2Yr Old with Seizures

Updated on May 07, 2008
J.P. asks from Lees Summit, MO
15 answers

Recently (past 4 weeks or so) my son started having mild seizures that last about 1-2 minutes. They aren't they type of thrashing or shaking but he blanks out and goes limp. When he comes to, he's really groggy and a little panicked at times. Last week he had an EEG done (normal results) and this Friday we are set to see a Nuerologist at Children's Mercy. If you have gone through this or know about this, please shed some light on this for me. Part of me is terrified this will haunt him forever but part of me says to wait for more test. What should I expect at the doctors? What should I ask them? What meds should I avoid? Frankly, I am terrified and not sure what to do about it all and how to explain what is happening to him so that he understands.

Please help me sort this out.
Thanks

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So What Happened?

Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement and some prayers. It is greatly appreciated. Good to know I am not alone either. The Neurologist recommended daily meds but we are going to wait until after the MRI in June to start those since his seizures are pretty mild. While waiting we are going to track the seizures to see if they will taper off or increase.
Thank you all again.

More Answers

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M.I.

answers from St. Louis on

I don't know how true this is but one of my neighbors said her daughter had seisures when she was cutting her molars.

Good Luck, I'll keep your little one in my prayers!

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L.B.

answers from St. Louis on

One day at a time J.. Try not to make yourself sick with worry about things that you don't know will ever come to pass. Your kids will feel your stress.

Read ALL labels on all medication given to you.

Praying that you get helpful responses, peace in the situation, and an answer to the cause and a good path for treatment and control.

God Bless,
L.

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M.A.

answers from St. Louis on

Has your 2 yr old had immunizations recently? That is one possiblility. It can be missed by some doctors. New studies show that certain combos can cause Autism, so why not seizures...I'm not a doctor, I'm just relaying a recent, but foggy memory. Maybe some research...

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K.D.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi J. my name is Karry and my husband and I have been taking our son, Chance who is 14 to Mercy and we have been seeing Dr. Cruse(I am not sure if that is the proper spelling) and he is a Neuro. We have had 2 EEG's and one of them was w/sleep deprivation. Both were normal. Chance has only had 1 seizure but, was diagnosed with something called Chiari's malformation. We are currently waiting for another appointment in the middle of the month. Email me if you want.

Karry

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S.H.

answers from Wichita on

Seizure disorders are actually more common than you think. They can be easily treated with medication. I have never had a child that had this so I cant give you any advice from personal experience. It is very normal for your child to be very groggy and tired after a seizure. Often times the child will not even be aware that they just had a seizure and will have no recollection of it. Be supportive and express your concerns to the neurologist. They know what theyre doing!
I know its scary, but they are treatable!
Relax, youre doing everything you need to be doing to help your son!

Also, I would avoid flashing things. Things such as TV, computer, strobe lights, flickering light bulbs (when they are about to go out), etc. This can bring on a seizure. Avoidance is a good thing although it may not be enough to knock out the seizures completely.
I hope this helps.

I would also suggest that if your son gets put on a medication, look it up on the internet before giving it to him. Many times the internet will give you more information about the medication than the doctor or the bottle will. If it sounds ok then go ahead and give it to your son as prescribed. If it doesnt sound ok, talk with the doctor again about it and it never hurts to request a different medication.
--S.

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M.F.

answers from Kansas City on

i am a strong believer in opthamologist(sp?) they can look at your brain and macular. they can see all kinds of crazy things you wouldn't think. God bless and i hope this helps.

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P.H.

answers from Wichita on

May I ask what is taking place prior to the 2 year old having the seizure? Is he contently watching t.v., or playing? What is his activity?
I ask this because when I was roughly 2 years old(I remember this happening and I remember what house we lived in so my parents were able to tell me what year it was and how old I was), I had several seizures.
What brought them on? To the best of our doctor's ability to reason it out, my mother was scaring me "into fits". Seriously. The only time I would have them was when I was getting into something (cookie jar, etc.) that I shouldn't have been, and my mother was walking up behind me silently and then spanking me. I would have a full blown convulsive seizure. I remember how weird it felt, I would see lights and have short dreamlike visions, and then wake up on the floor with my mother calling my name over and over.

When it happened several times my mother took me to the doctors office and told him I was having seizures. He asked what was happening prior to the seizure, she told him usually she had caught me doing something I shouldn't be and had spanked me. He's the one that figured out she was causing it by scaring me so badly. He told her to get my attention, warn me that I was in trouble, then swat me or whatever, not sneak up on me and commence spanking me when I wasn't expecting it.

I never had another seizure.

It depends on what actually is happening, based on your normal test results, it's difficult to know what to expect at the Neurologist. There are many types of seizure disorders. I have a friend who's son had a type that he never seemed to loose conciousness, but his eyes would roll to look up and to the right, he'd have angry outbursts just prior to the seizure. They had him on medications to help limit the severity and frequency of them.

I hope the neurologist visit is more productive for you! Hang in there!

