Are all causes of epilepsy genetic? does it start anytime in life?

Question

my sons started his attacks at the age of 16 yrs old, now hes 20 yrs old and still taking Depakote 1000mg/day, still indefinite until when he is going to take it..

Answer 1

My hubby has JME (Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy). His started with puberty. When we were in our early 20's, the doctors didn't know if this was inherited or if he just 'had it' or another theory was that this was a result of him getting a bad blow to the back of his head (fell off bunk bed). It wasn't until he was about 27 that they finally said that it was definatley JME. My hubby doesn't have severe epilepsy. He has grand mal seizures, but would only have them about 2 times a yr and he has been seizure free for about 5 yrs now. He hated the depakote because it made him groggy and disoriented. He had a horrible time getting out of bed in the morning. Because his weren't very often, he got off the medication. He went for about 4 yrs had one seizure and now has been free for 5 yrs. He was told last time that he will have them the rest of his life. He refuses to take meds. So, we are just super careful to not do anything to trigger them. His doctor told him that on the meds he just has a higher tolerance for his triggers than he does off his meds. So he figured that with eating healthy and being real mindful of epileptic triggers he would be ok. So far so good -Praise God. He stays off the computer, away from video games, gets at least 8 hrs of uninterupted REM sleep each night (which means sometimes he comes home from work, kisses the kids goodnight and goes to bed) and most importantly stays away from anything with artificial sweetners, ie aspartame, saccharin etc. He is doing fine now. But to answer your question... It could totally be inherited, my hubbys dr had that theory because he has an aunt that had seizures into her 20's. It could have been from a hard trauma to the head. Or it could ' just be '. In any case, you son will just have to be careful about triggers all his life. There is no guarantee, that we have ever seen, that no matter the cause, it can't rear it's ugly head in 20 yrs. As far as meds go, I really pushed them on my hubby at first because his mom was also, so I followed suit. But, he decided to come off and try to control them himself. My hubbys aunt 'grew out of them'. She has been seizure free for over 20 yrs. My hubby thought he had and then at 27 had one because he had stayed up late with our son playing video games. I think that there is no guarantee as to when they will stop. I wish the best of luck for your son. Talk to his neurologist. If his seizures aren't very frequent he may be able to come off meds and just adjust his lifestyle to avoid his triggers. My hubby works a very full time job running heavy machinery, we have two kids and a very active life and sometimes it is easy to forget that he has any issues. We are just really careful about his triggers. Our whole family has adjusted. LOL-my 9yr old was at a friends house and was offered a diet coke and he said no thankyou.. it has poison in it. So the friends mom asked me about it and I explained what my son was talking about. It is just my kids way of life. I am older now with sons... and the inherited side of this does concern me with my boys, and thinking from a moms point of view this is hard to say, but.... When your son is ready to stop the meds he will, whether anyone else wants him to or not. As long as he understands the ramifications and how to control it, he will be fine. I know I thought my hubby was crazy for going off of them, but he knew the risks. He had discussed it with his doc and got all the info he could to give him the best chances of remaining seizure free. Now... my hubby did not have frequent seizures. They were bad when he had them, but they didn't happen very often. That is why for him... at your sons age... he decided that he would rather take his chances than be on the depakote any longer. If he had them more frequently he would have chosen differently I am sure.
I don't know if I helped at all. I wish you the best. I know it gets frustrating when you just want to know when it will be over so they can get on with normality. That uncertainty is daunting. I hoped this helped some! :)

Answer 2

I was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 17 - and I am also still on medication for it (Dilantin and Lamictal.) I am also the only one with Epilepsy in my family and was told by my doctor that it is genetic for a large # of people, but not all. It is probable that your son had a "potentially epileptic" brain even as a child but just never had seizures until he was older. Or that it was environmental. Or a bump on the head that was blown off out of embarrassment. Who knows. It is possible that the seizures will improve, or go away, or that he will be on meds for the rest of his life. Unfortunately Epilepsy is unpredictable like that. I am sorry that you (and your son) are going through this. I know what it's like.

Hope this helped?

Answer 3

My seizures started 34 years ago when I was 10--I'd had a brain abcess at 7, and the scar tissue left from that was what triggered the seizures. There are all types of reasons a person might have epilepsy, not just heredity--no one else in my family has it. It can be from brain injury or disease, too. I take 2500 mg/day of Depakote, too, plus 300 of Lamictal.

Answer 4

Seizures can be caused by chemical imbalances and trauma to the head. They are not genetic. The younger the child at onset the more likely they will be able to overcome them but they often times return later in life. Meantime if your son had an onset at age 16 he may very well continue to treat that for his lifetime. You need to continue your followups with your neurologist since they are the ideal place to monitor his needs.

Answer 5

not all forms of epilepsy are genetic. Something has to catalyze the epilepsy. I have a borderline form of epilepsy and I was just recently diagnosed. The epilepsy didn't start until October 06, extreme stress catalyzed my epileptic activity.

Answer 6

no person on either side of my loved ones has had any seizures of any variety. When I used to be eight a automobile drove via a purple mild and i used to be in my dad's truck closet to the door and that i hit my head at the facet window after that i began having grand mal seizures relying on how a man or woman (my medical professional says) received them the following new release or father on might now not have any. I are living in Ohio and my medical professional has advised me that there's now a variety of lazer surgical procedure that may be performed to aid humans be seizure loose relying on wherein it's placed in a targeted aspect of the mind and now not unfold via out. I am now 36 and my medical professionals asking me to take a experiment or assessments to discover out if i might also have it performed however i have no idea if i might wish lazer surgical procedure performed although feasible.

Answer 7

That stinks. Sorry i can't help.