My Father, Aged 65, Had Seizures Few Months Ago, Is

Posted on Thu, 30 Apr 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 Answered on

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Question : My father, aged 65, had seizures few months ago, is now facing loss of appetite and regular bloating of stomach with pain at upper right side of stomach and having lack of interest in consuming rice and regular food frequently, but insisting and showing interest in eating junk food.
he is moderately addicted to smoke and drink, as of now there is no chance of smoking at present situations. how can we improve his appetite and reduce his addictions?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Prasad J (11 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Need some information...

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Can you specify how long ago did the seizure start and since when is he on levipil?
Since when has he developed the bloating, abdominal pain and appetite change?

Gastritis like symptoms - upper abdominal pain, bloating as well as appetite changes are reported in patients taking levipil in the early stages of treatment. However it is unusual for gastritis to pop up suddenly after months of treatment. Therefore I would like to have answers to the above questions to check if these are drug induced symptoms.
In any circumstances, I would suggest to try acid lowering medications like Cap Pan D twice a day before food for a couple of weeks and see if his abdominal symptoms gets better.

As far as addiction issue is concerned, it is better to stop it cold turkey and the lockdown and sales ban on alcohol and tobacco is a wonderful opportunity to persuade him to quit both habits. Unless he has symptoms of withdrawal, there is no need to implement any treatment. Encourage him to stay sober and discuss about the benefits of quitting.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need clarifications.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar