Anger Issues

Bridgett Leah - posted on 02/24/2012

Hi - I just joined, saw this discussion and thought "I'm not alone!". Thank you, Sandy, for the info on Abilify. We have a neuro appt coming up, and Doc is going to HAVE to help me out with Brandon's aggressive moods. We tried the Risperadone about 18 months ago and it was horrible for B- his seizures went from one every day or two to 3 a day (tonic clonic). When I got in touch with our neuro, he said "I was afraid that might happen; risperadone can increase seizure activity." Ugh! It's really a daggum it if you do, daggum it if you don't situation. Brandon is 15 now, weighs less than 100 pounds, and is soo strong that adult men comment on his strength once they've been on the receiving end of his hits. I'm not a tiny little weak girl, by any stretch, but he's getting to be ... really hard. Again I'm just glad to not feel alone and find people that maybe I can learn something new from.

Sandy - posted on 02/04/2012

Hi Kerry .... Joey woke up one morning (9 months old) and had and 'episode' that left him unconscious. Later at the hospital it was diagnosed as Epilepsy/Seizure Disorder. Since then it's been trial and error, through 6 brain surgeries, a stroke and other obstacles.

Sandy Lora

Sandy - posted on 02/04/2012

Robyn .. risperadone should help. It has done a lot for my son who is 13 years old. I hope it works. DON"T ever give him Abilify for behavior/aggressiveness!! It changed Joey's seizures from petit mal - absense to where he was almost having grand mal. That drug is poison, so is Zonagram and Keppra!! Good luck and keep trying!!

Sandy Lora

Kerry - posted on 02/04/2012

How did you get your son diagnosed with this seizure problem? Thanks, Kerry

Robyn - posted on 03/30/2011

My son is 5 now and has terrible tantrums. His anger/aggression has been so difficult. It is hard to know what to do about it. Keppra made it way worse so we took him off of that. His dr. said his uncrontrolled seizures have affected the brain so that he has difficulty controlling himself now. He now has oppositional defiant disorder. His doctor has prescribed risperdal so we will see if that helps. She thinks he is depressed and in young children it transpires into anger. Not sure that this helps but just know you are not alone.

Kate - posted on 12/10/2009

Hi Sandy,
Good Luck it sounds like hell on earth!!!!. Check what drug mixes with what as recently I was placed on a higher dose of Topomax on top of Rivotil, Lyrica and Dilantin and my memory died, my seizures went totally out of control and I kept getting sick bronchitis and UTI's on top of multiple daily seizures. The worst thing was though was that my wotld went black and I was so depressed. I hated it as I couldn't work out why I felt so bad. I finally went and saw my ever faithful GP who looked up the combination of Lyrica and Topomax which we found caused suicidal dendencies. I was distraught. Even after being weaned off the extra topomax 2 weeks later I was still grey and it took me a good month to get that side of things and my memory (which is bad anyway but it became non existant ) back to a state where I could begin reoperating as a single mother of four. Two months later my epilepsy is still not on track. So Sandy I can only wish you well with your problems and hope they improve soon. Kate Dunn

Tracey - posted on 12/04/2009

Hi Sandy,



As you mentioned, there can be side effects from the drugs that aren't always positive. When doing a lot of changing of medication it can sometimes be more difficult to pinpoint what is causing what. And seizure activity (increased, decreased, a change in types of seizures, etc.) does not usually respond immediately when medications are changed or altered. (even though it may appear to have, short term). Therefore, though it may appear to be one thing causing the problem it might not be. And when drugs are being used in combination, it may be that an amount of one or both need to be altered or, that one or both drugs could be inappropriate; causing more seizures or that one of the drugs is all of a sudden not working properly because of something else. But, the problem, is not always the drugs by themselves and giving the body and the drug enough time to adjust and settle is key to knowing what pattern/effect a particular drug will have on an individual over the long term. (unless, of course, it is very obvious that there needs to be an immediate change). Every individual taking anti convulsants will respond differently, most of the time; depending on things such as; age, gender, type of seizure disorder, medication or combination of medications and amounts of medications that are being taken, etc. Yes, people often experience similar side effects when taking the same medication. But often people forget to consider, the other factors that may be causing negative side effects as well. A couple of things: With things like seizure disorders When an individual has to take these types of medications, especially during the growing years, the body can become deficient in important vitamins and there is the possibility of a vitamin B deficiency or other things that may be a factor; such as ADHD, possibly caused by a chemical imbalance (that would have to be assessed by a specialist). Extra B viatmins are suggested to aid with mood swings and they are extremely important for normal neurological brain development. Also humans have hormonal changes, so with children growing and changing, the natural chemical changes are happening constantly. In both children and some adults fevers are surprisingly common; they can be before (a warning) and/or after a seizure. A fever is usually an indication that something is off or that the body is trying to fight infection. Below is a list of "Effects of Hormone". For children and some adults dealing with an uncontrolled seizure disorder, hormones cause more sensitivity, sometimes causing an imbalance which can trigger seizures and/or more mood swings, throw medications off in the body, etc.



Hormones have the following effects on the body:



stimulation or inhibition of growth

mood swings

induction or suppression of apoptosis (programmed cell death)

activation or inhibition of the immune system

regulation of metabolism

preparation of the body for fighting, sex, fleeing, mating, and other activity

preparation of the body for a new phase of life, such as puberty, parenting, and menopause

control of the reproductive cycle

hunger cravings

A hormone may also regulate the production and release of other hormones. Hormone signals control the internal environment of the body through homeostasis.



