4 year old EEG Abnormal

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Thanks for mentioning it. I know everything has side effects. I know having seizures has side effects. What scares me is if I do not put him on meds, could me doing this cause him to not develop or cause brain issues later?

I am not so much worries like the doctors are with him hurting himself. Now, in the future he could have worse ones and then I would like to think about meds. I am so glad that you don't have any of the side effects and I hope the med works for you.
 
On a light note, if the brain is so smart and wonderful, why the heck can it not fix itself???
 
Beth, you do have a choice, and regarding meds and brain damage, even if he only has two seizures that you can see, there can be abnormal electrical activity going on more often, which over time COULD lead to brain damage. I would give the meds a try, because if you don't like the side effects you can always stop and try something else. By taking meds, you might be able to stop the seizures from progressing or happening more frequently. Even if his seizures aren't bad now, you can treat them before they get worse and has more. Each seizure he has puts him at a higher risk to have another.
 
Your son's episodes sound very mild compared to what a lot of people around here have experienced.

The "risk of brain damage" that is being tossed around is a worst case scenario if he started having lots of seizures back to back or went into what is called status epilepticus, meaning a seizure that doesn't stop.

Most of us here have had hundreds of seizures over the years without any brain damage.

There is, statistically speaking, a larger chance that he will have more seizures since he has already had 2.
Also statistically speaking though, you have a better chance of curing his condition with a ketogenic diet than you do with meds.
Ketogenic diets have been researched on the worst of the worst cases of childhood seizures, the kind where kids are having hundreds of seizures a week and no medicines are working. If it works on those cases, I would say that your son's relatively mild issues could be solved this way too.

Every medication has side effects. Many AEDs keep a person from properly absorbing the nutrients in their food leading to long term nutritional deficiencies. Many AEDs are also addictive and an increase in seizures can result if they are discontinued abruptly.

If you take the wait and see approach and things do get worse, you will be able to get him started on meds if that is really necessary.
If you work on the dietary front in the meantime, you may never need to "go there".

Yes, you do have a choice. You are not begin a bad parent whichever route you choose.


Every case of epilepsy is different. This is just my personal example. I started having seizures at 22 and got scared into taking pills that made me feel sick and didn't help the seizures at all. I finally found some meds that work but 30 years later and I am trying the long and difficult endeavor of getting off the meds. Side effects include weight gain, sleepiness, nutrient malabsorption, and who knows what damage to my liver and kidneys over the years. If I had it to do over again knowing why I know now I would have tried the dietary interventions first.
 
Bethereen:
It is very important for you to realize that none of us here are doctors or medical specialists and therefore are not in a position to say what could solve your child's problems. We also do not have all your child's medical information, so it is important that you discuss what you read here and on other internet sites with your child's pediatrician and neurologist. You might want to ask for investigations to be done into exactly why your child has seizures, especially if they continue to occur, and this can lay out exactly the type of treatment your child needs.
 
You might want to ask for investigations to be done into exactly why your child has seizures, especially if they continue to occur, and this can lay out exactly the type of treatment your child needs.
I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of things that can cause seizures that are very treatable. Blood sugar spikes and dips, electrolyte imbalances, specific nutrient deficiencies such as B12. These are just a few of many.

And no, none of us knows exactly why this is happening nor could we ever tell you exactly what you *should * do with the limited information we have. Telling you what *could* happen based on a lot of very solid scientific research however is another matter.
 
What you are asking makes more sense now that you have described his seizures! It sounds like these may be atonic or "drop" seizures - is that correct? These can be quite dangerous because they come on without warning, but I can understand why you might want to take a more conservative approach to treatment, particularly since he is in a very safe and controlled environment. When a parent sees a child have a grand mal seizure you NEVER want to see that happen again, and that changes the risk/benefit analysis you bring to things like medication side effects. But since the episodes are so mild now, I think you can afford a more deliberate approach.

As AlohaBird said "brain damage" is not going to happen because your son has a few more small seizures! There are catastrophic epilepsy syndromes that can cause major brain damage, and prolonged (think 20-30 minute) and recurrent seizures can also cause issues - but what you have described doesn't sound anything like that. So please don't let that scare you into making a decision you are not comfortable with.

Make sure you have as much information as you can get. Pursue some metabolic testing to see if that reveals anything. Find out from your neurologist if there is anything in your son's medical situation that in their clinical experience makes it more likely that his seizures will progress and worsen. In our case, the experienced doctors at CHOP felt that the way my daughter's initial seizures presented were generally the "beginning of a pattern" when seen in kids her age - so even though technically 3 seizures in one day does not mean an epilepsy diagnosis and trigger medication, he recommended treatment. It turns out that they were right about that. I wish that her doctors had taken the time to spell this out more clearly at the time - so see if you can get them to slow down and EXPLAIN their thinking to you.

If things do worsen and he begins to have more frequent or more serious seizures (hopefully not!!), or if you are convinced for other reasons that it is important to begin treatment now, don't be paralyzed by reading the list of possible medication side effects. While I don't want to downplay medication side effects, particularly for AEDs, not everyone experiences them. Many many people have no issues whatsoever. My daughter had a terrible time on Keppra, but is doing quite well on her current medication (Vimpat).

And you do have other options, as AlohaBird has mentioned! For a variety of reasons, in my family and for my daughter's specific needs we have not pursued a dietary approach to epilepsy treatment - but it really is a proven treatment option that you can consider. And it has been shown to be particularly effective in children your son's age. There is a wealth of information on this site, and you should definitely ask your doctor about it.

These are difficult decisions. One of the things that I realized early on is that epilepsy is so variable, and the course and prognosis of the illness is so individual, that figuring out the best course of action can be very challenging. I wish you all the best as you navigate this world! Please keep us posted.
 
Two seizures and an abnormal EEG generally mean an individual is very susceptible to further seizures. Seizures can escalate in severity and frequency, and the more frequently seizures occur the more likely further seizures are likely to occur. Considering your son's EEG is abnormal, it may be more appropriate to consider doing something that has the potential normalize the EEG as quickly as you can (which can happen with anti-seizure medications). If you believe the ketogenic diet is your preference, you can discuss with your son's doctor doing this as well or switching over to this once your son's EEG is normal on medication.
 
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