4. Yr old recently diagnosed

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Coltsmomma

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My 4 year old son just started having partial seizures and then had a grand mal. We live outside of Memphis, tn and have a wonderful children's hospital, Lebonheur children's hospital. We went to see a neurologist and had an EEG. The dr said that he does have epilepsy and the EEG showed it everywhere in his brain and not centralized to a region. We have an MRI scheduled for Wednesday 6/19. Then dr said the 40 min EEG showed at least 3 spikes that lasted about 1 second a piece and he said that he is probably having these all day long. The dr diagnosed with generalized epilepsy. He said that he does want to start him with medication, he prescribed keppra 100mg, 3mls twice a day. This is all so new to me. My son is a very active, smart 4 year old. Does anyone else have experience with this type of epilepsy? Thanks!!
 
Hi Coltsmomma,

I used to live in Memphis as my now ex-husband is a FedEx pilot. There used to be an EpiCare Center at UT Memphis that specialized in the care of epilepsy patients, but unfortunately it folded back in the 90's. We were still seeing neuros from the center and some of them were pediatric neuros. One that I saw was a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Frederick Boop.

I have secondary generalized seizures, meaning that sometimes my seizures generalize to the whole brain. They start out as a Complex partial seizure (starting in one localized area) and then go into a TC (used to be called grand mal) seizure, meaning it goes all over the brain.

It's better to get your son's seizures under control, the sooner the better. But beware of the Keppra. It can cause mood/behavioral issues.
 
Hi Coltsmomma, welcome to CWE!

I'm sorry you're dealing with this, but it's great that your son has been diagnosed and that you can consider treatment. Generalized epilepsy is fairly common, but it can be harder to detect in a child because they can't always fully describe what's going on.

As Cint says, keppra can have mood or behavioral side effects. If they start showing up, ask the doc about adding a B6 supplement -- it can help to counteract these side effects.
There are also other meds to try if keppra doesn't work out, and other treatment appraoches to try if meds don't work out. The main thing is to pay close attention to how your son is responding to treatment, and being persistent in getting answers if you're not happy with what you see.

You might be interested in this link:
http://epilepsymoms.com/blog/special-diets-nutrition/atkins-seizures-guide-parents-parents.html
 
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