My 17 year old dtr has epilepsy

[epileric]

I"m an adult with a parent who turns me into a helpless child if she sees that I've had a large seizure. It's the worst time to have to deal with that sort of stuff

I mean it's the worst time to deal with someone else reacting to my seizure

[epileric]

. Practice away... you can always hit the edit button and reverse it.

An edit button, what a concept!

[S-J Walsh]

That you "Seize the Day' for telling me how it is on the "other side". I feel much better now. I do tend to hover and act over-protective. Now I won't do that anymore. I'll just see it as another seizure and get on with it. If she wants my help, she'll ask for it. We are very close and I don't want to drive a wedge between us by being too protective. Thank you so much for your advice. s-j

[alivenwell]

I've witnessed some pretty bad szs from one person over a course of several days. Basically, she was normal until one was triggered and then she had very unusual shallow breathing and gutteral noises. I knew she was not physically injuring herself via falling. BUT, it did scare me.
Personally, I'd rather have somebody's concern in my interests rather than their apathy or sympathy. Sympathy is not needed for this condition. Friendship, understanding and avoidance of injury are the best anybody can do for this condition. Friendship and companionship are the most valuable to me. They reduce the stress. The less stress, the less likely another seizure happens.

[S-J Walsh]

Arielle had 3 more seizures in her sleep at around 2 am this morning. She was also not feeling well the night before. She went to bed at around 8 pm which is odd for her. She said she had been throwing up part of the night. Could that be a new side affect from the add-on drug Topimax which she just started taking on the 3rd of January? I doubt it, but there's also alot of flu going around in Calgary right now so I wonder if that could have triggered the seizures. I let her stay home from school today to get some rest. She seemed a little better when I got home from work. But, of course, I worried about her all day at work. I just pray that the new add-on works once she gets up to the proper dose, which will be the week of Feb 19/08. Please help me to stop panicing. s-j

[epileric]

Hope these help give you more info you need on meds. You can do a search for Topimax on either site.

http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/hp.asp

http://www.pdrhealth.com/drugs/drugs-index.aspx

[alivenwell]

Well, SJ, 'tis flu season and your daughter probably has it. If she is not holding any food down or liquid down, her meds are also not likely to be absorbed into her system either. That one alone can cause a seizure. Check her temp, give her lots of non-decaffeinated drink with electrolytes (a good sports drink will do) and a lot of rest. I'm not sure if Topimax would negatively interact with any ibuprofen, aspirin, antacids, etc. I keep a written record of drugs that work well for me. Maybe a flu shot next October will help? Any stuff for a cold can potentially cause a seizure, especially if it has menthol. I'm all for hot chicken soup. It's decaffeinnated, pumps liquids into a system especially with a fever, feels great if anybody has chills from that fever and I understand it has some healthy stuff in it.

My son had the flu, and he also had a flu shot last year. He's a really healthy, young fit 20 year old, but he was pretty sick with a fever last week. He was definitely resting and recovering. He's back to normal, now. I had one scary thought. The MRSA flu is very strong. If your daughter does not have that, I'd highly recommend that she gets a MRSA shot asap when she recovers.

And, just purely out of curiosity, did your daughter see a school nurse? Hopefully no drugs that conflicted with her Topimax were administered. I'd ask your daughter if she got any school meds.

[RobinN]

Many of those flu shots still have thimerosal in them or they are substituting aluminum for the mercury. Please check, as neither of these are good for anyone with a neurological disorder.

Also, the body is meant to have fever (to a point) to rid the body of the virus'. If you suppress it.... does the body actually clear the virus completely? That is the question being asked.

[alivenwell]

In my case, a really high fever caused my E. I nearly suffocated and died. Would a children's aspirin helped me....? We'll never know.

[RobinN]

Tricky creatures we are, that is for sure.
Others believe their childrens autism has been caused by virus. Clearing the virus is recovering their children. Daily I read posts from teary eyed parents that either have watched their child regress after a vaccine, or they are ecstactic that their loved one is now making eye contact and speaking for the first time.... in complete sentences no less.
Obviously there is a delicate balance, and who is to know where our breaking point is.
Perhaps someday perhaps there will be a computer program for that too.

[epileric]

Tricky creatures we are, that is for sure.
Others believe their childrens autism has been caused by virus. Clearing the virus is recovering their children. Daily I read posts from teary eyed parents that either have watched their child regress after a vaccine, or they are ecstactic that their loved one is now making eye contact and speaking for the first time.... in complete sentences no less.
Obviously there is a delicate balance, and who is to know where our breaking point is.
Perhaps someday perhaps there will be a computer program for that too.

There are some remedies worse than the disease.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC),

[alivenwell]

I totally agree with minimizing meds so we can maximize our ability to fight disease. We do need meds whether they are administered by doctors or whether they come from a more holistic, natural source.
Hopefully, we'll have this all pinned down to genetics, accurate tests and precise medications one day.

[S-J Walsh]

An edit button, what a concept!

That you Eric for your profound reply to my ranting on this thread. I will try to be less of the "hovering mother hen" ha ha to my dtr Arielle. Your explanations in your "private" email (which I couldn't figure out how to respond to ha ha), were very enlightening. I needed that side of the story. Thank you so very very much. Many many thanks to you. s-j

[epileric]

Glad to be of service S-J. I've found this to be a great site as far as supporting each other goes.

I'm also glad I"m not the only one who has trouble figuring out how to use things on this site. It always seems so obvious afterwards (reply & forward buttons are in the bottom right of the private message)

Meanwhile take good care of yourself.

[Bernard]

Hi S-J, welcome to the forum.