Jump to content
ACN Latitudes Forums

My son had a seizure today


Recommended Posts

I am waiting for a call back from the naturopath. My son was just sitting on the computer acting like a typical 10 year old and being silly by tightening up his muscles and stuff and all of a sudden he shot his arms up in the air, fell over out of the chair, and hit his head on the floor. I was coming over to him as he was falling and I tried to pick him up by grabbing his wrists but he was out of it. Then 2 seconds later he 'comes to' and looks at me and says, "What am I doing on the floor?" It was very surreal. I am waiting for the naturopath first before I call a traditional doctor. Since it was a very short incident I am hoping to stay away from the emergency room and I'm hoping I can get the tests authorized by our naturopath. Does anyone have experience with seizures? What kind of tests will be required to get done? How do seizures fit in to the picture with tics, ADD, and anxiety? Thanks!

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Bonnie,

 

Sorry to hear about this. 2 of my kids have had epilepsy {one still does, my 14 yr old daughter}.

 

The doctors will most likely send him for an EEG to check how the brain is firing, and even if he has had one done previously that seemed ok... these things can change anytime. My older son {not TS} had mainly absence seizures and outgrew them around 15. My daughter has generalized epilepsy but has luckilly never had a grand mal. she mainly has the absence and similar ones.

 

They say if it's a one off seizure they don't call it epilepsy. Criteria for this may have changed but you needed to have at least 2. Sometimes seizures can happen for no reason, and hopefully that may be the case with your boy.

 

Is there epilepsy in your family at all?

 

In my experience with my father his "falling down" seizures lasted longer than the 2 seconds you mentioned.

 

If it is epilepsy, please don't be scared by it. But, yes it can be terrifying to witness it especially if you don't expect it.

 

Could it have been a reaction to something?

 

As for a connection to tics etc, if you read up on it you will see varying opinions... some say yes and some say no way. When my younger boy was diagnosed with TS {Dr didn't know the history of my other kids} he said that there was a connection between epilepsy, OCD, depression and Tourettes. I told him my father and 2 kids had epilepsy and he found that very interesting.

They also say that diagnosing epilepsy is very much an observational thing... what parents, friends and teachers see. You can have an abnormal EEG yet never show signs of it. They take the observations and EEG results and work it out from there. Luckilly both my kids EEG's were obvious for it so it made it so much easier to start treatment.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck!!!!

 

Lyn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bonnie,

ooh that is frightening. I don't know much about that, but hope you are not too freaked out. It certainly could be an isolated incident, but I know it will be hard for you now to wonder when you are not with him. A friend of mine's girl had two siezures as a baby that they had to bring her to the hospital, but since then, nothing more, and she is now 10, so its possible it could just be a fluke. I hope so. please let us know what happens.

 

blessings,

Faith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Lyn for the input. I knew there was someone on here who had experience with it.

Anyway, turns out the doc thinks it was an isolated incident b/c ds was trying to turn his face red when it happened. Don't ask, just something silly a 10 year old boy was doing. The doc did some basic tests in the office and told me that an EEG wasn't necessary b/c it was just one episode but that we could always do one just to be on the safe side. He referred me to a doctor who hangs in the naturopathic community who does neurological testing and EEG's. So, I'll probably call them tomorrow AM and find out about insurance and scheduling, etc. Honestly, the whole incident was surreal. I'm just hoping we can continue on with a natural approach for now.

 

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow...this would have put me on the floor! I would have passed out as well.

 

Just wanted to mention that the reason our doc suggested the EEG's int he beginning was to rule out seizure activity.

The seizures in question were called myclonic jerks...they resemble tics as well.

 

Goodluck and I hope he sure does not want to pull that trick again!

 

Is holding your breath like that condered a tic of some kind??? Just curious

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow...this would have put me on the floor! I would have passed out as well.

 

Just wanted to mention that the reason our doc suggested the EEG's int he beginning was to rule out seizure activity.

The seizures in question were called myclonic jerks...they resemble tics as well.

 

Goodluck and I hope he sure does not want to pull that trick again!

 

Is holding your breath like that condered a tic of some kind??? Just curious

He wasn't holding his breath. He was tightening up all the muscles in his face and neck b/c he was thinking really hard. That's what he tells me! Anyway, he was making his face all red and that's when it happened.

To answer a prior question: no, there is no history of epilepsy in our families, but there is no history of tics either. Again, it's all part of the mystery we're trying to solve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow...this would have put me on the floor! I would have passed out as well.

 

Just wanted to mention that the reason our doc suggested the EEG's int he beginning was to rule out seizure activity.

The seizures in question were called myclonic jerks...they resemble tics as well.

 

Goodluck and I hope he sure does not want to pull that trick again!

