My Kid Had a Seizure

In My Humble Opinion
1

My sweet little bunny had a seizure on Friday. He’s about 14 1/2 months old. He didn’t have a fever, and we don’t know what caused it. He’s fine now; he was exhausted immediately afterward as is typical, but other than that, he’s been more or less totally normal*. We took him to the ER when it happened, and we have an appointment with a neurologist on Wednesday. We were told that sometimes, this just happens once, or even a few times, and then never happens again, and they can’t really find a cause. And whether they can find a cause or not, they don’t generally do preventative meds until there’s another seizure, because there may not be one, and if there is, it makes a difference if it happens right away vs. a year from now. So we’re just waiting and watching.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying not to freak myself out, and so I have not Googled this at all. There will be time for that after we see the neurologist and have at least some idea of what’s going on (or at least know that we have no idea).

For now, though, it would be really awesome if folks could just reassure me that this happens all the time, and always turns out okay, and that my best little buddy will be totally fine. I was okay over the weekend, seeing him acting like his normal, happy little self. Then I had to drop him off at daycare this morning, and I had a really hard time leaving him. I know that they’re well-trained in dealing with this sort of thing; better than I am, for sure. I am very reassured that he’s in good hands. But I just wish I could be there, just in case.

So please, tell me: it’s going to be okay, right?

*I say “more or less” because he hasn’t been sleeping as well for the past few nights, and he had a huge, intense tantrum yesterday that we couldn’t distract him from for several minutes, and it started to get a little scary. I’m sure these things are just coincidental, but now I’m worried about everything.

2

I have epilepsy and I can assure you it sucks.

I can also assure you that I’ve seen kids with seizures -or they seize once or twice - and then never again. You can have one seizure and not be epileptic. It could’ve been a variety of things. Sometimes it does just ‘happen’ and we don’t know why. It’s a misfiring of neurons. My son’s best friend had a seizure and wears a bracelet and his mom carries medicine with her everywhere. It’s been 2.5 years since that incident and he’ll likely never experience it again, but they’re being safe.

I’m glad you have the resources to go to the neuro. Just follow their directions and be safe. Glad you’re on top of it! Good luck.

3

I had a seizure a few years ago; I was standing around talking to friends when my eyes glazed over and I fell backwards. Luckily friends where there to catch me and lower me to the ground.

I have audio memories of people talking to me as they took me to the ambulance, but I was very disconnected from it. I became fully conscious in the ER.

I spent three months seeing various doctors and getting every imaginable test; never found a thing wrong and it’s never occurred again. Basically I was told the same thing you were, sometimes folks will experience a seizure once in their life and never again.

So, get things checked out and keep an eye on him, don’t let him drive :slight_smile: but unless it happens again or they find a root cause don’t worry about it too much.

4

I have definitely heard of people having one, maybe two, seizures in their lives, and then never having them again. I’m hoping that’s all it is. And if that’s the case, aren’t you glad it happened while you were there and could take care of the little tyke? :slight_smile:

He’s a little sweetie, btw.

5

Sorry to hear about your son – scary stuff!

[mod]Let me move this to our forum for medical anecdotes and advice, IMHO.[/mod]

twickster, MPSIMS moderator

6

I had one of those. One (perhaps more) seizure of an unknown cause when I was a little kid, one (or two) more when I was ten or so. I had years of meds, several EEGs, and several MRIs and they never found a cause. Been off the meds for more than 15 years (stopped when I was 13 or 14) and never had a problem. Was actually on meds after the first one, then off for a few years, then the second one happened, and then off again.

Good luck to the kid.

By the way, I’ve decided an enclosed MRI is an excellent place to take a nap.

7

If you can handle the noise. Those things tend to be loud.

Even if it turns out to be epilepsy the outlook is good. About 70% of the time children will outgrow it.

And, of course, about 70% of the time there is no known cause for seizures. (We can put a man on the moon, but we can’t figure out what’s going on in my head?!)

8

My husband once had a single seizure; a minor one, likely triggered by exhaustion and alcohol (we’d travelled overnight to get to a Thanksgiving dinner) and whatever else it is that causes people to have a single episode in their lives.

I was kind of freaking out, but his father and step-mother - both of whom are doctors - just looked at him calmly and said not to worry. My husband was fine a few minutes later and he’s never had any problems since. Medical tests showed no health issues that could have caused it.

Sometimes, brains are just weird.

9

Cute kid. I was thinking the OP meant her bunny rabbit had a siezure and the considered her pet as a kid :slight_smile:

Just to reassure the OP, I’ve known three people with epilipesy and one of them had it quite bad. He’s have several tiny siezures (lasting about 15 seconds) an hour.

And while CitizenPained may be right that it sucks to have it, let me say all three of these people are leading “normal” (not to insult the people who have it) lives. They all graduated college and were able to have good jobs, relationships with people.

Yes, they had it but they were able to be just as functional as everyone else. The only restriction the one guy (who had it often) had was he couldn’t drive.

So don’t worry. epilepsy (if he does have it) will make it more challenging, but doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t have a great and happy life, especially since you caught it early

10

As a baby / toddler, I’m told that I had a couple of seizures. Freaked my parents right out. I grew out of them, but I did take phenobarbital before bed until I was about 10.

I turned out fine (approaching retirement now). It didn’t affect my intelligence or health as a kid.

So I’d say, don’t worry about it (as if saying this would help :slight_smile: ). It sounds like it’s more common than people think, and kids usually grow out of it.

J.

11

So glad the baby is doing ok. Keeping good thoughts going.

12

What I can tell you is that it is not uncommon and usually turns out okay.

You are right to not blindly google but a good evidence based review may be of some use. If you want one, this one is pretty good.

