Possible seizure?

That is exactly what DD's seizures look like. They never show on EEGs. Even when she was having hundreds and hour. Something about putting those nodes are her head stops them. Luckily, her nuerologist saw about 4 of them during a visit when they were very frequent. They don't do any damage. I have asked adults who have similar ones what it feels like and they say they have no memory of them and often lose a bit of short term memory on either side on them as well. You did the right thing going to the ER. When DD was your son's age, sometimes the little zings were a sign that a big one was coming. Personally, I would ask the school to try to catch one on tape (almost impossible FYI). I would insist on a CT scan asap to make sure there is nothing physical causing them. Do you have a pediatric neurologist? Even if they are non damaging, they need to be medicated

I have seen in his notes that he saw a neurologist last year for what they called "self stimulating behavior" which I will describe in a bit because I am beginning to wonder if those are linked. But the note from that appointment I haven't seen and when I went to make a follow-up appointment the neurologist isn't with the hospital any longer. We are on the urgent list to see a neurologist and have the EEG now.The during what they termed as self stimulating behavior he will lock his legs and body straight and his hands come to the sides of his head, his fingers sort of writhing. His eyes always straight ahead and when you try to talk to him during, it is like he can't stop to answer you or can't hear you. He was given Ritalin to treat these last year but the FFM said it didn't help so she never refilled the script and it was gone by the time he moved to my home. He was on a teeter toter Saturday and did this, causing him to fall off. He knew he had to hold on but just couldn't stop from moving his hands to his head. Could those also be seizures?

It is very possible that these are seizures. My son was on seizure meds from 13 months to 34 months of age. He had grand mal, petite mal and traveler seizures. He then went 25 months with no seizures when he had one in late January of this year. Nothing more since. Get the EEG and CT scan scheduled for as soon as possible.

I am going through this right now with my 18 YEAR old son. New area for us to be searching out too.

MamaTay, those are likely seizures also. Love that they put him on Ritalan for that (not!). My DD jerks her arm up against her ear and it gets stuck there until the siezure is over. Not to be gross but if it instead dropped to her crotch or across her chest, I could see how someone who is not familiar with seizures would think that she was having an orgasm. Coming out of the siezure, looks pretty similar. I am not a doctor but I can almost garuntee you that those are both seizures. I wouldn't trust anyone who tells you otherwise until you at least try seizure meds and see if it makes the problem go away. Jen, 18 is not an uncoom age for seizures to start. They generally pick up at ages of hormonal change. So baby to toddler, puberty, being done with puberty, preganncy, menopause (or the male equivalent) are common times for trouble with them. 18 is a horrible age to have to first deal with them though, because at least in the states, you have to go a certain amount of time before you can drive (like a minimum of 6 months) seizure free. I know the concept of a seizure is super scary but the truth is that they are rarely, fall on the floor and jerk your entire body around, stop breathing affairs. The vast majority of people are easily treated with drugs that have few side effects. My DD had one at age 1, got on meds and only had 1 other before age 10 (and she had a massive UTI and temp that came out of no where with that one). Having tons of little ones that we really could not get under control was clearly a puberty thing/brain damage from stroke thing and now that she is mostly through it, they are mostly gone with lower levels of meds than were needed (and not effective) when they were at their worst during puberty. If the meds work, it is amazing. First, the seizures just disappear. You forget that you are supposed to watching for them after a few weeks. But on top of that, my DD is noticably more with it and functional when her seizures are under control.

Oh no. Does that mean Mickey will be able to disassemble the entire kitchen after meds rather than just the small appliances? hehe Maybe I should rethink the meds ;)

EEG came back normal. The Neurologist said that about half of people with seizures have normal EEGs though so his real test is that if you can "snap him out of it" it isn't a seizure. So here we go with the oddest script I have ever seen. And yes, it is a script because the private nurses need everything in writing. If he does either of the behaviors, (hands by face or eyes rolling back) we are to tickle him. Yep, that's right. I have a script ordering us to tickle Mickey. hehe If he reacts to the tickle, no seizure. If we literally can't get him to respond, call him back.

My son had multiple EEG's and they were all normal. If you can, one of the best ways for the dr to dx seizures is if you can tape one. The fastest way for this is your cell phone. Show it to the dr so they can see exactly what you are seeing. I agree with the 'snap him out of it'. My son's neurologist said the same thing. His latest one involved a lot, and I do mean a LOT of drooling. The entire left side of his shirt was soaked. We are watching him closely now to see if a pattern is emerging. In January, just before he had the seizure he spent a couple of weeks getting progressively more obstinate at school and home. It was to the point that his teachers commented on it as he is usually very compliant with requests. He then had the seizure and went right back to being his compliant self. For the last 3 weeks he has been getting progressively more obstinate again. We are all on high-alert and the teachers/staff all know exactly what to do if he has another seizure. All that to say that it might help to write down unusual behaviors to see if there is a pattern of symptoms/behaviors before the seizures.

Gotta love a treatment that could result in giggles! I hope you get the answers that your child needs. It's terrible to think that he may have been having seizures for so long, and they went unrecognized/untreated.

My son's EEG also came back normal, as did his heart echo. We have to do a sleep deprived EEG next and then an additional one after that if it is still normal. In additional an MRI is scheduled now.

Ugg the sleep deprived EEG. Mickey gets really hyper and mad when he is overly tired. Saying it was not fun is a vast understatement!