I worked at San Antonio Hyperbarics for several years. Hyperbaric treatment did help almost everyone that had seizures, my own daughter included. It is a bit expensive, about $125-$150 a treatment, depending on how many you want to do. Most places reccommend doing a round of 40 treatments. Then you take a break and go back in a few months, depending on how you do. My daughter did over 300 treatments in a 5 year time frame. I can tell you from experience it helps a variety of ailments. Just keep in mind it is not a cure, but in some cases, it has been. Your neurologist may not like the idea because hyperbaric medicine is still considered a treatment for wound care only by most of the medical community. Do your own research. The staff at San Antonio Hyperbarics are excellent! Give them a call, they will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Email me privately if you'd like also.
--- In epilepsy@yahoogroup
>
> This is amazing!!!
> Keep us posted on how she does. I'm going to ask my daughter's
> neurologist about this when we go see him in a couple of weeks.
> Kim
>
>
> In a message dated 8/23/2009 4:01:35 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> wendy.sue@..
>
>
>
>
> Interesting that they didn't discuss HBOT!!! Julia (21 months old)
> has uncontrolable multi focal myoclonic seizures. Julia typically has
> 6 seizures a day each lasting 5 - 10 minutes in duration and we
> typically have to stop a seizure with diastat once in a 3 week period.
> Julia is taking 125 mg of zonagram 2x/day and 100mg of Lictamal
> 2x/day and 325mg/day of vigabatrin (not FDA approved). We also tried
> the keto diet and it did nothing but give Julia the worse case of acid
> reflux. Now 8 days ago we started HBOT and Julia only had 3 yes 3
> extremely short seizures today and is doing so many new things. This
> is SHOCKING!!! They are discovering that seizures arise from parts of
> the brain that are low in oxygen and Hyperberics help promote the
> groth of blood vessles to areas of the body (brain in Julia's case)
> that are low in oxygen. I hope that Julia will be seizure free within
> the next few weeks!! I will keep you all posted. One new thing that
> Julia started doing after one yes ONE treatment was chew her food.
>
> FYI hyperberics are used in the treatment of seizures in China.
>
> Wendy
>
> On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 2:33 PM, amanatullah
> Pathan<_dramanatkha
> >
> >
> > wikipedia.org
> > Treatment of EPILEPSY
> >
> > Epilepsy is usually treated with medication prescribed by a physician;
> > primary caregivers, neurologists, and neurosurgeons all frequently care
> for
> > people with epilepsy. In some cases the implantation of a stimulator of
> the
> > vagus nerve, or a special diet can be helpful. Neurosurgical operations
> for
> > epilepsy can be palliative, reducing the frequency or severity of
> seizures;
> > or, in some patients, an operation can be curative.
> >
> > [edit] Responding to a seizure
> >
> > In most cases, the proper emergency response to a generalized
> tonic-clonic
> > epileptic seizure is simply to prevent the patient from self-injury by
> > moving him or her away from sharp edges, placing something soft beneath
> the
> > head, and carefully rolling the person into the recovery position to
> avoid
> > asphyxiation. In some cases the person may seem to start snoring loudly
> > following a seizure, before coming to. This merely indicates that the
> person
> > is beginning to breathe properly and does not mean he or she is
> suffocating.
> > Should the person regurgitate, the material should be allowed to drip out
> > the side of the person's mouth by itself. If a seizure lasts longer than
> 5
> > minutes, or if the seizures begin coming in 'waves' one after the other
> -
> > then Emergency Medical Services should be contacted immediately.
> Prolonged
> > seizures may develop into status epilepticus, a dangerous condition
> > requiring hospitalization and emergency treatment.
> >
> > Objects should never be placed in a person's mouth by anybody - including
> > paramedics - during a seizure as this could result in serious injury to
> > either party. Despite common folklore, it is not possible for a person to
> > swallow their own tongue during a seizure. However, it is possible that
> the
> > person will bite their own tongue, especially if an object is placed in
> the
> > mouth.
