Are son's headaches and mood changes related to seizures?

[JGriffith]

My 13 year old son has had headaches (usually severe) for several years, often causing him to miss a lot of school.  Recently they began to occur more often, sometimes twice in a week.  My pediatrician ordered an EEG, CT scan, and blood work, all of which were normal except for the EEG which stated "This is an abnormal EEG due to generalized bursts of frontally predominant 3-4 polyspike, spike and slow wave discharges. Also, "There is occasional bursts of 3-4 Hz frontally predominant poly spike and slow wave discharges noted from the beginning of the study, the longest one for 3 sec." Photic stimulation and hyperventilation seemed OK. We have been asked by the neurologist to keep track of seizure episodes, but have no idea what we are looking for.  Is it possible that he has had this so long, we are used to it?  Could the headaches be causing the seizures or vice versa?  Could mood changes such as going from a quiet, sweet child, to a crying, angry child for no reason be a symptom?  He says he can tell when a headache is coming because he starts feeling angry about little things and finally explodes.  After these episodes, he will sleep for hours, sometimes from late afternoon until the next day.  He is not on medication yet, but we return to neurologist after 30 day period in the next few days and I don't know what to tell him. I feel so stupid.  Please help me.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

Your frustration and concern over your son's condition are  understandable. First and foremost, if the EEG was correctly interpreted it is likely that your son has a generalized epilepsy  syndrome. There are many types but two things you can look for are episodes of complete loss of consciousness with loss of bladder control, shaking, tongue biting (the grand mal seizure that the public is familiar with). And then there's absence seizures that are characterized by very brief seconds of "spacing out" where he can rapidly blink his eyes and lose touch with his environment without completely passing out.Another thing you can do is talk to your son's teachers and ask them if they have noticed daydreaming in school or anything else out of the ordinary which could be seizures.

It's a possibility that the headaches and seizures are related, but it is more likely that the headaches are related to the mood changes. Fortunately,there are some medications that have dual effects against both seizures and headaches. One such is called depakote, a seizure medication used frequently in children which also helps with behavioral problems and headaches.

Your child does need further workup such as a possible MRI and treatment. Talk to your pediatric neuro about your concerns. This is not a simple problem and I'm sure you have many questions about your child. Best of luck.

[sonw/specialneeds]

I can completely relate to your situation. My son is only 3&1/2 and has a progressive seizures disorder. So many seizure you can not see. They are called absence seizures. My sons seizures are generalized though. Also many of my son's seizures occure nocternally (during slee). When he is having these outberst or problems you said is he alert and aware of what he is doing? Is he responsive to you, or does he respond slower or snappy at you? Does he drift off and seem to day dream from time to time? These are all simptoms of seizure activity. The headaches can be an arura or occure after the seizures so note everything he does before and after. Ask your son what he feels. Unfortanily my son is nonverbal and can not tell me what he feels. There is a book called A Parents Guide To seizures, or something like that. It is written by John Hopkins and is very informative. It is a soft back and light blue in color runs about 19-20 dollars. Hope yoou can find it. It is very difficult to understand such a diagnosis when you have yet to understand it. I was shocked I thaught people would flop all over never knowing how subtle seizure can be. Good Luck

[searching]

Hi, may I suggest www.braintalk.org for information and support...  (I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but there are great support forums there with very smart, informed people.)  At Braintalk, find your way to the Epilepsy or Child Neurology section.  

Take care...

[HARTLEY822au]

Have you tried putting him on a distilled water fast for

3 days and if his symptoms go down then it is something that

he has eaten.

If not , then it may be a Pinched Nerve in his Backbone and

a Chiropractor may help.

[headproblemz]

I must say this again. I highly recommend that you do not listen to the aforementioned person.

[JGriffith]

Thank you all for your help with my question.  At our last visit to the neurologist, my son was placed on Depakote and the change has been remarkable.  No headaches for over a week, and the mood changes are almost nil.  I hope we are on the right track.  Thanks again.