my mother is having seizures PLEASE HELP!! - Epilepsy Message Board

melissa10383 · 04-19-2006, 08:34 PM

my mother has been having seizures for the past 6 to 7 months. She is 45 and had never had this problem before. When this started she had just got out of the hospital after a fall up the front steps and she broke her foot .she went to different doctors who gave her different meds too many so she had to go to the hospital to get them regulated. when the seizure began they where kinda weird she didnt really shake she would pass out and then kind shake after she came to. the doctor put her on depakote among others. well then she would just passout at anytime without any warning . she broke her knee cap so the doctor took her off the meds and then

the real seizures began this happens like every week and half or less. And it seems the only time she has a warning is when she is in the bed. on Easter we where at my gradparents house and my mother was acting fine she got up and was going to go off the porch when she passout and fell down the steps onto bricks and went into a seizure we called the rescue and by the time they got there she had had 5 seizures then after that she had two more the doctor got to see 1 and he said they are not epilepsy seizures but abnormal ones. Thank the Lord she did not brake a bone when she fell or get hurt real bad . Anyway she has had all kinds of test and everything comes back fine . Cat scans,eeg,heart monator etc. PLEASE HELP!!

Travis from MN · 04-19-2006, 09:18 PM

Depakote takes about 4 days to level out (become a consistant level) after a person starts it... However; most likely if they were JUST put on it; there will be increases to try and reach a goal the Dr has in his head (and it takes time after each increase for the new levels to stabalize).

Depa has interactions with other meds; so that would be the first thing I would look into if it was MY case (and I had epilepsy drug interactions with Depa before!). Mind you if she is on other medications for post surgery (pain medications, or other) THEY may also have an effect on the seizure medications ability to properly function; or Depa may boost or weaken the effect of those drugs; too hard to say in specific.

As for WHY the seizures all of a sudden started, thats hard to say for her case. Do you know of any family history of seizures or epilepsy from that side of the family (earlier in the family tree). If it's in the family history there is no real predicting when it will start; but could be a potential warning for others that they may have a risk of seizures/epilepsy.

If there is no history, or previous record of seizures; then it could be a huge potential for why; and I'm sure the Dr's are looking into that (head trauma, infection, neurological issues, for a short listing they already know). Being it started post surgery I'm sure they are trying to find out.

IF she is having "drop seizures" (falls down to the ground/floor when it strikes) you may consider head protection as an option if they are daily (soft sparring helmet, sports store) to prevent head injuries; as long as she wouldn't object to the protection if they are that frequent.

Making sure there is some way she can contact family/reach phone in case of emergency is another idea to look at if this keeps up. Or have somebody if possible check in on her daily (in real life; not just by phone). IF possible... You can't be everywhere.

--Travis