Adults with absence seizures

@annestudio I am 69 and developed focal unaware seizures after a stroke. The look like I'm daydreaming with my mouth looking like I'm chewing. I have no awareness or memory of the events. You are right to look for a specialist.

@annestudio
Epilepsy is most common in young children with a dramatic increase in people over 60-65. Absence seizures in older people are common but not as easily diagnosed because unlike some children who frequently have 100 or more episodes a day. In older people symptoms are more subtle.
They may look like absences but may be focal impaired seizures.
Does your husband have any memory of the episodes? Has he had an EEG or MRI?
If possible, filming the potential seizure would be very helpful to the neurologist along with a thorough history from a witness.
Take care,
Jake

My husband began having “Absence Seizures” when he was 86. He still has them once in about 3 months. Neurologist refuses to give them a name diagnosis. But a nurse who was with us during one said they look just like the “Absence Seizures” her young daughter experiences.
I think we need to find an Epileptologist who has more insight into adults who have this condition. I hope you find a doctor with appropriate experience

Hi @irishgirl2005
I'm so sorry to hear you've had more seizures this past week than in the last couple of years. Something similar has happened to me in the second half of this year. I know how unsettling this can be.
Though the keto diet is well known for helping reduce seizures, especially for people with medication-resistant epilepsy, it's not yet fully understood why it helps. Reduction of brain excitability seems to be part of it.
If you do decide to explore dietary changes, I'd suggest making them one at a time so you can really learn what works (or doesn't work) for you. Medical supervision is important too. When I decided to go gluten-free, I kept everything else in my diet the same for a whole year before introducing any other changes. Taking out gluten alone was challenging enough and required a good dose of perseverance, especially in those first few months! If I'd tried to change multiple things at once, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it.
Did anything particular happen this past week when you had so many seizures? Stress, less sleep, more anxiety, or changes in your routine? These can all be triggers. Learning my own seizure triggers has been really helpful in managing them.
Thank you so much for your holiday wishes, 💜. May this coming year be filled with an abundance of well-being, resilience, joy, peace, and love. 🙏🙌
Chris

@ambo2006 I totally forgot Keto is supposed to help seizures. Does anyone know why? I’ve had more seizures in the last week than I’ve had in the last couple of years. I’ve had my doses changed and it didn’t help. Boo! Maybe I’ll start keto After Christmas. It’s the one day a year where everyone is eating the egg casserole, the cinnamon pull apart bread, etc. and I eat a big piece of chocolate cake with my coffee. I’ve done this for years and my relatives. Still look at me like if they can’t believe I’m doing it and every year when they ask why I respond with, “because I can.” so much of a life is a choice. If you celebrate the holidays, I hope they are great, happy, healthy, and full of cake.

Yes I’m 58 and I didn’t start until I was in my early 50s

@cancersurvivor05
Welcome to our group at Connect!
I'm so sorry you've been going through this. I've also struggled to control my seizures (mostly focal ones), so I truly understand your frustration.
There's a lot of truth to the gut being our "second brain"—our diet can have a significant impact on seizures. The ketogenic diet is an established treatment option for refractory epilepsy, and while I know people who've had good results with it (though unfortunately none are currently active in our Connect group), I understand it's quite a challenging diet to follow. I haven't tried it myself yet.
I have made several dietary changes that have really helped reduce my seizures. For example, removing gluten from my diet reduced my seizures by about 60%. I've also switched to a much healthier overall diet, eliminated simple carbs, and avoid eating any carbs at dinner.
I'd like to share the Charlie Foundation with you—it's a highly respected resource for information on the ketogenic diet for epilepsy patients: https://charliefoundation.org/.
Have you had a chance to discuss the keto diet with your neurologist or epileptologist? It might be worth exploring with him/her to see if it could be a good option for you.
Wishing you better days ahead!
Chris

I'm 25 years old and I've been dealing with absence Seizures or 5+ years now, and I have tonic seizures once in a while. I think I've almost tried every medication now and now I'm trying to combine medication and I'm still having seizures.

I'm curious if anyone has tried a keto diet. Has anyone tried that yet and does it help?

@ambo2006
I'm sorry to hear about your seizures. I have had epilepsy for 60 years.
What age did you start having absences?
The chance of absences stopping are best when you only have absences and no other type of seizures and they started when younger than age 9-10. While you wait for your seizures to hopefully stop, you need to do all that you can now to get them under control because seizures can become more frequent and severe if not controlled. Although you may still outgrow your seizures.
If your telling your Neurologist that you're still having seizure and he doesn't adjust your meds, either by increasing your lamotrigine or adding another medication to it, I would seek out a new Neurologist. Have you ever tried adding another drug to your lamotrigine or increasing its dose? If you don't want to change doctors, you may ask your doctor about adding an additional medication perhaps Zarontin which is quite effective for absences. Keppra and Depakote also help absences as well as other seizure types. Zarontin and Depakote are first generation drugs, and some doctors shy away from prescribing those drugs.
When taking generic drugs, you should always make sure that every refill is from the same manufacturer. If I were you, I would also switch to an extended release version of your medication if your not already taking one.
After 45 years of uncontrolled seizures, my medication became unstable and had to be discontinued. My last neurologist insisted I take the brand name and the extended release version and my seizures stopped.
The ketogenic diet may help but you'd need to ask your doctor about if its a reasonable option for you. Also its not an easy treatment to follow. It takes a lot of dedication and perseverance.
Good luck,
Jake

Hi, I’m 19 and still waiting to grow out of them (really really hoping so so that I can drive) had had a few tonic clonic in the past most recent being June and the one before that 18 months. I’m on lamotrigine but only see the neurologist once a year and my next one has been pushed back 7 months! And I don’t seem to be able to communicate much with him. Is there anything I can do to help stop like keto diet..does that help?