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Absence Epilepsy
Fri, 03/23/2007 - 00:18Topic: Living With Epilepsy - Youth
My daughter was diagnosed with absence seizures when she was six. She had initial poor seizure control, but we were able to get the correct dosage of her meds to control them. When she turned 10, she had been seizure free for about 2 years so we tried withdrawing her meds to see if she would outgrow the condition, but they came back again when she was almost 12. She has been on the same meds (Zarontin) since the beginning. She is now 17 1/2 and has not had a seizure for about 2 years. She had a recent EEG which was normal and her prior EEG (which was about 8 months ago) was abnormal, but she had no visible signs of seizure activity. The doctors keep telling us that this is a lifelong condition for her and that she needs to stay on the meds. They said that since she failed once and the seizures came back, that if we tried to withdraw them again she would most likely fail again. We have been living on military bases in Japan for the last 8 years and so the doctors there are our only option for medical care. Should I take what they are saying at face value or should I seek to get a second opinion on whether we can try to withdraw her off the meds? Can anyone provide me further info on absence epilepsy and if this condition can persist into adulthood?- Help in Japan!
Comments
Re: Absence Epilepsy
Submitted by Sophs64833 on Thu, 2007-03-29 - 14:36
Hey, I have absence seizures as well. Yes the doctor is right. Your daughter will probably have it the rest of her life as well. I've had mine since I was 10 and am now 18. I never grew out of my seizures and found out from a website and 2 neurologists that I'll probably never grow out of it because of my age having it and I'll have to be on this medication for the rest of my life. So, yes, it can and most likely will persist to adulthood. Also, don't try taking her off her meds unless the doctor says you can try. Because it might be dangerous. My parents tried taking me off my meds once after i was seizure free for 4 months.. and then I had a seizure and almost got run down by a car.
~Sophs
Re: Absence Epilepsy
Submitted by solis on Fri, 2007-03-23 - 03:18
Just as the majority of diabetics must take insulin for the remainder of their lives, the vast majority of people with E (excepting the small % who either outgrow childhood seizures or the few that had 'successful', surgery) will need to take AEDs (anti epileptic drugs) for the remainder of their lives. Absensce seizures is one of the types which is often outgrown by age 18. http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/seizure_absence.html However, 30% do NOT outgrow it = yes it can continue into adulthood. As far as having a normal EEG goes, many people with epilepsy have normal EEGs. http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/eeg_normal.html However, as your daughter has had no seizures in awhile, (she could just be 100% controlled..remember that) IMO given that the maximum age of outgrowing them by is 18, it is still 'possible' she did outgrow them. Epilepsy.com is a site made by US physicians so the info there is known to be medically accurate. hope that helps, ~sol