very worried - 2 month old suddenly has exaggerated moro (startle) reflex

[ALT76]

I thought my dd had a seizure this morning.  It was terrifying.  Just wondering if anybody has experienced something similar to the following?

My dd is 8 1/2 wks old.  At her first well baby appt,  he did the standard reflex tests and she reacted to the moro one very normally - just threw her arms out.  Ever since she was born she has startled on the easy side, but figured that was normal.  All she's ever done is throw her arms out, while sleeping or awake.

This morning I thought she had a seizure and I freaked out.  I had epilepsy my entire childhood so I was worried.  I had her on the changing table and can't even remember if I moved her first, but all four of her limbs went straight out and stiff, her neck and whole body stiffened and her eyes BUGGED out of her head, and the most alarming was that her face turned immediately bright red as if she wasn't breathing.  She stayed like this for only about 4 or 5 seconds, and then when she "came to" so to speak, she started wailing and was difficult to console.

My mother and I took her to the doctor, and in just doing his standard reflex testing she did it again right there on the examination table.  He said while it was the most extreme and exaggerated reflex he's ever seen, the fact that he could induce it meant it wasn't a seizure.  For good measure right before he left he did it a SECOND time (which really upset me) and she did it exactly the same - turned red, limbs/body stiff, eyes bugged out.  

All day she has seemed much jumpier than usual and difficult to calm down.  Every little thing seems to cause her to throw her arms out, much more in the way we've seen her startle in the past, but MUCH more often.  I went to shower tonight and when I came downstairs dh said "I saw what you were describing"... It seems she did the same thing again, but this time while half asleep and nobody had moved her at all, her pacifier had simply fallen out of her mouth which apparently triggered it.  

It just seems so odd that all of a sudden she would be SOOO startled in such a way that we have never seen before in two months, and it has happened four times in one day.  

My only thought that I try to tell myself to console myself is that maybe as her brain is developing she is becoming more aware of her surroundings and therefore is more easily startled?  I just don't know and I'm worried.  I find myself terrified to just set her down or talk too loud or anything in fear that she will have an episode.

Fortunately we just happen to coincidentally have a well baby appt scheduled for tomorrow.  At first I was annoyed today they couldn't combine the visits, but now I'm grateful I get to go back after dh witnessing another episode and getting to think about things...

[ALT76]

WOW!  Well, I heard back from some other mamas on the mothering.com forums, and apparently there are others out there that experienced something similar around 8-10 wks.  I couldn't find any info on the net though...

My doctor said he doesn't think she has seizures, but sometimes just as the moro (startle) reflex can be mistaken for a seizure, sometimes doctors can write off seizures as the moro reflex.  I think if I hadn't had a history of epilepsy as a child myself, he would've done the "wait and see" approach, and now after speaking to more mothers I'm feeling like it'll be OK, but since I had epilepsy as a child he just wants to be ABSOLUTELY certain so we are getting an EEG done Friday morning :(

Good luck to you and your son!

[yulia786]

How strange, my boy is 8 1/2 weeks too and just had the VERY same episode you described... i am very worried and going to call my doctor.  I hope your appointment goes well and please let us know what doctor sais if you can!