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Temporal Lobe Epilepsy - Simple partial Seizures
Mon, 06/05/2006 - 05:40Topic: Parents & Caregivers
Hi,
I'm new to this, my son (10years old) was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy last week, i believe he has simple partial seizures although the doctor did not go into this. For the past year or so he has experienced episodes of de ja vu, at first we thought that was all they were, after he has theses episodes he has a really bad headache, feel sick, sometimes goes clammy and feels quite tired. The last couple of times he had it he also heard voices, which was really scary for him, the episodes of de ja vu and voice hearing usually only last about 2 mins. Sorry if I'm rambling on a bit, but I feel in such a daze about it all, my son is an above average intelligent boy and I feel like we've gone from just thinking he's having de ja vu, which most people I know get every so often, to epilepsy. The diagnosis was confirmed by a 3rd EEG, but the doctor doesn't seem to be able to answer any of my questions and I reall feel like we're walking blind. If anybody out there can help answer these questions I'd be so grateful, firstly I asked the doctor what the chances are of the seizures developing into full blown fits, she said she didn't know, I asked if he might grow out of them, she said she didn't know. Basicallly she said they will either stay the same, get better or get worse, which to me is pretty obvious! She left it up to me whether or not we started treatment, and so far we haven't, but if I start treatment now while they're not so bad will that prevent them getting any worse? Or if they're going to get worse will that happen anyway regardless of whether we start treatment now or later? If anyone can help I'd be so grateful, right now I don't know whether I'm coming or going.
Thanks
Lisa
Comments
Re: Re: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy - Simple partial Seizures
Submitted by Debi on Fri, 2007-07-27 - 02:33
Hey Christine,
I see your post was a year ago but my ten year old daughter has just been diagnosed with rolandic or childhood epilepsy with central tempral spikes (BECTS). I was wondering how close this was to your case and how the meds worked out for you all. Our first neuro visit this week really didn't give us much more info than what I already learned on the net. The neuro reccomended no meds for now unless we wanted her on them and then he would reccomend Keppra or Neurontin
we are torn on what to do because of the side affects. Her first and only seizure so far has been a tonic clonic and it was abnormally long..about fifteen minutes. I never want her go through that again. Right now we are not medicating and are wondering when the next seizure will or will not come. Anyone else out there who has any info at all on this type of epilepsy please tell me your story. Thanks Debi
Re: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy - Simple partial Seizures
Submitted by littlebug on Sat, 2006-07-01 - 20:14
My daughter is 5 now and has simple partial and complex partial seizures.what I recently learned(as a few days ago)is that although her periods of starring are very short less than a minute her memory is being affected.after a spell she is unable to retain information for up to two hrs after it occurs.the question to medicate is never easy.my husband and i are both firefighters and see the complications from seizure medications.we researched to find the meds we were both comfortable with.we started her on trileptal.it is fairly safe.It doesn't affect the kidneys or liver or require routine blood test.another one that we are switching her to is lamictal.it helps with memory and is semilar to trileptal.if you have a good ped.talk to him about your options as well.I no for me having my daughter on meds helped me to rest easier knowing that it helps her
Re: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy - Simple partial Seizures
Submitted by Christine1968 on Tue, 2006-06-13 - 08:50
Hi Lisa, I have a 10 year old son with rolandic epilepsy. He was diagnosed two years ago and believe me, I know how you feel. My husband and I decided to hold off on medicating even though his neurologist recommended it. At that point he had only had two simple partial seizures and we were very concerned about side effects of medication. After making the decision to wait on the medication, my son had a few more simple partial seizures. We thought we could handle it. He wasn't losing consciousness, even though he couldn't respond to us until the seizure was over. Then he had his first tonic clonic (grand mal). After that we put him on medication. He started taking Trileptal in Sept. of 2004 and was still having seizures...less severe because of the medication, but still having seizures. Now he is on Lamictal and we're still working on getting the dosage right. I am not saying that your son will have a grand mal, just giving you our personal story. Our neurologist told us that if you don't do something to control the seizures, they can sometimes continue to get worse. We had done a lot of research ourselves and didn't really find much to support that, but in our case it turned out to be true. It's hard and can be consuming at times. I hope this helps you. Good luck.