Hi Everyone,
I am mom to a soon to be 23 year old son that was diagnosed with epilepsy 3 years ago. It came from out of the blue, somewhat, but here is his story.
In high school my son began experimenting with pot. We knew he was smoking, but at the time was not overly concerned. Then he was caught and charged with possession of paraphanalia, and since he was a minor, his punishment was to see a counselor. I get a call from school one day saying that they had Drew in the sick room, and he had had a seizure in the hallway. They suspected he was on something. When I got there to pick him up, I took him to the ER, and I find out that he thought he was going to have to take a drug test that day at the counselors, and proceeded to try and clean out his system by drinking 9, 20 oz bottles of water from morning to lunchtime. It was a miracle he survived. The ER recommended he go to a neurologist, we made an appointment, but cancelled it, thinking the water "overdose" was the cause.
About 5 months later, he has another seizure at a college party, he had been heavily drinking, and we excused it because of the drinking. Then, about 4 months later, he has another one, for no apparent reason, so we made an appointment with a neurologist. The usual test were done, and the epilepsy diagnosis was made. He was put on Keppra,(dont remember the initial dosage), and from April of that year and throughout that summer, he continued to have seizures, each time the doctor would increase the dosage.
Each seizure was a grand mal, and the first time I saw him have one I wondered if I was watching my son die. It was terrible, as everyone knows. At this time, naturally he was under alot of stress, the side effects of the Keppra, job situation, crazy girlfriend, not being able to drive, etc., I was really afraid he was going to kill himself. After another seizure, we had him transferred to the University of Virginia Neurology center, for a second opinion. The doctor increased his Keppra even more, and he went seizure free for around 8 months, and then had back to back seizures, after returning from a big weekend music festival. It was the first time his new (and sweet) girlfriend had ever seen him have a seizure. I think these seizures were due to his behavior at the music festival.
Well that was almost 2 years ago, and if he makes it till this July, he will be seizure free for 2 years. I am always crossing my fingers. Last spring he moved out, and moved in with his girlfriend. She is good for him, and he doesnt give her as much grief for reminding him to take his pills as he always did me. He is, and has always been very hardheaded. When he first went to UVA, he asked his Dr. was there any chance that he would ever be able to go off the pills, and the answer was, that he would only consider it if he had been seizure free for at least 2 years, and then he would have to be gradually weaned off. Oh, his dosage of Keppra is 3750 mg a day. Two horse pills in the a.m. , and three at night. He has to go back to the Dr. next week, and I know he is going to ask about going off his meds.
For the most part he has been doing much better, no seizures really helps alot. Last week he called me, and was worried that he might have had a seizure in his sleep. He said he didn't "feel" like he had had one,no soreness, etc., but he had a very vivid dream that he did, but it was a petit mal, not a grand mal. Now he is worried that he had one, but doesnt know if it was just a dream or a real seizure. He had worked a 18 hour day, and was exhausted, so I told him it was probably just from being so tired.
This forum has been really helpful to me. I have seen some good ideas, like that vitamin B6 helps with mood swings. I'm going to tell him about that, and ask the Dr. next week. Drew asked me to go with him.
Anyway, thats our story, for the most part. Sorry to drag it out so. I did leave some things out, if anyone has any questions. Thanks for reading, thanks for letting me read your comments, ideas, everything! mamacarol
I am mom to a soon to be 23 year old son that was diagnosed with epilepsy 3 years ago. It came from out of the blue, somewhat, but here is his story.
In high school my son began experimenting with pot. We knew he was smoking, but at the time was not overly concerned. Then he was caught and charged with possession of paraphanalia, and since he was a minor, his punishment was to see a counselor. I get a call from school one day saying that they had Drew in the sick room, and he had had a seizure in the hallway. They suspected he was on something. When I got there to pick him up, I took him to the ER, and I find out that he thought he was going to have to take a drug test that day at the counselors, and proceeded to try and clean out his system by drinking 9, 20 oz bottles of water from morning to lunchtime. It was a miracle he survived. The ER recommended he go to a neurologist, we made an appointment, but cancelled it, thinking the water "overdose" was the cause.
About 5 months later, he has another seizure at a college party, he had been heavily drinking, and we excused it because of the drinking. Then, about 4 months later, he has another one, for no apparent reason, so we made an appointment with a neurologist. The usual test were done, and the epilepsy diagnosis was made. He was put on Keppra,(dont remember the initial dosage), and from April of that year and throughout that summer, he continued to have seizures, each time the doctor would increase the dosage.
Each seizure was a grand mal, and the first time I saw him have one I wondered if I was watching my son die. It was terrible, as everyone knows. At this time, naturally he was under alot of stress, the side effects of the Keppra, job situation, crazy girlfriend, not being able to drive, etc., I was really afraid he was going to kill himself. After another seizure, we had him transferred to the University of Virginia Neurology center, for a second opinion. The doctor increased his Keppra even more, and he went seizure free for around 8 months, and then had back to back seizures, after returning from a big weekend music festival. It was the first time his new (and sweet) girlfriend had ever seen him have a seizure. I think these seizures were due to his behavior at the music festival.
Well that was almost 2 years ago, and if he makes it till this July, he will be seizure free for 2 years. I am always crossing my fingers. Last spring he moved out, and moved in with his girlfriend. She is good for him, and he doesnt give her as much grief for reminding him to take his pills as he always did me. He is, and has always been very hardheaded. When he first went to UVA, he asked his Dr. was there any chance that he would ever be able to go off the pills, and the answer was, that he would only consider it if he had been seizure free for at least 2 years, and then he would have to be gradually weaned off. Oh, his dosage of Keppra is 3750 mg a day. Two horse pills in the a.m. , and three at night. He has to go back to the Dr. next week, and I know he is going to ask about going off his meds.
For the most part he has been doing much better, no seizures really helps alot. Last week he called me, and was worried that he might have had a seizure in his sleep. He said he didn't "feel" like he had had one,no soreness, etc., but he had a very vivid dream that he did, but it was a petit mal, not a grand mal. Now he is worried that he had one, but doesnt know if it was just a dream or a real seizure. He had worked a 18 hour day, and was exhausted, so I told him it was probably just from being so tired.
This forum has been really helpful to me. I have seen some good ideas, like that vitamin B6 helps with mood swings. I'm going to tell him about that, and ask the Dr. next week. Drew asked me to go with him.
Anyway, thats our story, for the most part. Sorry to drag it out so. I did leave some things out, if anyone has any questions. Thanks for reading, thanks for letting me read your comments, ideas, everything! mamacarol