Today while eating lunch my 22 month old son stopped eating, had a blank stare, then his eyes rolled back. I thought he was either trying to poop or choking, but he was doing neither. The whole episode maybe lasted 5 seconds or less and then he was fine and back to his normal self again. I called his dr and they told me that since he is fine now, to just keep an eye on him. He's not sick and not taking any meds. The only thing is that he's been up 7 hours straight without a nap (he decided to wake up EXTRA early today) and maybe he's just real tired. I did some research on the internet and found that absence or petit mal seizures can have symptoms like what he experienced. I'd like to know if any other mom's have experience with this.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks for all the great replies. My son had an EEG at the neuro clinic at Cook's (what an experience!). Turns out it was negative! Dr. just said to keep an eye on him. It may have been an isolated incident. It could have been he was just sooooo sleepy that he was falling asleep in his high chair, or as the doctor thought, maybe he was about to choke. In any case, there haven't been any more episodes. Thanks again for all of your support!
my understanding is that the petit mal seizures could have similar symptoms, but tend to exhaust people so he should be more tired after experiencing them. He would be "blanking out" several times probably too...
I'd watch him closely. While the majority of seizures (if that is what he had) are not serious, if he has any more similar episodes you need to have him evaluated right away since more than two seizures are often an indication of epilepsy. That said, this happened to one of my grandsons around 2 years old and it was the first and only seizure he has ever had so don't be too alarmed.
My brother is 10 years younger then me he is now 21 years old. He had Petit Mal Seizures for years and my parents never knew anything was going on because our family doctor told them not to be concern. Well at the age of 16 he had a major seizure and that is when they found out he had suffer Petit Mall Seizures for years. If your insurance will allow you to go to a Ped. Neurologist with out a referal you should make an appointment ASAP. One thing we all learned from my brothers condition was only listen to doctors who spealize in the area you need. My brother is fine now but it has been a long road. Good Luck to you
My son didn't have them as young as your son, or they weren't noticed. But he did have them, through the 3rd grade. They say they are pretty common in boys and will be outgrown. My son did.....Hope it helps
S.
Get a referal to a pediatric neurologist. My daughter had a brain injury in a car accident and after she recovered I had her fully evaluated for any abnormal brain activity. MRIs and EEGs are usually able to determine if something is out of whack. You usually have to sleep deprive your kiddo before the exam because that is when they are most prone to any type of abnormal brain activity. Even if it is for your peace of mind, I would not be able to rest easy until I had my child checked out. It is too risky if there is actually something wrong and with your child being so young if there is something going on, intevention is a lot easier. Also, you will be constantly worried (or at least I was) until you get back a normal exam.
The neurolog group at Cook Childrens in Fort worth is phenomenal.
Best of luck and dont take no for an answer, if you feel like something is wrong advocate for your baby and get 'er done!
R.
S.,
I would certainly remain alert to any more episodes that your son might have. If he starts to have more of the same thing take him to the pedi. Something that might help is if you keep a log-time that the episode started, how long it lasted, and how he acted afterwards. that way your doctor can see something concrete and quantitative. Chances are that if it only happened once it's nothing. That being said, if you notice that your son is losing milestones ie..stumbling when walking, not talking as much, dropping objects more take him in immediately and really push for a thorough neurologic exam. I'm sure that your pedi is great but pediatricians know a little about alot of things and don't necessarily specialize in any one area. I wish you the best of luck!!
My goodness. I just read the other responses out of curiosity and they freaked me out so I know you are freakign out! :) My son had a very intensive surgery on his head (it was fusing early) at 6 months and was doing the same thing - randomly having his eyes roll back in his head. I freaked out cause he just had surgery on his HEAD. I called the surgeons, neurologist, etc. and they just told me to watch him closely. Turns out he was just really really tired from the surgery. I agree with the moms that you should do what you feel is right so that you can sleep at night. Pedis don't know everything - my pedi didn't catch my child's condition - I did. But know that sometimes kids get real tired and roll back their eyes. I know I used to do it in class back in school!!! FYI - seizures are more than just the rolling of the eyes. If you are having a true seizure then you stop everything you are doing and the body essentially freezes.
Best of luck and I hope your son is just fine.
S.,
Please don't be alarmed. It could be nothing. Or it could have been a seizure. My son had the exact same thing happen to him at that age. It happened several times. He would get a blank stare and his body would freeze. Then he'd go right back to whatever he was doing. The doctor told me not to worry.
