Hello from UK

[Freda]

Looking for information about epilepsy and hope I can learn from this forum. My daughter who is 35 years old has just been diagnosed with 'adult onset epilepsy' and is pretty devastated. We've had an awful year so far, hubby diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer last February and just months to live, don't know how many. Anyway I wonder if the stress caused by his diagnosis, because it was completely out of the blue, may have started off the seizures in my daughter.
So I've joined here to try and make sense of everything and to see how others cope.
Thanks for reading and I'll look through the forum in order to educate myself on her behalf.

 

[valeriedl]

I don't know if stress could have caused her to have epilepsy but it could be causing the seizures to happen. Stress can be a huge seizure trigger for people, it is for me. I normally have about 5 seizures a month but if there is something stressful going on in my life I'll start having seizures like crazy, sometimes several in one day.

I've gotten a lot of help and learned so much about epilepsy from CWE. I hope you do too.

 

[Freda]

Thank you for replying. She works at the hospital where her dad is being treated and has a lot of involvement arranging his bloods, chemo and transfusion appointments but she has stepped back a bit now and in fact it's what her dad wants anyway because he feels he's lost his independence too.
All been quite a shock for the family and you wonder what's coming next. She lost her old dog in March and my son broke his foot in three places recently too, just seems like one thing after the other.

 

[Porkette]

Hi Freda,

I'm so sorry for all of the negative things that are going on in the family. I know when I'm under a lot of stress or lack of sleep that will trigger seizures for me like crazy.
I've found taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day and as crazy as it sound putting coconut oil on my skin 1-2 times a day has helped reduce my seizures. The coconut oil builds up ketones in my system which in turn helps reduce my seizures. If your daughter continues to have any more problems my advice is for her to see an Epileptologist which is a Dr. that specializes in epilepsy. I've had epilepsy for 45 yrs. now and I found seeing a Epileptologist was the smartest thing I ever did. Here's wishing you and your family the best of luck and May God Bless All of You!

Sue

 

[Freda]

Thank you for those tips Sue and I will get some B12 for her to take daily. I got her B6 vits because I'd read they can help but I think they were for mood swings, which so far she hasn't had except for the crying. Crying seems to be getting more frequent and when it happens she starts getting negative thoughts and I realise with her dads condition we all get negative now and then so I suppose the Keppra will just add to that. We use coconut oil for skin care but I'll advise her to increase to morning as well as evening, it's pretty brilliant stuff eh?
The specialist is a great idea and will definitely bear that in mind for the future.
So glad I joined the forum as there's many threads I've found of interest already.

 

[Porkette]

Hi Freda,

I'm glad to hear that you already use the coconut oil. I will tell you that keppra can often cause a person to have a very hot temper. I took the drug for one month and had to go off of it because I had a hot temper and was very moody I also saw the my seizures increased while on the drug. Often for no reason there have been times when I will start to cry or laugh for no reason. My Epileptologist told me it's because the damage is on the right temporal lobe of my brain and that's the part of the brain that shows a persons emotions. Also if your daughter is starting to go through her change that could be causing a lot of this do to hormones changing. As crazy as it sounds tell her to eat any type of nuts or buy some natural progesterone cream which is made up of wild yams and peanut oil but if she's allergic to any of these don't let her use it. The natural progesterone helps calm the nerves down and when I was going through that time in my life my seizures changed along with me being very emotional and moody. I wish you and your family only the best and May God Bless All of You!

Sue

 

[Freda]

Thank you again Sue, I really appreciate your replies and have taken note of all you've said. She was crying Friday and Saturday but today has been fine and she's hoping she'll be okay tomorrow for work. We are hoping it's just her brain adjusting to the drug and that this side effect will ebb away as she continues to use it. I've read a few posts on google searches about Keppra and crying and the folk who continued to use it said the crying eventually subsided - others didn't stay on it for long enough to find out. She doesn't want to throw in the towel too quickly because it's helping with her dizzy spells that have lead to seizures, she hasn't had one dizzy spell or seizure in six weeks, all she wants to know is if it's likely for the crying to stop and then she'll stick with it.
She's taking B6 to help with the depletion Keppra may cause and we'll be adding B12 to that now too when the pharmacy opens.
Thank you again and I'll update any changes or positive results.