Treating epilepsy, with or without medication<\/p>\n
Dear Dr. Donya,<\/p>\n
I like reading your column in The Jakarta Post and hope you
\ndon't mind my raising my own problem\/with you.<\/p>\n
My daughter has just been diagnosed as having epilepsy. She
\nwill be four years old in two weeks' time, is completely healthy
\nand is an active child, 22 kg in weight and 104 cm in height. The
\nfirst seizure came on Sept. 2001, the second on Aug. 8, 2002,
\nthen the others followed quickly, on Aug. 15 and Aug. 18. All
\nseizures happened during the night while she was asleep, mostly
\nnear her waking up time at around six in the morning.<\/p>\n
On the first two occasions they lasted about 2 minutes, while
\nthe latter ones were quite brief (lasting less than a minute). An
\nEEG (electroencephalogram) has been produced, showing
\nabnormalities in the occipital area. Her pediatrician said she
\nwould grow out of it by herself and there was no need to take
\ndrugs yet as it happened during sleep, but I consulted a
\nneurologist who then prescribed drugs.<\/p>\n
I have not given these drugs to my daughter because I am
\nworried they will have side affects (especially on her brain
\ndevelopment) as they will have to be taken for a long time as the
\npediatrician said. I have heard about a mild kind of epilepsy:
\nBenign Rolandic Epilepsy, which children may outgrow by
\nthemselves with or without medication and that the seizures may
\nnot harm the brain. I was hoping these were the kind my daughter
\nwas having.<\/p>\n
I was worried because the neurologist did not mention the
\npossibility of this kind of epilepsy or maybe this is not what
\nshe is experiencing. I would start giving the drugs to my
\ndaughter if they were really needed as it is terrible to see her
\nhaving seizures. Could you please advise whether she needs to
\nbegin to be put under medication, or does my daughter need to
\ntake more tests?<\/p>\n
Many thanks.<\/p>\n
-- Reader<\/p>\n
Dear Reader,<\/p>\n
It sounds as though your daughter has benign epilepsy with
\noccipital paroxysms. I would recommend treatment as normally the
\nresponse to treatment is quite good; continue the medication for
\ntwo years.<\/p>\n
Hope your daughter is well soon.<\/p>\n
Take care, and I will try and help with any further questions.<\/p>\n
-- Dr. Donya<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/treating-epilepsy-with-or-without-medication-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }