Epilepsy questions
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2002 5:39 am
Argh, chucked into the deep end again...
A friend who I am (again) trying to treat has recently been put on Tegretol,
for epilepsy. She's asking for my help, even tho she knows I think she'd
get better help elsewhere, so I have to try (again). Several questions I'd
love input on.
Previously her attacks had been very widely spaced (first at age 23, then
again 9 years to the next, then 11 years later, then 2 years later, and then
this spring, two in a single day, at which point she was hospitalized and
put on the drugs. Well actually she had already been hospitalized for
emotional breakdown... it's messy...). She's now at home, but having a hard
time with the drugs.
Her convulsions are tonic-clonic, froths at the mouth, bites tongue,
urinates on herself, each time, and has cracked teeth. She has no "aura",
no warning of when one is going to come on, and so no chance to get to
safety. Which leaves her understandably nervous...
Questions:
1) She's having horrible side-effects of the Tegretol. E.g. last week (not
too many days after starting it) she had "vertigo, sharp stomach pains,
nausea, vomiting." She reduced her dosage and sxs receeded. She consulted
her dr., who insisted the sxs could not be from the drug -- because dose was
already so low, I think???, so she increased dosage again, and sxs have
returned, but slightly changed, worse: This week splitting headache, pain
in neck, fever, swollen feet, sore throat, itching and burning of skin all
over." She says all of the other anticonvulsants have risks that are (?)
even worse, and one was already tried but stopped because of side-effects.
So her choice seems to be either live with the Tegretol, or be unprotected
from further convulsions; which frightens her, since they have become more
frequent, unpredictable (and she already has unresolved brain damage from
prior falls).
Is this a situation where Tegretol in potency could be helpful?
If so, can someone suggest potency, repetition, and what result to expect?
2) A few weeks back she started taking Hyos LM-2. She says that it has
helped, in a slow, "subtle" way. Obs: She sounds *much* more present and
connected than previously. This was our first conversation since she
started the Hyos, and the first time in many months that I've felt we were
having a conversation, rather than my just sort of witnessing an obsessive,
miserable rant. Yet the remedy hasn't prevented these side-effects. I've
suggested she increase her dosage (slowly!) and see whether that makes it
more effective. Should the emergence of these "side-effects" change
anything about her LM use?
If anyone feels they might help me sort this out I can put up more detail
(and unfortunately there's a lot more). But in any case, I'd love to hear
any input on topics of treating epilepsy, management of drug side-effects,
anticonvulsants, Tegretol...
So I'm thinking... Her tradeoff seems to be a choice between either (1)
risk of severe consequences if a convulsion comes on at the wrong time
(since she has no "aura", she has no warning, and so no chance of getting to
safety) or (2) a certainty of ongoing damage from the drugs. ??????
Ouch,
Shannon
A friend who I am (again) trying to treat has recently been put on Tegretol,
for epilepsy. She's asking for my help, even tho she knows I think she'd
get better help elsewhere, so I have to try (again). Several questions I'd
love input on.
Previously her attacks had been very widely spaced (first at age 23, then
again 9 years to the next, then 11 years later, then 2 years later, and then
this spring, two in a single day, at which point she was hospitalized and
put on the drugs. Well actually she had already been hospitalized for
emotional breakdown... it's messy...). She's now at home, but having a hard
time with the drugs.
Her convulsions are tonic-clonic, froths at the mouth, bites tongue,
urinates on herself, each time, and has cracked teeth. She has no "aura",
no warning of when one is going to come on, and so no chance to get to
safety. Which leaves her understandably nervous...
Questions:
1) She's having horrible side-effects of the Tegretol. E.g. last week (not
too many days after starting it) she had "vertigo, sharp stomach pains,
nausea, vomiting." She reduced her dosage and sxs receeded. She consulted
her dr., who insisted the sxs could not be from the drug -- because dose was
already so low, I think???, so she increased dosage again, and sxs have
returned, but slightly changed, worse: This week splitting headache, pain
in neck, fever, swollen feet, sore throat, itching and burning of skin all
over." She says all of the other anticonvulsants have risks that are (?)
even worse, and one was already tried but stopped because of side-effects.
So her choice seems to be either live with the Tegretol, or be unprotected
from further convulsions; which frightens her, since they have become more
frequent, unpredictable (and she already has unresolved brain damage from
prior falls).
Is this a situation where Tegretol in potency could be helpful?
If so, can someone suggest potency, repetition, and what result to expect?
2) A few weeks back she started taking Hyos LM-2. She says that it has
helped, in a slow, "subtle" way. Obs: She sounds *much* more present and
connected than previously. This was our first conversation since she
started the Hyos, and the first time in many months that I've felt we were
having a conversation, rather than my just sort of witnessing an obsessive,
miserable rant. Yet the remedy hasn't prevented these side-effects. I've
suggested she increase her dosage (slowly!) and see whether that makes it
more effective. Should the emergence of these "side-effects" change
anything about her LM use?
If anyone feels they might help me sort this out I can put up more detail
(and unfortunately there's a lot more). But in any case, I'd love to hear
any input on topics of treating epilepsy, management of drug side-effects,
anticonvulsants, Tegretol...
So I'm thinking... Her tradeoff seems to be a choice between either (1)
risk of severe consequences if a convulsion comes on at the wrong time
(since she has no "aura", she has no warning, and so no chance of getting to
safety) or (2) a certainty of ongoing damage from the drugs. ??????
Ouch,
Shannon