Epilepsy Talk
Many neurologists unaware of AED safety risks
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A study by Johns Hopkins researchers shows that a fifth of U.S. neurologists appear unaware of serious drug safety risks associated with various anti-epilepsy drugs, potentially jeopardizing the health of patients who could be just as effectively treated with safer alternative medications.
Tags: AED risks withheld, counseling, dangers, poor communication, safer alternative drugs
Food or medications — which would you choose?
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It’s heartbreaking, but all too common…
A patient calls their doctor after repeated seizures.
He had missed his medication for about a week. He had recently been laid off and lost insurance coverage.
He couldn’t afford to refill his eslicarbazepine acetate (Aptiom) prescription.
Epilepsy and Diabetes — Confusion or Common Cure?
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A seizure can be quite serious and can be a scary experience for not just the person experiencing it but for the people around them.
While seizures are caused due to many reasons, one of the prime reasons for a seizure to occur is when people have epilepsy.
Among those types of seizures are diabetic seizures, which can sometimes turn into an emergency quite quickly.
Tags: blood sugar, coma, diabetes, emergency, Epilepsy, Glucophage, seizures
The Trouble with AEDs…
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At the very best, finding the right anti-epilepsy drug is a crap shoot. There’s always the hope that this one will do it.
Or maybe adjunct therapy will work. Or, sigh, the side-effects derail you and you’re on to the next.
Is asking for seizure control too much to ask?
Tags: AEDS, anti-epilepsy drugs, benefits, dangers, seizures, side-effects
Why you should AVOID going to the hospital… (If You Can!)
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Medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer.
A recent Johns Hopkins study claims more than 250,000 people in the U.S. die every year from medical errors.
Other reports claim the numbers to be as high as 440,000.
Combined Meds — What They Are Doing to Your Body
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For many of us, monotherapy just doesn’t work.
However adjunct therapy has its dangers.
For example, some seizure medicines can lower or raise the levels of other types of medicines in your blood.
Some combinations cause the levels of both medications to fall.
Some cause one level to fall and one level to rise.
And some cause unpredictable side-effects.
So I hunkered down to discover the unhappy marriages between anti-seizure meds.
Epilepsy and sleep apnea — a dangerous duo
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Almost a third of people with epilepsy may suffer with undiagnosed sleep apnea, a sleep disorder which is dangerous because of the possible serious consequences.
Basically (as you probably already know), sleep apnea is characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing during sleep.
Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from at least ten seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour, causing partial airway obstruction.
As sleep deepens, your airway becomes blocked.
Mail-Order Meds — Savings and Service
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For some people, accessing the pharmacy remains one of the biggest barriers to retrieving prescriptions.
A lack of social support, time constraints and limited access to convenient transportation are commonly cited as reasons users cannot get their medication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But it’s not just patients who have difficulty getting to the pharmacy who benefit from mail-order pharmacies: These programs offer flexibility, time and cost-savings to all enrolled.
Sleep apnea — it’s not just what you think it is
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It’s not just snoring. It’s much more dangerous than that. Even deadly.
The estimated prevalence in North America is approximately 15 to 30 percent in males and 10 to 15 percent in females, But, as much as 40 percent of epilepsy patients suffer with undiagnosed sleep apnea. Especially those with refractory epilepsy.
Tags: breathing, CPAP, dangerous, Epilepsy, oxygen, seizures, sleep apnea, sleep quality, snoring
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