My 6 year old is having seizures and I need advice

[mamajan]

Hi everyone
My 6 year old son has been having complex partial seizures. I am not getting much info from the pediatrition and it seems like it will be awile before we can see the neurologist. He just started 100mg of Tegretol twice a day. What should I expect and what questions should I ask? Should I ask for him to get a CT Scan? Any help or direction would be a great help.
Thanks

[danjor]

Im assuming you've seen him have these seizures and know what they are like. So be prepared to give an accurate description of the seizures. When you are in the neurologists office its your time. Ask the questions you feel will benefit your child's health. At they beginning they will probably do quite a few tests. Im not sure that I had a CT scan done. However I had an MRI and an EEG done. EEG is probably going to be the hardest for him because he will have to stay up really late.
Other than that keep encouraging your son. Because its a long journey.

[Rae1889]

Hello.
As I posted in your other thread. Yes! take him to a different doctor! Get a CT scan (danjor, and MRI is better than a CT scan and therefore it is usually skipped) and an EEG. Again. who prescribed the tegretol?

[Dutch mom]

Hello,

My 10-year old boy is having seizures since age 1,5.
My advice would be to videotape/film his seizures and send those to the neurologist before you have your first appointment.

[Chris515]

Hello,

I had an MRI and EEG when I was diagnosed too. They're really important, push for the MRI especially.

Encouragement is really important... the love of family can make this so much easier to deal with.

Best of luck with everything, hope your son can see the neurologist soon.

[tinasmom]

My granddaughter started having complex seizures at the age of 6 also. Make sure you document everything you see and how long they last. As stated above you need to make sure he has an EEG and MRI. A sleep deprived EEG would be a good idea. Make sure you find a Neurologist that will listen to you and you feel comfortable with.

[Bethan09]

Hello,

I had an MRI and EEG when I was diagnosed too. They're really important, push for the MRI especially.

Encouragement is really important... the love of family can make this so much easier to deal with.

Best of luck with everything, hope your son can see the neurologist soon.

My son has epilepsy and hes 6 years old. He has had the ECG Scan also the 24 hour as well. Would you mind telling me what an MRI Scan is please and why. This is whe first time Ive heard of this scan. Thank you x

[epileric]

My son has epilepsy and hes 6 years old. He has had the ECG Scan also the 24 hour as well. Would you mind telling me what an MRI Scan is please and why. This is whe first time Ive heard of this scan. Thank you x

Hope this explains it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging

Also welcome to the site Bethan

[stilldancing_98]

Hi MamaJan that is my mothers name. I have epilepsy and so does my 11 year old boy. An MRI is just a better way to see if there are any abnormalities in the brain. There probably is not it's just a precaution that most everybody takes along with an eeg. My son and I have had so many I can't even coun't any more. How often are the seizures? I bet you are watching him day and night.My prayers are with you and your son right now. Teresa.

[Meetz1064]

MAKE SURE that the EEG is a MINIMUM of 24 hours, PREFERABLY 48 hours or more. The reason for this is that the EEG is a "snapshot in time" of what is going on in your brain. So, if there is seizure activity going on during that longer length of time, which is more likely, then it is more likely for the doctors to figure out what is going on. Simple as that.

MRIs are basically a way for doctors to rule out any physical causes of the seizures. MRIs will show any scars, lesions, etc on/in the brain which will help the doctors make the diagnosis.

I've had many of both done, but never a CT of my head.

Welcome to both of you to CWE. I'm sure you'll love it here.

Take care.

Meetz