Hi everyone it feels so good to find a site like this. I never knew much about seizures until my 3yr old daughter started having them. Her eyes were moving left and right and her head would turn to the left the doctor said they were patial complex seizures. She is on depakene and trileptal. i feel that the meds are changing her personality and she is very cranky. Does anyone know if theres a chance she could grow out of them or when she could stop the meds. she was having about 30 - 40 seizures a day for 2 weeks.(very scary)
could that cause brain damage?? im sorry im just so worried about her that i sit up every night crying.

It's taken almost a year to get past that crying all day and night stage like you. I know there are no words that can really comfort you. My daughter is 8 and on Keppra. My nephew had a metabolic disorder when he was first born and was having continuous seizures - day and night for about 2 weeks. My sister was a new mother and didn't know it was a seizure until my older sister happened to babysit and told her what was going on. The doctors corrected the problem and he hasn't had a seizure since. He's perfectly normal neurologically. Some say the seizures can cause brain damage, but I don't know. It sure didn't affect him. He's nine now. Do they know where her seizures originate from? Your family is in my prayers.

Thank you so much for responding. My doctor told me its coming from the left side of the brain. (he saw that on the EEG) she had an allergic reaction to dilantin and was hallucinating all night long. its been a very hard experience for her she stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks getting poked, getting tests done. She seems neurologicaly normal but im still afraid that she will be mentally slow when she goes to school. Thank God now the seizures are under control and the doctor said the last EEG looked normal so hopefully there ween her off on Depakene and keep her on trileptalfor 2 years. What kind of seizures does your daughter have?? Again thank you so much for responding to me i feel better already!!!

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Where is your daughter being treated? Has she has a grand mal or just the partials? My daughter's seizures come from the mesial area of the left temporal lobe. So glad to hear your daughter's second EEG was normal!! Take care.

Hi- waiting to sort it all out by elimination of each tests is exausting to say the least. My daughter is almost 18 and has generalized seizure activity. She is developmentally delayed with no known cause. Started seeing the seizures at age 3 months.The early years were a nightmare. I can honestly say it has been quite a journey, but - life is good. My hope is that you will get control of her seizures and move on in life, sounds like it is quite possible in her case - you will have to be patient........loving life....Paula

Hi Kella, It is heartbreaking to see your child go through this. SOme of your questions can not be answered however. Whether she will outgrow this depends on what kind she has. Benign Rolandic is one type that is outgrown during puberty. The EEG would be specific in a certain part of the brain. Some people do end up with some varying degrees of brain damage, but mostly if they have prolonged grand mals. Jury is still out on this issue. Many people have full lives, do not have slow mental capacity and are ok despite having Epilepsy. SOme meds do interfere with learning and thinking. If you see her having more trouble you can talk to the doctor about switching meds to find what is best for her as far as seizure control and learning. Sounds like she is having a ton of seizures. Have you tried going for a second opinion? Your best bet may be to find and Epilepsy specialist called an Epileptologist. (A neurologist who took further training in Epilepsy and treats only Epilepsy). If she gets total control on meds she stands a good chance of being able to be weaned off meds and stay seizure free. Best wishes...

Hi everyone thank you so much for all your info. Im basically taking it one step at a time. The seizures are being controlled now by Depakene and Trileptal. I feel like she takes medication all day long(that cant be too good for her little body) Shes being treated in Long Island Jewish which is a very good hospital in New York. I didnt know that there were special doctors onle for epilepsy I thought that was just a regular neurologists job. Im suprised that the doctor didnt tell me that. She was having partial seizures which her eyes were moving side to side. I dont know exactly how long shes been having them because they were hard to tell. Im going to a meeting this Wednesday thats for parents whos kids have epilepsy. (By the way the neurologists said to me that he feels confident that she will grow out of them but then again who knows) Thanks again for all your responses please feel free to give me any advise it will be greatly appreciated. Take care Kella

Hi Kella,
Brain cells are damaged during the course of the seizures. Since we have billions of brain cells, the chance of her becomming slow is unlikely but her memory may go faster than usual (in her 30's & 40's). Depakene is one of the last resorts because of the side effects (which I can't remember). The drugs may interfere with her concentration - you'll notice if you see a drop in her grades. Seizure drugs usually cause a bit of drowziness; depending on the drug(s) this may not cause her to fall asleep but not to be as adherent/aware as she was prior to this. As far as being slow, people whom are born with epilepsy are slow. People that become epileptics during there childhood (or adulthood) normally are not, depending on the cause of epilepsy (i.e. serious accident affecting the brain). An example is that if this is just a scar on the temporal lobe possibly due to infections and fevers when she was younger, this most likely should not occur. Growing out of it is always in question.

Because she's female, puberty/adolescense will be a nightmare due to the raging hormones (estrogen, ADH (anti-diuretic hormone). This happens during PMS and may continue during the cycle. Birth control pills can cause "absence" mal seizures (estrogen/hormones). Women are always more difficult to control.

You may want to keep a journal (or ask your daughter to keep a journal or assist you) to see if you can catch what causes the seizures (anxiety, music/type of sound, lights, etc), how long they last, if she has an aura prior to the seizure(e.g. ringing in her ear, nausea, etc), how long it lasts, if she can hear/understand what you are saying, aware of what is going on around her, is she able to respond normally (if you ask her her name during a seizure can she pronounce it?).

Good luck.



[This message has been edited by giupset (edited 03-20-2003).]