Daughter has absence seizures

[ethomom]

Hi,
My name is Theresa and my 7-year-old has had absence seizures (mal-petite seizures) since age 4. It came as a complete shock to the system as one day she started walking into walls and furniture. That's when we knew something was wrong. Since then she has been on ethosuximide to help suppress the seizures and goes for 24-hour EEg's about every 6 months (although the last showed added activity so she had one 3 months later).

Lately, her emotions are all over the place and it's worrying. She cries for no reason at all and at times doesn't know why she is crying. She is moody and defiant which is something she has never been. She recently had her dosage changed and Im thinking it has intensified her moods.

It's heart breaking..
~T

 

[Nakamova]

Hi ethomom, welcome to CWE!

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter is struggling emotionally. You may well be right that it is a reaction to the ethosuximide -- the AEDs are very powerful, especially for a kid-sized brain. The info below is from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000650/

A small number of adults and children 5 years of age and older (about 1 in 500 people) who took antiepileptics such as ethosuximide to treat various conditions during clinical studies became suicidal during their treatment. Some of these people developed suicidal thoughts and behavior as early as one week after they started taking the medication. There is a risk that you may experience changes in your mental health if you take an antiepileptic medication such as ethosuximide.

I recommend that you play it safe and contact her doctor to let him/her know what's going on to re-evaluate your daughter's meds.

I don't know if this is an option for you, but another treatment approach that's been successful with absence seizures is the MAD (Modified Atkins Diet). More info here: http://www.atkinsforseizures.com/

Best,
Nakamova

 

[ethomom]

Thanks!

Thank you so much for the information. I have sent a message to her neurologist. This is a wonderful site.
Thanks,
T

 

[Dtwitcheffect]

Hi,
My name is Theresa and my 7-year-old has had absence seizures (mal-petite seizures) since age 4. It came as a complete shock to the system as one day she started walking into walls and furniture. That's when we knew something was wrong. Since then she has been on ethosuximide to help suppress the seizures and goes for 24-hour EEg's about every 6 months (although the last showed added activity so she had one 3 months later).

Lately, her emotions are all over the place and it's worrying. She cries for no reason at all and at times doesn't know why she is crying. She is moody and defiant which is something she has never been. She recently had her dosage changed and Im thinking it has intensified her moods.

It's heart breaking..
~T

as an Absence epileptic since the age of 3 (now nearly 24) my mum went throught the same. it is a side effect of the meds, her behaviour that is but will settle as her system adjusts to the meds. i was the exact same as her and basically, everyone adjusted to me not the other way around. has her neuro considered a combination of Epilim and zorontine? the main side effect is weight gain and it's a bitch (scuse the language mods) but it got me to stop having seizures until i entered puberty so....i might work for her , just food for thought.