> >
> > With other types of seizures such as simple partial seizures and complex
> > partial seizures where the person is not convulsing but may be
> > hallucinating, disoriented, distressed, or unconscious, the person
> should be
> > reassured, gently guided away from danger, and sometimes it may be
> necessary
> > to protect the person from self-injury, but physical force should be used
> > only as a last resort as this could distress the person even more. In
> > complex partial seizures where the person is unconscious, attempts to
> rouse
> > the person should not be made as the seizure must take its full course.
> > After a seizure, the person may pass into a deep sleep or otherwise they
> > will be disoriented and often unaware that they have just had a seizure,
> as
> > amnesia is common with complex partial seizures. The person should
> remain
> > observed until they have completely recovered, as with a tonic-clonic
> > seizure.
> >
> > After a seizure, it is typical for a person to be exhausted and confused.
> > (this is known as post-ictal state). Often the person is not immediately
> > aware that they have just had a seizure. During this time one should stay
> > with the person - reassuring and comforting them - until they appear to
> act
> > as they normally would. Seldom during seizures do people lose bladder or
> > bowel control. In some instances the person may vomit after coming to.
> > People should not be allowed to wander about unsupervised until they
> have
> > returned to their normal level of awareness. Many patients will sleep
> deeply
> > for a few hours after a seizure - this is common for those having just
> > experienced a more violent type of seizure such as a tonic-clonic. In
> about
> > 50% of people with epilepsy, headaches may occur after a seizure. These
> > headaches share many features with migraines, and respond to the same
> > medications.
> >
> > It is helpful if those present at the time of a seizure make note of how
> > long and how severe the seizure was. It is also helpful to note any
> > mannerisms displayed during the seizure. For example, the individual may
> > twist the body to the right or left, may blink, might mumble nonsense
> words,
> > or might pull at clothing. Any observed behaviors, when relayed to a
> > neurologist, may be of help in diagnosing the type of seizure which
> > occurred.
> >
> > [edit] Pharmacologic treatment
> > Main article: Anticonvulsant
> >
> > The mainstay of treatment of epilepsy is anticonvulsant medications.
> Often,
> > anticonvulsant medication treatment will be lifelong and can have major
> > effects on quality of life. The choice among anticonvulsants and their
> > effectiveness differs by epilepsy syndrome. Mechanisms, effectiveness for
> > particular epilepsy syndromes, and side effects, of course, differ among
> the
> > individual anticonvulsant medications. Some general findings about the
> use
> > of anticonvulsants are outlined below.
> >
> > History and Availability- The first anticonvulsant was bromide,
> suggested in
> > 1857 by Charles Locock who used it to treat women with "hysterical
> epilepsy"
> > (probably catamenial epilepsy). Potassium bromide was also noted to cause
> > impotence in men. Authorities concluded that potassium bromide would
> dampen
> > sexual excitement thought to cause the seizures. In fact, bromides were
> > effective against epilepsy, and also caused impotence; it is now known
> that
> > impotence is a side effect of bromide treatment, which is not related to
> its
> > anti-epileptic effects. It also suffered from the way it affected
> behaviour,
> > introducing the idea of the 'epileptic personality' which was actually a
> > result of the medication. Phenobarbital was first used in 1912 for both
> its
> > sedative and antiepileptic properties. By the 1930s, the development of
> > animal models in epilepsy research lead to the development of phenytoin
> by
> > Tracy Putnam and H. Houston Merritt, which had the distinct
> > advantage of treating epileptic seizures with less sedation[29] advanta
> > 1970s, an National Institutes of Health initiative, the Anticonvulsant
> > Screening Program, headed by J. Kiffin Penry, served as a mechanism for
> > drawing the interest and abilities of pharmaceutical companies in the
> > development of new anticonvulsant medications.
