EPILEPSY PROBLEM

I am from Pakistan however settled in one of the Gulf countries since many years. I want to get advice from any of the senior doctors available here or anyone else who has any experience in this regard. The problem is that from the last 1 and a half year, my daughter is having epilepsy problem.

It started suddenly at the end of December 2010 when she was 13 years old. She got first two seizures with a gap of approximately 14 to 16 hours. As she was having high fever before her first ever seizures so the doctors told us that these could be febrile seizures, however all the symptoms were of an epileptic seizure. As per doctors advice, we did EEG which was clear so the doctors did not diagnose that this is epileptic seizures so did not prescribed any medicine.

Since my mail is little long, so I am posting it in portions. I am unable to post together.

PART 2
However, six months later she again had two seizures with a gap of 1 week (i.e. one year before from now).  Again EEG, MRI and related blood tests were done.  MRI report was clear for any tumors or any brain damage, but some epileptic waves were detected in the EEG.  As per our observation of the seizures which we told to the doctors, they diagnosed it as Tonic-Clonic type of seizures.  She collapses suddenly wherever she was, twitching, jerking her whole body and blinking her eyes rapidly

Epilepsy:

(I combined your posts into one for ease of reading).

Was your daughter suffering from fever when she had the most recent set of seizures ( the ones that happened a year ago)? I know you mentioned she had high fever when she had the first set of seizures in December 2010.

Generally speaking, febrile seizures afflict younger kids and generally not someone your daughter's age, but exceptions are always there.

Another thing that I want to point out is that a normal EEG does not rule out Epilepsy, or in other words, some people with epilepsy may have normal EEG particularly if not done while actually having a seizure.

Seizures can result from a number of causes, for example electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, fever, CNS infections, tumors of brain, and even as a result of stress and lack of sleep.

Based upon what you mentioned, your daughter needs a thorough evaluation to rule out some of the potential causes of seizures. This evaluation should include a thorough history taking, physical examination, labwork, and other procedures for example 24 hour EEG monitoring etc etc, and only then a decision should be made whether she needs anti epileptic medications or not.

I wish your daughter good health.

causes of epilipsy

Epilepsy:

How old is the young man, and does he have seizures since childhood, or did the seizures start just recently ( I am asking because the causes would be different).

Yes, certain foods increase the risk of having seizures. These include excessive use of caffeine ( coffee, tea, chocolate). There is a thing called MSG ( Mono Sodium Glutamate), generally found in certain oriental foods ( Chinese foods), which is also better to avoid if someone has seizures.

Depression and sorrow generally do not cause seizures, however, exthere is a type of seizures called Pseudo Seizures, which can sometimes happen in people with emotional conflicts, particularly in young females, not as much in males.

epilipsy

one thing more

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