Do seizures change over time? become more intense?

Has anyone ever given their child an alarm or something to alert others they are having a seizure?

How do I leave her alone? Im scared!

My daughter (6 yrs old) was diagnosed with epilepsy in July. She has had focal seizures in her face, mouth, arms, legs, hand and feet. Usually they arent too bad. She remembers everything and can usually talk when they are happening.

Yesterday she had a "big" one. For us, it was big. She couldnt speak. She was just making a gutteral noise. She was drooling. Her head kept jerking backwards and her one eye (right) was rolling around. She bit the inside of her cheek. Her face was also spasming on the right side. When I asked her what she remembered, she didnt remember much. She was also a little slow to recover. Usually she bounces right back like nothing happened and remebers the entire event. Up until then she had had a bunch of tiny seizures in her face that afternoon. Then again after the big seizure. About 12 in total. This never happens!

I called the doctor because we had taken her off meds (with drs ok) back in March after a 3 day EEG. They knew she was still having seizures but they were very mild. The dr is now putting her on Lamictal.

This morning she had another "big" seizure. This just doesnt happen with her. She again couldnt speak. Her head was jerking back and she was drooling. My son was with her and he came running.

Im scared to leave her alone. What if they get worse (since they have already gotten worse from where they started)? Has anyone ever given their child an alarm or something so they can let people know this is about to happen?

Why are the seizure changing and getting worse. Nothing has changed in her enviroment. No added stress. No new foods.

Im just scared! If anyone has any advise it would be welcomed.

Thank you!!

Hi concernedmom,

I'm sorry to hear that your daughters sz. (seizures) are changing.
I personally think that some of this could be happening because her Dr. took her off her meds which he should have never done in my own opinion.
I'm no neuro but after having sz. for 40 yrs. and remembering when I was a kid my sz. changed also. I started having absence (petit mal) sz. when I was 10 yrs. old and by the age of 12 I started to have complex partial sz. also. When I have a complex partial sz. I will blank out for a few seconds and once in awhile I will have muscle spasms around my mouth where I can't speak, I will wander around the house not realizing what I'm doing, and it will take me longer to realize what has happened after the sz. is over.
I can't help but wonder if your daughter is having the same type of sz. that I am having, absence and complex partial.
Your daughter is at the age now where she's going through puberty and growing up into a young lady this can often cause sz. for a girl do to hormones changing every month. I know it was a hard time for me and it bothered me a lot causing sz. after sz. because the estrogen level would get high causing more excitment while the progesterone level dropped and progesterone helps calm the nerves.
My best advice is to keep your daughter on the lamictal and you might want to add vitamin B12 500 mcg. once a day to help calm her nerves down. If your daughter isn't allergic to nuts have her eat a few of them because they have progesterone oil in them which can help reduce her sz. I know it did wonders for me.
I know it's hard for a parent to do but let your daughter lead a every day normal life. When I was your daughters age I couldn't go any place or be with my friends at school and that hurt me a lot. People were afraid of me and I lost a lot of friends. I don't want that to happen to your daughter or anyone else.
I wish you and your daughter only the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Thank you. I will def look for some nuts that she can eat. She doesnt have an allergy. She is only 6 so Im not exactly sure how big the role of hormones play. Though some days Im sure she is already a teenager!

I want to lock her up in a little box and wear her around my neck. I want to keep her safe and sound, however I know I cant. I am hoping the new meds work and we can relax a little bit again. I just hate the unknown in all of this. The drs always throw in that you just never know what can happen ie. grand mal etc. Its scary having them change on us. I feel like we have been dealing with this forever and it hasnt even been a year yet.

Thank you agian for the advise. It means a lot.

Hi Concernedmom,

I'm glad to be of help to you and your daughter. You might want to look into putting your daughter on the "ketogenic diet" this works great for kids. The diet is similar to the Atkins diet but it's much more strict. Your daughter would have to eat foods high in fat and cut back on the carbs, and starch foods. This will help build up keytones in her body and the keytones reduce/stop sz. for many people. You would have to take your daughter to see a Dietician and get her started on the diet. She won't gain any weight she will probably lose some and she will use the fat for energy and burn it off instead of using carbs for energy. If you are interested you can buy the book titled "The Epilepsy Diet Treatment" By Dr. John Freeman at Hopkins University. The Diet has been out since 1927 and I have a cousin who had grand mal sz. during World War II and he flew airplanes. He didn't have a single sz. while he was on the diet and he never had any problems flying.
Another thing you should do is get a calender and write down what time your daughter has any sz. along with a discription of the sz. take note if there's a low pressure in the weather, your daughter is sick, or she's stressed out or very tired. These are all things that can trigger sz. for people. When you keep track of your daughters sz. the Dr. may see a pattern in her sz. and see if she has sz. at certain days of the month or certain times of the day/night. My Dr. saw a pattern with my sz. I always seem to have them the week of the 14th and I have more sz. in the fall and winter compared to the spring and summer and that's do to less light in the fall and winter. Sometimes a person can be photosensitive or cell phone sensitive. This means that certain colors can trigger sz. and cell phones can trigger sz. I have these problems so I have to stay away from bright flashing lights and I can't be around people using cell phones or it will tigger a sz. for me.
To find the right sz. med have your daughters Dr. do a DNA test on her by doing this they will be able to find the right sz. med for her with the least side effects.
I wish you and your daughter only the best and May God Bless You!

Sue

concernedmom2,

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. Happy to see you have come to be with us. Here are a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Sue has give you some wonderful details about epilepsy. I too have had epilepsy since I was the same age as her. I to have had petite mal seizure since the beginning. I have had grand mal, that is where I was biting my jaw. Just don't give up her situation will ease down. I have been seizure control for 2 1/2 years. We are always here to listen to you at any time.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene