schleppenheimer wrote:
Five months ago my 17 year old had his 2nd grand mal seizure (other one happened 6 months before, we thought it was a fluke). He was given Lamictal for the seizures. He also takes a rather large combination of Vyvanse/Concerta to help his ADD inattentive problems.
He's a senior in high school, preparing for college, and although he has been accepted to a nice liberal arts college, he is concerned because he is always tired, he's missing assignments, and his grades are slipping -- suddenly - because the Lamictal makes him very tired, and basically, as he puts it, gives him the "stupids" - meaning he can't concentrate at all, can't find the right words during conversations, etc. Our ADD specialist just wants to increase the stimulants, the neurologist will want to increase the Lamictal (which will make everything worse), and nobody is helping figure out how to improve on the situation.
The Lamictal seems to be taking care of the seizures, so that's a positive. But under the current circumstances, I don't see how my son is going to be able to handle the rigors of college. He basically comes home at 3:00 pm, spends from 3:00 to 10:00 pm working on homework, and sleeps. Then gets up the next day, goes to school, comes home, and does homework all night. No social life. Works his butt off but still gets C's, after getting A's and B's before. After a while, the poor kid just wants to give up.
Did any of you start having seizures in high school? Did your anti-seizure meds make you feel like you couldn't do anything mentally? How did you deal with it?
While I never had seizures in high school, I would be having a very serious talk with his doctors about your son's condition while on these meds. If they refuse to listen, then I'd be looking for new doctors.
18 Mar 2014, 5:01 pm
