seizures

[allure]

Wade had his first seizure about 3 years ago. It only lasted for about 30second but it was enough to scare the living hell out of me and have me scoop him up and rush him off to the hospital! It was only a mild one, and since then He's had 4more. Each time the same thing, mild, short, only now I don't rush him off to the hospital every time. They've run blood tests, two EEG's and have utterly no idea why He has them or what is causing them. when we were still in the states he saw a neurologist (who is actually the one that dx him with AS 3 years previously) and even he couldn't explain them. So the doctors have just had a kind of "wait and see" if there are more attitude. Which I am telling you is not alot of comfort to me. Then yesterday I was poking around online and came across an article at www.autism.org (which is the center for the study of autism in the states) and there was an article on Puberty triggering autistic people to have seizures.

here's what it says:

"About one in four autistic individuals begin to have seizures during puberty. The exact reason for the onset of seizures is not known, but it is likely that the seizure activity may be due to hormonal changes in the body. Sometimes these seizures are noticeable, (i.e., associated with convulsions); but for many, they are small, subclinical seizures, and are typically not detected by simple observation."

 

so I am wondering if anyone else has heard of such a thing?? Do anyone else's children have occasional seizures that they can't explain?

They aren't going to put wade on meds for them as they are so infrequent and no immediate danger to him at the moment. Plus he is already on 4 other meds. But it'd be interesting to know what other kids doctors have said about seizures they are having that are unexplained.

[Flora]

allure

 

I've heard of this.

 

When William was a baby he had 3 grand mal seizures and several smaller 'episodes'. He had two grand mals within hours of each other, one at home and one on admission to hospital and didn't wake up for two days. Like you, it scared the living day lights out of me and I reckon I had serious shakes for over a week.

 

He was admitted to hospital for nearly two weeks while a paediatric neurologist tested him for absolutely everything.

 

The only thing they found was that he had alot of fluid on the frontal lobe of his brain, which interestingly has been found in studies to be typical of aspergers although we didn't know this at the time.

 

It was weird because the neurologist sat us down and told us then that while there was no brain damage as such it was not unlikely that he could have a neurological disorder. At the time I had no idea what the implications of this were. I took him home and neurotically watched him like a hawk and was relieved when he reached all the mile stones either on time or early. I knew nothing about AS then but looking back it was apparent from the day he was born and I only wish I'd had the knowledge to see it.

 

They told us that he may never have another seizure or he may go years then have more; it's totally unpredictable.

 

He's never had one since (that I'm aware of) but I do worry if they will start again when he reaches puberty.

 

I hope this helps!!

 

Lauren

[allure]

Lauren,

 

thanks for the reply. they told me the same thing about wade maybe having another one or never having anymore at all. it's not alot of comfort having unanswered questions, is it?

With wade we've seemed to "acquire" dx. when he was 4 he was dx with adhd. when he was 7 they added the dx of OCD and tourette's. It always was apparent though that there was something more. then 4 years ago i was chatting to this friend online who has 7 children and explaining to her my frustration about wade's dx and the fact that this still didn't explain certain behaviours. she told me about AS. her daughter has it. i read everything i could find about it and sat here crying my eyes out because what i was reading was wade to a T! So i approached his shrink at the time about the possibility of wade having AS. which i was told "no way" to. Frustrated i left the office thinking my hopes of finally having answers were shattered. Then a year later one day at school wade had a major meltdown. It took 4 people to hold him back while he tried to bash his head through a brick wall. He really lost it. We took him to the hospital not having clue what to do and he was seen by the pediatric neurologist on call in the A&E. After a few days in the hospital and a few tests he was diagnosed by the neurologist with AS. FINALLY! It was such a relief to finally know.

So we had acquired yet another thing to add to his list of dx. But when these seizures started i was scared and perplexed all over again. The "not knowing" is driving me nuts!! Thankfully he doesnt have them often and they are very mild but still. I am convinced that wade is braver than i. He doesn't seem distressed by them at all. He has one and then kind of shrugs it off as "something that just happens to him sometimes".

He's truly my hero! He was such strength to endure all he goes through and endure the ridicule from kids at school and he still carries on with his head held high and just deals with it in the best way he can.

sorry didn't mean to go on and on and write a novel here! thanks for replying and listening

[LKS]

Hi Allure your son sounds a star My dd started to have seizures when she was 4 years old. Up until that time she had been developing completely normally in all aspects. When she started the seizures that is when her autisitic type behaviour began. She has tonic clonic seizures which are the ones where you fall down and lose conciousness. Her first 1 happened 2 days before she was due to start school and I shall never forget it as we had to call an ambulance. Her e.e.g's have actually shown up abnormal activity so she was put on medication. Her neurologist told me that seizures are not good for the brain so obviously they will want to control them. we have had times where a seizure has lasted over 6 mins which isn't long but seems like a lifetime and times where she has come out of 1 seizure and gone straight into another all of them involving ambulance trips to hospital. The good news is (fingers crossed) that she has not had a noticeable seizure for some time now so her medication is being reduced and their plan is to discontinue if possible. The neurologist has warned that puberty is a time when they will be keeping a watchful eye on her. I'm afraid that they can't give me any guarantees that she will never have another one so we will just have to see.

[Suze]

hi allure, there was a similar thread on absences not long ago if you put it in the search engine it should come up.My son has begun to have absences .......a petit mal type seizure, he has them at school and at home,they seem to occur due to sensory over load........he switches off from a conscious state and appears to be day dreaming, but is unaware of time elapsing or what is going on around him.I have spoken to my gp and autism lady and both told me it was quite common in ASD kids.My son is nearly 11 and just entering puberty and very big for his age.

[lil_me]

My son had 2 when he was a toddler, scared the hell out of me but luckily I had 2 ex's with epilepsy so once the initial panic went I knew what to do. He had ECG, EEG, blood tests, and nothing showed up. Now he has the ASD/ADHD dx I asked his paed about it and he said it may have been related to his Autism, but he won't say for definate. Thankfully he's had none since, unless he's had them in his sleep which is always a possibility I suppose.