EPILEPSY CASE

This is the case of a lady aged 35 years who was suffering from epileptic fits for the last 5-6 years. First time she suffered a fit when she gave birth to a child. She had her first attack when the child was a few days old.

Presently, she takes four tablets (two in the morning and two at night) of anticonvulsant drugs. But, she still suffers from fits 5-6 times in a day.

Her EEG was grossly abnormal.

Case History: When she came to me, she was fully exhausted and she literally collapsed in the chair. It looked as if she did not even have the power to support her body. She was accompanied by her husband and her father.

Her husband said, “She has been suffering from fits since last 5-6 years. Earlier the frequency of fits was once or twice in a month but now it has increased to 5-6 times in a day even while taking allopathic medicines. The fits have weakened her to such an extent that she can’t even sit properly. She does not do any household work. She keeps on lying in the bed for the whole day. Quite often she calls me back home from my work. I remain absent from my work for days together just because of her condition. Injections have to be given to her to reduce her suffering. Her haemoglobin goes down to 6-7gm%. During a fit, she falls down and gets injured. In a gathering, she feels palpitation and anxiety, she gets an attack immediately. The fits last for half an hour or more. During a fit she bangs her head with the walls.”

While her husband was describing her problem, she was sitting quietly on the chair with her head down. I asked her about the fits.

She said, “Dr. Sahib, I have a chronic headache. I can’t get rid of it even by taking medicine. Now also I have a severe headache. I feel that my feet are burning. I put cold water on them but I don’t get any relief. I can’t get up. I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to see television. If children watch it, I get so irritated that I want to break it. Whenever I get angry I beat them black and blue. I don’t want to do anything, even for my children. “

I asked, “Then who makes the food?”
She replied that either her husband or her 10 year old daughter prepares the food.

I asked, “Don’t you feel that you should make the food? Don’t you feel bad?”
She said, “No, I don’t feel bad. I don’t want to do anything. I keep lying in the bed whole day long.”

Her husband told me that he has spent a lot of money on her treatment but she was not getting well.

I had a hunch that the cause of the problem was related to the birth of her child. I asked, “When did the problem occur for the first time?” Her husband said that she had the first fit when she gave birth to a child.

I was not satisfied with the answer. I felt as if something was missing in the case. I again asked, “How many days after the birth of the child did the fits start?” Her husband’s reply was that they started after a few days. I asked what happened at that time. They said nothing worth mentioning happened. I was again unsatisfied with the answer. I enquired from them about the whereabouts of the child. They said that the child was adopted by his aunt as she had no son. The child was given to her after 15-20 days. The moment we gave the child to his aunt, she had the first fit.

This was the cause of her problem. The lady didn’t suffer from fit during or after delivery, but it was only when she gave her child to someone else that she had an attack.

Though the lady’s child was given to her sister with her own consent but the adoption affected her psyche which resulted into fits.

Prescription: I gave her Hyoscyamus 30.

After 7 days when she came I didn’t recognise her. She was looking a different woman in her attire. She was feeling very happy. She said to me, “Dr. Sahib, since the day you’ve given me the medicine, I haven’t suffered even a single attack. I didn’t suffer from headache anymore. Now I do all the household works. I make food for my husband and children. I asked her to report to me after 15 days.

After 15days also, she did not experience any attack and her haemoglobin also improved.

As far as her allopathic medicine is concerned, we never stop anticonvulsant drugs immediately. If we stop them immediately, the fits tend to re-occur. These medicines have to be tapered down. If the patient feels better and suffers no attack then we completely stop the allopathic medicines. But a lot of care is to be exercised.