My son is a junior in college carrying a 3.92 GPA. He is in summer school living in a dorm and has had 3 seizures within a week. His roommate had called the paramedics and he has visited the ER on 3 separate occassions. The school is discussing whether or not to make him leave because he is a danger to himself and not fair to the other students. For the last 4 yrs this has been going on at home. He is under the care of a top notch neurologist and is on the best antiseizure Rx. If he has to leave school I don't want him home if he continues this behavior. I have had no peace for the last 4 years and am at wit's end. What do I do? Where can I send him? I don't have much money as he has run up a large medical debt. I wish he would just take his medicine but he hates the side effects.
2007-06-11 09:58:39 · 13 answers · asked by Penny76 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
Technically, he's not your responsibility any more, especially if he's living at the dorms. I'm assuming you've already looked into several other medications and the ones that he should be taking are about the only option he has. I would lay down the law, and tell him that he needs to either a) research other medicines that would provide some protection against his seizures; b) take his medicines and stop worrying those around him; and/or c) understand that he needs to learn to work through the side effects. They may not be fun, but that's life and that's part of what he needs to accept.
2007-06-11 10:11:25 · answer #1 · answered by annacd36 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am no expert. Maybe you can suggest to the Doctor to change his medications, tell them the side effects. If he is having a lot of them, then his medicine may not be suited. Usually it takes time to find the right meds. Because everyone system is different. Hopefully if he had the correct medicine, it wont mind taking it.
I had trouble with depression and it took several years to find a medicine that works well for me.
But as I said I am no expert in this, just a little common sence. I sure hope your son gets better and you can get out from under the stress your in. And have a happy home. Good Luck and God Bless!
2007-06-11 10:13:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
So he would rather have the seizures than the side effects? Doesn't he realize that he is not only hurting himself, but could be a danger to others, especially if he drives a car. And does he enjoy the fact that others are witnessing his seizures? The side-effects must be really bad to cause him to not take this essential medicine. The only thing I can suggest is to ask his doctor to put him on a different medicine. There are excellent medicines for seizures, as I know someone who takes them. Ask him to prescribe Keppra. It's one of the newest and most effective seizure meds, and the person I know who takes it used to have a lot of frequent attacks, but hasn't had a seizure in over four years. The only side effects this person has had, is drowsiness, which wears off eventually, and should not be a problem for your son. Ask your son's doctor to prescribe Keppra. They come in different strengths, depending on the size and weight of the patient. Good luck!
2007-06-11 10:22:27 · answer #3 · answered by gldjns 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a tough one. Unfortunately, there are no right answers for this. He is 21 and an adult, so choice as well as responsibility, falls on him. However, from how it sounds, he is still thinking short term... meaning that he immediate consequences of side effects currently outweigh the long term effects of possibly being dropped out of school. Hopefully, he will soon mature a bit more and come around to understanding that the long term effects will have more drastic consequences.
You cannot force him to take the medicine, but you can help him understand and prioritize what means more. I would not force it on him though, or you will give him more reason not to take it... i.e.- he might become rebellious on top of hating the side effects.
Good luck. I wish I could offer you more.
2007-06-11 10:09:23 · answer #4 · answered by orange 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your son has a driver's license then he should not be allowed to drive if he's had a seizure in the past 6 months. This is the law in my state, can't be sure about where you live. If you threaten to make it known to the police that he is having seizures and will have his license taken away, then perhaps he will listen
Also, remember that at age 21, you are not legally responsible for you son anymore. People with chronically sick children have difficulty transferring responsibility for care to their children - and sick children have trouble assuming that responsibility. Since epilepsy can be a very treatable disease, your son needs to learn to take responsibility for his illness. I would advise that you let him see the consequences of failure to take his medication and that you won't be able to clean up his messes forever.
2007-06-11 10:04:22 · answer #5 · answered by temetgnoste 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He is an adult legally, so he is responsible, not you. Maybe his doctor can help and change his meds to something with less side affects. Perhaps you can get him to listen up if you tell him seizures can affect his IQ and finding/keeping a girlfriend or job. If I were the school, I would kick him out too.
2007-06-11 10:48:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He's 21 now - an adult. It's not your responsibility to enforce this. Sure, as his parent, you're going to be worried about his well-being, but it's possible that the best thing you can do for him is to just leave the issue alone. If he suffers some sort of negative consequence (like getting kicked out of school) as a result of neglecting his condition, maybe he'll learn to take better care of himself. It's his problem now, not yours. You deserve to relax a bit now, not to feel pressured to take care of a grown man.
I don't mean to sound harsh and unsympathetic. I actually had to learn a few serious life lessons this way, myself. My family stopped bailing me out from all of my self-imposed dilemmas and it was time to "sink or swim." I went through some hard times, but I eventually figured out that I had to start acting like an adult, and now I'm extremely grateful that I was forced to grow up and take care of business.
2007-06-11 10:13:31 · answer #7 · answered by between2wrlds 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think you need to have a really deep chat with him but not nag. try and pursuade him into seeing the affects of not taking the meds and the side effects. you need to convince him that the meds are doing him good, not bad. maybe tell him how you feel. your his mum, he might take it after realising how much he hurts you everytime he doesn't take it.
my brother was on anti-psychotics but he refused to take them because of the same reason. after i had a long deep chat with him and told him how much he was hurting our parents' feelings with his behaviour without meds, he immediately started taking them. he did go off them again but hmmm... maybe good to talk to the doctor for advice about dealing with the side effects.
sorry, not the best advise but hope it helps a little.
2007-06-11 10:09:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
he probably just doesn't want to except that all meds have side effects sometimes. You just have to deal with it.
Or you could tell him would he rather have seizures and no side effects from the med or have no seizures and live with the side effects.
2007-06-11 10:03:54 · answer #9 · answered by Koter Boters misses Rufus! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think he may legally have to take his medicine. As is, he may be kicked out of the school for being too much of a liability.
2007-06-11 10:02:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