The Brain Doctor

Lisbeth Miller
A Brain One

The Brain Doctor (Lis-ism), Dr. Heidi Henninger of Maine Neurology in South Portland.

Checking Lisbeth's Vagus Nerve Stimulator. It's good to go for another 4 months.

Lisbeth had her quarterly appointment with Dr. Henninger yesterday. We are going up on her Vimpat - she's only at a half dose right now - and this will hopefully reduce some of the auras and underlying seizure activity that has been the cause of much recent discomfort for Lisbeth. We are also working with Lisbeth's psychiatrist on finding another anti-depressant. Lis was on Zoloft for 15 years and it had become ineffective. We're looking at Cymbalta which is an anti-anxiety/anti-depressant that also works to reduce neurogenic pain, another problem that plagues Lisbeth. One med that can handle two problems would be good, as Lisbeth has to take so many drugs already. It's always a balancing act, and always a guessing game. One neurologist told us years ago that he considers neurology more of an art than a science. I have to agree. Lisbeth is currently in the middle of a seizure cluster - she's had three tonic clonic seizures in the past two days. This really knocks her out. It's been about three weeks since she's had a cluster, though, and for someone who used to have 12 - 20 tonic clonic seizures a month, this is not bad thing...