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absance seizures and emotional changes in 6 year old

Tue, 07/03/2007 - 22:40
Hello, I didn't see another thread similar to this one, so here goes: My 6 year old son was diagnosed with absance seizures in January (we had noticed eye rolling that seemed to get "stuck" and asked the doctor at his 6 yr appt. and they sent him to get an EEG, now he sees a pediatric neurologist). There were several tiers of meds that he could go through..the first (sorry! I can't remember the name!) was supposed to prevent absance but not grand mal and of course, what did he have 2 of at school? So, now he's on Valproic Acid (I know that's the generic name, not sure what the brand name is!) and we haven't noticed any seizures at all. At first, we had grandparents and such telling us that they noticed he focused better on them when they were speaking to him (there was some concern about ADHD, but I didn't pursue it, wondering if it was just a young child's attention span!). He did not have any trouble in Kindergarten this year, and "graduated" on grade level for first grade. This summer, though, I've noticed a change in him. We had been trying to get him to stop sucking his thumb and he picked his "prizes" for going so many days without sucking his thumb, really into the whole program. Well, I've noticed in the past couple weeks, the focus is off, he's become more argumentative about things (although he is a sweet child and will apologize to me several hours later, we are pretty close!), and he's consistently sucking his thumb, not just when he's tired, which is when he would normally do it. I can't say that he's turned into a behavior problem or anything, just that he's not "right" and I think he feels it, too, when he apologizes to me of his own free will. No matter how much sleep he gets, he still tends to be whiny and very emotional. We had ended Kindergarten with him expressing his frustration better (asking for help, rather than crying about it), but now we're back to square one. There are times when this normally extroverted child seems very introverted and chooses to play alone, rather than be with friends. I've been over this with my husband and friends . . . is it because he's six or can it be something with his epilepsy or medication? Or just summer vacation? (I teach at the school he goes to, so while I don't normally see him during the day, he comes to me after school every day. Now that we're off for the summer, we're both home all the time). Is anyone else experiencing something similar? As a P.S., I did pursue getting him into "child study" so that his teachers will understand the need for repeated directions, etc. that may affect his learning. It's not exactly a 504 plan, but a "continued child study" where we meet if necessary.

Comments

Re: absance seizures and emotional changes in 6 year old

Submitted by jsustik on Tue, 2007-07-17 - 12:30
jsustik Ive had seizures since I was 9 and I can tell you this,the thumb sucking is because he is scared and needs to feel secure.Its very confusing when you cant explain how your feeling and why.Just talk to him,ask him how he is feeling if he is afraid,if he feels frustrated,most of all dont ever treat him differently than other children no matter what happens.It will make it worse he needs to know he is normal and that it doesnt change how people see him.He can sense it and his self esteem is suffering.Talk to his teachers,his friends,anyone in contact with him,but involve him.If he feels like people expect him to be limited to what he can do and learn he will expect less of himself because its whats expected.Self esteem plays a big part in any illness and the control of it or its control over the person who has it.

Re: Re: absance seizures and emotional changes in 6 year old

Submitted by meghan0 on Sun, 2007-09-02 - 20:04
JSUSTIK, MY NAME MEGHAN AND YOU ARE SO CORRECT, KEEPING THINGS AS NORMAL AS POSSIBLE IS SO TRUE, IT IS AT TIMES DIFFICULT TO KEEP THINGS NORMAL WHEN YOU ARE HAVING 50-100 DROP SEIZURES A DAY, BUT WE DO THE BEST WE CAN. WE FIND THINGS THAT I DO WELL AND EXCELL AT THEM, BUT UNFORTNATELY, THERE ARE THINGS I CAN'T DO WITH MY SEIZURES, I HAVE TO WEAR A HELMET ANY TIME I'M ON MY FEET AND I GET ALOT OF STARES, BUT I'M HANDLING IT BETTER, THANKS FOR REMINDING ME HOW IMPORTANT SELF ESTEEM IS TO MY LIFE. KEEP UP THE WORD THANKS--MEGHAN

Re: absance seizures and emotional changes in 6 year old

Submitted by sugarsue on Thu, 2007-07-19 - 21:27
Hi, My daughter was just diagnosed with seizures (possibly absence we are still figuring it all out) and has started Zonegran. Before this, 1 1/2 years ago, she was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. We did not know about her seizures then but she was probably having them. Occupational Therapy has helped her a lot and continues to help her. If you don't know about SPD, you might want to do some internet searches on it and see if it rings a bell for you with your son. Our neurologist said that sensory disorders and seizures often are related (although I have another daughter who does not have seizures and had SPD too). Also, she does so much better when taking 1 mg of melatonin a night (ok'd by our pedi neuro). She gets better sleep and is MUCH calmer during the day and able to focus and participate much better in life. I hope you find the answer you are looking for. You are continuing to search so I have faith that you will! s

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