Hereditary

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Stattick

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Is epilepsy hereditary? I didn't think it was but I have read a few post here that sound like it is.

I ask because I had small episodes that I vaguely remeber from when I was a child. Panic attacks, fear, anxiety....typically late at night, but not very frequent.

My dughter is 8 and has had a coupl eof episodes in the last few years that got me thinking. One a couple nights ago that sounded very similiar to what I remember. Scared, can't concentrate, stomach feels funny.....

Maybe I am reading too much into this but I hate to ignore it. Do you think these episodes compiled with my diagnosis of epilepsy are enough to take her to see my neurologist? Or do you think I am overeacting?

(not sure if it is relevant, but she had a lot of episodes when she was younger that we thought were night terrors, but she even hallucinated in these episodes.....)

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
Hi Stattick --

Welcome!

There can be a hereditary link, with a small chance that the child of someone with epilepsy will also develop a seizure disorder. If you are worried about your daughter, go ahead and bring it up with your G.P., and consider getting a referral to a pediatric neurologist. I recommend that you take detailed notes (when, how often, how long, what happens) about any of your daughter's episodes that are worrisome. What you describe could well be seizure-related, but the episodes could also be normal childhood "growing pains." Have you noticed any sort of pattern to your daughter's episodes? Any link to stresses at school, or fatigue, or something she's eaten? Sometimes there can be an environmental trigger that's involved.

What form does your epilepsy take?

Best,
Nakamova
 
Hi Nakamova

My epilepsy is pretty mild. I have simple partial seizures, triggered by being tired. They start with a strong anxiety in the abdomen and moves up through my chest, smell very strong rubber and have vivid false memories. Lasts about 5 seconds, I am very tired after. I am completely aware / awake during the episode but slightly confused.

She has a peanut allergy along with others that she outgrew, so her diet was far from a normal childs diet as we weer trying many approaches to her severe eczema and irritability. I know she was very tired the other night when it happened and was complaining of a headache. (the very tired part worries me a bit as it seems to be what triggeres mine).

Stattick
 
Hi Stattick --

Have you considered trying a gluten-free diet for your daughter (and/or for yourself)? Both eczema cand seizures can be a reaction to a gluten-sensitivity.
 
Yes we did. At the time we tried, she had a milk allergy and egg allergy as well. There was nothing we could feed her. She outgrew the milk and egg so we tried again with the gluten diet. We didn't see any changes.

Her eczema is very seasonal.....way worse inthe spring, summer, fall. And she does have a grass allergy as well.....so that part adds up.
 
Hi, Stattik,

Welcome to CWE!

Yes, epilepsy can be inherited, but it is a small minority of the cases of epilepsy. If one parent has epilepsy the odds of the child having it are about 4 times greater than the general population, or about 4%. http://www.epilepsy.dk/Handbook/Hereditary-uk.asp

The odds are still pretty low, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Your daughter has a much greater chance of developing it from a head injury (if she should ever have one) than heredity.

There is a lot of research going on about this right now trying to identify the gene markers for epilepsy. Seventy have been identified so far. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14527270

Here's a site which talks about risk factors for epilepsy:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/epilepsy/DS00342/DSECTION=risk-factors

If you think your daughter may be having seizures, it doesn't hurt to take her to a neurologist to be checked out. If it is seizures, stopping them early is a good thing. It may save her from having seizures later in life.
 
I have been told both sides of this answer by different doctors, but no one can convince me that epilepsy can't be hereditary.

In my husband's family- his father, sister, niece, and the niece's daughter all have it. It skipped my husband but both his children (my son and step-daughter) also have it. All churn out normal MRI's.

It doesn't mean that your daughter definitely will ever have seizures, but if ever there is a time when you are concerned about possible symptoms/behaviors it doesn't hurt to see a neurologist. The protocol when it is suspected of MRI and EEG are both non-invasive and painless, so if you discuss it with her doctor and they think it is warranted there really is no reason not to go ahead and either rule it out and get some peace of mind or take care of whatever might be found.

Best wishes, please keep us updated on how she is doing :)
 
Food sensitivites can also run in the family. Blood type has something to do with it, as does where your ancestors came from.
Food sensitivites can also cause seizure disorders.
 
Stattick said:
Is epilepsy hereditary?
Click to expand...

From my personal research, Only a few, select, epilepsy syndromes seem to be inherited. There is an identified increase of risk in children who's 1 parent has epilepsy at about 4% above the rest of the population and about 6-7% increased risk in children who's parents suffer from epilepsy together.
 
you can always get it checked dose'nt hurt but as far as i know it can run in the family but not always but as soon as it is under control it is an easy thing to deal with i was really scared of mine first my little brother got it then my older brother afew years later then i got it about 2 years after him its funny when i look back on the coincidenece ;) good luck and i hope you can look back on it some day and laugh like me it really helps at least i thought it did.
 
Endless gave some great points.

I have left temporal lobe, with simple partials and myoclonics. I was diagnosed around 8 and no one in either side of my family tree has had E. I have 4 kids, ages 8 - 15 and none have E.
 
I was diagnosed with idiopathic seizures at the age of 15. Doctors always told me that the chances of my children having seizures were slim and not to worry about it. When my daughter was 12, she had her first grand mal seizure and was diagnosed with the same thing. So yes, certain types are hereditary.

I have a distant cousin that has seizures also but who knows if heredity plays a factor in that or if it just happened that way.

Keep and eye on your daughter. Keep a journal. Have her evaluated but be careful not to "create" something that isn't there also. Children are very impressionable and love to mimic their parents. :)
 
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