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4 yr old. So called Absence Seizure. Looking for some support.

Thu, 04/13/2017 - 23:59
The first time he had, he stopped responding. Went to couch and just slept for an hour to 2. Happened about 4 times on same day and finally had a vomiting. Took him to ER and had one more. They said it could be absence seizures. Has been on keppra and also on melatonin for while. Had another one after 2 months during hair cut. Same pre symptoms, no response, blank stare and head fell back, with blood vessels in eyes really red. Lasted about 7 - 9 minutes. Took him to ER. Looking to see if anyone had the same kind of seizures in the same age group.

Comments

are you seeing a pediatric

Submitted by Amy Jo on Fri, 2017-04-14 - 00:39
are you seeing a pediatric neurologist or epileptologist? the emergency department is not the place to properly diagnose or treat epilepsy (it is for treating emergencies which include non stop seizures but not all the other needs associated with seizures).  generally  absences are frequent (per day) short, under 20 seconds easy to miss 'short',  (there are some unusual exceptions that are not common) and evidence is easy to see on EEG for those (note that's not true for all types of seizures). note also other seizures can include symptoms you saw. while keppra treats nearly all kinds of seizures, that does not make it the best choice (and isn't common as a first choice for actual absences).

ERs can't help you.

Submitted by mereloaded on Fri, 2017-04-14 - 09:15
ERs can't help you. Pediatrician can't either. Your child needs to be seen by a pediatric neurologist or epileotologist.Yes, it sounds very much like Absense seizures. The head back thing though sounds much like drop seizures, in which the head bobs or drops.Absense seizures are not uncommon and yes, they are seen in children. Many parents here have children with Absense seizures. Good luck

The doctors in the ER do

Submitted by just_joe on Fri, 2017-04-14 - 10:23
The doctors in the ER do general tests which only show normal things.So they do not find a lot. If they said absence seizures and prescribed keppra they should have told you to see a pediatric neurologist of r neurologist that specializes in epilepsy. Yes what you posted does look like absence seizures, The one that was longer and the head dropping could be another type of seizure. Absence seizures can show up in almost anybody.Get an appointment with w neurologist and understand that dosages need to be looked at and adjusted. A medication or dosage that works for one person may not for the next. I was started on a medication  and the dosage was too high. They took me off it and waited a week and started it again at a lower dose. I used that medication for about 30 years.With most medications even those not for epilepsy I have to have a higher dose. With Keppra I am taking the maximum amount the maker will let a person take. It is the best seizure medication I have ever used in the 50+ years I have been living and dealing with epilepsyI hope  your son gets seizure freeJoe

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