Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Back at Home

After a wonderful trip to Saint Louis toward the end of last week for my Dad's surprise 70th birthday party, we are getting settled back in at home. I took Mira and Eli with me for the trip, while Sarah stayed at home with Jonah. Things could have gone a lot smoother at the party, but it was fun nonetheless. Mira never sleeps well when we travel, frankly because she usually spends most of the time either in her Kidcart or in the van while driving, so she is easily bored. She didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm on Thursday night, which threw her patterns off significantly. On top of that, she sleeps in the Pack + Play, which she is almost too big for. I'm not sure what to use for future trips. At one point I woke up to the sound of her kicking her feet out so hard against the side of it, that she was rocking the whole thing across the room at my brother's house.

The three of us returned Saturday afternoon and Mira was pretty crabby all day, screaming and crying the last 50 miles home. Her irritability continued into Sunday, when I think she finally was able to catch up on some sleep Sunday night. As I said before, her sleeping is usually pretty poor on trips, which tends to affect her eating as well. The combination of poor sleep and her hunger strikes makes for a rough time for her.

We have decided to try a trial of GABA supplements with Mira before we dive straight into the Depakote, again. Mira tried Depakene (same medication, different form - liquid versus capsules) back in November of 2005 and it didn't do anything, so we are not in a huge hurry to try it again. GABA is a simple amino acid that is used for anxiety and seizures, although its efficacy is questionable and unproven (as are many medications mind you), since supplemental GABA doesn't cross the BBB (blood-brain barrier). GABA itself acts as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and is suppose to regulate neuron activity. We were going to try GABA supplements last year, but side tracked with medications before we tried it long-term. GABA is pretty safe and harmless, so a trial of it for a few weeks is worth a shot.

1 comment:

Reagan Leigh said...

I'm interested to see how the GABA works for her. I don't know if I've ever heard of GABA supplements. Also...try not to get too discouraged about the depakene. These seizures are very tricky and constantly evolving...so just because it didn't help Mira during the first trial doesn't necessarily mean that it won't work for her now. I'm praying that she'll have complete seizure control again very soon!! Hang in there!