Any experience with absence seizures?

my friend told me that she has absence seizures. she actually just found out, she told me she new something wasn't right because she used to "blank out" a lot, and the doctor confirmed that it was absence seizures or petit mal. She was saying that she started to get them when she was about 12 or 13. I want to know more about it, but i don't want to ask her. Um, has anyone had this? I heard you can overcome it...is that true? PLEASE HELP, she's my best friend and i want to be there for her.

just want to add something, her seizures are so mild that she doesn't shake at all, it's just basically a spell were she'll blank out from 5-10 seconds, it's very mild. But this is still very hard for her. She's had to miss a lot of school, because she has to be at the hospital. The thing I really want to know is have any of you heard of someone out growing it? I want to help give her something to be optimistic about and I heard their is a good chance this could happen.

Unfortunately there is no real "cure" for epilepsy. However, some epilepsy syndromes that start around puberty are simply outgrown. If this isn't the case seizures can normally be controlled with medication.

It's great that you want to be there for your friend. This may be a very tough time for her. It can be frightening to be diagnosed with any condition, especially one you can do much about personally. First, it is a good idea to learn as much as you can about her seizures. It can be important to know what's going on if you are there when she has one.

The most important thing to remember if you are with her when sh has one is to let her have the seizure. If she is shaking don't try to stop her, if she has blacked out you won't be able to snap her out of it. Just wait around and make sure she's OK. When she comes out of it let her know what happened. Also, try to remember what goes on before, during, and after a seizure. There's a bunch more I could say about absence seizures, but the links below have tons of info.

One last heads-up on medication: It can be difficult to find a good balance for anti-seizure medication. I got very frustrated from my doctor changing my prescription every couple of months for two years or so. That on top of a common side effect of anti-seizure medication being mood swings could make her kind of irritable. I still get angry very quickly sometimes. Fortunately my friends can kind of recognize me being moody vs. being upset now.

Hope this helps.

I have heard of them but only the association with autism.... sorry.. I dont believe they are anything serious. Grandmal seizures would be noticable by anyone... some serouis shaking...

Your friend has Epilespy. It's ok - she's not contagious. My daughter is 14yrs and has not grown out of hers yet. True, the seizures are annoying and sometimes unnoticed by others but they are medically harmless even if they are life changing.