What is Status Epiletus?

[Chiccc]

hi I'm 16 and last year my youngest brothers (who is now 5) was diagnosed with status Epilepticus I don't know anything about it I was wondering if anyone could give me information about it. Will the condition get worse? will it shorten his life? will it effect his life in the future? any information about it will be helpful thanks so much!!! it started with him having seizures for 30 mins soon after he was diagnosed with this condition

[Meetz1064]

is a life-threatening condition that can be fatal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_epilepticus

Typically it is a seizure--of any type, really, not just the tonic clonics--that goes on for more than 30 minutes. BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, ANY TIME THAT A SEIZURE GOES ON FOR MORE THAN 5 TO 10 MINUTES, THE E PATIENT NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION. CALL THE AMBULANCE, WHATEVER U NEED TO DO TO ACCOMPLISH THIS.........

Please be sure to stick around, make some more friends, and learn seizure First Aid.

Several of us here have gone through Status Ep.

There is a higher risk of death from Ep.........it is called Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. However, there are other risk factors that go along with Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy.

Check out this link:

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/...ags/sudep.html

Take care,

Meetz

[hawke86]

I have had status epilepticus several times.

[drarvindr]

Dear Chiccc,
Status epilepticus is a life threatening medical emergency. It is defined as any seizure , or rapid sequence of seizures , lasting for more than 30 minutes. As MEetz said , 5-10 minutes is the golden period , during which EMTs must reach your brother before brain damage or worse could happen. The risk of death from status is 13-15% in younger people and increases with age ( upto 50% in those over 50 yrs of age.).
It is important that you know what to do in an emergency so i recommend that you take a first aid course and learn what to do should this happen again.as for whether this will get worse depends on whether his seizures are well controlled with medication or other therapy. The less well controlled the "regular" seizures , the higher the likelihood of going into status.As for effects in his life , if he has been diagnosed with epilepsy , he should not drive untill he is 2 - 3 years seizure free ( though at age 5 this is not a great concern). He should avoid swimming in deep pools and take showers instead of bathing.As long as the seizures are under control,then he should be fine. Was the status the only time he has ever seized or has he had seizures before this? Keep your chin up , this diagnosis isn't the end of the world. Do the most you can to prevent problems should this happen again. I'm sure he'll be fine.

[drarvindr]

Forgot to mention - avoid flashing lights and brightly animated cartoons untill you are sure he is not photosensitive. Some epileptics get seizures when they see flashing lights ( like strobe lights at a club)

[Bernard]

Hi Chiccc, welcome to the forum.

Status Epilepticus describes a life threatening event, not a specific epilepsy diagnosis.

... Will the condition get worse? will it shorten his life? will it effect his life in the future? ...

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

A lot depends upon finding a way to control the seizures (using drugs, diets, medical devices and/or surgeries) and/or retraining the brain (using neurofeedback or neurobehavioral techniques) so it doesn't have seizures anymore.