We have met with 2 neurologists and both have said that meds are our only treatment option. Part of me wants to believe them.
Birdy picked right up on the neuros. There are other things to consider besides drugs and\or surgery, the neuros just don't want to tell you. I had uncontrolled seizures for many years. Drugs and brain surgery failed. I finally got them under control using a combination of strategies, behavior modification, diet changes, vitamins and neurofeedback.
Epilepsy is a word, not a disease, and all it means is that someone has seizures.
There are many causes of seizures and it doesn't sound like your neuros have tried much to figure it out. The function of the drugs is only to suppress seizures and the side effects can be serious, including leading to cognitive impairment. There are some options you can explore though do know that the exact cause of seizures is often not known.
If she is only having absence seizures you may want to consider if the risks of taking drugs outweigh the benefits. Not all seizure disorders require medication.
You may want to do more searching and have your daughter get some further evaluations to try and discover what are causing her seizures. One easily overlooked cause is B6 dependent seizures, and we have a member in this forum who has seizures because he has an inborn error in metabolism involving B6. There are literally hundreds of inborn errors of metabolism which have seizures as a symptom. You may want to have your child evaluated by a pediatric physician specializing in metablolic disorders.
This link is to a laboratory that does blood testing.
http://www.carbonbased.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=90
The owner's daughter developed very frequent seizures and he was able to help figure out her problem. From the web page you can find an article about it and may also contact them as they should have information on some things that may be causing your daughter's absence seizures.
Also, you can do a google search on "absence seizures" "children" "causes" which will give you more information to exlpore.
These are some other easily overlooked causes of seizures in children:
Vitamin D deficiency. I wrote an article on it and you may want to have your daughter evaluated for this. Information on getting the proper test is included in the article:
http://www.indiana.edu/~pietsch/zoerickets.html
Celiac Disease\Gluten Intolerance. This is becoming more recognized as a cause of seizures and can be treated with a gluten free diet. Absence seizures are a symptom of gluten intolerance and a good pediatrician should be able to test for this.
http://www.aafp.org/afp/980301ap/pruessn.html
Since that article was written it is now thought that gluten intolerance is quite common.
This link is to another group for folks who have seizures:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/epilepsycured/
If you join, send an email to Arnold Gore. He had seizures as a child and overcame them when he realized he needed B vitamins. You should find other parents to talk with there as well.
Don't let the epilepsy label intimidate you. All it does is say your daughter is having seizures. But it doesn't tell you why, if it is from gluten or lactose intolerance, a vitamin deficiency or some other cause. Children do often outgrow their seizures too. They are not necessasarily a permant condition. Do a lot of information searching and ask a lot of questions. You may want to try putting your daughter on a strict lactose and gluten free diet, with no MSG or artificial sweeteners for a month and see if she shows any improvement.
Welcome to our crowd. You'll find a lot of support here too!
Please see my post on Long-QT, a heart rhythm disorder easily misdiagnosed as epilepsy!!!!