Shocks keep epileptic seizures at bay

By Shelley Mann
shelley.mann@gwinnettdailypost.com

LAWRENCEVILLE — Sharon Wege is singing the praises of the Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy system. The device, implanted into the epileptic woman’s chest, has helped bring her once frequent seizures under control.
Wege, of Lawrenceville, has had epilepsy since birth and at one point was having up to three seizures a week. But five years after being implanted with VNS, Wege said she hasn’t had a seizure in about three years. She’s also decreased her medications and has started driving again.
“I feel more free; I think I have a lot more freedom,” she said.
For Wege, it’s the end of a long journey to free herself of seizures. Now, she’s trying to spread the word about the device in the hopes of improving life for an estimated 2.5 million people in the United States with epilepsy. Epilepsy is a nervous system disorder causing abnormal electrical activity in the brain, which in turn causes seizures.
Wege had tried medications, but they left her light-headed, disoriented and seeing double. She tried surgery, but doctors found lots of scar tissue in her brain — possibly left over from when doctors used forceps during her birth — and couldn’t remove it all.
So when a doctor told Wege about VNS therapy, which often helps epilepsy patients who don’t have much luck with medication, she jumped at the chance.
“It’s not hard to make the decision. I wanted to try it to see if it could control the seizures. Anything to stop the seizures would be worth it,” Wege said.
VNS Therapy uses a device similar to a pacemaker to prevent seizures by sending mild pulses of electrical energy to the brain via the vagus nerve in the neck. The shocks are believed to condition the brain to react better to the interruptions in brain function that are common during seizures, according to the Epilepsy Treatment Center.
The device, a circular disk about 5 centimeters in diameter and 1 centimeter thick, is surgically implanted into the chest. It sits under the skin just below the collarbone.
Wege also has a powerful magnet she can use to stimulate the device when she feels the signs of an oncoming seizure. The extra stimulation often stops seizures before they start.
When Wege first had the device implanted, her doctor recommended a 30-second shock every three minutes. On that schedule, Wege said, her voice became slightly more hoarse during each electric pulse. After a few tweaks, Wege’s doctor chose a schedule of pulses for 30 seconds out of each minute. It took a while to get used to the pulses, but Wege said she doesn’t notice the voice change, or even the device, any longer. <-->