Over Night EEG Results, Dr Adding Another Med

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My 6 year old son was diagnosed with absence seizures in the Spring of this year. We received a second opinion in September and he began taking ethosuximde. He is currently taking 8ml per day, 4 in the morning and 4 before bed. He had an overnight EEG on November 20th and we received a call from the doctor this past Friday; he is still having a lot of seizures, even in his sleep. I was absolutely shocked and heart broken when she told me this, I have not seen any seizures since the beginning of October and he seemed to be sleeping well, his old personality even seemed to be coming back. She said that just because we aren't seeing any seizures doesn't mean that they aren't there, she was quite concerenced about the number of seizures he was having while he was sleeping.

The tech that hooked him up induced two seizures using the strobe lights and the hyperventilation methods and he had two seizures while we were there. I has so surprised by the two seizures, they were definitely different from what we saw before meds, they were just staring episodes. Where before he would flutter his eyelids and smack his lips and there were automatisms with the old ones as well. I thought maybe it was because he didn't get adequate rest the night before and maybe he was stressed from being at the hospital . . . he was so nervous about being there.

She wants to add Depakote to his regimine. I asked about increasing the etho and waiting another few months to see if that would change things. She felt that he would get better results from the Depakote and if this works she will begin to wean him off the etho in a few months and he will only be on the Depakote. I am a little taken back that she wouldn't even want to try to increase the etho, from what I've read it seems that my son is on a very small dose. He will have to have weekly blood work during the first month while he is taking the Depakote and then monthly there after, I'm having a hard time with this, I guess the medication wasn't working as well as we had thought. We have to go back in January for another over night and follow up appointment with the neuro.

I know that every child is different and will react to medication differently, but my question is has anyone else had a child on etho and depakote together and what type of results did you see? Did anyone have any problems or unpleasant side effects with the depakote?

Thank you so much for any input and I apologize for my rambling.

Comments

MomI am the one with epilepsy

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2015-12-02 - 12:00

MomI am the one with epilepsy. I se that you have had answers to your post. I went thru 20-25 different EEG's amd all came back normal. I fell asleep in the last test they did and it was another EEG. In that EEG they found abnormalities. Which is what they want to find.As mereloaded posted a person can have a seizure without it showing. If in the sleep and nothing showing has he even woke up really tired? If he has then he might have had seizures that night since any seizure of any kind drains energy. Depakote is a good medication and I took it some time ago. It worked well but I wanted better control then what I was getting. It did reduce the number of seizures I was having. By being on 2 medication at one time can be done and weaning one off of one meds does help since the neurologist is trying to control his seizures with 1 medication. Which is the goal fewer meds and control. The best way to get control and answers is to ask questions in a visit. IS this medication the best med for his seizures? If we still have seizures are the dosages right? Would coupling this medication with another one control his seizures beter? Are there any procedures that can help control his seizures? All are simply questions but by asking them the neurologist knows yo uwant results and they do work to find meds, procedures and even diets. As for reading on forums about children becomming Zombies and so forth. side effects do happen but you need to understand that any medication has side effects including over the counter meds. 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get side effects and they are the ones that make the posts. Which means that 92-95% of the people taking the medication has had no problem with it. If something is working for you do you post anything about it working right?It takes a few weeks for his body to get used to the medication which is about the length of time the side effects might happen. After weaning a person off a med the last time it is taken is not the lat time the medication is in his body. The theraputic level takes 4-6 weeks to completely leave his body.I hoipe this helps and he gets the medications set to control his seizures Joe

MomI am the one with epilepsy. I se that you have had answers to your post. I went thru 20-25 different EEG's amd all came back normal. I fell asleep in the last test they did and it was another EEG. In that EEG they found abnormalities. Which is what they want to find.As mereloaded posted a person can have a seizure without it showing. If in the sleep and nothing showing has he even woke up really tired? If he has then he might have had seizures that night since any seizure of any kind drains energy. Depakote is a good medication and I took it some time ago. It worked well but I wanted better control then what I was getting. It did reduce the number of seizures I was having. By being on 2 medication at one time can be done and weaning one off of one meds does help since the neurologist is trying to control his seizures with 1 medication. Which is the goal fewer meds and control.  The best way to get control and answers is to ask questions in a visit. IS this medication the best med for his seizures? If we still have seizures are the dosages right? Would coupling this medication with another one control his seizures beter? Are there any procedures that can help control his seizures? All are simply questions but by asking them the neurologist knows yo uwant results and they do work to find meds, procedures and even diets. As for reading on forums about children becomming Zombies and so forth. side effects do happen but you need to understand that any medication has side effects including over the counter meds. 5-8% of  the people taking the medication will get side effects and they are the ones that make the posts. Which means that 92-95% of the people taking the medication has had no problem with it. If something is working for you do you post anything about it working right?It takes a few weeks for his body to get used to the medication which is about the length of time the side effects might happen. After weaning a person off a med the last time it is taken is not the lat time the medication is in his body. The theraputic level takes 4-6 weeks to completely leave his body.I hoipe this helps and he gets the medications set to control his seizures Joe

MomI am the one with epilepsy. I se that you have had answers to your post. I went thru 20-25 different EEG's amd all came back normal. I fell asleep in the last test they did and it was another EEG. In that EEG they found abnormalities. Which is what they want to find.As mereloaded posted a person can have a seizure without it showing. If in the sleep and nothing showing has he even woke up really tired? If he has then he might have had seizures that night since any seizure of any kind drains energy. Depakote is a good medication and I took it some time ago. It worked well but I wanted better control then what I was getting. It did reduce the number of seizures I was having. By being on 2 medication at one time can be done and weaning one off of one meds does help since the neurologist is trying to control his seizures with 1 medication. Which is the goal fewer meds and control. The best way to get control and answers is to ask questions in a visit. IS this medication the best med for his seizures? If we still have seizures are the dosages right? Would coupling this medication with another one control his seizures beter? Are there any procedures that can help control his seizures? All are simply questions but by asking them the neurologist knows yo uwant results and they do work to find meds, procedures and even diets. As for reading on forums about children becomming Zombies and so forth. side effects do happen but you need to understand that any medication has side effects including over the counter meds. 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get side effects and they are the ones that make the posts. Which means that 92-95% of the people taking the medication has had no problem with it. If something is working for you do you post anything about it working right?It takes a few weeks for his body to get used to the medication which is about the length of time the side effects might happen. After weaning a person off a med the last time it is taken is not the lat time the medication is in his body. The theraputic level takes 4-6 weeks to completely leave his body.I hoipe this helps and he gets the medications set to control his seizures Joe

Over Night EEG Results, Dr Adding Another Med

Comments

MomI am the one with epilepsy

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2015-12-02 - 12:00

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