**I'm glad that you never had a serious problem when you abruptly dropped one of the anti convulsants mentioned. As I'm sure you have become aware of, seizures can be highly unpredictable and it is always recommended when changing or stopping an anti convulsant to do so slowly; a sudden change to the body's system can and has caused people to go into status.



**Also just a general reminder: approximately 1/3 of people with seizure disorders do not gain total control of their seizures. And a lot changing of medication can be dangerous so it is important to try to find a medication or a combination of medications that are tolerable.



I hope some of this information has been helpful.



Good luck and take care,



Tracey Alderson

Administrator, Epilepsy Awareness 2009

Tracy - posted on 11/19/2009

sounds like my daughter her e nurse suggested i look into aspergers and dyspraxia, my daughter started having seizures this year all test normal no meds but she has angry tantrums from being littlle being put down to just her wanting her way, talking to her e nurse and the suggestion has led me to researching these two conditions and im now convinced that we are on the right tracks but its all up to what the experts say

Yvonne - posted on 11/18/2009

Boy...can I understand! When my son first started seizing he was 8 months old. We didn't see rage issues until he was about 3 years old. And then we didn't realize what they were. He was nonverbal, so bit people to get their attention. Through the years we realized that certain drugs (depakote/depakane) would send him over the edge. Because of Dr's moving (we live in a remote area) each new neurologist would insist to try a different form or dose of this drug. When I was corralling my son in the waiting room of the Dr. office, I finally had enough and told the Dr. he took him off the drug or took him home! I have since put that drug on his "Allergy" list. Since that time, we have also had an onset of "emotional" seizures. At the time I thought it was just puberty and the "rebellion" of a normal preteen. Turns out that the focal center of some of his seizures was in the hypothalamus. He would have "Happy" seizures where all he would do is smile and say "Yep, Yep!" and then there would be the anger seizures where it was "NO! NO! and rage would insue as he would lash out to anyone or thing around him. I didn't realize that it was a seizure at first. We learned and taught the school personnel to give him a "safe zone" during these outburst. The more we invaded his personal space, the worse the reaction. If we stayed a safe distance away (close enough to assist if he went into a worse seizure) the seizure would finally wear off and he would return to the normal happy child he usually is. So in short...check the side affects of your medications.....keep track of his diet for a time and see if you see links to the anger through his diet.....and if it's not either of these, try the "safe zone". My son would never remember being angry or hurtful to anyone after the episode was over. It's very very frustrating.

Katie - posted on 11/17/2009

my son is 6 yo, and he has been having seizures since he was 4. He is also extremely aggressive, I can't handle it. I have given him benadryl though lots, cause he has severe allergies, and I have never noticed a change in him...I did not know it lowered his seizure threshold!

Jenne - posted on 07/29/2009

I am new too. However, I know exactly what your talking about. My son blayne who is 4 has become extremely aggressive and moody lately. He is also chewing on everything he can (like pica but not diagnosed). He is so kind one minute next minute hes sad and then the next he is just mean. I get so frustrated sometimes because he can be so hard to take of. He is on Trileptal 6ml (getting weaned currently), Lamotragine 20mg bid. and risperidal 0.3 tid. it doesnt seem to help he is all over the place. I am taking him to counseling in the next few weeks to see if it helps. how it could help a 4 yr old i dont know. I gave benedryl to blayne a month ago and he went bezerk. he was screaming and yelling, the doctor had to give me an emergency does of clonidine to bring him down and basically knock him out until i got to the nuero the next day. the doc said he cant handle benedryl and it probably sent him into seizureville. thanks for the post at least im not alone.



Jenne Fullenkamp

Stephanie - posted on 07/27/2009

I am new here but wanted to comment. My daughter has absent seizure and something about the right temperal lope. She also has sensory processing problems. She had so much aggression we actually put her in 2 mental health facitilities before learning that some of the rage outburst could be siezures. The abscent seizures are down to about twice a month. We are still trying to find out for sure about the rages but she dont have them as often any more. She is on topomax and has been since Feburary when they pulled her from Keppra because she was so depressed and did not want to live and the rages were getting worse. Recently they added depakote but that made her more irritable and believe me we dont need any help with that. So they put her on zerotin. Now my daughter has been on abilify for over 2 years and it helps with her mood swings when the doctors try to take her off it gets worse. She started on abilify before we knew she had seizures. She cannot take risperdal it makes her tremmor so bad you would think it was a siezure and her lips turned blue. Now with all the meds her processing and memory has went down hill and her speech hasnt got any better. The doctors say everyone tolerates meds differently. We are currently awaiting a pediatric nuerologist. The doctors kept sending us to ones that dealt with adults and did not really appreciate the way the last one spoke to her. I just wanted to respond and let you know you are not the only one with an aggressive schild with seizures.

Laura - posted on 07/26/2009

My 4 y.o. used to have rage reaction seizures, but is currently seizure free for the first time in almost three years. He would just be sitting there and then attack someone or start screaming and destroying things. He must have started having an aura before them because he got to a point he could warn us. He would yell, "Stay away from me!" and then let loose.



I understand about Abilify. My oldest ended up in a coma from it. My active kid came home in a wheelchair, totally not potty trained (changing the diapers of a 12 y.o. was not fun), and had lost all his academics and most of his daily living skills. We started at ground zero and just in the past year, three years after the coma, have we seen him come back to the same level he was before the Abilify.

Heather - posted on 07/26/2009

Wow. Sounds like you've got your hands full. there's nothing worse than having your child be "off" for lack of a better word, wondering what triggered it and when/if they'll come back to you. Did the dr's say how long it will take for him to go through the withdrawal for the Banzel?