> >
> > Currently there are 20 medications approved by the Food and Drug
> > Administration for the use of treatment of epileptic seizures in the US:
> > carbamazepine (common US brand name Tegretol), clorazepate (Tranxene),
> > clonazepam (Klonopin), ethosuximide (Zarontin), felbamate (Felbatol),
> > fosphenytoin (Cerebyx), gabapentin (Neurontin), lacosamide (Vimpat),
> > lamotrigine (Lamictal), levetiracetam (Keppra), oxcarbazepine
> (Trileptal),
> > phenobarbital (Luminal), phenytoin (Dilantin), pregabalin (Lyrica),
> > primidone (Mysoline), tiagabine (Gabitril), topiramate (Topamax),
> valproate
> > semisodium (Depakote), valproic acid (Depakene), and zonisamide
> (Zonegran).
> > Most of these appeared after 1990.
> >
> > Medications commonly available outside the US but still labelled as
> > "investigational" within the US are clobazam (Frisium) and vigabatrin
> > (Sabril). Medications currently under clinical trial under the
> supervision
> > of the FDA include retigabine, brivaracetam, and seletracetam.
> >
> > Other drugs are commonly used to abort an active seizure or interrupt a
> > seizure flurry; these include diazepam (Valium, Diastat) and lorazepam
> > (Ativan). Drugs used only in the treatment of refractory status
> epilepticus
> > include paraldehyde (Paral), midazolam (Versed), and pentobarbital
> > (Nembutal).
> >
> > Some anticonvulsant medications do not have primary FDA-approved uses in
> > epilepsy but are used in limited trials, remain in rare use in difficult
> > cases, have limited "grandfather" status, are bound to particular severe
> > epilepsies, or are under current investigation. These include
> acetazolamide
> > (Diamox), progesterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH, Acthar),
> various
> > corticotropic steroid hormones (prednisone) corticotropi
> >
> > Effectiveness - The definition of "effective" varies. FDA-approval
> usually
> > requires that 50% of the patient treatment group had at least a 50%
> > improvement in the rate of epileptic seizures. About 20% of patients with
> > epilepsy continue to have breakthrough epileptic seizures despite best
> > anticonvulsant treatment. [30][31].
> >
> > Safety and Side Effects - 88% of patients with epilepsy, in a European
> > survey, reported at least one anticonvulsant related side effect. [32]
> Most
> > side effects are mild and "dose-related" and can often be avoided or
> > minimized by the use of the smallest effective amount. Some examples
> include
> > mood changes, sleepiness, or unsteadiness in gait. Some anticonvulsant
> > medications have "idiosyncratic" side-effects that can not be predicted
> by
> > dose. Some examples include drug rashes, liver toxicity (hepatitis), or
> > aplastic anemia. Safety includes the consideration of teratogenicity
> (the
> > effects of medications on fetal development) when women with epilepsy
> become
> > pregnant.
> >
> > Principles of Anticonvulsant Use and Management - The goal for individual
> > patients is, of course, no seizures and no side effects, and the job of
> the
> > physician is to aid the patient to find the best balance between the two
> > during the prescribing of anticonvulsants. Most patients can achieve this
> > balance best with monotherapy, the use of a single anticonvulsant
> > medication. Some patients, however, require polypharmacy; the use of two
> or
> > more anticonvulsants.
> >
> > Serum levels of AEDs can be checked to determine medication compliance,
> to
> > assess the effects of new drug-drug interactions upon previous stable
> > medication levels, or to help establish if particular symptoms such as
> > instability or sleepiness can be considered a drug side-effect or are
> due to
> > different causes. Children or impaired adults who may not be able to
> > communicate side effects may benefit from routine screening of drug
> levels.
> > Beyond baseline screening, however, trials of recurrent, routine blood or
> > urine monitoring show no proven benefits and may lead to unnecessary
> > medication adjustments in most older children and adults using routine
> > anticonvulsants. anticon
> >
> > If a person's epilepsy cannot be brought under control after adequate
> trials
> > of two or three (experts vary here) different drugs, that person's
> epilepsy
> > is generally said to be medically refractory. A study of patients with
> > previously untreated epilepsy demonstrated that 47% achieved control of
> > seizures with the use of their first single drug. 14% became seizure free
> > during treatment with a second or third drug. An additional 3% became
> > seizure-free with the use of two drugs simultaneously. seizure-free with
> the
> > in addition to or instead of, anticonvulsant medications may be
> considered
> > by those people with continuing
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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