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6 year old started on Trileptal Today - All advice welcomed
Sun, 05/28/2006 - 00:07Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
My six year old daughter was stared on Trileptal today. She has had 3 seizures (June 2005/Jan 2006/May 2006).
Each of her seizures have occurred during her sleep, starting about 11:00 PM. She will wake up, begin to cough and then vomit several times. Once the vomiting is complete, she has a absence stare that continues for more than 30 minutes.
Each time we have rushed to the emergency for assistance, becasuse the absence stare lasted so long.
Has anyone out there seen anything like this before. Any feedback on any similar situations would be greatly appreciated.
She was a little drowsy today, as expected with her being on the drug for the first day.
I'm so concerned about school and will she be drowsy in class after taking her morning dosage.
Comments
Re: 6 year old started on Trileptal Today - All advice welcomed
Submitted by joshua2006 on Sun, 2006-05-28 - 14:29
From my experience, I would absolutely try two things quickly before I try any medication for absence [not an advice, I am not a doctor]. Only your doctor can start or stop your drugs.
1. Copper toxicity [ ceruloplasmin in mg/DL multiplied by 3 subtracted from total serum copper in ug/dl must be below 25] and also hair analysis[not reliable]. Our neuro laughed at us for both of the tests. The test can change because of medications.
In case of copper toxicity, no supplement with copper, and zinc supplement 1 hour after/before any meal helps.
2. Check out the following site for diets:
http://www.dogtorj.net/id2.html
Good Luck, and keep us posted with her progress.
Re: Re: 6 year old started on Trileptal Today - All advice welco
Submitted by happycat2 on Sun, 2006-05-28 - 17:58
Hi colelu.
I'm really sorry to hear what happened to your child. As a mother myself I feel for you. It sometimes is tough going through a new med routine. It sure sounds as if you have been there. I can truthfully say I've only ever heard of adults having the side efffects that you described happen without being admitted to the hospital. As I said then, I'm no doc either, and I'm still not. But I'm wise enough to know if it was me, I'd be reading up on this site, and the links. For as the links say: side effects of Trileptal that have been reported include:dizziness headache tiredness drowsiness double vision stomach upset loss of coordination
In some patients, especially those taking higher doses of Trileptal, the level of sodium (salt) in the blood may become low (a condition called hyponatremia). Usually this is not serious, but occasionally it may increase the number of seizures that you have or cause other problems such as tiredness or dizziness. Your doctor may want to check the amount of sodium in your blood to see if this is happening to you, especially if you are having nausea, a vaguely "unwell" feeling, headache, listlessness, or confusion.
ww.epilepsy.com/medications/b_trileptal_side.
If you notice any of these problems, call the doctor's office. Sometimes the doctor can help by changing the amount of Trileptal you take or how you take it. Don't stop taking Trileptal or change the amount you take without the doctor's guidance.
Maybe a talk with your health care provider is needed so school is not missed. I hope the problems do ease. It can be hard trying to work through the initial stage of a new med titration for an adult -let alone a child, and wanting to make things better. Hang in there, try and stay positive and upbeat- that helps.
Cat.
"http://www.trileptal.com/info/about/children.jsp?usertrack.filter_applied=true&NovaId=3350119459237876346"triltal.com
Re: 6 year old started on Trileptal Today - All advice welcomed
Submitted by angel_lts on Sun, 2006-05-28 - 06:41
I have been on trileptal. I do want to say everyone is different. But trileptal can cause low sodium in some people. I had the problem when I was on high doses. But once we cut back alot, the low sodium went away. FOr it can bring on more seizures. Just be aware of that. When I would have many auras I knew I was low on sodium. I drank gatorade for the day or two to get me back to normal again. I hate gatorade so I drank it only when I truely needed. Look into omega three, it has helped me alot. Talk with your doctor first. hope that helps lisa http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/epilepsyapproach/