4-yr-old/sleep disorder or seizures?

Posted By Molly on November 09, 1998 at 11:28:03:







Hello,
My 4-yr-old daughter has been having sleep disturbances for at least 6 to 8 months or more. I finally began documenting them in August.
Every few weeks (sometimes more frequently, sometimes less), I awake to her crying--a kind of choking cry rather than normal. It is often within 2 hours of her going to bed. When I go to her she doesn't really wake up. Often she is sitting up. A few times she seemed to nod or shake her head to my questions, but she refuses to talk at all. It doesn't seem to fit the "night terror" descriptions I've found.
The crying is accompanied by a rhythmic chill. Every ten to thirty seconds she'll have a shaking chill, and her teeth will chatter too (no matter the season or temperature!). You can pick her up, cover her, talk to her, yet the mild shaking and choking/chattering continues. The last two times this happened and I noticed her eyes were open just before the chill, and they seemed to roll up and she closed them as she shook. It's a trembly shake, not a wild movement. (I used to notice that she was very sweaty when this happened, although the last few times she hasn't been as damp.) She tends to gather herself up into a ball at these times.
This will go on for about 4-5 minutes and then she will drift back asleep. She has no recollection of this in the morning.
I've never seen anything like this whatsoever during waking hours. She has no other chronic complaints although she is often very tired for a 4-year-old, I think.
The last episode she had was last night--that made 4 in a month. This time she was sweaty and much more trembly than usual, and seemed almost frightened by it--although she wouldn't answer any questions. The trembles seemed to come at closer intervals and be more pronounced. It even scared me.
Does this resemble a seizure at all? If not, what could be happening? I've mentioned it to family and friends and no one can relate to this behavior. I am trying to reach our doctor about it--previously I have felt strange about describing such weird symptoms.
Thanks for any input you can offer.