My son does have Asperger's Autism. I have no idea if the two things are related. He was diagnosed at age 7, but we knew "something" was different with him at age 3.
I often thought about the handful of baby space-out events and wondered if they caused his autism. I don't think so now. But I do think they could be an indicator. But I'm not a doctor and that doesn't mean your son has autism.
I would think back carefully to when your son had his last shots. And maybe I'd go to a doctor that would break out the shots (the MMR) into 3 instead of one.
It could be that the seizures happen for lots of reasons, autism, growth spurts, illness, whatever. So don't worry. Just be watchful.
My son started having seizures at 3 weeks old. We aren't one of the fortunate ones who have outgrown them, and at age 5 now, he still has an avg of 12 seizures every day (found out later he was born with a brain malformation). The unknown is nerve racking, but if you take him to a pedi neuro right away and they don't see one or find anything on a quick 20 minute EEG - you are right back where you started. I would keep a journal (we have a stack of about 20 in the closet and still keep one of everyday) and write down anything unusual. Include the time, exactly what your son did, the duration and what was going on before AND after. It's very hard, but try to keep a video camera (or even a digital camera that can take quick videos) out and ready to go at all times. If you can catch one or more on video to show to the neuro, this definitely helps them! After seeing another suspicious movement or two, then call them and make an appt. We use Texas Child Neurology in Plano and they are awesome! They have 4 doctors in there and all are great. They explain things on your level and are caring and patient. Their number is ###-###-####. They are on Coit, right behind Medical Center of Plano. Our pedi ignored our concerns as well in the beginning, acting like it was no big deal. I just don't think most are trained to think out of the box on speciality things like that.
I belong to several support groups and learned more than I ever wanted to know about seizures. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. You can email privately and I can give you my phone number if you want to talk.
Take care,
S.
My son started to have seizures at age 4 and had them a year or two apart until he was 7. No results came from any test and he has now outgrown them at the age of 14. The only medication that helped him was a time released tegretol call concerta. I'm so sorry you are going through this. The seizures are the reason we waited to have another child (they are 7 years apart). I thought they were over when we got pregnant, but they weren't. I have another son and he is almost 8 and no sign of seizures. My husband had them when he was little, but would only have them when he was throwing a fit(strangely enough). My son had them only in the waking hours of the morning or as he came out of a deep sleep into that light sleep just before waking up entirely. The things that might help are, changing to a diet of natural foods ( no artificial sweetener, extra sleep, not a lot of excitement ( choose to do one thing in a day and don't over do exercise. My son had more seizures when we would go all out for his birthday or traveled, but as soon as he was on the medications (concerta (I think 50 or 100mg) twice a day, with out missing a dosage he was fine. He did loose his appetite, but I gave him breakfast bars and vitamins. Just incase you have more questions my email is ____@____.com and again I'm very sorry.
These are the kind of seizures my son started with.
Seizure activity sometimes heightens when tired. Stay alert and watch.
Other seizure activity happens during sleep. Check on him frequently during sleep.
If you notice ANYTHING, keep a journal of everything noticed. If you see anything that you KNOW is a seizure, make an appointment and ask to be referred to a neurologist (pediatric is best). If you see anything that lasts for longer than 30 sec or 1 minute, IMMEDIATELY drive to the ER.
If it is always just the rolled eyes and it happens a few times in a weeks time, make an appointment to share your findings (journal) with the pediatrician and ask to be referred to a neurologist.
Info to journal:
1. Date
2. Time (include AM/PM)
3. Activity (eating, playing, sleeping)
4. Time since last ate
5. Time since last slept
6. Atributes (examples: staring with eyes rolling back OR dropping of head OR switching of right side of face OR tensing of left arm OR flopping of entire body with twitching on the right side of the body and clenched fist)
7. Duration of "seizure"
8. Anything else noted
I hope this helps.
Blessings,
P. <><
It surprises me that your doctor said to just keep an eye on him. My son had a spell one time and they asked me to bring him immediately. Of course the spell was over, but they sent me on to a pediatric neurologist to rule out any problems. They did an EEG on him (completely painless) to rule out seizures. It may sound like a lot over a spell, but like you said, they can be seizures and should be checked out.
My son checked out fine, but I had piece of mind that he was okay!!
Good luck!!
