10 year old w/nocturnal seizures??????

bettyst

I KNOW that feeling....my son has seizures and many time he sleeps with his dad....this is what I found for you. Not sure it will be of help but maybe. I would take him to a sleep specialist first before I put him on seizure meds just to be on the safe side.

PS: I believe some angels were watching over your son...phone ringing.WOW!!




Narcolepsy was among the first sleep disorder to be characterized, and it remains among the leading neurological causes of excessive daytime sleepiness. Narcolepsy affects about 1 in 4000 individuals but commonly remains undiagnosed.

The typical features include excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis (temporary inability to move upon awakening), sensation of dreaming at times while still awake and sleep disruption during the night. Another feature of this disorder can be cataplexy, the sudden onset of muscle weakness in response to laughter or strong emotion.

The diagnosis requires a clinical evaluation, as well as a nocturnal sleep laboratory study. A multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), may also be helpful. This is a series of naps recorded at the Sleep Laboratory during the daytime.

The treatment of narcolepsy often includes a combination of behavioral recommendations and medications.



Nocturnal seizures

Nocturnal or sleep-related seizures can cause abnormal movement or behavior during sleep. Activity may range from awakening from sleep for no clear reason, sometimes multiple times a night, to violent movements of the arms and legs with biting of the tongue and loss of urine. Someone having a nocturnal seizure may thrash around or act confused. Nocturnal seizures are a form of epilepsy, a disorder caused by abnormal electrical activity within the brain. Nocturnal seizures frequently occur in people with epileptic seizures during the day, but may also occur only at night. If you suspect that you or your bedpartner may have nocturnal seizures, the first step is to see a physician, neurologist, or sleep specialist. An overnight sleep study with video monitoring may be recommended. These Nocturnal seizures often can be controlled with medication.

raulsmom

Thank you so much I really appreciate this. My son does not have any jerking movement at all that are related to seizures. What he does is just stop breathing right before this he makes the sound as if the air is being pushed out of his body and then he stops breathing.His skin gets discolorated...pale and then bluish, his body gets really stiff and hard to move...body really heavy and his eyes are open looking up to the right side but with a blind/blank look with no response to anything what-so-ever. When he starts breathing it takes about minute for him to recognize his surroundings. The first thing he does is look at his father then he looks at me and then his dog Star. I guess once he sees us then he feels better. I have been keeping notes from the past incidents and found that he has complained of leg pains as he did this last time. Also he has been complaining of dizziness when he gets up suddenly. I really dont know what to make of all this. I also read somewhere that electrical wires around could cause this. Have you heard of anything like this? reason is that we live by some. I would move in a heart beat if this would help my son.
Does your son have any related simptoms as to the ones I mentioned above? How long as he been going through this, does he take the meds, if so how did he respond to them?
Your information is so helpful, I really do appreciate your time.

buliem

Hmmm. Sounds like he's having a tonic seizure. Like the beginning part of a grand mal or tonic clonic, the tonic phase. It starts out with the sound you describe and the stiffening of the body and the blue coloration of the skin as all the blood rushes to the brain to protect it. My son who is also 10 has tonic clonic seizures and he gets stiff, turns blue, foams at the mouth and then begins to jerk as the electrical impulses in his brain stop firing one by one. He'll then wet himself and pass out cold for about 20 minutes or so. For the rest of the day he just wants to sleep. It is odd that your son comes out of his episode with no jerking. I'm puzzeled. Sounds like you need a good neuro, a MRI and an EEG. A sleep study too like Betty recommended.

I don't know a thing about the electrical wires. My son's seizures are idiopathic (unknown cause but possibly genetic) He started with absence (petit mal) but they progressed after being placed on meds. He would usually only have them at night or a couple of hours before waking. With the addition of a sexond med he's been seizure free for close to six months thank God. Good luck to you. I hope you get to the bottom of your son's problem soon. I know how hard it is to worry about your child.

Julie