), he even pushed me offthe landing of the attic steps and I fell 20 feet to the ground.
I was having trouble in school missing information, and having"behavior" problems. THey labeled me as ADD and put me on Ritilin which turned eveyrhing upside down.
I was told tha I was a daydreamer, a time-waster, inattentive, didn't pay attention, etc.
It went on like that for most of my life even through 10 years of college.
My dad wouldn't let my mom take me to the doc, and had she this mess woudln't exisit the way it does now.
Absence have the ability to either go away in the late teens, either to stay gone, or morph into other seizure types.
Not medicating that type is not good. He does not have Benign Childhood Epilepsy, that has infrequent sporadic seizures and only at night, and those stop at 15 years old.
Absence seizures are called a generalized seizure because both sides of the brain are effected at once when the seizure starts. A person with them can have as many as 500 in one day, if you don't catch them. It can do some brain damge but it is not severe or impairing.
Please don't leave him untreated. I can say that because I was untreated, and now look at what I have to deal with.
I have FIVE types, 3 of which make up the epileptic syndrom TLE, and have to take two AEDs to control them. The max of Neurontin at 3600 mgs, and Depakote ER at 1000 mgs.
I have already failed 7 other drugs.
Good luck,
Nancy
RE: Non-Medication of Childhood Absence Seizures
Submitted by anneellis on Fri, 2004-03-26 - 13:42
Hi,I only have a personal opinion because i dont have much experience with seizures yet. My daughter has been having stiffening fits which happen on the playground. The eeg did not show anything but the nuerology technician did feel like she was describing a seizure. Anyhow, i, when considering medication would only choose to do so because of the nature of these "seizures". She is very likely to fall and be seriosly injured, so this would be a good reason to consider medication. I hear so much about side effects, probably sometimes the cure is worse than the problem itself. Also, medications can cause serious damage to the liver or kidneys. I am curious if your sons seizures showed up on an eeg? My daughters did not but I hear this is not uncommon. Does your son maintain conciousness, if so, are you sure there are not episodes you are unaware of? I didnt know my daughter was having problems until one night she was falling asleep next to me, I had a normal "jerk" she asked what was wrong and i explained that it was normal. She then told me "that happens to me on the playground" By her description it sound like a tonic seizure or possibly complex partial. They only last 5 seconds, your son may have other problems that he (or anyone else) is not aware of. This could be more dangerous. Good luck, I know it is a very hard choice for a parent to make.