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Help: Minor Petite Mal : Risks of no medications
Wed, 03/29/2006 - 00:30Topic: Medication Issues
My 6 years old niece is diagnosed with petite mal [Absence Seizures]. Her seizures are 1/2 to 2 seconds long and about 10-15 a day [that we see]. It does not affect her school or her normal life. Side affects of medication does not seem to justify them.
Question1.What are the long term risks if we do not put her on medications, and wait to see her growing out of it? [Feel free to share your personal experiences; you are not responsible for the outcomes]
She has started Yoga, and a diet with fish and no animal protein.
Question2: Do you have any suggestion of any alternative to medications? Life style changes?
I'm 30 and have absence
Submitted by KeepReaching on Thu, 2007-12-13 - 14:24
I'm 30 and have absence seizures. Parents are always in a cunundrum to figure out what to do with their child. I suggest reading Treating Epilepsy Naturally. It was published in 2002 and gives some good ideas. The research is a bit vague, but it can at least help point you in some directions. I didn't start medication until I was 28 because I wanted to drive. While I have no horror stories to tell, I eventually fell in love and got engaged. I stopped the meds because my now husband and I were sure we wanted to have kids. One thing I didn't think of was how the medication would affect my ova. Just remember that doctors can quote you statistics, probabilities and have to encourage medication to avoid lawsuits down the line. That's not meant to be a stab at them: I would also do everything possible to avoid a malpractice suit if I were a doctor. The fact that your child is vomiting means she's not keeping her food down, so she's not getting her nutrients to grow healthy. Ask the doctor about that and what effects that can have on your child long-term. (And read Dr. Mehmet Oz's You: The Patient. Terrific book on things to ask doctors when you're in the office.) My mother took me off wheat, sugar, and milk (long story as to why), and it leveled my blood sugars. When I went through puberty, nothing happened: the seizures stayed the same. Remember, do your own research, too, because doctors can't read everything AND talk to patients AND have personal lives. I can't imagine what it must be like to know that the advise you give a patient today could kill them tomorrow. I do have respect for doctors, but remember, they're just as human as you are. So go with your gut feeling and talk to your child.