Hi everyone,
Tomorrow I take my daughter off to the hospital for her 2nd EEG and I'm nervous and don't know why!. She is 7 1/4 and had one seizure in Sep. 2001. At that time they did the EEG (abnornmal brainwave activity) and CAT scan (negative). She has been on tegretal ever since. I do have a couple of ?'s about epilepcy as I don't know much about it and she hasn't had a seizure since that one time (I think I've also been in denial about it).
1) A couple of days ago she was complaining that her eyes were hurting and that she couldn't see properly - any thing to do with epilepcy?
2) Ever since she has been on tegretal she gets very tired in the P.M., The Dr. says her body should get used to it (the meds) but that hasn't seemed to happen in 1 1/2 years. It affects her at school , she's in grade 1.
3) Can tegretal make a child hyper???? We have a BIG history of ADHD in our family but it seems like since she started taking tegretal she's been VERY bouncy and inattentive - also affects school. She was bouncy and inattentive before, it's just that it seemed to heighten since the tegretal.
I am sorry about your daughter. I have a third grade son who has been on medication since kindergarten. He started with Phenylbarbital and then changed to Tegratol a year and a half ago. These is some good news, ask your physican about lowering the dosage to see if that works to reduce the side effects. My son who weighs about 80 pounds takes 200 mg twice a day. He hasn't had a seizure in over two years.Also, ask the physican about the possibility of her out growing the seizures, if she has had only one, maybe she will out grow them in her teenage years?
Also, maybe you want to get a second opinion?
My son is always a little slow about an hour after he takes them in the morning, not slow. However, when he is playing some sport like soccer which he does three times a week it seems that he just doen't hustle as much if he recently took his medication. If your concern is that she get tired in the afternoon, maybe you should find out about reducing her dosage.
jeff101,
To answer a few of your suggestions. The neurologist did say that she could possibly outgrow this and will start weening her off the meds after 2 years (that would be in sept this year). My daughter was in kindergarten also when it happened AT SCHOOL! (2nd week into school). She has had about 4-5 finger ***** blood tests this fall/winter (she has another blood test tomorrow after her EEG) and her "numbers" were always low so they kept raising the dose. She takes the control release because she can swallow pills. Her current dose is 600mg a day, 300mg at breakfast and 300mg at supper. She weighs 45 lbs. I don't understand the "number" thing from the blood tests. I think when she started tegretal she was taking 100mg 3x day (chewables - she hated them). I honestly don't remember the dose, it just keeps changing. Does this medication really go by weight?, she has only gained 2 lbs in the last 1 1/2 years!
Well my daughter had the EEG done yesterday but I won't get any results until I see the Dr. on March 17th. I found it so nerve racking watching all the little lines on the computer screen and not understanding what all those waves meant!
Are you comfortable waiting for a month to get the results of your child's EEG results? Would you be comfortable having a copy of the results mailed or faxed to you in advance? This is what I do. No one should have to wait so long to get answers. -kp2002
I guess i'm okay waiting, only because I have so much going on in the next month to keep me from being obsessed (sp?) about it. Between now and the appointment we have 4 birthdays, my husbands' is tomorrow, mine on the 18th, my eldest son (tuning 9) on the 27th and my youngest son (turning 3) on March 10th. So I will have 2 birthday parties to plan and do. There will also be the March break (Feb.28 - March 10) where 4 out of 5 of my kids are off school -YIKES! Thank God the daycare will be open or my youngest would just drive me insane, he's in between the terrible 2's and trying 3's - defiant, mouthy (he speaks well), oppositional, wants his own way or else - big temper tantrums (not just the lying on the floor kind, He'll cry, yell, swat at you, run around in his fit, knock thing over, throw things, etc...
Anyway, enough about him! If my life wasn't soooo busy and if she had still been having seizures, then I wouldn't be comfortable waiting.
My 7 year old nephew has recently been started on Tegretal. He is frequently complaining about neck pain. Pain balms/gels don't seem to help because he says it is "hurting from the inside" of the neck. Has anyone heard about this phenomenon? The doctor doesn't seem to be paying it much heed.
?'s about tegretal and 7 year old 
