Is there a link between ADD and epilepsy?

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My mother had her first seizures when I was in 4th grade.

As a child, I was always very forgetful and distracted but was able to compensate with long hours of homework. As early as 2nd grade, I stayed up until 10 PM doing the simplest assignments.

In college, I was diagnosed with ADHD.

Four years out of college, I had some episodes of "blankness" (not distraction) and now my neurologist is suggesting that I don't have ADHD and that my psychiatrists were treating symptoms without understanding the root of the problem.

I'm about to go into testing. My personal opinion is that there must be some kind of link.

Answer

Hi, I think that there is certainly a link between the two. I have had epilepsy since I had head injuries at age 15 -though I didn't know it until I had a grand mal seizure at age 21. (At first I had only simple partial seizues, and the doctor didn't give me any diagnosis.) Though I don't like taking meds and classifying 'disorders', I know that since the time of the injuries my attention span has been very short, and I have been unable to control impulses to say things I know I shouldn't say. I would think that this has to do with the chemistry that gets "out of whack" -so to speak- when one becomes epileptic. If that were my field of emphasis, it would certainly be something I would study in depth.

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I have many cousins as well as uncles and have over time discovered that many of them have epilepsy. I have been diagnosed with ADHD and have often wondered if there was a link between them too. In a book titled "Healing ADD" which i bought at barnes and noble books I learned that ADD can be divided up into several categories, all of which seem to be related to a different part of the brain. The book seems to imply that ADD is more or less a side affect of another problem with the brain. If I remember correctly the book said there were around 5 different types of ADD all which were related to a different portion of the brain. Interestingly, the temporal lobes of the brain were responsible for a certain kind of ADD the book called "Temporal Lobe ADD". I also remember learning somewhere that epilepsy has to do with the same portion of the brain. The book also states that people with this particular type of ADD benefit from stimulant medication as well as anti-convulsive medication (epilepsy medication from what I understand).

Answer

I feel that their may be some sort of connection. I am a Clinical Anatomist and have been diagnosed with both. I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 10 after suffering from 2 grand mal seizures and then undiagnosed when I was 14. At this point I was diagnosed with ADD. I have been taking ADD medication ever since and have noticed good results. I however feel that I may still suffer from absence seizures which may add to my ADD or even mask it. Absence seizures are those that occur without one even realizing it and can cause blank stairs for 10-20 sec. I am currently in the process of looking into this with a neurologist and may have more information later. It should be noted however that many epileptic drugs have side effect in accordance to causeing hinderance of cognative development. This too may be the reason I aquired ADD.

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This is really something that I have wondered about since my daughter was 7 years old. (She is now 17). She was always an "active" child and when she was 7 developed a seizure disorder known as Benign Rolandic Seizure Disorder. It involved her right Temporal area of the brain. Her seizures were mild and involved the left side of her face and tongue muscles going into a spasm for about 20-30 seconds. She was completely alert during the seizure. She was put on Tegretol for about 5 years. I immediately noticed a change in her behavior. She became calmer than before. We were told that she would grow out of the disorder, and she did. About a year or two later she was diagnosed with OCD. She has been on various meds to try to deal with her compulsions. Right now they seem to be under control but her mood is not. The doctor just started her on Straterra for ADD. She says the current thought is that there is a strong link between OCD, Tourette's, and ADD. My daughter certainly shows the symptoms of ADD. Anyway, I strongly feel that there is some sort of connection between these brain disorders.

Answer

ADD or ADHD are not conditions on their own. They are sets of more noticeable features. They are more easily identifiable then the deeper more subtle features of the greater illness.

Admittedly, it's difficult to miss someone in plain view having a seizure. But it's not easy to discover the extent of the damage that those seizures cause.

Having been misdiagnosed with ADD myself, I would have spent alot of time taking medications that would have caused me more severe problems because of my true illness of Tourette.

Answer

There does seem to be some link between the two. I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 16 and put on Tegretol for a year. During this time, I did a some questioning to the causes and symptoms of epilepsy. It wasn't until then when I read about spacing out as one of the possible symptoms, that I remembered I couldn't help my inattentiveness as a child (constantly spacing out and taking hours to do simple homework in grade school). I've continued through to adulthood with ADD symptoms, but never got professionally diagnosed. My tonic-clonic seizures stopped after 1 year of having them, at which point I felt I could control them better than the Tegretol with all its side effects (I haven't had a seizure for 6 yrs since stopping the medication and have been able to stop them at the onset of feeling a sense of deja vu or aura). The problem though is that my ADD-like symptoms got worse after having the tonic-clonic seizures and taking medication. I don't know if I had any brain damage from all of that, but it seems to have made it even more noticeably difficult for me to concentrate as I went on to college. In my case, the only physical symptoms of epilepsy aside from the few seizures I had is ADD, which has gotten worse after those episodes so in some way ADD could be an indicator or symptom of epilepsy.

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My 7yr old son was recently diagnosed with ADHD. The more I find out about it the more convinced I am that myself and certain other family members do also, although none have epilepsy. I was diagnosed with epilepsy after petit mal seizures began during puberty and have been on meds since. in times of high concentration I notice i am more likely to suffer from an 'interuption'. Thinking back to my behaviour as a child I am sure the ADHD has always been present. Both conditions appear to be caused by 'abnormal' brain waves. It makes sense to me that there is a link. I plan to seek medical help in this.

