So sad ... | ADHD Information
My son had a full-blown seizure last night. This has never happened before and it was absolutely scary. I took him to the ER and basically spent the night there. The CT scan was negative, which is good. We need to take him to a neurologist next. He is on Ritalin (20 mg.) in the morning, Daytrana (15 mg.) and .5 mg Tenex at night. Two ER docs said keep the medications as they shouldn't be creating the seizures. They had spoken to the pharmacist, and this is a very large, respected hospital. The psychiatrist who is on-call for ours told me this morning to stop all meds. This means that he will be completely unable to do anything at school until we get to the neurologist. He is very HHHH, unfocused, combined-type ADHD, and he has always behaved normally at school because of the meds but will be bouncing off the walls (literally) without.Just needed to vent a little.
Joy2
Is it possible it was an epileptic seizure? Epilepsy can be misdaignosed at ADHD, even before seizures are present. That's a rough call fbut the bright side is that you were lucky this happened when you were there to see it and get the boy to the emerg.
It could have been much uglier than a difficult-to-deal-with child for a few weeks..
It must have been quite the frightening episode for you...
Yikes, so sorry your son had to endure that (you too). I hope you get answers quickly. I caonly imagine how you are feeling with the seizure and now no meds. I'll be thinking of you and your son.Thanks, everyone. You are all awesome. I love this forum so much. I feel like a completely normal person here. Today was much better, BTW. It really helps to get 8 hours of sleep. DH is out of town on business, making the whole situation much more traumatic than it would have been otherwise. Luckily I have good friends who jumped into action. [QUOTE=Joy2]I spent a couple of hours looking things up today, and I think that it was an epileptic seizure. I can't imagine what else it could have been. It fit the descriptions of the general seizures exactly. I've gotta tell you, this was so scary. I really thought that my child was dying before my eyes, although at the same time I was freaking out emotionally, the logical part of my brain was saying, "seizure -- it'll stop."
It does shed a completely new light on his ADHD for me. He is so textbook combined ADHD and has been since birth, so I'm curious what the outcome will be. Ritalin helps him SO much -- I hope that they don't keep him off of it. I have never seen any seizure activity in him before. I know that video games and TV can spark seizures in people with the right wiring, but he had only played a few minutes yesterday.
Anyway, after sleeping 3 hours last night and worrying about my sweet guy, this is how I felt today .
[/QUOTE]
Wait for a psychiatrist to throrougly assess this. Waiting is always the hardest part
Some med combos can cause anamolies that a single medication will not. I know you like the results of the meds but as much as it's painful--wait and see. You don't want the little fella taking anti-convulsants if he can just change his other meds and avoid the problem. Particularly in children because most meds weren't originally tested nor designed for them.
Soon you will be on the right road no matter what it turns out to be.
Joy2, just want to say....oh boy, how scary for you. I cant imagine how you felt, but can imagine how you feel today after a night of no sleep and worry. My 5 year old has a friend who has nightime seizures.....same thing, they told her she will outgrow them and she doesnt take any meds for it. I hope you can keep your ADHD med regimen.......................I feel for you today and your poor little guy.
Hi, my daughter was diagnosed with a seizure disorder called Benign Rolandic Epilepsy and according to the neurologist, the seizures are only likely to occur at night (I guess during some part of the sleep cycle). Doc says she will grow out of it by puberty. Also interesting is that ADHD seems to go hand in hand with this type of seizure disorder (again, according to the neurologist).
I know how scary seizures can be. There is a medication that your neurologist can give you to stop a really bad seizure if one occurs (a suppository of some sort). I hope your son doesnt have any more episodes but maybe keep a baby monitor in his room so that you can either see or hear him when he's sleeping just in case.
I spent a couple of hours looking things up today, and I think that it was an epileptic seizure. I can't imagine what else it could have been. It fit the descriptions of the general seizures exactly. I've gotta tell you, this was so scary. I really thought that my child was dying before my eyes, although at the same time I was freaking out emotionally, the logical part of my brain was saying, "seizure -- it'll stop."It does shed a completely new light on his ADHD for me. He is so textbook combined ADHD and has been since birth, so I'm curious what the outcome will be. Ritalin helps him SO much -- I hope that they don't keep him off of it. I have never seen any seizure activity in him before. I know that video games and TV can spark seizures in people with the right wiring, but he had only played a few minutes yesterday.
Anyway, after sleeping 3 hours last night and worrying about my sweet guy, this is how I felt today .
[QUOTE=Sherilynne64]
Hi, my daughter was diagnosed with a seizure disorder called Benign Rolandic Epilepsy and according to the neurologist, the seizures are only likely to occur at night (I guess during some part of the sleep cycle). Doc says she will grow out of it by puberty. Also interesting is that ADHD seems to go hand in hand with this type of seizure disorder (again, according to the neurologist).
