Cerebral Palsy and Anticonvulsants

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Anticonvulsant medications can help children with cerebral palsy who also have seizures. Seizures often co-occur with cerebral palsy and can be harmful and disruptive. Medications are important for controlling and reducing episodes.

Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy and epilepsy together are an example of how some conditions can often co-exist but not be the cause of one or the other. CP does not necessarily cause seizures, and epilepsy does not cause CP. Because CP is caused by brain damage, and any trauma to the brain can also cause epilepsy, these conditions often exist together in the same person.

Children with the spastic tetraplegia type of cerebral palsy are most likely to have seizures.[1] A child may experience any type of seizure. Partial seizures are less severe than generalized seizures and involve just one of the brain’s hemispheres.

A complex partial seizure affects the muscles involved in vision, so a child experiencing this may have visual hallucinations or an impaired sense of space and distance. A secondary generalized seizure begins in one hemisphere and spreads to the other.

How Do You Treat Seizures in Cerebral Palsy?

Anticonvulsant medications can control seizures in children with CP, but other things can be done to reduce their frequency and to ensure a seizure, once it starts, won’t lead to injuries.

Those around the child can remove objects that may cause injury, support the head, tilt the child if they vomit, and ensure that the child is still breathing.

Other ways of managing and controlling seizures in children with cerebral palsy include:

• A Ketogenic Diet. The ketogenic diet is high in fat but low in carbohydrates and protein. Medications can reduce the frequency of seizures.
• Medical Marijuana. Medical marijuana and or CBD oil may also be effective in treating seizures. Research is ongoing looking at the use of medical marijuana and CBD in children with seizure disorders.
• Surgery. Surgery may be an option when medication and diet fail to control seizures.

How Anticonvulsant Medications Work

Using anticonvulsant medications to control seizures is a common strategy. Many people find relief from frequent or occasional seizures by using these medications. The anticonvulsant group of drugs includes a lot of different medications that work in different ways.[2]

What they all have in common is that they suppress the excessive electrical activity in the brain that leads to a seizure. Anticonvulsants are also known to stabilize mood and relieve certain types of pain.

If you have a child with CP and seizures, your doctor may suggest anticonvulsants. Because there are so many drugs in this category, your child may need to try a few different medications before finding one that works with minimal side effects.

Your doctor will ask you to monitor your child’s seizures and determine if a new drug is needed or if the dose needs to be changed. Another issue may be that your child will develop a tolerance to the medication over time and require increasing doses or a combination of drugs.

Anticonvulsants Used to Control Seizures in Cerebral Palsy

Doctors have a lot of choices when it comes to prescribing anticonvulsant drugs for children with CP. Among the many drugs that fall into this class, a few are most commonly used for seizures in patients with cerebral palsy:[3]

• Valproic acid
• Topiramate
• Phenobarbital
• Levetiracetam
• Clonazepam
• Gabapentin
• Vigabatrin
• Lamotrigine
• Clobazan

Anticonvulsants and The Risk of Suicide

In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that all anti-seizure drugs have the potential to cause suicidal thoughts and behaviors.[4] Children using these drugs should be monitored for any signs of this happening. It is a rare side effect but has the potential to be deadly.

The risk is also higher with those anticonvulsants used over the long term. Parents and doctors must weigh this and other side effects against the benefits of using anticonvulsants in children with CP and seizures.