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My 20 yr old daughter who had her first gran mal seizure is now being treated for ADD. I had her observed for ADD at around age 10 but was assured she didn't have it. I should have been more aggressive. It was all downhill in terms of behavior all through junior/senior high school. Now she is unable to do the college due to lack of concentration,poor memory, etc. I definately believe there is a link between the two.

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I personally do not suffer from either epilespy or ADD, but my partner does. I understand he was diagnosed with ADD when he was a young child and in the last 18 months has experienced blackouts and seizures. Hes has been under a neurologoist, prescribed anti-convulsant drugs and been taken back off them. He was on drugs for his ADD in years passed but is no longer on these! Recently his neurologist has decided that he doesnt think he has epilepsy but some kind of seizure but doesnt seem to be able to put a "label" on what it is! Being a Student Nurse in my third year of study and having worked for the NHS for nearly 6 years, working in many areas in a hospital i have seen many seizures and fits, and my partner definately does not seem to fit the description of any Epileptic fit which ive experienced in my short nursing career. I have often discussed with my partner if there may be a like between the two conditions and am eager to see if i can find out more for him and if possible by finding out more giving others the answers they seek. I noticed a gentleman called Kenny Burson has left an answer on here on the 15th april 2004 and wondered if he'd found any more answers or discovered anymore developments in his research since then. I would be interested and very greatful if anyone who reads this can give me any information or any other thoughts on the subject.

With great thanks Chris ;o)

Answer

chris:

not all epileptic fits are highly noticable, and none are the same. when most people think of epileptic seizures, they think of tonic-clonc (formorly known as gran mal) seizures. and if you have more than one seizure you do have epilepsy. ADD and epilepsy do have many of the same symptoms and have previously been studied to see if they are related at all.

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I am dealing with this issue with my son, who has just turned 8. He was always very 'active' and was diagnosed ADHD in kindergarten. I feel this was just a catch-all for his hyperactivity, and not truly the whole problem. He was started on meds and was less hyper, but not what I would call 'normal'. I feel that if you have a problem and take the right med, you should be 'normal'. For example: high blood pressure- take meds= normal blood pressure. Now he has been diagnosed with Rolandic Seizures. His EEG showed continual spikes, day and night, worse at night which is why we would see the symptoms then. He also has very restless sleep. He has now been started on Lamictal for the seizures and I am seeing some improvements. It will take several weeks to reach his recommended dose, so I am anxious to see what else changes. I feel that if his brain is firing the spikes all the time, then wouldn't he appear hyper? Imagine small electrical charges going through you all the time. I think that maybe the root cause of all his problems is the Rolandic Seizures and I am hoping that once they are under control, the other symptoms will go away. At this point the dr. has told us it will be a process of elimination. Once we get rid of the spiking we will see what symptoms are left and assess from there.

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Hello,

I'm a 20 year old female who had my first grand mal seizure around the age of 8. These seizures continued, very inconsistently, until the age of 12. I have never had another after this. With regard to ADHD, I was diagnosed during my last year of high school. I have always been a very happy, dedicated student who definitely always had to work TWICE as hard as the other kids in my class. As a child and adolescent my parents always understood this as me being an overachiever, as my grades were never lacking and I was always trying so hard. Unfortunately, during my first 3 years of highschool I began to have the most trouble. As the tasks became much harder, it became very difficult for me to keep up. I became angry.. at my parents, at the world, at my teachers, etc. I was angry all the time. I felt like a failure. I would listen to teachers speak and it seemed as if everything would go in one ear and out the other. I had to study hours upon hours if I really wanted to get a half decent mark. One of the most difficult part about those years is that none of my friends had the same trouble. They could study for half an hour and get the same mark on a quiz that I did after studying for 2 or 3 hours. This was perhaps the most frustrating part of all! Luckily things got better in my last year of high school when I was able to drop math and science and take classes that I really liked, like english, graphic design and creative writing. This is really where I flourished. English I had always loved and it was great that instead of midterm tests and finals we were given 3 weeks to write an essay at home. To be honest, the classes I enjoyed most were the ones where I could let my creative mind go wild. And the best part was that in art and english, teachers loved this! The two things that bother me most about my ADHD is the fact that it takes all of my strength to concentrate on any one thing (unless I am really, really into it), and my memory is terrible, which makes studying for tests a real struggle. Sure.. a lot of great things also come along with this condition. I'm never not busy, life is never dull. I love to try new things. I tried Ritalin about a year ago and found it made me nervous, agitiated and just generally unhappy. I have never tried any other drug after this and I'll admit..I'm a little nervous to. For me personally, it is best to just try and accept the things that are hard and make the best of them. I am now in University and am finding the transition difficult, but definitely not impossible. I know that I will get through this and succeed. I have made use of all the resources on campus, like academic counselling and after school tutoring (for free!). If you are someone who suffers from ADHD, you need to be able to ask for help, this is so VERY VERY important, because there are A LOT of people out there who can be of help to you. I also do a lot of things to keep myself at my best. I excercise daily for brain clarity. I just bought myself a tape recorder that I use to record lectures then play them once or twice just before going to bed. I fidn this works pretty well for me. The thing is.. ADHD is a part of me, but is not something that controls my life. It is not going to be the reason behind every tear I shed or every goal I fail to achieve. And so.. back to the link between ADHD and Epilespy. There could very well be one and if there is.. I'm sure I would be an example.

First answer by Gina. Last edit by ID3637559942. Question popularity: 222 [recommend question]