Living With Epilepsy Kids

Added: 08/29/2007

Epilepsy kids have many different syndromes rather than one by itself. Epilepsy is known by the seizures that accompany it. Some epilepsy symptoms show up in childhood, but they are not lifelong in nature. The illness can't be cured, but the child may be able to live somewhat of a normal life on medicines. The child may be able to carry on with their daily activities and other people may not even realize they have a problem. Unfortunately, all the cases are not like this.

The best thing to do about having epilepsy kids in your household is to read up on it and learn everything you can about it. When you know how to react and what to look for in these cases, it takes a lot of the fear away from the event. With epilepsy kids, it is even scarier. So please take time to learn what you should do during these emergencies. It can take time and a lot of effort, but these children can learn from you and your calmness or confusion during a seizure. If you have teenagers in your home looking after the child, make sure there are contact numbers available. Also, make sure the teenager has been trained in what to do if the small child has a seizure.

Epileptic seizures arise from too much neural activity in the brain. Epilepsy kids are classified by where these are located in the brain, by the event that first causes it to present, and by its obvious symptoms. Triggers for epilepsy kids can be hard to diagnose. Some are caused by flashes of light which is a common cause of many seizures. They are also caused by reading or anxiety or drinking to much alcohol.

There are several types of seizures that can be classified as pediatric in nature. One that starts in infancy is Infantile Spasms. These are also called West Syndrome. The spasms usually occur in the first year of life. Another type is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. This happens when the mother drinks while pregnant. It destroys the Central Nervous System. Focal epilepsy in kids starts before the age of 15. These seizures start at night and affect the muscles of the face and throat.

The important thing to remember when a child is having a seizure is not to crowd them. Let them do what they are going to do, keep a watchful eye that they won't hurt themselves. Do not place any type of instrument in their mouths. You can damage the mouth, teeth, and gums if you do. Move the person away from steps, sharp edges, or anything that may harm them while they are shaking.

Usually after one of these episodes, the person may discover they are quite tired and very disoriented. Reassure them that they are alright and keep them in a safe place. They may suffer from a frontal headache and may sleep for a couple of hours after the event. The caretaker should make a note about the seizure in the patient's journal. How long the event was and any symptoms before it occurred might help to figure out what is causing the epilepsy.

Treatment includes a host of medicines that are anti-convulsants or anti-epileptic drugs. Some of these include Lamictal, Dalmane, Neurotin, Dilantin, Topamax, and Lyrica. Sometimes a calming drug is needed such as Ativan to help the seizure stop when it is full blown.

Surgery is another option available for treating epilepsy kids. Many patients don't even care to think about this though. A part of the temporal lobe is removed. Some studies have shown that many of these patients never had another seizure afterwards. There is also a surgery called a hemispherectomy. This is a removal of half of the cerebral cortex. The problem following this procedure was that the patients opposite side of the body that the brain was removed was usually paralyzed. So this procedure became a last ditch effort.

Rate this article:

Bad

Good

Article comments:

No comments for this article yet. Post your comment now!

Return to top of the page