Hi S., my son was diagnosed with petit mal seizures in 2006 and before his diagnosis I noticed that he seemed to "daydream" a lot. After mentioning this to a friend she told me to search Petit Mal seizures and the symptoms matched. He would have these episodes many times a day (although his eyes never rolled back). I then took him to see a Neurologist and thank God he did have an episode in the doctors office so the doctor was able to see it for himself and prescribe meds right then. He's been seizure free for over two years and is doing great. I would suggest you take him to a Neurologist because from what they told me, These types of seizure, when they began early in childhood, the child has a great chance of growing out of them if they get help early. My son had an EEG a couple of weeks ago and his doctor is thinking he can slowly began weaning off the meds. So don't worry, just get him to a Neurologist and take it from there. Good luck.
S.,
My son had seizures and although I loved my pediatrician he kind of minimized my concerns. We had further problems and I choose to see neurologist. When I described the symptoms that had been minimized the neurologists response was, "Well, you just weren't talking to the right doctor." He wasn't minimizing my pediatrician, but the fact was he was the expert and he helped us how to best be alert and help my child. I've got to say, with my experience, I wouldn't be an alarmist, but it made me feel a lot better to have my son evaluated by an expert. If you are still worried or uncomfortable do that for you and your family.
If you need further support feel free to contact me. I'm a good ear.
Good Luck!
I cared for foster children and the baby about 10 months old did the "blank stare" for about 5seconds. We took him to the doctor with the whole he is fine just watch him and i started thinking we must be crazy, but we had an episode at the doctor's office one day and he sent us for mri and eeg. The next day we found out the child had absence seizures. Do not just give up on this without the doctor testing, you are the parent and you know your child better than anyone.You have a right to know if your child has a health concern. Good luck!
S. I just wrote you a private message before reading the responses here.
I wanted to let you know that you need to take your son in to your peditrician first. Talk with them bout what happened in detail what your son was eating, doing that day and what his sleep was that week. an eeg might help but it might not. my daughters eeg was normal to a neurologist but adnormal to the epitologist. And eegs dont always catch everything. Sometimes its other things that contribute to the seizure!
If it was a true seizure you might need to go see an epitoligist they deal with absolutely nothing but seizures.
Your child could have also had a allergic reaction to something in the food. Like flour or red dye. Also you dont have seizures during sleep. You wither have them during wakeful state or semi wakeful sleep but not in the middle of the night in a solid sleep state.
I know its a long trip but beyond worth it. We got to the epitologist team in Houston at Texas Childrens Hospital! They are known to find seizures that are hard to catch on a regular basis or misleading info. Also texas childrens is the only place in Texas that have a REM MRI if he needs a mri. Its a mri just for Kids that finds any little thing.
Hi S.,
My daughter began having seizures at thirteen months after she received a head injury in a car accident we were in. One of the ways we could tell she had had a seizure (since sometimes they are only for a couple of seconds) was if she was abnormally irritable. Was your son irritable for a couple of hours after this episode? I ask because the petit mal seizures in young children usually cause a couple hours of irritability afterwards. Our neurologist said the reason (in non medical terms) is that it is as if the wires in their brain crossed. Although they may not be showing physical signs that the seizure occurred, their brain still takes a while to settle down afterwards.
Your son could have just been tired since he was up so long. But he may have also had a siezure and it would be worth a trip to a nuerologist, if not for anything else but your peace of mind. Please feel free to email me if I can answer any questions for you.
I would definitely take him to a pediatric neurologist. The symptoms which you describe are common of petit mal seizures. I would keep an eye on him too. They can occur at random times hroughout the day, but can easily be observed shortly right after coming out of a nap/sleep or in conversation. They could do an eeg (electroencephalogram)test to determine this. They temporarily glue wires to the head and monitor the patient while asleep to see brain waves and abnormalities.
My son did the same thing right around his first birthday. He did it with head shaking back and forth though. My pediatrician said if it is not followed by sort of limp or strange behavior (ie he doesn't bounce right back after it). It was short lived and he's over it now at 15 months. It sure was weird looking though!
Hi S., not to scare you but this is exaclty how my mother's seizures started out. I would not trust your pediatrician, they are just doctors trained in everything, not specialists. I would find a pediatric neurologist. In my mother's case, although this was a long time ago, she would have these episodes and there wasn't really a whole lot they could do for her until she started having headaches and the seizures started getting worse. They did an EEG on her and found that she did have a lesion that was probably caused at birth or shortly after. I would not let this go, I think pediatricians often overlook things thinking mothers are being overly concerned. It's your child, trust your gut, I'd get it checked out.
did he recently get a vaccination shot?? That is a possible side effect. Look into it, if so.
