How to help child with Zarontin induced aggression etc...

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mymanuelita

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How can I help my 6 year old daughter adjust to her increased dose of Zarontin? We have increased very slowly in the past and it prolongs her side effects: irritability, aggression and heightened emotions. She just had to increase from 3.5 mls twice a day to 5mls twice a day and she is all over the place with her moods and emotional responses. Her teachers are very understanding but it is difficult for them and my daughter.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
Unfortunately, Zarontin is know to cause that kind of irritability in kids. Have you talked about the side effects with her neurologist? Zarontin is a relatively old anti-seizure med, and there may be newer ones that are less likely to affect her mood and behavior.
 
What kind of seizures does she have? If it's absence seizures, it's possible that a non-med dietary approach could help. The Modified Atkins Diet has been show to help with seizure control, particularly absences. More info here: http://www.atkinsforseizures.com/
 
Thanks for the info. She has absence seizures. The neurologist did not recommend the diet. The medicine helps significantly-it just takes her a while to adjust and while she is adjusting she has a hard time with aggression, irritability etc...I guess I am wondering if there are ways to help her manage her moods while she adjusts to the new dose or if we just have to be supportive.
 
We haven't used this particular drug, but our son Jon has significant issues with aggression and agitation with other medications (and even the seizures themselves have an impact).

We just started him (actually yesterday) on a magnesium supplement, and today, he was SO much better -- not aggressive at all, very calm, smiling...

I know it's just one day, and will have to see if the effect continues, but anyway...magnesium also may help with the seizures themselves (and also with sleep).

As Nakamova recommended, I would persue the diet with your neurologist. Many doctors wait until a child has gone through numerous medications before even mentioning it, but we found it very helpful -- our son was able to be seizure free for 11 months, and part of that time on no meds at all. He recently relapsed, and is back on medication, but we are also trying out different nutritional approaches to controlling the seizures. The less meds the better.

Our nutritionist has said that a lot of kids can be helped by some simple modifications to thier diet, without having to go on the strict ketogenic diet. She suggests removing sugar and gluten (wheat products) from the child's diet to see if this makes a difference. For some kids, this will pretty much bring about seizure control. We gave this a try for a couple months before Jon started the Ketogenic diet, and it did reduce his seizures a lot. However, we didn't realize that stuff like ketchup and BBQ sauce has loads of sugar in it -- so it pays to read labels.
 
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