Need help... BAD!!! "Absence" seizure's

Re: Need help... BAD!!! "Absence" seizure's

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Fri, 2010-03-12 - 07:01

Hi Mrepilepsy, There are many physical conditions that can imitate epilepsy, and vice-versa. A book available at amazon.com, with the limited "look-inside" feature, is "Imitators of Epilepsy" by Kaplan & Fisher. I have both Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) and migraines. Both of them greatly overlap in symptoms. The closest parts of my seizures that are like absence seizure are very brief (a second or two), which causes me to drop heavy items, and now that I'm Keppra, I barely notice the brief seizures as parts of sounds in music and speech missing or "skipping" and like my hearing briefly fails me at times. At least the Keppra has stopped most of my secondary tonic-clonics, despite not doing much of anything for my simple and complex partial seizures with migraines and ecstatic to bland to fear sensations. While searching for journal articles on epilepsy and stuttering, I came across a journal article that seemed to follow a movement to redirect medical philosophy, much like the rewriting of the ideal height-weight ratios, the utility of breast examinations in ratios to breast cancer, and the same with prostate cancer, all with much political/economic/medical/insurance/cultural flak. The coincidences also follow coincidence with arguments about the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V). Except with epilepsy, it's the ratio of EEG revealed seizures to Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Attacks (PNEAs) or Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) with determinations including observations of "Functional Symptoms." This piqued my interest because the logic is defective and the cited numerical "facts" did't match the same reality cited in a majority of other publiations. One article started out with, that epilepsy may play the role in psychiatry, much like the role syphilis plays for all things clinical, and then, claims that this is foundational modern medical science. Some of the articles are referenced on the forums "Should Epilepsy/Brain Injury be addressed in DSM-V?" and "Ecstatic Seizures" at: http://my.epilepsy.com/discussion/987884 and http://my.epilepsy.com/discussion/985093 One article that pays very short-shrift of the need of depth/implanted electrodes for detecting many Limbic and other Epilepsies, and slight mention of EEG problems with frontal lobe seizures, while having the advantage of being few pages, but deceptively concise, is "The differential diagnosis of epilepsy: A critical review" by S. Benbadis, Epilepsy & Behavior 15 (2009) 15-21. at: http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/epilepsyusa/yebeh/upload/Differential_diagnosis_of_epilepsy.pdf I also wonder about the wisdom of verifying the presence of a particular example only by denying the absence of one general example. Surface EEGs are far from being a "Gold Standard", especially since they can easily be challenged as being "The role of misread (overread) EEGs in the misdiagnosis of epilepsy." How about misread (under-read) EEG giving the "Good new's, you haven't had one Absence seizure since you've been here" too? The behavioural conditioning around and from seizures is also totally ignored, or buried in "psychodynamic muck" so deeply as to be ignored. Aversive conditioning is probable from repeated seizures over any moderate to longer time period, and as the movie "A Clockwork Orange" parodied/satirized/critizied the adverse effects in terms of "Functional Symptoms" of the "Ludovico Technique", epileptic seizures could also easily and inadvertantly impart many same conditioned visceral sensations. Much of psychology seems to label simple phenomena with Behaviourism as a "mental disorder," or the nicer sounding "psychogenic." Also, "blood-rushing" sensations as you stand up could indicate blood circulation problems, from heart problems to obstructed/aneuryism veins/arteries/capillaries, which could result in many TIA effects and/or syncopes. Tadzio

Re: Need help... BAD!!! "Absence" seizure's

Submitted by trust in God on Fri, 2010-03-12 - 11:15

Hi, I don't know how old you are, but I have an 11 year old son who has absence epilepsy since he was  about 6 years old. But who we are believing for his complete healing soon! Well, we have been throug a lot especially in the beginning when the neurologist misdiagnosed him and was giving him the wrong meds. He got worse, so we eventually took him to a much better dr. Anyways, his symptoms are very different from the ones you described. He does several idfferent things at times. He mailny blinks repeatedly for 3-10 seconds or stares off or he could stare off while bobbing his head-all for 3-10 seconds. When he is having a bad morning or didn't take his meds, he would have spells every 10 seconds for 2-3 hours and so he'd literally have hundreds of them in one morning! But, he has great memory and is usually only tired if he happens to have a gran mal (which isn't that often) or if he has a lot of clusters like I described above-then he is usually sleepy, but if he just has a few spells in the morning (which is about the only time he has them, because his are caused when he is sleep deprived), then he acts as if nothing has happened and goes to school. But on a normal basis without the cluster lasting for hours which isn't that often, he might blink or stare off a few times, but is ok. He never knows he has them till we tell him  and he acts as if he never misses a beat when he is having a spell. For example: he could be talking and have a spell, but as soon as he stops bobbing his head or blinking, he finished his sentence as if he's never stopped for a spell. But, if I am talking to him and he has a spell, and i ask him a question, he says huh and says he didn't hear me. So, I repeat myself and then he answers. There are no effects on his speech, memory, fatigue (except as explained above), loss of copmrehension (except as explained, but only for those few seconds). Lately he has had a period where he had no interest in anything-an "I don't care attitude", but he's better now through much prayer! And I've read up alot on absence epilepsy and have enver read about the symptoms you are having except as side effects from different meds. We have had to change meds several times, bc of side effects. My son is taking 250 zarontin 2 times a day and 150 lamictal 2 times a day and is doing good, excpet when he doesn't take it. We tried keppra and it never worked. If I was you, I would try and go to a different neurologist. I don't think Keppra is specialized for absence epilepsy, but I know I've read that Zarontin (especially designed for absence), depakote or valproic acid and lamictal are for absence.

I know it is a terrible thing to have, but with God all things are possible! Don't give up, there is help out there, sometimes you just have to search hard for it. If we would have stayed with our first neurologist, it would still be bad and we'd still be trying to figure out what meds and all sorts of mess. I did alot of research online, because my son was getting worse instead of better and that's when I found out he was having absence epilepsy not what the dr. said and I tried to tell him and how it matched his symptoms, he ignored me and that's when we looked else where for help. SO, don't give up and TRUST IN GOD!

Oh yea. lots of times when getting an EEG you won't have a seizure, so of course if won't show (my son has had lots of EEGs over the years and he's never had a seizure  during the test). That doesn't mean you don't have seizures, it just means you didn't have one while being monitored.  

2500 of Keppra is too much and too much of the wrong medication-get a second opinion-your future depends on it. I know some ppl need this much med depending on type of seizure and age and ......... but my son has never taken more than 750 at one time on a certain medication and now he takes a little of 2 differnt kinds and it works great! I understand everyone is different, but please check into it! I know what it's like to need help and not have answers-so I researched and found answers and then questioned the drs.

Sorry it's so long, but there's alot to be said and I've been through a lot with my son and these crazy things!

Hope this helps!!! 

be blessed,

Trust in God ( a momma who's seen the effects for years)