my daughter is having seizure like episodes

[sauvegirls]

My daughter has been having "seizure like" episodes now for 2 months.  she has had 16 of them in this time frame.  She gets a feeling about 30 seconds to 2 minutes before she becomes unconscious and unresponsive.  These warning signs before hand are lightheadedness, dizziness and blurred vision.  When she becomes unconscious she is unresponsive for anywhere from 15- 22 minutes.  During this time her eyes are rolled back in her head, her face becomes bright red, her hands are ice cold and her body is twitching.  She has had some cardiology work ups, including ecg and echocardiogram all came back clear.  She has had an eeg and that came back clear.  Has anyone heard of these symptoms and could possible know what it is or have any idea on what i should be asking the doctors to do?  They think it might be stress related and are sending her to a psychologist.  Does this sound right to you'se?  Any informatiion you could give me would be very helpful.  

[DLC1973]

I would like to e-mail with you regarding your daughter. My son has been dealing with very similar conditions for over 2 yrs and we have gotten no where with the doctors and they feel they are dealing with a medical condition that they have never seen before. They at first thought it was phycological but his neuroligist doesn't think that is the case, his longest episode was 12 hours in which he was taken by ambulance to the nearest childrens hospital which was a two hour drive and he never came to. We have dealt with so many different scares since this started and are currently looking at genetic testing and possibly a probe put into his brain. I know you posted this over three yrs ago but this is the first time we have stumbled across anyone having similiar symptoms when searching the internet for answers.

[supermomsix74]

I'd really like to know what they found out about your daughter. My 15 yr old daughter developed a neck twitch out of the blue one day 6 months ago and since then suffers from seizure like episodes every couple days where she is unconcious, jerks, holds her breath, and twitches. She has fallen in the shower, out of bed, or wherever they decide to happen. She spent a week in the hospital where she had MRI, EEG, cat scan all normal. They are now saying its anxiety or stress. Besides these episodes she acts perfectly normal but these episodes are controlling our lives. We have to be careful when and if we do things. A Cognitive Behavior Therapist and psychiatrist say shes not depressed at all and I agree. I'd like to know if they figured out anything on your daughter.

[sjw51173]

my 3 yr old son has been having seizures since 4 months old........all tests come back normal but seizures have been witnessed by his pediatrician and neurologist.....he is on carbamazepine 100mgs 3xs a day and has been seizure free since jan 29 2009.......still mystery what is causing or caused the seizures but is controlled............so from one mother to another hang in there, there is hope and u may not get ur answers from their fancy tests but maybe ur daughter can get the relief she needs like my son did by a doctor witnessing these episodes(try next time video taping her i know it sounds hard to do but it just might help the drs to pinpoint whats happening and start taking u seriously.
good luck and get well wishes to ur daughter

[theasian]

I'm glad to hear that someone is finally taking it seriously. Hopefully those tests will be able to provide some answers

[sauvegirls]

update:  she went to see a child psychologist because the doc thought it was anxiety related.  psychologist does not seem to think so, so he has admitted my daughter in hospital to have a sleep deprieved eeg and an mri/ct scan done. about time...

[theasian]

I think you should go find another neurologist because the one you went to doesn't sound like a very good one. Neurologists are basically trained to put the puzzle pieces together and the one you went to doesn't seem to want to do that. Even though the EEG came back clear they shouldn't just dismiss her like that. My EEG came up perfectly normal but my neuro said to me yesterday that he really thinks I have epilepsy but since the tests aren't showing anything we are just gonna carry on with the medication and tests to see if we eventually can get a definate result

[caregiver222]

And MRI and MRA would be appropriate.

Sometimes the exact cause of a seizure cannot be found. Medications are provided to control the siezure.

There are several schools of thought regarding continued siezures. One school believes that with every episode there is death of brain cells.

I am above my pay-grade to recommend medications or treatment, but it appears she needs an evaluation at a teaching hospital with a good department of neurology.

Sometimes seizures are indiced by flickering lights, particularly red lights.

In this case polarized dark glasses may help.

You sound like a conscientious mom whose doctor's having been paying enough attention to.

As mentioned there is a "window" following a siezure in which abnormalities are more pronounced on an EEG.

She should be hospitalized after the next episode.

Keep nagging the doctors. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

[sauvegirls]

she has been to the neurologist but when the eeg came up clean she didn't think she needed to see her again

[sauvegirls]

she has had 18 episodes now, she is only 15 years old and the last one lasted 28 minutes.  I have asked them to do an mri, considering  there are brain tumours and brain anurisms that run on the maternal and paternal side. (not sure if either are heridtary) she has already had an eeg, which came back clear.  After the last time of 28 minutes unconscious took her to the emergency dept.  they sent her on her way after a five minute check up and basically said we don't need to see her everytime there is nothing we can do... now i am not a doctor but i would think there would be something else they could do...i am a mother who is getting quite frustrated

[caregiver222]

The doctors will know what tests are appropriate. It is likely they will prescribe medications. They usually don't do this until there have been several episodes.

The symptoms you describe do not sound like syncope.

[bibigirl12_10]

i have these exact same things happening to me and they have come up with the results that they are not seizures if i feel them coming on. my neurologist has just come up with the final result that they are syncope (or fainting spells) from stress.

hope all goes well for your daughter!

[mileskl]

#1, you need an MRI to rule out any type of tumor, stroke, or other brain disorder.  #2, you need an EEG 24 to 48 hours after her next seizure.  If that is not possible, you need an extended EEG (24 hours or more) to determine what is going on.  By all means, find a neurologist you trust as soon as possible.

[theasian]

That sounds like epilepsy to me. It would be best if they could get an EEG during one of these episodes so they can really see what's going on so a 24 hour EEG might have to be done. It could be something else that's causing the seizures like a brain tumour. Either you should take her to see a neurologist as soon as possible