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Tonic-clonic seizures on awakening- taking Epilim- not working.
Tue, 06/27/2017 - 07:45Topic: Medication Issues
Hello, I have just joined up today. My boyfriend of 2 years was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 18- he is now 24. He had been seizure free for 4 years but over the past 3 months has has had 5 tonic-clonic seizures upon awakening. He has had an appointment with neurology and his medication has been increased so now he takes 900mg of epilim at night and 1000mg in the morning. As this is fairly new to me I have a few questions please. Are there any triggers for the seizures in the morning as they seem to be when he is in the shower or shortly afterwards, is it best to avoid showers first thing? Has anyone else been taking epilim and found a different medication has worked better for them with this or any other type of epilepsy? The neurologist does not know why the seizures have come back which is very frustrating and we'd like to get it under control again. Thank you for your help.
Comments
Thank you for your reply. The
Submitted by EmilyOC on Thu, 2017-06-29 - 10:42
Thank you for your reply. The medication that has been increased has not controlled the seizures as of yet. He was originally taking 100mg of epilim, it was then increased to 1,600mg and finally to 1,900mg but seizures are still occurring. He is waiting for an appointment with his neurologist so will have to see what they suggest.
My story, May I suggest
Submitted by whatitisepilepsy on Thu, 2017-07-20 - 18:20
My story, May I suggest talking to your doctor about a med called Lamotrging. I'm also taking VIMPACT with that, and I have the most control I've ever had. We are trying to wing off the vimpact. Something else that might work for you, I went a whole year without arua or seizures taking a martial arts class. It was not so much what I learned, the over 100 jumping jack, stretching, working my body at least 5 days a week. You have heard it before," use it or lose it". Exercise make sense. As soon as I stopped everything came back with in a week. Good luck, life with out seizures can be amazing, always try new things don't let it win.
there could be a lot of
Submitted by Amy Jo on Tue, 2017-06-27 - 13:51
there could be a lot of possibilities. you don't say if the medication adjustment has stopped the problem, that's relevant and one needs to give it a bit to adjust to the new dose (roughly 5.5 half lives which is less than a week assuming everything is normal-ish), so there may not really be a problem going forward. if it continues, this is definitely something to take back to his neurologist. sometimes meds stop working after some time (which could mean switching drugs is right direction), or they may just need an adjustment (meds are often based on body weight so maybe that's not enough anymore). sometimes seizures change and need to be reevaluated. some people's seizures are often specific to time of day - often at night or just after waking. some people have a trigger with water, but it isn't one of the more common triggers, people I've seen have noted temperature or the water on their head as an issue, probably your bf would have some idea if this were the case. if one will use a shower or bath, one should stick with showers over baths for safety.