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Benign childhood epilepsy and lasting medication effects
Thu, 05/02/2019 - 22:10Topic: Medication Issues
Hi, I am a 22 year old female who had benign childhood epilepsy (grand Mal seizures on a monthly basis) from ages 12 to 15, during which time I took Lamictal every day. While I am no longer on the medication, I feel like taking the drug at such a young age/crucial time in my development has impacted my ability to concentrate and has affected my memory. Does anyone know anything about this? Are there any lasting side effects of Lamictal years after stopping if you were a child when you took the drug? I know the prefrontal cortex does not develop until age 25, is there any way that any part of my brain could have been developmentally slowed while taking this drug?
Comments
U will never know. I wonder
Submitted by Onionapple1985@gmail.com on Sun, 2019-05-12 - 23:07
U will never know. I wonder same, I been on it since 14, I'm 33 now. And my memory etc is terrible and now they say I got ADHD. I always wonder if it's really the epi drugs. No doc or neuro can answer your question. It's poss that's the answer is get. Sorry. But cos ur only 22 u may get better and better, use it mind more could help. Are u on any drugs now?
It could be the seizures, or
Submitted by Athena_5ce4563aba984 on Tue, 2019-05-21 - 16:01
It could be the seizures, or the medication, or both. I have had problems with my memory after only a few months, whether due to the drugs or my seizure episode, I don't know. Lamictal is perhaps not as bad as some of the other drugs. There are natural remedies that might help, e.g., omega 3 .
The ‘benign’ naming can be
Submitted by Amy Jo on Sat, 2019-05-04 - 09:19
The ‘benign’ naming can be misleading. They tend to refer to such epilepsies as ‘self limiting’ now as some ‘benign’ epilepsies can have lasting cognitive effects. In other words they are not always benign. So the impact you are wondering about could be due to the epilepsy or uncontrolled seizures. I know I’ve read published papers that have noted such impacts and the patients were on any number of medications.