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M.J.

answers from Kansas City on

I would take him to the doctor just to be sure. Has he had any high fevers lately? My son has seizures sometimes if he gets a high fever. It could be something small like recent immunizations or it could be something major like epilepsy. I took a class on epilepsy, after watching my epileptic sister-in-law have seizures. Sometimes it may seem like a kid just isn't listening- like they're kindof spaced out-- but it could be a seizure. My sister-in-law would be having a conversation and seem to kindof space out and then she would snap out of it and be really tired and go lay down and sometimes sleep for a long time. I would definitely take him to a doctor to get checked out and if your insurance allows it, I would take him to see a nuerologist. My sister-in-law wasn't diagnosed with epilepsy until she was in college. The smaller seizures were undetected while she was growing up. Once she was diagnosed, her parents, teachers, etc could count timeless situations where she had been having seizures regularly. Good luck!!

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T.B.

answers from Springfield on

A friend of mine her son started having very bad seizures when he was 2, the called the ambulance and they rushed him to the er and then sent him to Columbia, he was given medicine that he has to take at exact times every day. He has not had a seizure since he has been on the medicine. They said they will slowly wean him off of the medicine when he is around 5 and see if he has grown out of them. They were told usually when they have seizures at this young age they usually grow out of them. I know this prob doesn't help any but this is what info I know.

T.

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T.M.

answers from Topeka on

What you are describing is how my daughters sister-in-law acts. She has epilepsy that came on during childhood. Medication controls it most of the time. Her seizures are like your sons. She becomes very quiet, spaced out almost, and lays her head down. When she comes to she has no idea what happened and is very tired. Ask about epilepsy.

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C.G.

answers from Columbia on

I know this can be very scary. I used to work at St. Louis Children's Hospital in the Psychology Dept. Part of what I did was IQ/Developmental evaluations on patients. We worked with a lot of kids with epilepsy. They may do an evaluation like this to get a baseline reading to track any changes in his mental capabilities (this doesn't mean there will be changes, they just like to track it). If they don't mention doing this, I would ask about it.

I also know there are a lot of good treatments out there for kids with epilepsy. I don't know the names of any drugs or treatments, but I know there is help.

Like some other posts mentioned, it may be related to something he is taking, and not considered epilepsy. More tests should determine this. Make sure you inform the docs of every med he has taken recently or any shots, unusual foods, etc.

I will be praying for you and your family. I know this is a hard time. I wish the best for all of you!

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T.C.

answers from Springfield on

J., 1st thing you already have begun all that you as a parent can do for a child with seizures. My daughter had seizures when she turned 3 and with the doctors and Gods help she hasn't had one since she was 5. We gave her medication and watched her closely. She would drop down and shake all over, and when she was done throw up. I know how you feel it is terrifing. Keep in mind that the only thing you can do is be there when it happens, ask lots of questions to the doctor, and determine what is best for your child.
Thats it! Trust me I have 3 kids and I was so happy when my youngest turned 4 and had no medical problems. Ofcourse then we found out he needed ear tubes and couldn't hear, but that is minor compaired to my 1st two kids. (grin)
T. :)

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M.S.

answers from Springfield on

Please know I will keep you in my prayers... When I was a baby I had seizures... Mine however were the convulstions... They never figured out what was wrong... May I ask if he has been eating ok??? We later found out when I was a bit older that I have hypoglycemia... It is when your sugar levels drop quickly... I find when I am having an episode I will almost faint and "pass out for a min or so" It is a seizure... My son also had this when he was a baby... All of his tests came up normal too... Now I am not saying he has this, but you may ask your doc about it... I was so little when I had mine that I really dont remember it... Here I am 31 with kids of my own and healthy too... So please dont worry... Tell the docs of your concerns... They may not even need to put him on meds... I was when I was little, but neither my son or I are one them now... A lot is just controling his diet... And it is not very hard... I eat several times a day instead of the "3 meals" I have more like 6 mini meals... I just eat more frequently and less at a time... That may help... Sorry to ramble on... Please keep us posted as to the outcome of your doc visits...

M.

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J.H.

answers from Lawrence on

My son had unusual staring episodes when he was 15 months or so. he would be playing, eating or doing any other normal activity, then stop, stare ahead and become unresponsive. He would lick his lips a few time, and often threw up as the episode ended after a minute or two. Then he would usually sleep. The doctor never saw an episode happen until we were waiting in line to check in for a follow-up appointment and he had a full-blown seizure, including convulsions, in my arms at the doctor's office (the right place at the right time!) They referred us to children's mercy for an EEG. The neurologist there never saw an episode happen and everything was normal on the EEG. The neurologist was reassuring about seizures in general. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but she said somthing like 20% of all people will have a seizure at some point in their lives and 80% will never have a second one. I also felt like the pediatrician was trying to find something to blame the seizure on (fever, etc. but he did not have one!) while the neurologist explained that the cause might never be known, and that is OK.
Well, my son never had another full blown seizure and his staring episodes stopped within a few months. He will turn 4 this summer and is doing great. I hope this is helpful to you. Get in touch if you have any questions or want to talk.

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L.R.

answers from St. Louis on

My son is 14 will be 15 on the 6th of this month. He had his first seizure when he was 6 or 7 months. At the time I was told he would grow out of the seizures when he turn 5 years old Normally he would have high fever. Then he had them without the high fever. It wasn't until I went to a Nuerologist that gave me the hope and encourgement that I needed. He was put on "Cabortal" I know the spelling is incorrect. The only negative about this it discolored his teeth but the seizure stop. It is a scary moment but it shall pass. Ask the doctor on any med if given the side effects, timeframe your son would be required to take meds. My son is medicine free and free of seizure. Please get a Med bracelet. It is a life saver if you are not around.

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