Anthony is 3

My son, Nikolas, is 2 and has recently been diagnosed with seizure disorder. He's been on Keppra for three weeks now. Before the diagnosis, Nik would often either wake up crying in the middle of the night or would bang his head on the side of the crib in his sleep. Sometimes it would be so hard that he would wake up with bruises. I started to think it was just "normal night terrors" that he might outgrow. Nik has lots of developmental delays (he was a mico-preemie and has mild cerebral palsy, too) so he doesn't speak yet but he was clearly trying to communicate something was wrong. Nik was also having tons of staring spells...which we now realize were absence seizures. His first EEG was normal and the docs told us to "wait and see". We did but things didn't change. Finally found a new doc who did an ambulatory EEG. If your son's tests come back "normal" talk to your doc about an AEEG. Nik's showed that he was having seizure activity during his sleep. We started the keppra three weeks ago. First week was a very low dose, second increased a bit more and the third week went to the "maintenance" dose of 600mg/day. Nik responded really well the first two weeks. No more night terrors, no more head banging, his appetite increased (we are weaning from a feeding tube to oral feedings), etc. BUT...once we upped the dose, he became a wild man lunatic! My normally loving, gentle-natured and sunny little guy became a hyperactive, aggressive little guy. His appetite totally went away and he began having crying fits in his sleep. (You know the "Mommy, I don't feel good" cry?) He began to bang his head again, too. It was like when you take a pain reliever and it does get rid of the pain but leaves you foggy or disoriented? That's what Nik looked like when he would act that way. We waited it out for a week before calling the docs, hoping he would "adjust". We've now dropped back to 400mg/day and will see how he does with that (he was fine with it before). I was really anxious after reading some posts on this site about keppra and anger. I wonder if it's a matter of dosing in some cases but cannot speak for anyone else's experience. I'll keep you and Anthony in my prayers.

Just saw your note and hope you have gotten some answers from the tests and doctors. Sleep and seizures can be closely related. Some seizures tend to occur more easily at night. Also, if a person is sleep deprived, seizures may be more likely to occur. In children, lots of things that occur during sleep - like night terrors - can be mistaken for seizures and seizures mistaken for sleep problems, so getting these evaluated is important. Keep a log of the symptoms that you see or hear at night, as well as during day. The doctors may want to do a video EEG, which records a person's EEG and picture of what is occurring during the event. If parents have a video camera, they can videotape an event themselves and take it in to the doctor. It won't have the EEG recording but can let the doctor see what is occuring. Here are a few links to get you started! <a href="http://www.epilepsy.com/web/animation.php?swf=what_is">www.epilepsy.com/web/animation.php?swf=what_is</a> <a href="http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/types_seizures.html">www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/types_seizures.html</a> <a href="http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/sleep_epilepsy.html">www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/sleep_epilepsy.html</a> <a href="http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/diagnosis.html">www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/diagnosis.html</a> Good luck - will be thinking of you! Epi_help