Concerned

[momofthree]

So my eight year old has epilepsy, he was diagnosed about 7.5 months ago and is doing fairly well. We have not be told with any certainty if this is genetic or not and when I asked the doctor she tells me not to worry about it, as there is nothing I can do anyway. I have two other children, both younger. Two nights ago my two year old slept for 14 hours, which is very unusual for her, she usually has about a 10.5 hour night, when she did get up she was lethargic, something she has never been and very cranky. We took her to the park but she really did not play, just sat on the swing, seemingly enjoying her self but not being her gregarious self. She then took a 2 our nap and woke up extremely cranky, cried for about 1.5 hours, and I finally gave her tylenol. She had no fever, she does not have a cold, or a cough, no visible signs of illness. About an 30 min after the tylenol she was fine, she ate, she played and was herself. She slept 12 hours last night and woke up happy and content. So, did she have a seizure, I should mention my sons has nocturnal seizures only at this point. It did not occur to me until just now and I am a bit panicked about thit but don't want to set off any alarms at the same time. Any advice, does anybody have more than one child with epilepsy?

 

[Nakamova]

It could be unrelated -- even without a fever, your daughter could have had a passing headache, minor infection, or reaction to food or some other stress that's not connected to epilepsy. It's worth making a note of however, just in case the symptoms recur. Are your daughter's symptoms (fatigue, crankiness, etc.) similar to your son's?

 

[Endless]

Momof three,

The fact your daughter got better with Tylanol makes me wonder if it was just a cold or a headache. There's a nasty flu going around, too. That would make her cranky, sleep, not eat, etc.

That said, a headache can happen as the result of a seizure. So can being very sleepy as well as behavioral changes. Cranky is a common reaction, as is fear or confusion. Time and sleep are the only things that takes care of it. The tylanol working might have just been a coincidence (correlation doesn't mean causation!) Also possible is a cold, headache, or flu causing a seizure. There's no way to know what's what.

IMHO I'd write it down what happened in her seizure journal, and watch to see if it happens again in the future. If it does you may want to call her doctor.

 

[momofthree]

Thanks for your response, I am going to write it all down. It was just so odd, she is perfectly fine now, and she never had any signs of illness other then previously explained. Her pediatrician told me to relax and sit tight, if it happens again they will look into it but for now just chalk it up to a toddler being a toddler. I wish I was comfortable with that but at this point I have no choice. I don't know what i would do if another one of my children were diagnosed, having one with epilepsy is so stressful I don't know how to handle two!