Question re seizure triggers

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donnajane

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My 26month old was at child care today and was building a block tower and his carer rang me to say he was fine but whenever his block tower fell down he fell down and his eye's went vacant and fluttered, like he was having a small seizure, he came good pretty quickly then got up and built the tower again and then the same thing happened. Could the block tower falling down really cause a seizure?
He is not 100% at the moment so his event's are more pronounced. They were a bit worried about him after his nap so I went to pick him just after he woke up and he was lying in the camp bed on the floor, I noticed every now and then his eye's flickering and then when I looked up I saw the fan was turned on above him and it was making the light flicker a bit so I think this was also setting off little seizures. We know that his eye's can roll up when he has had the "flashing" light test with his eeg (Very little or no alteration on his EEG though, nureo thinks that may be due to the location of his brain lesion) but I have not noticed the "strange" eye movements from a roof fan before.
I think I learn something new everyday from all of my kids.
Does anyone know any good site or have any info re triggers for seizures.
Thanks
Donna
 
Hi Donna,
I just had to reply because it was only yesterday that I read an old thread here about someone asking about cold weather induced seizures, and there was a reply from a mom who says :

After finally (it took us several years to relate the seizures to the cold wind or cold water) figuring it out, it occurred to us that his nocturnal seizures might be because his body temp was dropping too low at night -- in the wee hours of the morning (he always kicks the covers off). So...in winter he goes to bed in sleepers (over his pj's), and in summer he wears long sleeved, long pants cotton pjs to bed, and we make sure the AC doesn't get too cold. That seemed to help a lot with the nocturnal seizures.

So perhaps that could be related to the fan? Not sure how it relates to the block tower. But, I thought you might find it interesting to make a note of.
 
Hi Donna!

I'm by no means a pro, but just had a thought. Driving along (as a passenger of course!) the other day, it was snowing and the snow in the headlights, looking like it was coming at the car (think light speed in sci fi movies but in slow motion, if you're not from a cold climate) was enough to give me a seizure. It was just enough, in conjunction with me being overtired to be too much for my brain. I'm wondering if your son, being so young, would be overstimulated by the colours and motions of the falling block tower? Also perhaps the emotion (if he does get upset by it) of his toy 'breaking'. If he's also triggered by tired, hunger, stress etc. throwing this much stimulation at him on top of these other aspects may have just been enough in that moment to cause a seizure.

Just an idea!
 
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I'm wondering if your son, being so young, would be overstimulated by the colours and motions of the falling block tower? Also perhaps the emotion (if he does get upset by it) of his toy 'breaking'. If he's also triggered by tired, hunger, stress etc. throwing this much stimulation at him on top of these other aspects may have just been enough in that moment to cause a seizure.

good thinking. sounds right to me, some do have issues with colour and motion, and yeah if the tower falling is a stressor for him along with being tired or hungry, all these together could easily cause seizure activity. actually, any on their own could so all three together or combination of makes perfect sense.
 
Thanks for the info. He is a bit unwell at the moment so his condition is magnified compared to usual. His carer said she at first thought he was just playing falling down with the blocks and a bit upset, shutting world out, until she saw his eye's which made her realise it was probably a seizure.
I can't wait till he is older and hopefully able to tell us more as to what is happenig as hopefully he will be able to let us know how he feels before his event's happen.
Thanks again.
Donna
 
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