Yeah, that’s 25,000 to 40,000 other kids each year your kid is in the company of. You can expect an EEG to be ordered, and they may, or may not, order some imaging, or may wait for the EEG result to decide.

In terms of the reassurance you are looking for, the following is what you may be most interested in learning:

So even without knowing the EEG we can say that the odds are good that there will be no future seizures and without other reasons for concerns (by exam or by history) the odds are very very good (even if he has more than one seizure and needs to be on meds for a year or so) it’s going be okay. Pretty much what your (sounds like very good) docs already told you.

Good luck!

13

My niece had a seizure when she was about 6. I think they actually saw something on the EEG, but said she’d probably outgrow it. She’s been seizure-free, as far as I know, since then and is now 17.

Best wishes for the little guy. He’s a real cutie.

14

I had a prolonged seizure when I as two - apparently it lasted the entire journey to the hospital and then some - but have only had two since then and don’t (definitely don’t - I’ve been tested to the ends of the earth for something unrelated) have epilepsy or a brain tumour or anything terrible.

You are totally right to get it thoroughly checked out, but you’re also right to try to not to worry - worrying won’t help your cute little boy anyway. Hope the neuro appt. brings you only good news. :slight_smile:

15

I had a grand mal seizure at age 5 and never again. I had an EEG that day, repeated 10 years later w/ no anomalies noted.

16

My son was about 3 and he had a febrile seizure at the drug store one day. Scared the heck out of my wife - fortunately, the EMS station was just around the corner and they were there in less than three minutes.

They cooled him down somehow (water cooled blanket?), and we took him to the pediatrician. He said those types of seizures are not uncommon and that as long as they didn’t repeat we should be OK. That was 12 years ago, and he hasn’t had one since, so we feel very fortunate. I hope your situation turns out like ours did.

17

As others have said, there’s a great chance that this is somewhere between nothing serious and easily manageable. I won’t be stupid and tell you not to worry. As a parent, that’s kind of your job description. But you are doing everything right, and I wish you well.

(I was in a similar limbo a few months ago, when out of the blue, the baby’s pediatrician diagnosed her with a heart murmur. The ten days we waited for her cardiology appointment lasted about 350 years, but all turned out well: I watch a little more carefully when Lily has a cold, in case she gets blue around the lips from low oxygen, but she’s otherwise the same little sweet, smart, funny, rough-and-tumble monkey she’s been all along, and her dad and I survived the anxiety of waiting for the expert opinion.)

18

That’s not unusual – at least not for me. I’ve had ones that were only five minutes apart, and my personal record is 19 seizures (small ones) in one day.
I started having seizures when I was in my late twenties. Epilepsy runs in my family, and I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’ve gotten them under my control. (I haven’t had a seizure in about two years!).

Make no mistake – epilepsy sucks, but it can be managed. It’s a very strange disease – like I said, I didn’t develop it until I was about 27. My grandfather had seizures as child, then they stopped when he started puberty, and he was fine until he was in his forties, and he started having them again.

So just because your little bunny had one doesn’t necessarily mean anything – don’t start panicking just yet. And there are forms of childhood epilepsy that do end when you become an adolescent. So like I said, take it one day at a time.

Some tips: if the kiddo starts to seize, put him onto his side, and do NOT stick your hand in his mouth. You run an excellent chance of being bitten. My mother found that out the hard way.

Also, contrary to popular belief, most people don’t have seizures due to flashing lights. Photosensitive epilepsy isn’t all that common. I don’t have it – mine triggers are caffeine and before I was medicated, really strong smells. I’ve been to laser shows without any problems.
Hang in there!

19

Crap. This is why I didn’t Google.

From DSeid’s link:

Facial angiofibromas are little bumps (but can become huge tumors, apparently) that appear on the face, specifically down the sides of the nose and cheeks. Just the other day, I noticed a rash of tiny red bumps on the side of his nose, but it went away, so I forgot about it.

*Hypopigmented macules *are pale spots. He’s got one, on his neck, which he’s had since birth, as far as I know. It’s got an irregular border, but is not scaly or raised. It looks a little like this, but with no redness.

A shagreen patch is a bumpy, scaly patch, often on the lower back. He’s had scaly spots on his shoulders and back, which seem to come and go. Our pediatrician said it was likely dry skin or a mild case of eczema, and just recommended lotion, which we’ve been doing.

So he’s potentially got all three. And…

Neurocutaneous syndromes are:

And of these disorders, the one that sounds most likely is tuberous sclerosis:

Luckily, he hasn’t shown any developmental delays or retardation as far as we can tell… but I’ve also noticed that his thumbnails tend to be a little thicker, streaky-looking, and tough to trim.

Fuck, fuckety, fuck. I talked to my husband and told him that I read that the skin issues might be relevant, and that we should be sure to mention them to the neurologist. I couldn’t bear to tell him why. Little buddy was up a lot last night coughing, and my husband was up with him, rocking him back to sleep. So he’s already frazzled enough; I didn’t want to freak him out any further.

I love them both so much. I really, *really *need for all this stuff to just be a coincidence, and for my sweet baby to be okay.

20

Gah. I’m making myself crazy. The chances are very low that he has tuberous sclerosis or anything like it. And even the symptoms he seems to have don’t really fit. His pale spot is one big irregular blotch, not an ash leaf (long oval) or confetti (freckled). The little red bumps were closer to his eye than his nose, and only on one side, and after looking at more pictures of shagreen patches, I now see that what he has is nothing like them. And neither of those would go away on their own. I am being a nut. Definitely.

I’m still going to mention it to the neurologist, just in case, but I am being ridiculous, and he really is going to be totally fine. (And if you happen to think otherwise, there’s no need to let me know that until after our appointment tomorrow.)