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5 year old, sleep activity vs seizure

Sun, 03/29/2015 - 19:49

My daughter is 5, and caught the stomach virus. Apparently this was the "perfect storm" and on the second day she had a seizure. I was able to record just under 2 minutes (of more than 5) of it with my phone for the doctors to see. We spent 6 days in the hospital and she had 3 seizures. She was diagnosed with complex partial seizures. I can look back now and realize this probably isn't the first time. She had seizures after the MMR shot, but I was sure it was from the shot. I also thought she had some funky form of sleep walking, where she would sit up, look around, thrust her tonge, mess with the covers with one hand, and go back to sleep. She has even gotten up out of bed before. 

Anyway, from what I can tell, every seizure has been upon waking or while sleeping. The EEG was normal (duh! She was supposed to be sleep deprived etc., but since she was inpatient they said it didn't matter and did it right after she woke up from a nap.) Then the tech asked her to sleep. Right. Anyway, at this point we are waiting to see if she has another seizure before doing video EEG or medication. I find myself unable to sleep because I feel like I need to watch her, and not miss it. I only saw this because she was so sick, and I was watching her sleep on the couch.

So now, everything I found 'normal' for her sleeping, I now question. I have watched her nap and recorded seconds of her doing things - no idea if they are seizure related or just normal. She has opened her eyes slightly, facial twitching, then continued sleeping with heavy breathing. Last night I went to check on her and saw her arms tightening, and recorded just in time to catch her clinching both fists, holding it a few seconds with her arms up a little, then relaxing. How do I know what is a seizure or just regular sleep activity? If she is having nocturnal seizures, is this affecting how she feels during the day? 

Thanks for any advice - this is so new to me, and slightly overwhelming.

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