Epilepsy?

[Confabulous]

Hi,

Just a quick question for those in the know. I've done a few searches but nothing specific has come up.

My brother (he's 22) has epilepsy - full fits (grand mal/tonic clonic I believe), and always at night, and always wakes up with the equivalent of a major hangover - fairly normal I know. They're infrequent - no more than 1 every 2 months. He takes 500mg Epilim.

However, during the last 2 weeks he's had 2 fits in bed - but awake, either just before dropping off to sleep or while waking up. He's been conscious during both of these, and it's obviously terrifying for him.

My question is: Could this mean that his epilepsy is getting worse or better? These recent fits haven't produced the 'hangover ' symptoms. He has been under a lot of stress recently (relationship breakup and college exams etc).

Any opinions on the problem?


Thanks,
Conf

Obviously we're going to get him to a consultant ASAP - but apparently there's only two epilepsy specialists in Ireland, so it's a 6 months wait even with private insurance. Sometimes this country really annoys me.

[visibility3miles]

Some pretty reliable places to look for healthcare info (in the U.S.) are:

http://www.healthfinder.gov/

or

http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/index.html

and search on epilepsy

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor.

Best wishes.

[gingernut]

Confab, sorry to hear about your brothers troubles.

Doctors are measured on their effectiveness at treating this condition, by several measures, including the frequency of which a patient fits.

There is no right or wrong answer to what an optimum fit frequency is, but most sufferers would tolerate 1 fit every two months. (I avoid the phrase "happy with")

There are two major factors involved in fit frequency, lack of sleep, and alcohol use. Too much of either, can decrease an individuals fit threshold, and I 'm wondering whether your brothers recent stress would be a contributive factor to his condition.

It may be just worth visiting your brothers gp to discuss where to go next. He is realistically faced with two choices at the moment, either adjusting his medication, or perhaps adopting a strategy of watchful waiting, until his period of stress is over.



PS with all due respect to "The consultant," I'm not sure of the value he would add, apart from accessing the facilities to confirm the diagnosis.



By the way, I've always found that the British Epilepsy Association publications quite helpful, but patients tell me that the local meetings are less useful.

Keep us posted.