ADHD meds and epilepsy - finding a combo that works
My 12 year old son, who was already diagnosed with ADHD, now has Epilepsy. Therefore, we are trying to get the seizures under control with various meds. I have been told that we cannot introduce Concerta again or something similar as they will lower the effectiveness of the ADHD med?
Everyone is frustrated with the school work. The year, 6th grade, has been wasted for the most part since August. Any ideas?
mommylisa
Lisa
Thank you for your question and welcome to ADHDCentral.com.
I was not too familiar with ADHD and epilepsy as co-existing conditions. Although I did do some research, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of information on this.
There was an article on the Epilepsy Foundation website that addressed this situation. According to Michael Chez, M.D., Director of Pediatric Neurology at Sutter Neuroscience Institute, Sacramento, Calif., and Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of California, Davis, Davis, Calif.,"ADHD and seizure medication can be taken together. Usually seizure control is not adversely affected by stimulants." The article further stated that parents should be aware of possible drug interactions and that Strattera may be an option if side effects from stimulant medication are a problem.
Dr. Chez also indicated, "Parents should not be afraid to address the attention and learning issues that sometimes accompany epilepsy. I would estimate that about 40 percent of childrenwith epilepsy may have ADHD or attention problems as a comorbidity. I think that a lot of parents often have guilt about putting their children on medication for behavior issues, because they think they should be better parents, or they have heard horrorstories about medication side effects. But parents need to talk to a well informed physician about how to treat these conditions and make a sound decision based on facts and not some of the misinformation that is out there. Parents should realize that treating the symptoms of ADHD in children with epilepsy will help their children function at a higher level, and the children will have a higher level of self esteem." ["ADHD and Epilepsy", Date Unknown, Andrew Wilner, Epilepsy Foundation]
I hope this helps. Please let me know how it is going.
Eileen
My 12yr. old son also has ADHD and epilepsy! He has always had ADHD and was diagnosed at age 6 and was put on Ritain and at around 9 or 10 he took seizures out of the blue and was tested as having heriditary epilepsy(no one in a
immediate family has it). He is on liquid Valproic anti-seizure meds mixed in a drink twice a day. We had a lot of problems when he went on it with also being on the ritalin because he had 3mths. of sideffects and seemed to make the ADHD worse! Now he has been on it for 3yrs. and is doing great but when we went from 4mls twice a day to 3mls, to two mils we noticed a change within a day of only being on 2mls. twice a day and they were not good at home and at school. Now he is doing great on the 3mls twice a day. For me I found the Ritalin to be the best for ADHD and the liquid Valproic for Epilepsy(after the first 3mths on it)!
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