Can you pls let me know how he is doing now ? My son had 2 mild seizures 2 years ago and we did not medicate - had nothing then for 2 years but now has just had 2 more We don't want to medicate but dont know what to do

Hello, My son was diagnosed with BRE just a couple of months ago. He was having seizures every night for 10 to 15 nights straight. This was really affecting his sleep and his ability to function well during the day. His grades started suffering. After months of waiting to get evals. and dr appts. he was finaly seen. At this point he had been going through this for about four months. His neurologist suggested we put him on Tegretol twice a day. We were concerned about him taking this medicine every day, but WOW what a difference! He has been seizure free since he started taking Tegretol. There has not been any negative side affects for him, and he feels much better. Hope this helps.~skwest

I think you know this but there is no set answer to your question. Our son had one full seizure and a number of simple partial seizures when we made the deciaion to medicate. Yes, I have read that in some cases no medication is given for BRE but that means that in other cases medication is in order. The frequency and type of seizure becomes the basis of the decision. You didn't mention the age of your son -- ours was 7 at the time -- and he was certainly old enough to keep asking and worrying about what was wrong with him. The decision to medicate was as much to do with his frame of mind as it was about controling the seizures from a physiological standpoint.My wife and I agonized over the decision to medicate and during that time he had two more simple partial seizures, at which point we finally agreed to pull the trigger.Since November 2004, when we began the medication, he had one more simple partial seizure in December while we were balancing his dosage and none since. Our son's questions have changes from 'what is wrong with me' to 'why do I still have to take this medicine'. He's not worrying as much about the seizures, which is obviously a good thing.Our son is on Depakote at a very low dosage. We've seen no side effects of any kind with this medicine (we know this is not the same for everyone) but we attribute part of that to our effort with his neuro to go with the lowest dosage necessary to control his seizures. Socially, physically and academically -- there have been no changes in him once he began taking the medicine.In short, your specific situation will dictate what decision you make. My only advice is that you not only make your decision based on the physical symptoms you see displayed by your son but on the psychological impact the seizures may be having on him as well.