osteopathy as a form of treatment

[mabrazier]

Hi all, first posting here. My 13 year old has been having infrequent focal seizures. The first was violent and scary and happened almost a year ago. Since then he has had 2 more definite seizures, although much briefer and less scary. He has also possibly had a night seizure (well maybe more than one but it's obviously difficult to say. He isn't keen on having to take the medication (Doctor has recommended Carbomezapin (Tegretol) and i'd rather avoid it if possible. Some of the stories about side effects sound horrendous. I was wondering if anyone has any stories about successful alternative treatments. The first port of call for us is to have some cranio sacral work done, and osteopathy. Alfie had a traumatic birth, he got stuck due to shoulder dystocia, and was eventually delivered with a ventouse. We were recommended at the time to take him for cranio osteopathy, which we did. I understand that the treatment could bring on a seizure in the early stages but thereafter is pretty non intrusive. Any thoughts or experiences out there? Thanks

 

[LJ-Bain]

Hi there and welcome! I found my osteopathy treatment very relaxing. She was treating my neck and my head started to turn so she shifted her focus to another area of my body. It's all very gentle. The touch is very soft and it doesn't hurt in the slightest. It was sort of meditative and forces you to relax. I don't think it helped with my seizures at all but it was so soothing. But hey, I'm a skeptic so perhaps I didn't give it a chance. I think others have found their treatments beneficial.
I wish you the best of luck! What a horrible birth experience...poor you and poor little man.

 

[epileric]

Welcome mabrazier

I have to agree the stories about all AEDs are horrendous. Personally I would check the actual statisitics of the medications since the more horrendous a story is the better a story it makes. Also remember that by law ALL side-effects have to be listed, even if there's less than a .01% chance of it happening.

I've been on Tegretol for over 30 years & the side-effects on me are extremely minimal. Your son might not have more or less side-effects than I do but you have to remember that AED's effect everyone differently & you won't know how it effects your son until he tries them.


Also be aware that both Chiropractry and Osteopathy have been making grand claims about their practices that have not been proven. So far there is no proof that either of them help anything neurological.

I just read this in the news today

The holistic medical practitioner performed a treatment to try to relieve pain in her shoulder. But a day after the treatment, Rousseau contends she knew something was very wrong.

"A day after, my hand was paralyzed and it was hurting a lot," Rousseau tells CTV Montreal.

She went back to her osteopath, who allegedly told her to relax, saying that her pain was stress-related. She went home to rest. But when she woke up the next morning, her arm was in worse condition.

"My hand was already grey, there was no circulation," she says.

Rousseau was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered a blood clot in her shoulder.

But by then, it was too late. The circulation to her arm had been cut off for too long and her arm had to be amputated.

Quebec woman sues osteopath after arm amputated

 

[Krista2882]

Personally, Tegretol has had very little side effects. It caused some weight gain over the 10 years that I've been taking it, and it makes me a bit tired from time to time, but I think it has less side effects for me than the other 2 AED's I'm on- Keppra and Lamictal. Although I'm very blessed not to be having any major side effects with any of them. The only thing that worries me about Tegretol is the risk of bone degeneration after being on the drug for many years. But my Neurologist mentioned having me start to come off the Tegretol. It was the first drug I started taking (after Dilantin which didn't work at all and I was only on it for a few weeks), and the other two were added later. It would be great if the other two drugs could be sufficient on their own.