Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
son with epilepsy after taking medication ritalin
Thu, 01/12/2006 - 17:21Topic: Parents & Caregivers
HI, I'm new to this site and i just had some questions and some concerns.Im going to try to make this short but my son is 6 he will be 7 in a few days.In November we started him on ritalin because of his school teacher saying he was not doing good in school and she told us along with other school staff that he had adhd.We didnt think he did but i didnt know what else to do and didnt want him to fail.the doctor said i could just let it be a school thing and he didnt have to take it at home or on the weekends,etc.so when he got out for christmas break i wasnt giving it to him 3 days before christmas which was thursday he had his first seizure,friday he had 2 which were bad.we were taking him to e.r.after the first and second one then they scheduled us with an neurologist and they done an eeg which they said came back abnormal and they say he has epilepsy.i never started him back on the ritalin and now he is taking a liquid medication called depakene for his epilepsy.since then he has had 1 more seizure while they were trying to get the dose right on his med.i am convinced that the ritalin has caused this since he has always been a healthy boy with no problems and started taking ritalin and was only on it for a month if that and now he has this problem.if you can help me in anyway let me know. i dont know what to do i am very mad and upset.
Comments
Re: son with epilepsy after taking medication ritalin
Submitted by angel_lts on Mon, 2006-01-23 - 07:53
Hi
I am so sorry for this terrible problem happening out of the blue. Ritalin can lower the threshold in patients who HAVE seizures. Could it be that he was having them only at night and you didnt know it? It could be possible he was having complex seizure or absent seizures during school and that is why he was not doing so well. Check for eye twitching during the day.
take care
Lisa
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/epilepsyapproach/
Re: son with epilepsy after taking medication ritalin
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2006-01-24 - 17:41
Glad to have you on the site, but sorry to hear of all you have been through. Unfortunately, sorting out seizures and attention problems, and the role of medicines is not very easy. Sometimes seizures aren't picked up easily until one with motor features or other symptoms occurs. Sometimes attention problems and seizures occur together in kids. Take a look at some of the information on seizures and learning issues on the home page and see if it helps as you start to read up on all this. Take a list of questions to the doctor treating the seizures. Talk to him about the school problems - sometimes testing is helpful to sort out effects of seizures or other problems on learning/attention/behavior.
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/types_seizures.html
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/thinking_memory.html
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/social_education.html
Hope some of this helps.
Best wishes,
Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist
Re: son with epilepsy after taking medication ritalin
Submitted by LiSS on Tue, 2008-11-11 - 16:14
There has been enough proof that Ritalin not only causes some cases of epilepsy, but children diagnosed with ADHD or ADD,who are put on Ritalin that already have epilepsy, have died from it.
There are hundreds of stories, that are all the same: "My child was diagnosed with ADHD...put on Ritalin...died a month later from a heart attack..."
Children with Epilepsy are at a serious risk when given Ritalin. Ritalin will not only accelerates their heart beat, but it triggers epileptic centers, causing them to seize and to go into coronary failure. Coronary failure is just another fancy term for a HEART ATTACK. Hundreds of children with epilepsy, who were diagnosed with ADHD or ADD and prescribed for Ritalin, have DIED because of it!
If your child has epilepsy, and is diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and prescribed for Ritalin, DO NOT allow your physician to make that choice. Fact: ALL MEDICAL OFFICIALS and DRUG COMPANIES DENY THE EFFECTS OF RITALIN ON EPILEPSY.
Here is just one of hundreds of cases: http://archive.salon.com/health/log/2000/04/27/ritalin/index.html
Here to Help - Alyssa
There has been enough proof that Ritalin not only causes some cases of epilepsy, but children diagnosed with ADHD or ADD,who are put on Ritalin that already have epilepsy, have died from it.
There are hundreds of stories, that are all the same: "My child was diagnosed with ADHD...put on Ritalin...died a month later from a heart attack..."
Children with Epilepsy are at a serious risk when given Ritalin. Ritalin will not only accelerates their heart beat, but it triggers epileptic centers, causing them to seize and to go into coronary failure. Coronary failure is just another fancy term for a HEART ATTACK. Hundreds of children with epilepsy, who were diagnosed with ADHD or ADD and prescribed for Ritalin, have DIED because of it!
If your child has epilepsy, and is diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and prescribed for Ritalin, DO NOT allow your physician to make that choice. Fact: ALL MEDICAL OFFICIALS and DRUG COMPANIES DENY THE EFFECTS OF RITALIN ON EPILEPSY.
Here is just one of hundreds of cases: http://archive.salon.com/health/log/2000/04/27/ritalin/index.html
Here to Help - Alyssa