Auras after several years without?

[txtiger]

Hello all! I have visited this community in the past but (thankfully) it has been several yeas since I have needed to post.

I am back with a question. I had been several years completely aura/seizure-free, almost 6, up until earlier this year. Our cat had gotten sick late last year, and early this year, she was found to have a "mass" (tumor). During the time we were getting her ultrasounds and surgery, I had an aura, and between then and the time of her passing, I had two more. I chalked it up to stress, but then, yesterday (2.5 months after her passing and the last aura), I had another one.

I am due to see my epileptologist for an annual exam in two weeks, and ahead of the visit, I thought I would return here to ask if there are others who have been in a similar situation, seizure free for years, and then they return. What did your doctor recommend/suggest? I had left temporal lobe surgery 18 years ago, and I am on levetiracetam er and lacosamide, both at what is likely maximum doses. Just wondering how my doctor might want to proceed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Porkette]

Hi txtiger,

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat and how you are having aura seizures again. I had right temporal lobe surgery to reduce my seizure
but each yr. when fall and winter come I start to have a increase if seizures and I told my Epileptologist about it and he told me I was
having "seasonal seizures" and this means a person will have more seizures at certain times of the yr./season. I have more in the fall
and winter because there is a lack of serotonin this time of the yr. compared to the spring and summer so I was told to sit around
bright light and that helps me also. Another thing that could be increasing the seizures is the lacosamide. I take that and I was on
400 mg. but having a lot of seizures then the Dr. cut me back to 300 mg a day and I would average about 5 seizures a month so at
the end of July I cut myself back to 150 mg a day and I haven't had a single seizure at all since then.

I don't know how old you are but also when we go through our change people with temporal lobe epilepsy can have their seizures
increase or decrease during this time, thank goodness mine decreased and I hope yours stop forever.
Wishing you only the best of luck and May God Bless You,

Sue

 

[Sabbo]

Hello. I'm sorry about your cat. I have simple & complex partial seizures. Unfortunately, I haven't remained seizure-free for more than a few months since the complex partials began about 24/25 years ago. I'm currently taking 500mg Zonisamide & 250mg Xcopri daily. My complex partials have really declined since the start of Xcopri.

 

[txtiger]

Thank you for your replies and your sympathies regarding our cat.

Porkette, I am glad to hear that cutting your lacosamide has helped you. For me, it is the drug that, once we got to the right dose, kept me seizure-free for so long. My seizures are not tied to hormones (and I went through the change early, almost 15 years ago.), so that is not a factor for me.

Sabbo, I am glad the Xcopri is working for you.

I saw my doctor on Friday, and she recommended adding a small dose of clobazam in the evening, since I am at the maximum for the drugs I am on. I'm waiting to hear from the pharmacy when it is ready. I will see her again in three months. Hopefully the clobazam will help. She said it works differently from the other drugs, so we would be attacking this from a new angle. She did mention that another surgery could be an option if the additional medicine does not help. At this point, I am not ready to go down that road. Though I'm sure a lot has changed in the 18 years since I had mine, I imagine the presurgical process is much the same. So we will see what happens with the addition of a third drug.