Epilepsy being hereditary

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Itr786

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Does anyone with epilepsy also have that absolutely dreaded feeling epilepsy being hereditary?

For a LONG time I've never realise it is, only when someone mentioned it did I look it up and did I realise it is. There's no one in my family that has ever had epilepsy, and the fact that I am/was breaks my heart, finding out I may be passing down such a horrible illness scares the hell out of me.

He's only 3 years old, and I did once notice him acting strange, hard to explain but a twitch, almost like a little electric shock that did scare me.
I've never noticed any such behavior before/since, but who knows if he has had such an episode whilst playing on his own, or asleep etc...

I spoke to my Neurologist, he said there was nothing they can do at this stage to test for it. Time will tell I suppose. Does anyone else have that feeling I have as my son grows?
 
Hi Itr786,

Epilepsy runs in my family and when I first got it my parents thought it was hereditary but all my other relatives had tonic clonic seizures where I've had absence and complex partial so I was told it wasn't hereditary. What bothers me is if my brother or his kids have any children theirs a 40-50% chance that their kids could have seizures put I hope and pray it never happens. Here's wishing you only the best and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
We believe it is in mine however due to my mum being in denial about it and not getting my little sister tested, who we believe had absence seizures as a child, we'll never know
 
Hi Pingu,

All your mum will have to do is get a DNA test along with your little sister and that will show if the seizures are genetic. Also take note of what type of seizure(s) other family members have and if your little sister has the same type as other family members it could be genetic. I hope it never happens again and I wish you and your family only the best and May God Bless All of You!

Sue
 
Hi Pingu,

All your mum will have to do is get a DNA test along with your little sister and that will show if the seizures are genetic. Also take note of what type of seizure(s) other family members have and if your little sister has the same type as other family members it could be genetic. I hope it never happens again and I wish you and your family only the best and May God Bless All of You!

Sue

It's only myself and my little sister who have them. my little sister no longer does have them (we think) so my mum never wanted to get a DNA test done, it was also a reluctance to know that two kids in the family had seizures because when I was diagnosed, the whole family felt sick to the stomach for the tough love I had growing up.
 
I never thought mine were hereditary because I was the only one in my family who had it. Parents were fine. Nobody farther back were known to have it. However, some died young from other things, so one never really knows.

I have 2 daughters and 6 grandchildren. 2nd daughter's youngest has just been diagnosed. I guess there is something genetic. How do we go about having the testing done? Daughter's Dr. is going to check for them.
 
My wife (epilepsy) has a history of epilepsy on her mother's side. We've got two boys (teenagers now) and so far neither one showing any epileptic activity.
 
My late younger sister was diagnosed with epilepsy as a baby. I was diagnosed at 19. We also have two cousins with epilepsy, one on our mother's side and one on dad's side.
My father, his mother and her sister and I had horrific migraines. I have two boys and two grandsons and none have shown any signs of seizure activity, although the youngest grandson was staring one time and scared me so much. My oldest grandson does have migraines. I guess it is alway in the back of your mind when you have epilepsy along with other family members.
 
it is definitely a family trait, my great great aunt, great aunt, uncle, all had seizures. on my patriarchal side all had seizures. I just needed a decent reason.
 
My neuro is pretty sure my epilepsy has a genetic link, since people on both sides of the family have it, or have died from SUDEP.

I pretty much lost the genetic lottery and got all the rubbish handed down, so i don't think i'll be having children!

With us there seems to be a couple of people in every generation with it, but considering that there's around 80 people in my generation of the family (including my siblings and cousins), the odds are at least one of us is likely to have it.
 
Epilepsy is hereditary for me. I'm not the first one in my family to have these angiomas and epilepsy. I got epilepsy from my Dad's side of the family. For me I'm not going to have kids, I'm 26 and I don't plan to but we'll see. Either way my sister will have kids and that scares the shit out of me thinking that they may be epileptic.
 
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