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25 Y.O Still Having Absence seizures
Tue, 01/19/2016 - 22:11My niece is 25 years old and was first diagnosed at 14. They had told us she would most likely grow out of the seizures but she has not. She currently takes Zarontin. I am curious to know if there are others who are adults and still having these type seizures. Have you noticed that it changes your emotions? How do you cope? I want to help my nice and I am just not sure how to do so.
Absence seizures are
Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-01-20 - 11:33
Absence seizures are basically petite mal. People in them look like they are daydreaming. There are other seizures that also look like absence seizures (focal seizures) I know I had them both and still do. In your post you said the they told you that she would most likely grow out of them. Some people do but others don't. As for being an adult and still having seizures yes I still have them. Mine are more focal but I still have them. I took the medication she is taking and it is good. Any and all medications can cause emotional changes. I currently take keppra but have had no problems with it. Side effects generally go away after 3-4 weeks while the body gets used to the medication. Some people taking keppra called is KeppRAGE because of the side effect. How do I cope with it? I deal with it and use common sense. The seizures to me are little laps of time. Losing a few seconds now and then is minimal compared to the amount of time I have in this world. What is 10-14 seconds compared to 168 hours in a week? As for helping..... What would you be doing if she had a heart ailment or diabetes? They too can cause issues. It does depend on what she wants. Understand I was diagnosed at about the same time. I have been dealing and living with epilepsy for 50+ years. Today there are forums and ways to research. Do that but learn what she wants with her seizure control. She needs to have a good relationship with her neurologist and always ask questions. "Is this the best medication for my type of seizures? Are there other medications that can be coupled with my meds that can control my seizures better? Are there any other procedures that can help control my seizures better?" << Those were some of the questions I asked. For every question my neurologists asked me I had one for him. It showed them I wanted better control. My medications were changed. Dosages too. Combinations of meds. By doing that they knew I wasn't going to set back and take meds. They knew I wanted my seizures controlled. It took time but those changes and keeping a good relationship we were able to get my seizures controlled to having 1 seizure every 8-14 days which lasts 2-4 seconds. The seizures I have now and nothing like those I had when I was a teen. If she wants better control then bring her to this site. It has a lot of information on it. It can teach some people some of the triggers that can cause seizures. The other seizures she may have. She can ask questions in this forum or even go to the chat section. There is a 24/7 help line which anybody can call to get answers. Need a doctor find on in the help section. I hope this helps Joe