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Help! 4 yr old daughter just diagnosed with Absence Seizures
Mon, 09/15/2014 - 16:49We are a bit overwhelmed to say the least. Our beautiful healthy, month away from 4 yrs old, daughter just stared having unresponsive staring spells and her eye brows would twitch. A trip to the pediatrican had us scheduled for an EEG two days later. The EEG was abnormal so we met with a pediatric neurologist the day after. He came into the exam room. Asked a few questions (not many), asked her to draw a few things, build a bridge with blocks, and describe some pictures. He then showed us a portion of the EEG and told us she had absence seizures. He said her course of treatment was going to be Zarontin, twice a day. I asked about blood work or other imaging and he said it wasn't necessary. She's been taking Zarontin (the generic form) for the past 4 days. Its been a struggle because she hates the taste. It seemed to work like a charm at first but I started catching her having her spells again today. I guess I just have some general questions that I could use some help with.
1) Does the exam by the Pediatric Neuro seem about right? No blood work or MRI? Is the EEG that obvious for this diagnosis?
2) Any suggestions to get her to take the meds easier?
3) Why would the seizures appear to have gone away with the meds and now start apeparing again?
4) Our daughter is in afternoon preschool but still loves to nap. Should we switch to a morning preschool to allow the napping? Would that help with any of this?
Thanks in advance. Any other words of wisdom are appreciated.
The EEG is all that is needed
Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2014-09-15 - 18:06
The EEG is all that is needed if it showed abnormalities (seizure activity). Absence seizures are petite mal seizures. If she were in class years ago she might have been written up for day dreams. I had been for a little over a year.Blood work can be done but if she is healthy it isn't needed. The only other thing blood work might lead to is epilepsy being hereditary which is rare. The MRI will only show anything wrong or something that happened to her head. My MRI wouls show scared brain tissue but then I was knocked out after hitting my head in a fall. Back then the doctors were more worried about the 4 teeth knocked out and the 32 stiches needed for my tongue and cheek then the bump on my head. You still have a beautifull littel girl and she will be able to do what she wants and will maybe be the smartest kid in her class, Epilepsy is not as bad as many people think. Do some research ans you will find out that there are 40+ different types of seizures. The type she has is the slightest. She may grow out of it too. Also understand that medications can control her seizures. As for her medication zarontin is a good medication. It does take time for hte level of medication to get where it needs to in the body. If she has side effects they will be gone after her body gets used to her medication. If she is to take it 2 times a day it should be 12 hours apart unless the neurologist says differently. If taken at 7 am and 9 pm the 2 hour delay can cause break thru seizures. As for ways to make the med taste better. I would doctor it with chololate or strawberry milk or something like that. Me I have taken pills for mine for 50+ years.You might ask the pharmacist how to get the kid to take it and if it needs to be shaken ot just as it is. I would also suggest you get the My Epilepsy Diary which can be found near the bottom of this page put the arrow of your mouse on the get help section and it will come up on the right hand side. Watch the video which tells yo uhow to use it. If your her neurologist permission to bring it up he can view the graphs and other data which can help him come up with medications, dosages and other procedures that can help get her seizure free Epilepsy is more common than Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and strokes combined? Yet, little is said or writen about it, as many endure those symptoms in secret for fear of stigma. That stigma has been around for for about 2000 years. Cesar had the falling sickness (yup epilepsy) I do hope she gets seizure free and you come back and let us know how she is doing. Joe