It’s been five weeks since we made the trip to the Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth Texas, and I’m happy to report that Dillon’s new medication is working. He has not had a seizure since October 5. Dr Malik put him on a low dose of Lamictal (25 mg twice a day) and Depakote ER (250 mg twice a day.) Dr Malik has seen a lot of success with this low dosage combination and thought Dillon was the perfect candidate for that.
There are potential side effects that need to be watched out for and with the slow ramping up of the medication, we’ve been blessed to avoid those. The only one that came was a temporary and very mild case of pleurisy. That too is now gone.
Since coming home from Fort Worth, life has been busy. Between helping Charlie apply for colleges, fill out scholarship forms, and fall yard work, my boys have both competed in a Tri-State soccer tournament in Joplin (their team placed third overall) as well as a high school retreat. This week Charlie is in Washington DC with several classmates. When he returns, he’ll being finishing his applications, trying out for a play, working on a Youth Retreat, and being the world’s master guitar hero.
Tri-State was scary for mom, and annoying for Dillon. I went along to not only chear on my boys, but to keep an eye on him. Varsity soccer is rough and Dillon got creamed more than once. Creamed or not, he kept going back out there and I’m proud of him for that.
We only had one (or 2) real scares where he collided with the Goalie from Grace, took a cleat to the chest/throat, and hit another players shoulder with his head. All that and not a single seizure. He’s going to be just fine.
That is life in a nutshell right now. Living with epilepsy, means living, not waiting. And that is encouraging.
Deana O'Hara - Speaker, Comedian, Writer 
Hello
I have epilepsy and went through lots of different medications before being put on Lamictal (Lamotrogine) – which I have now been taking for about eight years – and it has made a dramatic difference to my life.
I still have fits but there are fewer of them. Learning to live with epilepsy has meant I’ve made life-style changes too so it’s difficult to disentangle things but I have no doubt that taking Lamotrogine has given me a great step forward.
One of the quickly noticeable changes was that I could much better tolerate movement close to me – and turnings and flashings didn’t automatically mean I’d have a fit. (Though I still avoid them if I can!)
I have had no side efffects – though I have a liver function blood test once a year just to check things are ok.
I do hope this medication works for your son too.
Best wishes
Esther Montgomery
P.S.
(I’ve not taken Depakote . . . at least, I don’t think I have . . . so often things get marketed under different names!)
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