Is my epilepsy getting worse?

[mngrace]

Hello there, my name is Grace. It is so happy to find this Epilepsy Forum that I finally have peers to discuss my symptom!

I got first seizure attack while I was about 51 years old. It just came so sudden without any warning. I did several MRI scans, but it did not show any area abnormal in my brain. But since then, I have been having regular seizure attack for almost 7 years.

Currently, I take Oxcarbazepine 300mg once a day. It has controlled my seizure attack well that normally it happened once a month during the early morning time at around 2 am. But recently, for the last a few months, instead of one relative big seizure attack, I had two relative small seizure attacks with a couple hours in between which also happened during early morning. And the next day, it happened several times that I just lost my conscious for one or two mins. When this happened at home, it was fine; I was just sitting there and could not hear anything but still. But once it just happened yesterday, I lost my conscious while I was walking on the street and collapsed, later I woke up but did not remember what happened and felt alright. I had seizure attacks that early morning, it was my first time of falling on street, and luckily I did not hurt myself.

I just wonder is there anybody has experienced the same symptom? Is my epilepsy getting worse? Would it be helpful if I increase my Oxcarbazepine dose from 300mg to 600mg?

Thanks so much for your comments! I would appreciate it very much!

 

[Maisy]

it might not be that its getting worse its more than likely that your body has got used too that amount of medication so it may need increasing, talk too your neuro or doctor -hugs-

 

[arnie]

Epilepsy can be a pretty unpredictable disorder, especially when there is no apparent cause for the seizures. It certainly would be disturbing to be having more seizures, so you need to talk to your neurologist ASAP. Like today. Chances are you will have to increase your meds, but that's something you should never do on your own, because of the danger of side-effects if you get too much, too soon.
I would hope this isn't the case, but I suppose there could also be something going on in your brain that could be causing more seizures, so they might want to do another scan or further tests. Good luck and get in touch with your neuro and let us know how it goes.


What? Are you still here reading? Why aren't you on the phone to the doctor??

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Grace, welcome!

I agree with the others -- get in touch with your neurologist. When your seizures start increasing that usually means your medication may need tweaking, with either a different dose or a different med.

Did your seizures start with menopause? Sometimes a trigger can be the drop in progesterone that can accompany menopause/perimenopause. If it seems like there may be a connection, you might want to ask your neurologist if they're familiar with catamenial epilepsy, and ask as well about some of the specific treatments (usually involving progesterone cream or lozenges).

Best,
Nakamova