Zonegran AND Weaning off drugs -- Feel a battle with neuros coming

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>How long has she been on Zonagran? This drug increased my daughters seiuzres.

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has been Zonegran for 11-1/2 weeks and as far as I can tell it is

doing nothing.

Now, my problem: We are starting the diet next Monday and I would like

to, at least, be off the Zonegran before we start and down on the

Depakote. The Lamictal, I'm just not sure about.

The drug mfgrs. state in their own literature that Zonegran may

interfere with the efficacy of Depakote. Her neuros persist in telling

me that " they all work together " . When we started the Zonegran (1 week

after the Depakote), they said it would take up to 6 weeks to reach full

therapeutic levels. Well, around 3-4 weeks, after a relatively good

spell with 2 days of some breakthrough tonic-clonics, everything

increased again, and " twitching " started for the first time. So when I

question sticking with the Zonegran, I'm told--Everything was under

pretty good control within a week of starting it, so it must be helping.

Suddenly 1 week was enough to see if it was working!

Now, I realize that the drugs are continued during the diet for some

time, but with one that is most likely not doing any good, why keep it?

After all I've read about the drugs she's been on and the ones she's

still on, I can't help believing that some of the problem is the drugs

themselves. It's also seeming like her pattern is to have some good

spells in between the long ones. And the drugs really don't seem to be

controlling the long bad spells. I have to resort to Diastat at times to

give her brain a rest from the constant jerks and twitches that come in

between the tonic-clonics.

So how do I (and should I) convince them to eliminate the Zonegran and

after that's gone, go down some on the Depakote (since the Zonegran

won't be interfering anymore)?

Sidebar: A month ago her dr agreed to wean off the Depakote (in

preparation for slowly starting the Lamictal). When we were nearly to

the end, had a week of days in which she had a progressively

longer period of seizure-free, cognitively aware, just about back to

normal time every day, culminating in her first seizure-free day in 4

weeks. Then, suddenly, just as we were checking in the hospital to

finish the wean, start Lamictal and do a VEEG, it all started up again,

so the Depakote was brought back up to a higher level and things were

great for a week. Now we're back to daily activity and little jerks and

twitching almost constantly at times.

Re: the Lamictal--We are going very slowly and are only at 5 mg/am and

pm. Would you continue? My thoughts--How will the diet be given a fair

trial? If the seizures stop (oh please, oh please), how do we know if

it's the Lamictal (and Depakote) or the diet, without having to put her

through the weaning period that, by then, will be much longer? I am way

off base thinking that the drugs can interfere with the success of the

diet? Since 's only been on them for 3 months, with little

control, aren't they more of a hindrance than help?

Thanks for any thoughts you can share,

Barbara (mom to --gen. tonic-clonic, myoclonic, probably atypical

absence, lots of twitching {face, hands and sometimes feet] and still

not sure if there have been some drop-attacks)