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NEW & LOST...19 Year Old Daughter 2 seizures in 2 months
Wed, 11/15/2017 - 22:53Topic: Parents & Caregivers
My daughter who has a lifelong history of anxiety and had first seizure at 18 yrs old in August 2017 and again 2 months later at 19 yrs old in October.
First seizure diagnosed as Tonic Clonic
Second seizure not witnessed but tongue bite seems to confirm seizure
Both seizures preceded by stressful events
EEG after 2nd seizure showed one spike during hyperventilation possibly contaminated by muscle movement
CT scan clean
MRI clean
Sleep deprived EEG being ordered
Epileptologist’s first guess is JME and suggests Lamictal but is waiting for more testing before prescribing. What about nonsepileptic seizure? Daughter is depressed. Doesn’t want to return to college. My head is spinning.
Any insight or advice for my daughter or myself?
Comments
There are some common
Submitted by Amy Jo on Thu, 2017-11-16 - 12:59
There are some common comorbidities with epilepsy. Depression is one of those and you might want to ask the doc about those. I associate my child's anxiety with her epilepsy since until treatment had progressed to better control seizures, the anxiety was awful. Anxiety would build before a seizure (for our child) and then be cleared away after, the after was so much better! Now the anxiety is high but workable. Epilepsy medications can adversely and positively impact a person, as brain chemistry impacts our moods or thinking. I hope treatment improves her outlook and quality of life to get her in a position to feel more in control and able to do more of what she wants in life.
Amy Jo, thank you so much for
Submitted by Milfordrefugee on Thu, 2017-11-16 - 21:00
Amy Jo, thank you so much for your answers. The sleep deprived EEG appointment has been scheduled for December 10th. Longer than she wants to wait but it’ll have to do. The epileptologist will be on rounds that day, he will look at the test as soon as it’s done and then meet with us. What a crazy month. My mother died last month and then 4 days later she had the 2nd seizure. With that, all hope of the first one being a one-off has disappeared. Thank you again for your advice!
PNES is often misdiagnosed.
Submitted by Amy Jo on Thu, 2017-11-16 - 12:59
PNES is often misdiagnosed. One should have an experienced epileptologist involved if that is a possible option. I would only accept a PNES diagnosis if a person 'had' a tonic clonic while on EEG but the EEG did not show it - because proof of epilepsy doesn't always show up on EEGs but a generalized seizure would not be missed on EEG. PNES can occur in epilepsy patients so the diagnosis can delay proper treatment of the epilepsy. PNES is a much worse diagnosis in that getting appropriate treatment is very difficult - so JME is actually a more treatable option.No one is happy to get a major medical diagnosis, there's a period of shock, denial and grief for everyone. It's important your daughter doesn't become isolated but has a good network of support right now. Most people respond well to appropriate treatment so knowing what type of epilepsy is involved is an important part of getting the right treatment.