epilepsy w/o meds - Epilepsy Message Board

shoshy5 · 05-04-2008, 08:39 PM

my son who is 13 had 4 cups of wine 2 nights in a row ( passover holiday ) . he went to bed after 2 am. he had seizures both nights while sleeping (didnt realize it was seizure till 2nd night when he vomited ) his sezure lasted about 2 min. he never had a seizure b/f an EEG showed spikes and was put on depakote immediately . i feel that since it was provoked by alcohol why not wait and see i feel he most likely wont have another for along while . is it worth it. its not like hes driving or anything. has anyone ever heard of such a a case ? please i really need advice.

Travis from MN · 05-04-2008, 09:02 PM

Seizures can start at any point (age) for people. That is the wild card. Some cases start at a few months, others start in the 50's. There is no way to predict when (IF) it may start or what grade of seizures the person may have.

You are wondering if you'd be ahead to avoid medications for now? NO. Once seizures start and doctors have it on file they want to keep the patient on medication, if they say "short term" that may be a FEW years just to be safe.

It is being safe. You don't want a family member going into a seizure and falling down hitting their head on the table or floor due to refusing to administer medications. Try to think the injuries that could happen if they (seizures) were NOT controlled by medications.

This is a dangerous area to go about on your own without professional advice from neurologists.

Avoiding alcohol is a wise idea now that this is known, and that the person is on medications. Come future celebrations for religions events, I don't know if it is allowed, but consider NA wine for him to still partake in them and not be at risk or insulted.

Think, in only a few years DRIVING will be the discussion, and this very issue (seizures) will come up when dealing with the state DOT.

--Travis

life_is_good · 05-05-2008, 05:50 AM

If it were my child, I think I'd be in the "wait and see" camp. As far as we know, he's never had seizures before. Alcohol does lower the seizure threshold and he did have minimal sleep that night.

My question would be...how soon after the second seizure was the EEG done? If it was done while the alcohol was still in his system, then the spikes that showed up, might be reflecting that. I think I'd wait a month, see if he has anymore episodes and then repeat the EEG and see what it shows. Why not discuss this option with your child's neurologist and see what he thinks about waiting a month?

I would hate to see a child be put on seizure meds, especially if it was triggered by something he can easily avoid. Our passover holidays have since been replaced with grape juice since my seizures began, lol.

Please keep us posted, would love to hear an update on your son.

Jheezy · 05-08-2008, 06:35 PM

I feel that is way better to be safe than sorry. You can still get an eeg if he is taking the meds. If he doesnt take them and has another seizure then there is a much bigger chance of damage.

life_is_good · 05-09-2008, 04:24 AM

I guess it's a personal decision. I'm certainly not against medication when it comes to seizures, but having 4 cups of wine in one night (and then again the following night) is enough to trigger anyone into having a seizure, who might not normally have had one - especially a child. That's why I suggested to wait a month and see if any other episodes occur. Anyway, I'm curious what the original poster (shoshy)decided to do? I hope she posts back.