JME and Algebra?

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My daughter is 16 years old and she was diagnosed with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy almost one year ago. She is taking Keppra. She had one grand mal seizure in November 2015, another in December 2015, and another one in January 2016. She had an absence seizure this month - September 2016. The absence seizure happened in her AP Algebra II class. Prior to the absence seizure, she'd left her Algebra class a couple times to see the nurse during her Algebra class because of some violent myoclonic jerks she was experiencing, then the absence seizure happened. Today, I got another call from the nurse saying my daughter was experiencing some jerks during Algebra. I don't know a lot about epilepsy. It does not run in the family (as far as I know) and because she was diagnosed at age 15, I'm sort of treading uncharted waters here. Is it possible that the calculations in Algebra could be a trigger for seizure activity in her brain, or myoclonic activity? I have read about reflex epilepsy a little bit but I haven't read much about specific triggers that might be common, or if it's possible to have JME and reflex epilepsy. I feel a little bit lost, and if algebra is causing issues, I'm not sure what the solution is as far as her education goes.

Comments

I took algebra while in high

Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2016-09-29 - 15:28

I took algebra while in high school. Went thru algebra II and had no problems. Now you posted she has grand mals 3 different times. Then you posted about myoclonic jerks which could be seizures themselves, Absence seizures are just hat absence seizures. They are all different types of seizures. I know that once you have a grand mal seizure then you can have other types of seizures.Have you contacted her neurologist since the the last time she had a grand mal seizure? You posted absence seizures... Do you know what they look like and what the person in them looks like?? People in them look like they are day dreaming. The myoclonic jerks were other seizures, So at that time her neurologist needed to be called so adjustments could be done to stop them. Keppra is the best seizure medication I have ever used in the many years I have been using seizure meds. Adjustments can be done by either raising or lowering them. Another thing that needs to be done is taking her meds as directed. If the RX says 2 times a day it does not mean 8 am and 6 pm. Those times need to be 12 hours apart unless the neurologist states otherwise. By taking them 12 hours apart it keeps the therapeutic levels maintained so she will have no breakthru seizures.As for triggers and seizures. On this site you can find information on triggers. Understand that that list is general and that not all triggers are listed. Just like each persone seizures are different so are each persons triggers. The main triggers listed are stress and lack of sleep. I used to get 4-6 hours of sleep a night tops. So lack of sleep never bothered me. Stress can be a problem by learning how to handle it can keep stress out of the trigger area. My jobs have always been stressfull. I learned how to drop the stress at the door when I left the office and pick it up when walking in the next morning. Her education is important and she is just like the person next door. Let her take the courses she wants and can do. But check with her neurologist and see about her meds and dosages. Raising them can stop the other seizures she has been having.I hope this helps Joe

I took algebra while in high school. Went thru  algebra II and had no problems. Now you posted she has grand mals 3 different times. Then you posted about myoclonic jerks which could be seizures themselves, Absence seizures are just hat absence seizures. They are all different types of seizures. I know that once you have a grand mal seizure then you can have other types of seizures.Have you contacted her neurologist since the the last time she had a grand mal seizure? You posted absence seizures... Do you know what they look like and what the person in them looks like?? People in them look like they are day dreaming. The myoclonic jerks were other seizures, So at that time her neurologist needed to be called so adjustments could be done to stop them. Keppra is the best seizure medication I have ever used in the many years I have been using seizure meds. Adjustments can be done by either raising or lowering them. Another thing that needs to be done is taking her meds as directed. If the RX says 2 times a day it does not mean 8 am and 6 pm. Those times need to be 12 hours apart unless the neurologist states otherwise. By taking them 12 hours apart it keeps the therapeutic levels maintained so she will have no breakthru seizures.As for triggers and seizures. On this site you can find information on triggers. Understand that that list is general and that not all triggers are listed. Just like each persone seizures are different so are each persons triggers. The main triggers listed are stress and lack of sleep. I used to get 4-6 hours of sleep a night tops. So lack of sleep never bothered me. Stress can be a problem by learning how to handle it can keep stress out of the trigger area. My jobs have always been stressfull. I learned how to drop the stress at the door when I left the office and pick it up when walking in the next morning. Her education is important and she is just like the person next door. Let her take the courses she wants and can do. But check with her neurologist and see about her meds and dosages. Raising them can stop the other seizures she has been having.I hope this helps Joe

I took algebra while in high school. Went thru algebra II and had no problems. Now you posted she has grand mals 3 different times. Then you posted about myoclonic jerks which could be seizures themselves, Absence seizures are just hat absence seizures. They are all different types of seizures. I know that once you have a grand mal seizure then you can have other types of seizures.Have you contacted her neurologist since the the last time she had a grand mal seizure? You posted absence seizures... Do you know what they look like and what the person in them looks like?? People in them look like they are day dreaming. The myoclonic jerks were other seizures, So at that time her neurologist needed to be called so adjustments could be done to stop them. Keppra is the best seizure medication I have ever used in the many years I have been using seizure meds. Adjustments can be done by either raising or lowering them. Another thing that needs to be done is taking her meds as directed. If the RX says 2 times a day it does not mean 8 am and 6 pm. Those times need to be 12 hours apart unless the neurologist states otherwise. By taking them 12 hours apart it keeps the therapeutic levels maintained so she will have no breakthru seizures.As for triggers and seizures. On this site you can find information on triggers. Understand that that list is general and that not all triggers are listed. Just like each persone seizures are different so are each persons triggers. The main triggers listed are stress and lack of sleep. I used to get 4-6 hours of sleep a night tops. So lack of sleep never bothered me. Stress can be a problem by learning how to handle it can keep stress out of the trigger area. My jobs have always been stressfull. I learned how to drop the stress at the door when I left the office and pick it up when walking in the next morning. Her education is important and she is just like the person next door. Let her take the courses she wants and can do. But check with her neurologist and see about her meds and dosages. Raising them can stop the other seizures she has been having.I hope this helps Joe

Thank you, that was helpful.

Submitted by Evelyn Rangel on Fri, 2016-10-07 - 16:18

Thank you, that was helpful. I have called her neurologist every time she has had a seizure. Each time, she increases the dosage a little bit, including when she has myoclonic jerks. We do periodic blood work to see how her body is absorbing it, too. She went a long time without any jerks and then they started up again when school started - probably stress-related. I was not around when the absence seizure happened; she was in her Algebra class and she said her teacher started writing a formula on the board and all of a sudden he was writing the answer. She didn't remember how he got to the answer or hearing him talk his way through all the steps.It just seems strange to me that she starts having jerks and other symptoms during Algebra. She does not typically experience this at home during that time period. But like Chandan said, maybe it is related to something else like thyroid?