I know how scary seizures can be. There is a medication that your neurologist can give you to stop a really bad seizure if one occurs (a suppository of some sort). I hope your son doesnt have any more episodes but maybe keep a baby monitor in his room so that you can either see or hear him when he's sleeping just in case.
[/QUOTE]Wow, thanks Sharilynne. We must have been writing at the same time. I thought that it was weird that he was asleep. Does your daughter remember these episodes? My son remembered "jerking" but not being afraid.
Is your daughter able to take her ADHD medications?
Thank you, everyone. I will keep you posted.
Joy2
Hi Joy, She remembers them to a very small degree, it wakes her up but she goes right back to sleep after, she doesnt seem to be very affected by them. And yes, she's still on her meds. She takes Adderall 10 mg. The doc had given her some medication for the seizures, I forget the name of the drug, but it made her even more hyper so he took her off of that medication, especially since the seizures "should" only occur at night. He just told me to keep on eye on her if she climbs onto high places on the playground, etc... I also was told that flashing bright lights can bring on seizures, like the ones at rock concerts. I'm sure some of the video games out there can be a problem too. Don't panic, a good ped. neurologist will get it all straightened out for you. good luck.......and let me know how it goes.
Just want to give you my support and you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Just wanted to let you all know that we got in to see one of the best ped. neurologists in the area. He was all business, which I appreciate. We will now have more testing, but he said that there is generally a genetic component. The meds have absolutely nothing to do with it, so he is back on those. He also said that the med inserts are so long now and list every possible thing that could ever go wrong that they are almost meaningless. A word to the wise, eh?That is reassuring news.
Yes, everyone is so afraid of law suits and such that the side effects papers are endless. I love the side effects listed for sleeping pills - "may cause drowsyness."
[QUOTE=Sherilynne64]
Hi, my daughter was diagnosed with a seizure disorder called Benign Rolandic Epilepsy and according to the neurologist, the seizures are only likely to occur at night (I guess during some part of the sleep cycle). Doc says she will grow out of it by puberty. Also interesting is that ADHD seems to go hand in hand with this type of seizure disorder (again, according to the neurologist).
[/QUOTE]Well, Sherilynne, you hit the nail on the head. This was the diagnosis after the EEG, and the doctor just told me exactly what you told me, except the part about ADHD being a common co-morbid. He did say that seizure activity is linked to learning disorders, and we have had our son tested for that. His abilities are really all over the place, and maybe this is a reason why. I am happy that they grow out of it. He hasn't had another one, which is good because if he does, he needs to start taking anti-seizure medication, too.
Wow! This is really interesting to me.
When my daughter was originally diagnosed with ADHD, back when she was in Kindergarten, we had an EEG done because we thought she might be having "absence seizures." The neurologist told us that her EEG results did NOT show absence seizures, but were consistent with Benign Rolandic Epilepsy, which he explained were seizures that occur at night during sleep. However my daughter has never had that type of seizure. He did not recommend medicating her for the Benign Rolandic Seizures since she did not show the symptoms, which he said would be obvious. We never pursued it further. I also do remember him saying that Benign Rolandic is typically outgrown by puberty, which my daughter is now well into. I had never heard that there was a connection to ADHD.
Still not sure what it all means, but hopefully one day we will know more.
Thanks, Sherilynne, for sharing the information.
Joy2, I'm glad your son got a diagnosis and hope things go well for him.
Hi Inspired by Music, when you say "absence seizures", are you referring to when she stares off into space for a while? My daughter gets those pretty regularly but snaps back quickly. She's also aware that she's been staring off, she just cant seem to control it.
Only one of the pediatric neurologists that I took my daughter to said that it is very common to see ADHD with BRE. I didnt ask the second doctor though.
I'm glad your daughter is doing well with the BRE. My daughter is only 7 so we have a while to go for puberty but her seizure activity is very very low.
[QUOTE=Sherilynne64]Hi Inspired by Music, when you say "absence seizures", are you referring to when she stares off into space for a while? [/QUOTE]
Yes, it was actually my step-mom (who had a nursing degree) who noticed her staring into space and thought she might be having absence seizures. She still does it, but can snap out of it, if you talk to her or touch her. She is just "spacing out." I posted about it in that other thread about absence seizures too.
[QUOTE=Sherilynne64]
I'm glad your daughter is doing well with the BRE. My daughter is only 7 so we have a while to go for puberty but her seizure activity is very very low.
I'm glad your daughter is doing well with low seizure activity too.
Hi Joy, I am so glad you got a diagnosis at last!! My daughter has only had a few seizures, three I believe since her original diagnosis. I think with this type of disorder, seizures are not a daily type of thing, thank goodness. I dont remember the name of the anti-seizure drug the doctor gave my daughter to try, but it made her way more hyper so he took her off it, and we've had no problems. Her doc didnt mention anything about learning disorders. There are alot of good websites out there about BREpilepsy with lots of up to date info. Keep me posted!! Sherilynne