Dewski,

Glad to hear you're home...home on the range.  Although, the 30 mini seizures you wrote about scared the heck out of me!  Did Mikeman know he was having them?  Bottom line is, I'm glad they stopped.  Has he not had any since the increase in Keppra?  How has he been since the reaction to the supplement (B12?)?  Is he also taking Niacin?

Please give the Mrs a big  , as I know she is probably very worried and trying to figure out why things are happening.  We continue to pray for Mikeman and your family, as well as Tom and the rest of our MM family here...Together, we will all endure and overcome the obstacles and challenges this rare (?) disease brings.

Michael has proven himself to be a true fighter...so just consider this another battle that he will overcome and conquer!

Take care,
Shan

Dewski,

I'm glad to hear you are home.  I'm sorry to hear about Mikeman's seizures. I know it is scary.

It appears seizure activity occurs more often than not after this type of surgery. Nothing scientific, just experience and hearing others stories. I can tell you that Kevin (Cubbie) never had seizures until after his surgery. He had TIA's but not seizures.  Kevin's seizure, we're told, was caused as a result of the weak blood vessels around his initial stroke picking up the new blood flow and those vessels were to weak to handle the new blood flow and as a result, spilled the blood into the brain.  At that point, he had seizures. He was also put on Keppra.  The fortunate thing, in Kevin's case, is the brain absorbed the blood so no need for a third surgery and he has not had that kind of seizure since however, he continues to take Keppra. Also, after Kevin came home, he couldn't sleep. His primary care doctor put him on Ambien. His eyes started a rapid movement (like seizure activity) and that was scary. Of course we stopped the Ambien immediately and the rapid eye movement stopped. Perhaps the introduction of new meds, different combination or different doses plays a roll to seizure activity in some and the brain bypass itself is a new thing to the system.  I, like you, did a lot of watching and analyzing.  It drove me crazy.  Now, whenever anything occurs that is like a seizure, TIA or different or unusal, I simply call the doctor. Kevin also experiences tremors. Of course he had tremors before the 2 direct bypasses then they subsided after the surgery but I have noticed the tremors increasing again. Don't have a clue why. He has a doctors appointment tomorrow and that will be on the agenda.  This may not be of any help at all to you in Mikeman's situation.  I, like Jenny, can only share with you Kevin's experience.

The good news is Mikeman's seizures have stopped.   Hopefully the increase in Keppra will resolve the seizure activity.

Please keep us posted on Mikeman. He, like Kevin, is unique.    

Hugs,

Lore   

Hi Dewski,

I was really never one to take vitamin supplements until my neuro prescribed Niacin (B3). It is suppose to help me because it dilates blood vessels, it brings more oxygen to the brain, and helps remove lipids from arterial walls.  It also is a cholesterol-lowering agent, and has definitely reduced my cholesterol level to below the normal <200 as recommended by the American Heart Association. It reduces the liver's ability to produce very low-density lipoprotein, the precursor of LDL.  I read that it is also used to treat disorders such as arthritis, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc. Here is an abstract I found on a 1-year study of Niacin affecting Carotid IMT (not necessarily MM) .

Anybody else recommended to take Niacin?    I haven't seen Niacin brought up anywhere else, so it could be just me.  hmm... Dewmeister, if Dr. Scott felt Mikeman needed to be on it, he would've recommended it, so don't even worry/think about it.  Mikeman has enough to worry about.  Please tell him that we're thinking of him, and hopefully we'll all get to meet him at one of our reunions some day and give him a big  !

Take care,
Shan