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Focal seizures


Chief Dick
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Anyone here have experience with these, especially in children?

 

My 2 y.o. son had a mild one today. This is the same boy who had the fibril seizure back in March. Apparently the two are unrelated. However, my minimal research this afternoon makes me wonder if this is a precursor to epilepsy. I know it is a symptom.

 

The seizure lasted maybe 1 minute, and he was conscious and somewhat responsive during the episode. I could just tell he was starting to go into it, so I grabbed him and picked him up and just started asking him questions. Scares the hell out of me.

 

Anyway, we took him to the doctor today, and the boy is normal is every aspect. She ordered an EEG and an MRI, which we will do in the next week. We are also seeing a Pediatric Neurologist tomorrow, just for a consultation and evaluation. His pediatrician didn't seem especially worried and ordered the tests just to see if there are any issues.

 

Anyone have any related incidents? And if so, how worried should I be?

 

As it is, I will not sleep until I know what's going on, and every movement by him will pull me out of bed probably for the rest of his life. :wacko:

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Did the seizure affect awareness or memory of events before, during, and immediately after the seizure?

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Not sure but I can tell you my kids get seizures from time to time and sometimes it just looks like they are staring at something and they wont respond to you calling their name and then there are other times where they look just like the kid from The Shinning when he is clinching his teeth together. They were very scary the first few times we saw them but according to the Docs and all the material i've read, they are nothing major. The brain is a mysterious thing

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Not sure but I can tell you my kids get seizures from time to time and sometimes it just looks like they are staring at something and they wont respond to you calling their name and then there are other times where they look just like the kid from The Shinning when he is clinching his teeth together. They were very scary the first few times we saw them but according to the Docs and all the material i've read, they are nothing major. The brain is a mysterious thing

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Is there anything you do to try and get them out of it or is it one of those things where you just have to let it ride?

 

The scariest part is not really knowing what to do.

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I know nothing about this CD.....but hoping for the best for you all!

 

But don't you HATE it when YOU are 'scared to death' about something to do with your child and the pediatrician "doesn't seem especially worried"??? :D

 

On one hand.....maybe it can be calming. If they aren't worried......maybe I shouldn't be either. :wacko:

Nope.....never going to be the case. MY kid.....I'm bouncing off the walls with worry......and the pediatrician is acting like we just came in for a routine checkup. See.......this would make me hornet mad......lol. The least they could do is say, "I know this has thrown you for a loop....but it's fairly common with children and usually means nothing. But we'll order tests to make sure. :D "

 

:D

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Didn't have the same experience, but my son who is now 7, had a fever related seizure when he was 1 or so. We were using Tylenol and Advil but as soon as the medication wore off his fever kept spiking and bam he goes into a seizure. It absolutely scared the crap out of my wife and I. He came out of it after about 1 min. or so and was lucid when the ambulance arrived, but it was scary as hell. Until he was about 4 whenever he had a fever, it was always really high. He appears to have grown out of it now, but I hear ya about scary. That certainly is!!

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Oh so very sorry about this, I know you are scared....my 4 yr old boy had an MRI and EEG last month...The MRI will check for any structural abnormalities in your son's brain that can cause seizures, while the EEG checks the brain waves...come to find out, my son has rolandic seizures (which occur during sleep). The pedia is not concerned at all and these should pass as he grows older. I have heard seizures like these are more common in boys than girls, I am sure your son will eventually outgrow his seizures as well.

Good luck w/ the EEG...you will have to sleep-deprive him, so maybe you should have an all-night poker match to help keep yourself awake;)..maybe you & your wife can take shifts. When my son tried to doze off @ 2am, I drove him to McDonalds for a happy meal, then later I took him to see the trains moving at the local train station....anything I could do to keep us both up.

The test takes some time, they will wire him up all over his head, then let him fall asleep. Then they will wake him up and put a strobe light type thing right in his face (my son did not like this part)...they will also make him blow on a pin wheel, to try to induce hyper-venilation, all the while a computer moniters the brain waves and a neurologist will interpret the results.

The MRI is loud, but my son did remarkably well and sat perfectly still...they will probably give him some morphine to help calm him during this test. Good luck to you all and prayers are with you!

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The first thing that I would do is to call your son's doctor and ask him/her those questions.

 

My understanding about seizures is that you should let them run their course. If it runs for a prolonged time, immediate medical attention may be in order, but this may apply to tonic-clonic seizures only. I have no idea how that applies to your son's situation.

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Went to the Pediatric Neurologist today. Basically they think he has epilepsy, but they are doing an MRI Friday and EEG in January. They will not start him on medication until he has a second focal seizure. At that point it is almost certain to be epilepsy. His indication is that it is controllable by medication, and he may or may not grow out of it.

 

He said the seizure's will not cause damage unless they go over 10 minutes. Then they CAN cause some damage. He prescribed a medication to us that we must keep on hand in case he has a seizure that lasts 5 minutes. At the 5 minute mark you give him this medicine, through his butt I may add, and it should subside the seizure within a minute. If it doesn't work, it's off to the ER. Apparently we need to carry this wherever he goes.

 

He indicated you just have to let them run their course. You cannot "pull" them out of it. He also said when they start lay him down on his left side. Do not put ANYTHING in his mouth. He cannot swallow his tongue.

 

He also said it is the possibility it was an isolated incident, but probably was not the case. There has been no fever, illness, or anything that can trigger a seizure.

 

So basically now we wait. We get the testing done and wait for the next seizure. It may be a week, a month, or a year. You just never know.

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Answers are good things; far better than not knowing.

 

Besides, this will be a great parenting tool to teach him about being brave and courageous and to teach his big brother about the responsibility of having a little brother to look out for.

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I'm glad you took him in, CD. I asked a pediatric colleague today about epilepsy in kids. While he couldn't quote me a percentage of spontaneous cure, he felt there is a good chance your son will grow out of it.

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