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problems with medications

Mon, 05/18/2015 - 11:04

I have a 19 year old son with Autism and Eplilepsy. He is non verbal too.  He started having seizures at age 13 and has been on Tripletal ever since. He handles Trileptal fine , but he continues to have seizures- about 2 or 3 a month. We had him on vimpat for two years, he seizures lessened but didn't stop, he did handle the side effects well and his behavior was good, On the advice of our doctor, we took him off of Vimpat last Spring. Since then, we have tried, topomax, depakote and lamictal. They cause horrible side effects( mainly aggressive behavior , stomach problems) The side effects were worse than having a seizure. Now we are back to starting him on VImpat again- We are so frustrated, we don't want him to have seizures ( he's been to the ER 3 times in the past year for falls) but hate the side effects of meds. I just started him on Vimpat 50 mg in the evening three days ago. Yesterday, he had horrible aggression- but we don't know if it was the Vimpat- it didn't cause problems before/ He also had a seizure two days ago- so the behavior could of been a result of that too

Has anyone gone back on a med and had different side effects?

Comments

I have been on many

Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2015-05-18 - 22:40
I have been on many medications for epilepsy. Many people want their kids completely seizure free which can and has been done. Doc (my neurologist) I and   know will probably never be completely seizure free. But that doesn't keep either of us from trying to get to that point. I have gone 3 years without a seizure of any kind only to find out a different trigger which cause me to have a seizure. Since then I have been seizure free for long periods of time. 6-8 months or a few months now I have a seizure which most people woud know nothing about since they last a few seconds. Control is what can be obtained. With me I am fine with a seizure lasting a few seconds every now and then.Your son is growing and changing so his medication dosages need to be watched. If you have started him back on vimpat just relax some. If he is being weened off the other medication then he has both in his body.It can take 4-6 weeks after stopping the last medication for th theraputic levels to leave completely. Generally the neurologist wants a visit after 4 weeks to discuss how the medication is working. At that time the dosages will be increased or decreased to get more control of his seizures. I know what it's like masking changes since I have been on almost all the seizure meds they have out there.. I have been dealing and living with elipepsy for 50+ years. If Doc calls I know he may want me in a drug study for a different medication for seizures. I know what it is like seeing your child all druged up. I was the one drugged up. I made it a point to help in anyway I could to get newer and better medications out that have fewer side effects. So relax some he is on one of the best seizure medications I have and still use. I hope this helps and he gets his seizures under  better control Joe

I have been on many

Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2015-05-18 - 22:41
I have been on many medications for epilepsy. Many people want their kids completely seizure free which can and has been done. Doc (my neurologist) I and   know will probably never be completely seizure free. But that doesn't keep either of us from trying to get to that point. I have gone 3 years without a seizure of any kind only to find out a different trigger which cause me to have a seizure. Since then I have been seizure free for long periods of time. 6-8 months or a few months now I have a seizure which most people woud know nothing about since they last a few seconds. Control is what can be obtained. With me I am fine with a seizure lasting a few seconds every now and then.Your son is growing and changing so his medication dosages need to be watched. If you have started him back on vimpat just relax some. If he is being weened off the other medication then he has both in his body.It can take 4-6 weeks after stopping the last medication for th theraputic levels to leave completely. Generally the neurologist wants a visit after 4 weeks to discuss how the medication is working. At that time the dosages will be increased or decreased to get more control of his seizures. I know what it's like masking changes since I have been on almost all the seizure meds they have out there.. I have been dealing and living with elipepsy for 50+ years. If Doc calls I know he may want me in a drug study for a different medication for seizures. I know what it is like seeing your child all druged up. I was the one drugged up. I made it a point to help in anyway I could to get newer and better medications out that have fewer side effects. So relax some he is on one of the best seizure medications I have and still use. I hope this helps and he gets his seizures under  better control Joe

we all make mistakes. But

Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2015-05-18 - 22:41
we all make mistakes. But your also good.

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