I suffer with petit mal epilepsy?

it's always been worse pmt time, I control it with gingko biloba, which has the same control as epilim without the weight gain. since I've been menapausal, it's been really terrible pmt time, and I'm having around 30-40 seizures a day, has anyone else noticed their epilepsy has been worse at this time? thanks
p.s. i've had it for 25 years, and have had many eeg's over the years.

just need to clarify things, i used to take epilim for many years until 5 years ago, which caused lots of weight gain. i only take gingko now. i have seizures all month, but much worse pmt time, thanks.

This is common and is a specific type of epilepsy called Catamenial Epilepsy.

During a woman's menstrual cycle, the levels of different hormones in her body change. Two of these hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, affect the excitability of the brain, especially in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain.
Oestrogen has a convulsant effect, so it can make seizures more likely to occur. Progesterone has an anticonvulsant effect, so it can make seizures less likely to occur.

In women who have regular menstrual cycles, the oestrogen levels are higher than progesterone levels in the time leading up to ovulation and immediately before menstrual bleeding. Oestrogen has a seizure provoking effect; so when there is more oestrogen than progesterone in the body, this can cause two patterns of catamenial epilepsy:

seizures which occur justbefore or during the first few days of menstrual bleeding.
seizures which occur at the time of ovulation (when the level of oestrogen is at its highest)

Some women have abnormal menstrual cycles and do not ovulate regularly or do not ovulate at all. This may mean that they do not produce enough progesterone (which has an anticonvulsant effect (during the entire second half of the menstrual cycle. This is the third recognised pattern of catamenial epilepsy:

an increase in seizures during the entire second half of the menstrual cycle

Many women find that their periods affect their mood, especially in the days leading up to menstruation. This is known as premenstrual tension (PMT). Stress and anxiety are common symptoms of PMT and these are also well-recognised triggers for seizures. For this reason, having PMT may increase the risk of seizures.

Many women experience water retention around the time of their period and there is some evidence to suggest that changes in the fluid balance of the body may make seizures more likely.

If you suspect that your seizures may be connected to your menstrual cycle, the easiest way to try to identify this is by keeping a record of all your seizures and the dates of your periods in the same diary. When this information has been recorded for a few months, you can review this with your doctor or epilepsy specialist nurse, to see if any seizure patterns can be identified.

It would also be helpful to keep a record of any other factors which may trigger your seizures in the diary, such as lack of sleep, missing medication, lack of food, stress or alcohol consumption. This can be helpful for identifying other reasons for your seizures.

Further information here: http://www.epilepsynse.org.uk/pages/info...

I don't suffer from Petit Mal my self but a close relative of mine does and has done for many years they take Epilim but do tend to find that the main time they have seizures although these are mild mainly when they are very tired or under extreme stress their Epilim has never given them weight gain I think you will find that after a while you will revert back to the status were I cannot say this with 100% ccertainty but am as confident as i can be knowing what I do about Petit Mal the person I am talking about has had it since they were about 6 and are now in their 80's hope this is of help to you

If you are having that many seizures a day, you need a more reliable treatment than gingko biloba. There are many more drugs for epilepsy these days; make an appointment to see a neurologist and she can help you find the right drug for you. I can't adequately stress how important this is -- leaving seizures untreated can lead to more frequent and serious seizures.

I have grande mal seizures not very often,thankfully and had none at all on Tegretol Retard for eight years.Epilim was the first medication i was on it never worked for me in fact it probably made it worse.If your having that many seizures you need to ask to see a specialist and change medication.I'm male so don't have periods just PMT lol,good luck

Hi my Little flower

You Know what? I knew we were made for each other, were so much alike. Yeah, you guess right. I suffer with the grand mall variety of epilepsy, I take Epanutin 100 four times a day and haven't had an attack since I was 12, I'm 23 now so I don't know if i have grown out of it or not. As a man I don't know about woman's undercarriage problems (although you know darn well I'm well interested in your undercarriage and want to be there one day). Anyway time to sign off

Love you Taffy

so u are on epilim, well have u put any weight onwith it.
are u on any other form of meds apart from ur e/pills
if so they could clash , with them.
what other meds are u on.
have u tried hrt. iam on it and it has done wonders for me .

also have u tried diazepam, that is a good a/con
i am on 5mg in the morn and i have had no fits now for 5yrs,

go and see ur neurologist and see what he suggests,

good luck .

try stoping the ginko bilboa and cif that makes any diff.

ihave been told not to take eve primrose oil, and st
johns wart that can also clash .

just go and get it checked out, with you gp.