Re: withdrawl seizures

June 19, 2002

For some, withdrawl seizures are " different " -- and

for others, it's just an increase in the same. For

us, it was mainly just an increase in seizures,

although they started coming mainly at night, which

was different and is also a common side effect of

Lamictal (night seizures and night terrors). We

weaned Lamictal on the diet. I had just read a lot

about it on this list and was prepared for things to

get better before they got worse. For this reason, I

chose to wean at least twice as slowly as my neuro had

initially recommended. I started to see a pattern --

around the 4th and 11th days following a drop. We had

one bout that was bad enough to give Diastat at home.

I was really braced for things to get much worse after

that -- and it was very scary. I think, after that

happened, I don't know if I could have continued had

it not been for my husband's persistance and the good

advice and support of this list.

The other thing that happened is that the diet and the

drugs interact, each making the other more " potent " --

so we dealt with a lot of behavioral issues, which we

had also seen as we went up on Lamictal.

It was a very trying time. But I can tell you that,

once we were on the other side, it became so much more

apparant how much the meds really had had to do with

making 's condition worse, not better.

Hope this helps.--D

--- Trrrrracy@... wrote:

> To the group:

> I've read in several posts about children

> experiencing withdrawl seizures. Can those that

> have give me your experienc? What was the

> medication? How do you then know if the diet is

> causing the seizure increase or if it's the loss of

> drug in the system that's causing the drug?

__________________________________________________

June 20, 2002

Hannah had withdrawal sz when we weaned Lamictal, three months after starting

the diet and seeing a better than 50% improvement in sz's . As she had been

taking Lamictal for a few years I expected her to react to its removal. Each

drop in the dose brought with it an increase in number of seizures, but they

were not severe ones at that stage. I waited till they stabilised before doing

another drop. The fact that there were more seizures after each drop was either

because she " needed " the drug or because she was just having withdrawal

symptoms. But the fact that each drop was followed by an improvement back to her

original levels prior to the drop was " proof " to me that she didnt actually need

the drug, but was just reacting to its removal.

The only way to be certain is to hang in there long enough to see a pattern

emerging, and to be sure to make no other changes if at all possible. If the

drug reduction is the only change then it is likely that responses will be in

relation to that, and not to other things that might cloud the issue.

Withdrawal seizues can occur for a long time and patience is needed to ride the

roller coaster of doubt and fear. Hannah's Lamictal wean was quite uneventful,

with just a few extra sz after each drop in dose, as mentioned above. But 10

days after the very last dose was given she began to have tonic clonic seizures,

which she'd not had for over two years. As nothing had changed apart from the

Lamictal wean, I was certain that these extra sz's were withdrawal sz. This

group helped me to be strong and encouraged me to wait, wait a bit longer, and

to wait some more..... and one day the tonic clonics just stopped. Hannah then

enjoyed an almost sz-free period of a couple of months (might still be enjoying

it if not for a med'n dose error in hospital)

Hope this helps

(Hannah's mum, Australia)

----- Original Message -----

From: Trrrrracy@...

I've read in several posts about children experiencing withdrawl seizures.

Can those that have give me your experienc? What was the medication? How do

you then know if the diet is causing the seizure increase or if it's the loss of

drug in the system that's causing the drug? I'm confused!! I'm not sure I'd

know if it was because the drug was going away or if it were withdrawl seizures

June 20, 2002