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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Noa on May 3, 2001, at 15:50:58
Anyone here with depression who has a close relative who has epilepsy?
A relative with epilepsy has been beset by an awful depression. The pdoc says it is due to epileptic brain activity. He asked if there is any history of depression in the family. My case was cited. In response, the pdoc asked if I had ever had an EEG done.
Now I am curious about this. A great aunt had epilepsy. Two grandparents (different sides of the family, both genetically unrelated to the great aunt) had depression. I always thought the great aunt and the younger relative's epilepsy were unrelated to each other, that they were more likely due to some sort of birth-related phenomenon (the younger relative's birth was difficult and long, the great aunt was born at the turn of the last century, both home births).
Any thoughts?
Posted by BrittPark on May 3, 2001, at 16:47:22
In reply to Depression and Epilepsy, posted by Noa on May 3, 2001, at 15:50:58
Here's another data point for you. I have had chronic depression for the last 20 years, my father, mother and brother have had depressive episodes and my nephew has a fairly benign form of epilepsy. He's
likely to grow out of it as an adult.
Posted by Sulpicia on May 3, 2001, at 18:19:32
In reply to Depression and Epilepsy, posted by Noa on May 3, 2001, at 15:50:58
> More to chew on: the Japanese consider bipolar disorders to be a form of epilepsy.
Posted by Chris A. on May 3, 2001, at 21:17:23
In reply to Depression and Epilepsy, posted by Noa on May 3, 2001, at 15:50:58
That's the one question I forgot to ask my neurologist today. The disruptions in signaling pathways must be similar in bipolar and epilepsy for anticonvulsants to be effective in both. While waiting for the doc I was reading in an epilepsy publication about depression and suicide rates being higher in those with epilepsy. They made it sound like the depression was due to losses related to quality of life. Noa, as far as familial connections I don't have a clue. He's sending me for a prolonged EEG next week.
Blessings,
Chris A
Posted by Anna Laura on May 4, 2001, at 2:38:36
In reply to Depression and Epilepsy, posted by Noa on May 3, 2001, at 15:50:58
> Anyone here with depression who has a close relative who has epilepsy?
>
> A relative with epilepsy has been beset by an awful depression. The pdoc says it is due to epileptic brain activity. He asked if there is any history of depression in the family. My case was cited. In response, the pdoc asked if I had ever had an EEG done.
> Now I am curious about this. A great aunt had epilepsy. Two grandparents (different sides of the family, both genetically unrelated to the great aunt) had depression. I always thought the great aunt and the younger relative's epilepsy were unrelated to each other, that they were more likely due to some sort of birth-related phenomenon (the younger relative's birth was difficult and long, the great aunt was born at the turn of the last century, both home births).
>
> Any thoughts?
This is weird man: i jumped on similar conclusions just a few days ago.
I was talking about that with my little sister who has a benign form of epilepsy since she was fifteen years old (she's now twenty-one years old ).
The strange thing is that we both have similar symptoms, even though mine are much milder. A month ago i found the Epilepsy, Indicators Suggestive of Subsyndromal Questionnaire, http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/isse.html
in the tips section and i had a high score on it.
Right now i'm experiencing permanent distorsions in size and shape: things seem bigger/smaller, up close/far away : this is has been going on since Semptember of the last year, when i had my second bout of depression.
My mother and my grandmother, as well as my grandfather are dysthymic, whereas my father and his brother, my uncle, are mildly euphoric.(lucky them!!!!).My brother is dysthymic most of the time, when he feels better he occasionally gets hyperthymic and indulges in alchol.
I've been euphoric throghout all my teen years, and i have been very hype and euphoric just before i fell in this damned black hole (major depression) when i was 21 years old (i'm almost 32 right now).
I've had strange symptoms since childhood (waking up in the mornings with strange feelings, thought i was getting crazy).My sister told me that she feels the same way as soon as she wakes up in the morning.Are these symptoms the so-called "discharges" of the temporal lobe?
Are there any connections between epilepsy and mood disorders? And if it's so, shouldn't the ones who have parentage with epilepsy and mood disorders be treated differently? Moreover, what about the seizure risk if one comes out with an high score on sub-syndromal epilepsy?From the tips section:
"On the other hand, if there is a high ISSE score and some psychopathology, especially a mood disorder or psychosis, the one-etiology hypothesis becomes more than academic, since all antidepressants, lithium, and antipsychotic drugs available in the US are, at least to some extent, pro-convulsant, and all antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) -- with the possible and intriguing exception of some of the new 3rd generation AEDs now appearing -- are not very effective at treating such pathology. Thus, AED augmentation can be very useful for successful intervention with some treatment-resistant illnesses [3, 12, 13].
P.S.Forgive for my bad english, but as i have already said in my previous posts, it's not my mother tongue.
Posted by Noa on May 4, 2001, at 10:51:28
In reply to Re: Depression and Epilepsy, posted by Anna Laura on May 4, 2001, at 2:38:36
Thanks for responding, all. I have heard about a possible connection, but never thought it applied to me, because I don't have bipolar disorder (although at one time, my pdoc speculated that I could have something in the spectrum of bipolar, just without any hypomania or mania).
I think I have looked at the subsyndromal questionaire but I'll look again.
Chris--keep us posted on the eeg. I know you have been searching for a .long time for answers.
Anna--your English is great--not to worry.
This is the end of the thread.
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