Can my son be having seizures?

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suzinoyes

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Hi,
The more I research, the more I think he is having seizures. We have an appt. with the neuro in June.

He is 4 years old, had a traumatic birth, and often has staring spells. He wakes in the middle of the night and usually stays up until morning. He has had 2 sleep studies -but he did NOT go to sleep. They have ruled out night seizures, but that does not make sense to me.

Recently he has been diagnosed with Autism and OCD. We have known something was going on for a while, but I am not so sure it is Autism.

I used to zone out when I was kid, get lost when I was trying to read, and also get in trouble at school for day dreaming. Never had problems sleeping, though. Sleeping is our big "question mark." Why is he waking in the middle of the night? It has been going on for so long-at least 2 years. I am going to have to start a journal to keep track of his behavior.

We have done the GFCF diet and he seemed to be doing well with it. We will have to try to be more diligent with it and try again.

Thanks...
I feel like a lost mom looking for answers
Suzi
 
:hello: Suzi

Welcome to CWE! I would advise to work closely
with your son's Pediatrician and Pediatric Neurologist
closely, they would be best to treat your son and
would be best to advise you in all aspects. We are
not Medical Doctors here, so we cannot provide you
any medical information - however, we do have
resources, information, and such the like.

You can always request a second opinion. If there
is a Level 4 Center / Clinic near you - you can
consult your Pediatrician to have them evaluate your
son in the Neurological perspective overall and they
will be able to run tests and so on since they are
very well equipped to handle such cases, and it
will give you a peace of mind; and at least a proper
diagnostic(s) as well if any applies.
 
Hi Suzi. Welcome to the forum. You aren't alone here. There are many parents of children with epilepsy - I'm sure they will be along soon to say hi.

I'm a mother of three kids, so I understand how frustrating things must be for you to know something is wrong, but don't know how to fix it. Luckily, mine seem to be healthy. All of you parents who have to deal with medical issues are my heroes.

I have no real advice, as I am fairly new to epilepsy myself, but I have lots of hugs. I hope you get answers soon. Good luck.
 
Hi Suzy,

Welcome to the site (it is wonderful)and very sorry about your little guy's troubles. I am certainly not an expert..but I can tell you that my seizures did not show up during the sleep studies at all. Also, my nephew has aspergers (form of autism) and he has staring spells for short times. I am actually going to mention it to my sister so maybe she will look into small seizures. not sure if there is a connection. Just a few thoughts.I think a journal is a great idea. and just be persistant with what you feel with your "Mom instinct." There is nothing better! Keep asking questions and work with those Drs. Best Wishes for your son!!

Michelle : )
 
Hi Suzy

I am new here too and can not comment on epilepsy because new to that as well but I am experience in autism because I have a son of 14 who was diagnosed at 8 with autism. Unfortunately for a lot of autistic children there is no "night" sleep patterns are terrible and the staring could be when they go into their world. Often he will just sit staring and won't reply when you call him but then snaps out of it and its just him going into his own little world. They are very deep thinkers and he worries all the time about anything even the slightest thing so its natural that he will switch off to have a break from the outside world. You must get it checked professionally but just wanted to add this and it might help. My thoughts are with you.

Penny
 
Penny,

That is what my nephew does as well. He has Aspergers. Small little checkouts or staring spells. Then he will snap out of it. I will say that I have these little staring spells with my epilepsy, which I believe are called "absence seizures." You could look that up to read about it. My book says they are most common in school age children... I know I have them also. Important to tell Dr. so he can differentiate between the two and check into both.

Michelle
 
Thanks so much for your support. I have an appt. with his ped. at 10:30. This forum is great. I want to read more about sleeping patterns in Autistic children.
 
Autism does raise the risk of seizures up to 40%. The problem is that up to 40% of those with seizures can have a normal interictal EEG (in between seizures ) ....so having them "rule out nocturnal seizures" is rather difficult. My son had an epilepsy diagnosis that was clear, then a BAD hospital took that DX away, even with abnormal video eeg at the time. He has nocturnal seizures. He was left off medications for 3 years. Seizures worsened, he lost skills, depression came in and both his depression and seizures are no intractible. He is now back on treatment and his seizures DO respond to treatment, but are not controlled. He took 7 VEEGs before the new doctor saw ENOUGH evidence on EEG to re-diagnose him with Epilepsy. We have a family history of seizures. He has had witnessed seizures, but most are in sleep. He also has Nonverbal ld which is close to the autistic spectrum. Because one doctor thought this could be Non epileptic seizures and misread his chart that was pursued for years. He now has his diagnosis as well as treatment!

DIagnosis of epilepsy SHOULD be based on family history (does not have to be any), Eye witness account, RESPONSE to medication and EEG, MRI.....

Kids with autism MAY have an abnormal EEG.....some might need to try a trial on an anti epilepsy medication!

Hang in there and keep pushing for answers!

Ginny
 
Please take note of Kayakmom

Suzi:

Please heed to Ginny's posting - she is very
strong influence with Epilepsy Foundation's
Parent's Helping Parents forum, an advocate,
a representative, and much more. Don't let
the postings on the upper right deceive you;
she's a lot more than what you realize. She
is not only a wonderful person but is extremely
helpful as well!

:)
 
Hi KayKay mom. My son has epilepsy and some Dr.s say he is high functioning asbergers. . But he always during a veeg has abnormal waves. Has myoclonic seizures at night. I really don't think they know. psycologist don't say no. He is just slightly mentally retarted. HMMMMM It sounds like epilepsy to me. I have it to.Teresa
 
You can have both epilepsy and aspergers but they do not always see it on EEG. The criteria for Diagnosing Aspergers or Autism is not the EEG actuallyconditions

Further information: Conditions comorbid to autism spectrum disorders

Autism is associated with mental retardation: a 2001 British study of 26 autistic children found about 30% with intelligence in the normal range (IQ above 70), 50% with mild to moderate retardation, and about 20% with severe to profound retardation (IQ below 35). For ASD other than autism the association is much weaker: the same study reported about 94% of 65 children with PDD-NOS or Asperger's had normal intelligence.[7] ASD is also associated with epilepsy, with variations in risk of epilepsy due to age, cognitive level, and type of language disorder; 5–38% of children with autism have comorbid epilepsy, and only 16% of these have remission in adulthood.[6] Several metabolic defects, such as phenylketonuria, are also associated with autistic symptoms.[37] Phobias, depression and other psychopathological disorders have often been described along with ASD but this has not been assessed systematically.[38]


There are studies that show that the EEG is not the best predictor of autism because the EEG can be abnormal in many cases without seizures....

It does sound like your son already has the Epilepsy diagnosis? Or is it the Aspergers that you are not sure of. I am confused. I hope you can get clear answers soon!! doctors do tend to banter back and forth and cloud the issues when it seems so clear when you live with the kids and see seizures for what they are and "autistic tendencies" for what they are!! I wish the doctors would just LISTEN to us when we speak and try to part those clouds! Let me know if I can try to help in any way!

Ginny
 
I have great dr.s that do listen. There are so many things to consider with him. I have epilepsy and know he does. He has had some regression from seizure activity. I want him to grow more . He is learning , and now all of a sudden catching on to things. Tendencies really are what they are thinking. Thankyou for all your knowledge. Now I know who to talk to if I have any questions.
 
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