Long term effects of Grand Mal seizures?

Question
My German Short Hair Pointer was diagnosed with epilepsy about 3 years ago when he was 4. He was on Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide. He had 6 grand mal seizures in the first 5/6 months until we got the medication at a proper level. He went almost 2 years without a seizure. About 10 months ago he began to have a grand mal seizure every 3 months. He also began to lay in the grass or cold concrete for 1/2 hour or 45 minutes every day a few times a day. (This was unusual for him and often did this in the middle of the night) His last seizure was in Oct and lasted 5 minutes. His right hind leg never seemed to recover and he fell down several times a day. By Thanksgiving he was falling / doing the splits about 20 x's per day. Christmas day he began having trouble just walking without falling down. Over the next 7 days his ability to get up from falling got worse, he began to have twitch/tremors in his legs when resting (but not while sleeping), he was unable to lift his head when standing and his head shook like he had Parkinson's. Jan 1st he began having trouble just lifting his head from a laying down position and trouble eating or drinking. He began to urinate where he lay. Jan 2nd he stopped drinking, he had not had a bowel movement in 3 days (prior it was yellowish diarrhea), he could barely move. The mobile vet came that night to put him to sleep, but did not have an explanation for what happened to him.  His regular vet suggested a brain tumor or brain injury and to put him down when time was right. This vet had also seen him 3 week prior and blood and liver were fine.   I just want to know what happened.  Was this a result from the seizures?

Answer
I am sorry for your loss. He was very lucky to have such a great, caring and loving family.

From merely my conventional training I would side with a possible tumor. There are many dogs with epilepsy who are treated with conventional drugs or holistic approaches who do not have these severe nerve problems, so I would say it is not from the seizures themselves and he did well on the drugs, so probably not from the drugs. For a more scientific answer, contact a neurologist at a veterinary college, as I am more of a generalist and not a board certified neurologist.

Because of my holistic training and experience, I will offer you an alternative way of thinking about the progression of symptoms. Each of us has a quantum vibrational pattern we are born with that is sensitive to certain triggers - emotions, chemicals, vaccines, drugs, foods, etc. And we have certain "weaker" areas of the body. When the quantum field is triggered (by a vaccine, maybe, as they often cause nerve problems) it tries to heal by producing symptoms in its "weaker" area - for your dog it is the nervous system. When we merely use conventional drugs or symptom oriented holistic treatments to stop the symptoms, the sensitivity to triggers is still there, so as time goes on, more and more symptoms appear. Don Hamilton, in Homeopathic Care of cats and dogs, discusses this brilliantly in chapters 2 and 3.

Check out my website for a little more information on these areas, and when ready for a new dog or cat, please start from the beginning with integrative approaches. www.MyHealthyAnimals.com