As some of you know, one of my daughters is epileptic. We have been treating her for it for several years, but the seizures just kept happening more often. She went from one every two months to several a day! Suspiciously, these often coincided with housework and schoolwork.
Last week she spent several days in the hospital for observation. She was all wired up with a camera pointed at her. The first day she was slow to have any seizures.
Wife: Apparently, sitting around drinking pop and watching TV agrees with her.
Me (to myself): Maybe you should tell her to clean up her room.
She eventually had a few and the doc was able to observe her and her brainwaves. He took Wife aside and said that Daughter was able to put herself into a trance state at will, or even without the conscious will. Not faking the seizures, exactly, but they were not “real,” either.
Me: So, how do we get her to stop when she’s had several years of pandering and coddling and all sorts of other kinds of positive reinforcement for the “seizure” behavior?
Wife: We ignore her and normalize her life as much as possible. The doctor told her she’d outgrow them soon.
Well, it’s been a couple days and she hasn’t had one. She even said, “The doctor was right—I AM outgrowing them!”
She still has the abnormal brainwaves that caused the epilepsy diagnosis in the first place (she had some real ones early on), so she’s staying on the medicine. But she seems to be “cured” of the most debilitating part of it, the daily seizures.
But we still can’t laugh at her. Out loud. In her presence.
Oh! Congrats!! Don’t know what else to say, drop, i know nothing about epilepsy, but i’m glad you know what the problem is and I hope you can solve it now. 
OMG! That is like children holding there breathe until they pass out. I would freak! You also mention that she isn’t in total control of her seizures, her subconcious triggers it. That must have scared the death out of you. I’m glad at least that you know what is causing it and can “treat” it.
wow.
Yeah, yesterday she said, “Hey, I took a deep breath and didn’t have a seizure.” I think it might be related to breath control. Wife can do it, too, and has to be careful when praying so she doesn’t pass out. Methodists. :rolleyes: She’s going to HAVE to stop being so demonstrative now that she’s a Lutheran.
Weird, in Discover (the “Vital Signs” regular feature) that had an article about this exact thing a couple of months ago.
Anyhoo, I’m glad that’s what it is, probably a huge weight off your shoulders.
BTW, my SIL is severly epileptic (and mentally retarded to boot) so I understand how epilepsy can affect a family. You are a lucky man.
I wish you and your family the best of luck in overcoming these problems! It sounds like you may be on the road to recovery.
May I ask how old your daughter is? I am just curious.
She’s eleven. A good age for us to manipulate her behavior—she still trusts us.
I gotta check out that Discover. I love “Vital Signs.” I’ve been reading The Medical Detectives, which is a collection of similar essays from fifty years ago. It’s interesting reading an account of a smallpox outbreak in NYC.
Now my daughter has to learn to, um, “channel” her skills into a useful livelihood, like Edgar Cayce. Except she completely lacks her father’s larcenous nature and it would never occur to her to do that.
And I’m feeling very blessed right now. Thank you, all of you.
Did they describe her behavior as “pseudoseizures”? JC, cause I occas run across this dx in my work.
I am very happy for you. Now that you have eliminated that final stressor, life is just skittles and beer for you, right?
My mother has had epilepsy all her life (well at least since childhood). She has had about every possible script over the years. She finally had a vagus nerve stimulator implated awhile back. It acts like a pacemaker to send out pulses to the vagus nerve…After some adjustments, she has been seizure free for over a year now. She is slowly being weaned off her meds…
I’m very happy to hear of your good news. dropzone…!
That is indeed wonderful news.
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drop, what great news!
I’m epileptic, and I’m beginning to suspect that my daughter may be (read my “Low Grade Irritation” thread for more info). While my seizures have not been life-disrupting, I do know that they can indeed cause great havoc.
Best of luck to you and your family, dropzone, and keep us posted on how your daughter is doing! 
