OT: My 2 year old had a seizure tonight!

[Nicki1433]

Tonight I was telling my son, 2.5 years old, to get back in the house and wait b/c I was getting the diaper back out of the car so I could pack it so we could leave to go see fireworks. He started crying and I looked back at him standing on the porch and he just collapsed to the ground. I ran over to him and as soon as I touched him he started having a seizure and quit breathing. The seizure lasted about 20-30 seconds and the it quit, but he still wasn't breathing. Then he started breathing, but was almost asleep. Then he "woke up" and said "mommy, I'm going to throw up." That's what he did, threw up. Then he was crying and trying to sleep on my husband in the shower. I called the doctor who said take him to ER. They referred me to take him to a seizure clinic on Thursday or Friday. I am really nervous. Anyone else have a child with a seizure disorder or have a child who's had a seizure?

Any advise?

Nicki

[luvmypupsx2]

As a person living with epilepsy for the past 30yrs of my life I can honestly say I am sorry to hear your child experienced a seizure. The good news is this may only be a one time episode seizures are more commen then you may think. When you are in the ER make sure they do at least a 24 hr EEG this will tell you if your son has epilepsy or not for the best results 3 -5 days is best this will also tell them what kind. also make sure to get a MRI and a CT scan this way you dont have to worry about anything.  Even then if he ends up having to take meds remember he may grow out of this most kids do.oh and if you find your self needing a nuerologist skip it go straight to an epileptoligist they are the best and they cost the same, it took me sixteen years to find that out. Best wishes!

[hawkfan]

When I was younger I had seizures and they never found the cause and I only remember that I was so tired for days afterwards.  They basically just told us that sometimes a child's brain just "misfires" because of so much going on.  Maybe it's something that "simple".  (By the way, I was also a breath holder when I didn't get my way.  Still am sometimes and it frustrates my husband:))

My youngest daughter when she was 2 months old started having breathing problems and would stop breathing and turn blue and we went through so many test and spent much of her first year at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minn.  She was diagnosed with near SIDS events.  My husband and I at the time were renting an old farm house and I personally think that there was mold in it that bothered her (she is very sensitive to air particles,etc).

I will pray for your son.  Remember to follow your gut instincts and push until you feel comfortable with the diagnosis/treatment that is given to your son.

[Nicki1433]

He is doing well today.  Still haven't heard back from clinic yet.  Thanks for your prayers.  We will keep you posted.

Nicki

[Venora Moonwind]

Your son is in my prayers.Sending good energy right now let us know how he is.
Love Venora

[dart frog]

Hows the little guy doing today??

[At The End of My Rope]

Nicki- Hope your son is doing better this Thursday morning. Keep us posted..My prayers are with you.

God Bless
Pam

[Nicki1433]

Yeah, once we got there and they informed us that all they were going to do was check his fluid/electrolyte/cbc etc levels I realized that that was a dead end.  They said that the clinic will do at least an EEG, what kind they didn't specify.  I guess we'll see.  It was very obvious he had no idea what had just happened, when he came to.  Also, they already mentioned me taking him to a pediatric neurologist if it happened again.  I am very fortunate to have a very thorough pediatrician and be close to one of the USA's best children's hospitals around.  

Thanks for your comments.

Nicki

[dart frog]

one more thing... sorry

IF and I do mean IF there is a seizure disorder going on....please please please have them refer you to a pediatric neruologist. Believe it or not childrens brains are NOT like adults. Up to the age of about 4 the brain can/will "heal its self" or find new ways to overcome problems. They dont understand how or why. An adult neruologist just doesnt have the same training or experience.

Rhonda

[dart frog]

Honest post...skip if you want.


My 12 year old suffers from complex partial seizures. He looks like he has had a stroke. Slurred speech, weakness on one side of his body, droopy eyes, "lights are on but nobody's home" look about him. They started when he was 6 months old and have lasted up to 2 hours.They still scare the **** out of me!!

I'm assuming a fever wasnt involved since the are sending you on to the clinic. Dont get too freaked out about this. ER's can only stabalize and he was probably somewhat back to normal when he was seen. Since he wasnt critical they would not have been able to do any real tests and to cover their rear ends they send you somewhere else..........

If the hospital didnt run xrays and a MRI then the clinic will to rule out a head injury. They will also do a worthless test called an EEG. The problem with this is its worthless unless they can "capture" a seizure while the test is running. Odds of that are rare. A little better of a test is a quantive EEG. They can compare his brain waves against 100's of other kids his age to see if something is off. This can give them an idea of what MIGHT be the problem area of the brain. The best test for them to do is called an amblatory EEG. They would hook him up to all the wires and attach it to a little computer on his waist and send him home. The computer will "read" the waves and will record everything he does. You will need to keep a journal to let them know when he slept, ate, watched tv...etc... This test is for a 24 hour period.
Since hes only 2 they might want to hold off on starting any meds. These are powerful drugs and you do NOT want him on them if this was a one time seizure. They will probably want to wait and see if he will have any more seizures before starting meds.

The type of seizure he had is kind of a blessing. People dont usually remember what happened to them!!!! They wake up feeling stiff and sore but dont have a clue what just happened. KEEP YOUR COOL! He will get MORE freaked out seeing you upset then from what just happened to him.

Poor little boy! I feel so bad for you guys! I know what a scary scary thing that was for you to go thru. We'll just pray that it was a one time problem and its now in the past!
Let me know if theres anything I can help you with.

Rhonda

[Nicki1433]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.  

He was diagnosed with breath-holding spells about 1 year ago, where he gets mad, holds his breath until he passes out.  Yes, that is scary, but last night for the first time during one he started seizing.

No, he had no fever, illness, head trauma, etc.

They ran  a bunch of fluid and electolyte tests and all were normal.  We'll see later this week I guess.

Thanks,

Nicki

[ChitChatNine]

How scary.  My now 14yr old used to be a breath holder and turn blue when she cried and almost pass out.  I hope hope hope that something like this is what happened as he was crying when it happened.

I hope you get some answers and soon.  What a scary/schock for you....

My same daughter used to get high temps but never had a febrile seizure .. her all-time high temp was 106.2 and that was enough for us to go to the ER.  She had an ear infection/virus/asthma that was first diagnosed @ that visit.

C~

[rayneweather]

What a rough night for you.  I was going to ask about a fever, too - they are the most common cause of seizures in children.  And it's normal for vomiting & sleepiness to be present after seizures.  I hope he's doing better today and I will definitely keep you guys in my prayers this week.

Rayne

[kipland]

I'm so sorry Nicki!!  That's really scary.  My son used to get so mad when he was crying that I think he held his breath until he passed out.  THAT was scary enough - to hold your little one lifeless in your arms.  It didn't last long, but it seemed like forever.  

I'm glad that they're referring you to a seizure clinic.  I was going to ask the same question as Dac.....did they run any tests in the ER?  How scary.

My thoughts and prayers are with you!!  Keep us posted.

[DLA]

OMGosh, Nicki!  I would have freaked!  Did he have a fever?  Maybe an allergy.  I had epilepsy when I was a small baby.  The seizures were brought on by milk.
Have known a couple of kids who had seizure b/c of flashing lights.  

Don't know of anything else, honey.  I know they say fever seizures are quite common but even with my son's normal 104-105 fevers he use to run he never had one.

I don't know of anything else to say to help you other than I am praying for the little guy and his parents.

Did they run any kind of tests on him in the ER?  Head trauma or something?

God be with y'all!

Dac