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1nation

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I've been lurking for a few months and have actually posted a few times already. I'm so happy I have found this forum.

My 4 yr old daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy on March 21st after her 2nd grad mal seizures within a week. She has since had 7 within just a few months. Three were all in one day just 2 weeks ago after being on keppra for a little over 2 months. We just had her MRI and EEG this past week and got the results. The dr said she has generalized epilepsy and she is having 3 out of the 4 seizures that fall under that. They saw a few episodes of absence seizures on her EEG. He said she is also having myoclonic seizures in her sleep. She is on keppra and he has now put her on zarontin to help control the petit mal seizures. He didn't really tell me how many it showed on the eeg or where they were coming from in the brain. He then told us her results from her MRI showed that her brain sits lower than the average brain and her left center pocket/cavity was a little larger than average. He thinks these were just incidental findings that she was born with and he does not think it is the cause of her seizure disorder. Has anyone else heard of these findings with the brain? I really hope it's not why she is having the seizures and she still has a chance to grow out of them. Before the eeg results I thought she was having the absence ones but wasn't certain.....if I cannot tell she is having them then how will I know if this new medicine is helping to control them? Thanks in advance for any advice!!
 
I don't think you need to worry about the finding in terms of the positioning of your daughter's brain. As her doctor said, they are incidental findings and not relevant to her seizures. I hope the new meds help, and that becomes seizure-free very soon. If you can, keep a journal where you track how your daughter is doing. You might not have noticed any absence seizures she was having before the Zarontin was added, but you may well notice that seems to be more focused, or more alert now that she's on it. Changes can be subtle, which is why paying close attention and keeping detailed notes can help.
 
Hello and welcome~ :)

If you really want to know what the EEG found, there's nothing wrong with asking directly. :) After all, they're working for you, so if you want more information they can provide, then you need to ask for them to elaborate more. Sometimes they won't have an answer and that comes with the territory, but for something like test results you have every right to know what they were.

As far as an abnormality like that, I doubt where the brain sits would really affect seizures much. However sitting lower in the head might leave her more prone to a concussion if there was some sort of trauma like a car wreck in the future. Of course, positioning in the head can change over time, especially because she's so young and still growing.

Sometimes one side of the brain will grow at a slower rate, which could influence seizure activity, however in those cases the vast majority of people will grow out of them, and the size of the brain will even out.

As far as absence seizures go... if you think she's having one, try talking to her. During an absence seizure, consciousness is lost, so try to communicate with her during when you think she's having one, and when she comes out of it, if she can't remember you talking to her, she most likely had one. She likely won't realize what's happened, and will resume what she was just doing as if nothing happened, so if she's totally unaware that you had spoken something to her, it's a pretty good indication of her having one.
 
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