New and Concerned about Absence Seizures

[Brennie's Mom]

Hi,
My son was diagnosed with Epilepsy in April of this year. His seizures originate in the right front lobe. His neurologist put him on Topamax Sprinkles to alleviate seizure activity. He has always suffered partial seizures when he has had a fever, one grand mal, but they have been hesitant to medicate him up until now. My concern is, I have noticed he has started staring off for seconds at a time lately. He has done it in the past, but not frequently. However, since he has been on this medication, I have noticed this behavior has increased. I am wondering if anyone has noticed this with their children after medicating them? His neurologist said if it continues to be a problem, we will have to increase his daily dosage. I don't really want to change medications as he has had a fever since we put him on Topamax and he did not have a partial seizure like before. Any thoughts?

[RobinN]

Hi Brennie's Mom - Welcome to CWE

I moved your post to it's own thread so people can answer you directly.

I am not sure what you mean when you say:

I don't really want to change medications as he has had a fever since we put him on Topamax and he did not have a partial seizure like before.

Did you mean, he has NOT had a fever since being put on medication?

I do know that medication can make seizure activity change for each individual. No one has the same reaction. May I ask how old your son is?

[epileric]

I Know when I was between 3 & 5 I would stare off during a seizure, even if in the middle of a sentence I would stop, stare off for 15-30 seconds then continue where I left off.

When I got older the medications just made it harder for me to focus so I spent a lot of time staring off daydreaming.

Also, when I"m put on new medication it can often change how my seizures display themselves & that might be what's happening to your son.

Also, welcome to the site.

[Brennie's Mom]

Brennie has suffered seizures every time he has run a fever since he was 2 1/2 years old...That is what I was referring to. It was nice to not have to deal with a seizure and the recovery for an hour or so. Do you or anyone else know how long it takes to get the medication leveled out in a child's system? Our neurologist put Brennie on Topamax because he is Autistic and not compliant with blood tests and any kind of medical care, in general.

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

"Autism and epilepsy are common as coexisting diseases. Approximately 20-30% of autistic individuals will develop seizures at some point in their lives. Certainly there is a connection between the two, one that science has yet to discover...

Parent surveys from the Autism Research Institute have shown that Tegratol and Depakote were rated the most effective drugs in controlling seizure activity and improving behavior. It would obviously be smart to try these two drugs first in treating seizures with a person with autism...

Recently, Lamictal has been touted as a great new drug for seizures with autism. The BHARE Foundation has numerous reports from parents that agree with that assessment, but also an equal amount of reports that state Lamictal made their child worse. http://www.bhare.org/seizures.html