 

Is holding your breath like that condered a tic of some kind??? Just curious

He wasn't holding his breath. He was tightening up all the muscles in his face and neck b/c he was thinking really hard. That's what he tells me! Anyway, he was making his face all red and that's when it happened.

To answer a prior question: no, there is no history of epilepsy in our families, but there is no history of tics either. Again, it's all part of the mystery we're trying to solve.

 

 

You would think the neurologist would be real concerned ? I hope everything goes ok

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I read, Melanie, many docs treat the first seizure as a one time event. It's when there are repeat occurrences that further action is necessary and warrants medication, etc. We saw our naturopath (who has had epileptic patients before) and he referred us to a highly respected neurologist for the EEG. After researching this neuro. I found out that he's also a psychologist who is well known for treating kids with dyslexia and learning disabilities and that he specializes in children and neurology. So, I'll be calling this AM to make the appointment. Our doctor was not too concerned about ds's issue b/c he checked for other neurological 'problems/signs of a problem' in the office and everything was status quo, so to speak!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bonnie,

 

Wow...I am so sorry you had to deal with this. I would have been so scared. I am glad you are getting answers though. I hope it does not happen again. Being a parent can make for some very scary days at times!!!

 

Carolyn

Carolyn, the first place I called was Dr Proefrock's office. I didn't want to get into a huge to-do with the pediatrician. Dr P. was very calm about the whole thing and he also noticed that Grif has a problem with his left eye pupil not dilating properly(or something like that) which is interesting. He said it's unrelated to the seizure, though. Apparently, he's treated epileptic patients over the years and I was very comfortable with him working with Grif on this. He referred us to a Scottsdale neurologist for an EEG. Dr P. is really interested to see if the tics are related to the seizure in any way. Maybe this neurologist will have some answers for us, as well. Yes, parenting can be very scary sometimes!!!

thanks,

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Lyn for the input. I knew there was someone on here who had experience with it.

Anyway, turns out the doc thinks it was an isolated incident b/c ds was trying to turn his face red when it happened. Don't ask, just something silly a 10 year old boy was doing. The doc did some basic tests in the office and told me that an EEG wasn't necessary b/c it was just one episode but that we could always do one just to be on the safe side. He referred me to a doctor who hangs in the naturopathic community who does neurological testing and EEG's. So, I'll probably call them tomorrow AM and find out about insurance and scheduling, etc. Honestly, the whole incident was surreal. I'm just hoping we can continue on with a natural approach for now.

 

Bonnie

Well, this neuro is NOT covered by any insurance and he costs $4000 to do the tests and they would do a full one day workup on him, etc. So, we're in talks with the naturopath to find someone else to do the EEG. My dh pretty much said no to the 4K tests b/c he doesn't want all that, we just want and EEG and will let the naturopath treat him from there. We won't do meds unless it was a last resort, just like for the tics and anxiety.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bonnie,

Hi. Yep, I agree, all you need is the EEG . Even if it is epilepsy, you don't usually have to go through all that other stuff too. EEG should tell you what you need to know. When it comes to epilepsy though most of the time it does require meds, where as with TS we have a choice. Left untreated it can become worse, and even simple absence seizures can cause a child to walk in front of a car, or into something dangerous, as they blank out for a few seconds. Some will just stop and stare, but others will continue walking if that was what they were doing when it happened.

 

Hopefully this may have been a one off. But it'll still be ok if it wasn't.

 

Big hugs to you!!!!!!

 

Good luck,

Lyn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So sorry for what you are going through. A poster on another board Dee has a son with PANDAS that went into seizures. Now he is on seizure meds. She is on facebook PANDAS and aspergers group. She is very helpful.

 

Michele

I am waiting for a call back from the naturopath. My son was just sitting on the computer acting like a typical 10 year old and being silly by tightening up his muscles and stuff and all of a sudden he shot his arms up in the air, fell over out of the chair, and hit his head on the floor. I was coming over to him as he was falling and I tried to pick him up by grabbing his wrists but he was out of it. Then 2 seconds later he 'comes to' and looks at me and says, "What am I doing on the floor?" It was very surreal. I am waiting for the naturopath first before I call a traditional doctor. Since it was a very short incident I am hoping to stay away from the emergency room and I'm hoping I can get the tests authorized by our naturopath. Does anyone have experience with seizures? What kind of tests will be required to get done? How do seizures fit in to the picture with tics, ADD, and anxiety? Thanks!

Bonnie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wanted to comment on this because we got home yesterday from Columbia Presperterian In NY Danny had a 24 hr EEG(EMU)WOW so much data collected . I know hes not having any seizures at all now which is great I guess I was nt hoping he was or anything I kindof wanted an answer to why his tourettes was so bad. I would suggest getting this to anyone who feels thers any issue Good luck Melanie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...