Need Assistance

My daughter was diagnosed with severe epilepsy when she was 6 years old due to having a stroke-in-utero.  The doctors also told me that the left side of her brain was dead.  During her ECG they showed me where she was having seizures every 3-5 seconds that were not exhibiting themselves.  After many medication trials and treatments, her last seizure was January 1997.
She is now 26 years old, has four technical certification degrees and a 1 yr old daughter.
Now after all that, here is my problem - she had 3 or 4 seizures in the middle of the night last night (15 Dec/16 Dec).
I realize that you don't out-grow epilepsy, however how can I determine why the seizures have returned?
She was a candidate for the surgery however we elected not to have it done.
She has not been on medication for about 5 years.
Please advise.

[Christopher R Newey, DO]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.

Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

Breakthrough seizures can occur after remission, especially in patients with epilepsy. Common reasons for re-emergence of seizure (or breakthrough) are infection, missed medication (or interference of medication absorption due to another medication for example), lack of sleep, alcohol intake, stress, and others.

I would advise that your daughter visit her neurologist and discuss this. She may need to have her medications re-examined for possible adjustment (i.e., dose change, medication change or addition).

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.