Quick ? about myoclonic seizures

[KimHen5]

Thank you all for your help the other day! Such a comforting thing to have people in the know to commiserate with!!

Our neurologist appt is Tuesday & it can't come a moment too soon as I have a list of thoughts & questions a mile long : ) My 11 yr old has had 2 incidents of tonic clonic seizures & I'm trying to make sense of this all.

Just wondering if you guys, in your infinite wisdom (hee hee), could help me with a question. We took our girls to see Spiderman last night, NOT 3D, but for the first time ever I was uncomfortable with the action / violence on the screen, wondering how it was affecting my daughter. I just kind of sat back & watched her, & realized she was kind of spacing out through the high action parts. When it ended, finally, she was extra spacey & just wasn't acting like herself. She was even a little weepy after a few minutes. She continued on this way, weepy, quiet & just generally spaced-out for a good 20 minutes.

Reading up on the various epilepsy diagnoses I've kind of suspected she has juvenile myoclonic epilepsy & now I'm wondering if myoclonic seizures are JUST jerking episodes or whether a child with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy can have an absence seizure from the flickering lights/ movie violence stimulus? Does this ? even make sense? I have so much to learn.

Can anybody offer me some insight on this? I'm an extreme novice here & I'm just trying to feel my way until I can give the neurologist the Spanish Inquisition. Thank you!

[Nakamova]

While as the name suggests juvenile myoclonic epilepsy features muscle jerks, it is common for kids with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy to also have absence seizures, as well as tonic-clonics. In fact 15% of children with childhood absence epilepsy later develop juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, so there seems to be a definite connection between the two.

It's also pretty common for kids with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy to be photosensitive, so your observation seems to be spot on. Flickering or flashing lights onscreen (whether in a movie, on TV or in video games) and even dappled light (through the tree) or reflected light (at the beach or off of snow) can also have a triggering effect.

juvenile myoclonic epilepsy is very responsive to medication, so chances are the neurologist will recommend that route (probably Depakote). Make sure to have that list of questions handy for the neurologist, and don't leave until you get them all answered to your satisfaction.

[KimHen5]

Okay thank you so much! They already have her on Keppra, so does having an absence seizure suggest that the dosage needs to be upped? Or does medication not help with absence?

[Nakamova]

Keppra is generally ineffective against absence seizures or infantile spasms -- so definitely let her neurologist know about the absences. Depakote is effective against all three kinds of seizures (absences, myoclonic and tonic-clonic) and has a good record with J M E, so the doc may want to make a switch at this time.

[KimHen5]

Thank you so much!

What an amazing resource this is. I feel so much better just having information & input from everyone.

The constant 'Am I over reacting / Am I under reacting?' internal debate is significantly stifled. : D

[Nakamova]

Am I over reacting?

I think that as a mom you have no choice but to overreact. You can't turn off those instincts.