EASEE® Family

I had my first Grand Mal attack when I was 12. In the following years, I suffered two or three attacks a day. My mesial temporal lobe epilepsy was not diagnosed until 2011. None of the medications reduced the number of attacks; instead, I was bothered by side-effects such as speech disorders and hallucinations. I would have preferred a less risky alternative to brain surgery to treat my epilepsy. But this was not an option in 2015.

Neuromodulation through electrical stimulation may be a good alternative for those epilepsy patients who do not respond to a therapy and where there is no possibility of surgically removing the "diseased” part of the brain. It can help some patients to return to work, maintain their relationship and social contacts and much more. It’s worth a try in any case. This is why the further development of stimulation methods such as EASEE® are so important. We have to make the most of every opportunity we have to help a patient.

Medication helped me suppress my focal seizures for 15 years, but the attacks returned just one-and-a-half years after my son was born. I have been unable to work since 2015 and am currently a temporary pensioner. I suffer from impaired vision and speech disorders as a result of the medication, my perception is sometimes altered, I have put on weight and now have more spots than I had in puberty. My liver function tests aren’t all that good and I am also suffering slightly from osteoporosis. My experiences with mobile vagus nerve stimulation are not very happy ones and I am very scared of deep brain stimulation and the associated risks. Superficial brain stimulation would be a welcome alternative for me and one I can easily imagine testing.

I had my first epileptic seizure when I was 9 years old. I suffered from increased seizures for over 14 years. I was unable to communicate during this time and appeared to be impassive from the outside. The treatment with several different medications was unsuccessful, the surgical removal of the epileptic focus was out of question for me. Because of the low invasiveness, I decided to have EASEE® implanted. I was still in pain several days after the implantation. My hair has now grown back. Here and at the scar, I can hardly feel the electrode under my skin. Only with certain movements or when carrying heavy loads, do I sometimes still feel complaints in the chest. My seizures have become shorter over time and have become less stressful.