8 year old sone having possible seizures.

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RachelT

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We don't know just yet what is going on and need someone to help us figure some things out. My 8 year old son has been having what I believe are seizures while he's sleeping. The only way I can describe it is he will be asleep and I don't know if he's trying to wake up or what but he will start twitching like a fish out of water. His legs, arms, head and he will partially be in the sitting position. His eyes will move very rapidly as well. He says he can hear someone talking to him which is either me or my husband but he can't make out who is who and he also hears other noises like it kind of reminds me of something off aliens the movie. I really can't describe the noises they just are creepy. He will wet the bed every time this happens. Like I said this happens when he's sleeping. Well tonight it went a little further. I got him up to use the restroom and as he was walking back to his bed he acted like something was holding him back. He tried and tried to walk but couldn't. So I kind of pulled on him a bit to maybe see if that would help but still he seemed frozen only moving his legs. That's when I realized he was having an 'episode' is what we call them. He started twitching badly and as soon as I noticed I grabbed him and laid him on the floor. I'm 9 months pregnant so I couldn't pick him up to take to the bed which I don't even know if that's the right thing to do. We've never had to deal with anything like this so my husband and I are at a loss. We've agreed that we are taking him to the doctor to have a sleep study done because that's about the only time he really does this. But I was hoping to get a little in site before we go in there and not know a thing that we're talking about. I want to try and keep him off meds if possible but the more I read and look into this the more scared I get. His episodes aren't like what you would think a seizure would be it's more twitching and lasts for maybe 30 seconds maybe a little more but not much. But they do remind me of seizures. Please can anyone help me out. If they have experienced anything like this maybe give me hope that he will grow out of this. Or that I'm just being silly and over dramatic because he's my son. I've looked and looked on the web for any kind of answers and I know I'm not going to get anything definitive until we see a doctor, but I have another 1 week and 5 days before baby is born and this is really stressing me to no end. Please help I know he needs to see a doctor with out a doubt but with my due date so close we want to wait until after baby is here. I have an induce date so I know I only have 1 week and 5 days. But I would like to talk with those who is living it or have a lined one living with almost the same as what we're going through.
 
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We don't know just yet what is going on and need someone to help us figure some things out. My 8 year old son has been having what I believe are seizures while he's sleeping. The only way I can describe it is he will be asleep and I don't know if he's trying to wake up or what but he will start twitching like a fish out of water. His legs, arms, head and he will partially be in the sitting position. His eyes will move very rapidly as well. He says he can hear someone talking to him which is either me or my husband but he can't make out who is who and he also hears other noises like it kind of reminds me of something off aliens the movie. I really can't describe the noises they just are creepy. He will wet the bed every time this happens. Like I said this happens when he's sleeping. Well tonight it went a little further. I got him up to use the restroom and as he was walking back to his bed he acted like something was holding him back. He tried and tried to walk but couldn't. So I kind of pulled on him a bit to maybe see if that would help but still he seemed frozen only moving his legs. That's when I realized he was having an 'episode' is what we call them. He started twitching badly and as soon as I noticed I grabbed him and laid him on the floor. I'm 9 months pregnant so I couldn't pick him up to take to the bed which I don't even know if that's the right thing to do. We've never had to deal with anything like this so my husband and I are at a loss. We've agreed that we are taking him to the doctor to have a sleep study done because that's about the only time he really does this. But I was hoping to get a little in site before we go in there and not know a thing that we're talking about. I want to try and keep him off meds if possible but the more I read and look into this the more scared I get. His episodes aren't like what you would think a seizure would be it's more twitching and lasts for maybe 30 seconds maybe a little more but not much. But they do remind me of seizures. Please can anyone help me out. If they have experienced anything like this maybe give me hope that he will grow out of this. Or that I'm just being silly and over dramatic because he's my son. I've looked and looked on the web for any kind of answers and I know I'm not going to get anything definitive until we see a doctor, but I have another 1 week and 5 days before baby is born and this is really stressing me to no end. Please help I know he needs to see a doctor with out a doubt but with my due date so close we want to wait until after baby is here. I have an induce date so I know I only have 1 week and 5 days. But I would like to talk with those who is living it or have a lined one living with almost the same as what we're going through.

I'm really sorry about the spelling I'm exhausted. And upset.
 
Hi RachelT, welcome.

Seizures can take many different forms -- some kinds just involve twitching or shaking. Some might look like the person is sleepwalking or daydreaming. So what you describe could be some sort of nocturnal seizure. It could also be a parasomnia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasomnia) rather than a seizure. Ideally you should schedule a visit with a pediatric neurologist who can help with the next steps for ruling a particular diagnosis in or out. I know that can't happen until after you give birth, but it might not hurt to make some phone calls now to get the ball rolling.

It will be very helpful to the neurologist if you can provide a fairly detailed report on your son's symptoms -- when they started (or when you first noticed them), how long they last, how often they occur, if they have been changing in any way. If you can videotape them that would be a plus.

Best,
Nakamova
(and good luck with everything else!)
 
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