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chutch

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Hi Y'all,

My son began having seizures when he was a teenager. Was told they are gran mal seizures. That was about ten years ago. Doctor put him on Keppra. It worked well for 7 years. But now the med isn't completely controlling his seizures. He is starting to have seizures in spite of his meds. His seizures also seem to be changing. He may be having back to back seizures instead of just one. We are in Gainesville, Ga - an hour north of Atlanta. Looking for a good epileptologist in Cumming, Dawsonville, Gainesville if there is one. Otherwise, we will travel to Atlanta. Any recommendations?

Thank you,
Cheryl
 
Hi Cheryl, welcome to CWE!

The fact that your son responded well to the Keppra bodes well for him having similar success with another med. I hope you can find a med (and a neuro) that's a good fit.
 
Hi chutch,

Welcome to the forum! You are playing it smart seeing an Epileptologist and I wish you and your son the best. Start keeping track of your sons seizures and write down what time they happen and the type of seizure he has by doing this it will help the Dr. see if there's a pattern in his seizures. My Dr. found I was having seizures the 3rd week of every month.
If your son is have back to back seizures this is known as status seizures and it happened to me when I was on Neurontin. What really helped me a lot was the medical marijuana (cbd oil) my Dr. told me to start using it twice a day and it has done wonders reducing my seizures. Also have your son cut back on the carbs and starch foods this can sometime trigger seizures for some people. One thing that really bothered me was diet soda it's the aspartame (NutraSweet) that was causing the problem.
If your son has a cell phone or is around a few people using their cell phone at the same time and you see seizures he may be cell phone sensitive meaning the frequency the cell
phone uses bothers him and in turn it can trigger seizures. I found that I had this problem after my Dr. did a e.e.g. on me and they purposely turned on their cell phone (but I didn't know it) and I ended up having seizures each time their phones were on or there were high spikes in the e.e.g. when their phones were on. One more thing you can try is vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day that helps calm the nerves and it helps me a lot.
I wish you and your son the best of luck and May God Bless the Both of You!

Sue
 
Hi Cheryl, welcome to CWE.

It's a scary thing when meds that used to work stop working and you have to ride the merry go round looking for a new solution. I wish you and your son all the best in that endeavor.

Caution: :soap:
You touched on an issue that is a bit of pet peeve for me with respect to Western medicine's treatment of epilepsy. Doctors try to pin down a specific diagnosis, but don't see the situation in a more holistic sense. No one ever told me that seizure patterns can change - that diagnoses are fluid. But the brain isn't a static thing. It grows. It adapts. It changes. Neuroplasticity. Western medicine needs to invest more attention to efforts to heal/train the brain rather than simply sedating it. But that's where the money is for big pharma. /soapbox
 
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