Strange Episodes in 6 1/2 Month Old

It is so scary when our children cannot tell us what is going on and the doctors have no answer. I am sorry.
My girlfriend had a similar thing happen to her for many years throughout her childhood. It wasn't until she was an adult that she was diagnosed with epilepsy. Most of her episodes(now known as mild seziures)were similar to what you are describing and it wasn't until she was an adult that she had a full blown seziure where she had collapsed was she diagnosed. I am not saying this is what your son has I am just saying it sounds similar to what a friend experienced and it might be worth checking into if they haven't already. Best Wishes!

M.-

This sounds just like the episodes that my oldest son experienced when he was 3. It too was noticed by the daycare and when I took him to our FP doctor - he referred him right away to a pediatric neurologist. My son was diagnosed with focal seizures and started right away on medications. He had an EEG which was abnormal the first time around - however the neurologist warned us before the test that it could come back normal - which still does not rule out seizure activity completely - as there may not be any seizure activity occurring right at the time of the EEG. We were lucky that it happened during that first EEG and he was diagnosed immediately. He was on medication for almost 4 years - and has since outgrown the seizures - which can happen. But I'm always on the "alert" for any of the signs that we noticed in the beginning. But I can just picture the "face" the your husband saw when it seemed that your child was saying "daddy help me". I too saw that face during one of his episodes - and my son later told me that he could hear me talking to him - but he couldn't talk back to me - he was "stuck".

Which hospital do you use? We still see a pediatric neurologist through Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge - and I'm happy to share his name and number with you if you are interested in a second opinion. His name is Mohammed Ikramuddin - and his number is ###-###-####.

If you don't want to see a second neurologist - then I would push your neurologist for a video EEG or 24 hour EEG which records the child much longer than the standard EEG which is taken during a short nap. That might be a better screening tool for your child. The one thing that was noticed in the short period of time from the first time we all spotted the signs until we saw the neurologist and my son was diagnosed - was that the "episodes" were happening with increasing frequency - which it sounds like your child's symptoms.

Good Luck - I hope that this is resolved quickly for your entire family.

P.

Did you find out what caused this? My daughter has GERD and Kidney Reflux. She had this exact same thing occur at 11 weeks, 6 months and 13 months.
At 13 months when she was old enough, I could call her name and she looked at me. I could get her attention to pull out of it, but you could tell she just wanted to pass-out or fall asleep.
She has had cardiologist appt, and he feels her heart is healthy after completing, EKG, Holter Monitor testing and Heart U/S. I hope to hear back from you.
She is going for an MRI soon and I hope they find out what it is. Hope your little one is doing well.

Young kids can sometimes manifest seizures in a strange way. Has the neurologist ruled that out? I went through school with a boy who had seizures where he just stopped what he was doing and stared into space for awhile. He had no other problems and everything was fine normally- that was just how his seizures were. Best of luck for finding a solution.

I am not sure if this info will help you at all...but I work at a childcare center where a 9 mo old girl had seizures. I first noticed her actually shaking. The many many other times I caught her seizuring, she would just kinda stare into space and if you tried to get her attention at all, she would not flinch. When she has these types of episodes, she gets lethargic and wants to sleep after them. It sounds like your little guy is doing the "spaced out" look also. I just thought I would tell you of my instance in case you would like to bring up this type of diagnosis with your dr.

Hope you find the answers to your sons problem. I know how hard it must be! Hang in there!

Hi there-

I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling so much with your little boy. I know that it's so hard when our kids are little and can't tell us what is going on. I applaud you for doing what it takes to help your little boy and I encourage you to find some answers for these 'spells'.

Having said all of this, I would encourage you to rule out seizures. I had a history of childhood seizures and the symptoms of what you are referring to are called "starring spells". Nothing could confirm the diagnosis until they did a 24-hour ambulatory EEG (http://www.snowcanyonclinic.com/SUNN/eeg.html) on me. This will allow the doctors to see what is happening over a 24-hour period. I was able to do this at home and in my own environment and I believe that your baby should be able to as well as they like to get a feel for what is happening in the environment as opposed to a hospital-setting.

Another interesting thing to rule out is Cyanosis. Read this article:

The expert answers:
A child's lips should be nice and pink. In fact, you usually don't want to see any part of a child turn purple or blue, which can indicate cyanosis.

Cyanosis is a sign that a child doesn't have enough oxygen in their blood. While often caused by congenital heart defects, it can also be caused by septic shock, seizures or lung problems, like pneumonia, asthma or croup.

Not all cyanosis is necessarily bad, though. Newborns and young infants can normally have acrocyanosis, with a bluish discoloration of their hands and feet. This is called peripheral cyanosis and usually goes away as a child's circulatory system matures.

On the other hand, central cyanosis, where a child's face or trunk turns blue, is more likely to be caused by a serious problem. Specific signs of central cyanosis can be that a child is blue all over, or that his lips or tongue are blue.

While blue lips are a sign of central cyanosis, it can sometimes be normal for a child to get blue around his lips and mouth, especially when he is crying and screaming. In this case, his lips and tongue will still be pink though.

If your child is otherwise well, it is possible that it is just the skin around his lips that are becoming purple when he is running around inside. To see if that is the case, get a close look at his lips, tongue, and nail beds to see if they are pink, blue, or purple. If they are pink, then your child may just have circumoral cyanosis, which is cyanosis that can be seen around a child's mouth.

Some specific things to consider to help determine if this is normal or a real problem include:

Is your child growing and developing normally? Weight loss or poor weight gain would be a sign that this is a more serious problem.

Has your child ever been diagnosed as having a heart murmur?

Does your child have any other symptoms, like a cough or trouble breathing, during these episodes, which might be a sign of asthma?

Is your child not very active? Does he tire out very easily and before other children of his same age?

Does he get weak and sleepy after these episodes at school?
Whether or not your child has any of these other signs or symptoms, he should have an evaluation by his pediatrician to look into this further. Your pediatrician may decide this is normal though, especially if your child has a normal physical exam and the pattern of the cyanosis seems to indicate that it is just circumoral cyanosis, and may not do any further testing.

If there is any question that this could be a sign of a more serious disorder, your pediatrician may do more testing, such as pulse oximetry to measure the oxygen level in your child's blood. Other testing might include a complete blood count, chest x-ray, and perhaps an EKG if he is worried about your child's heart.

I hope that this helps. Good luck.
N.

I hope that you are able to get this figured out. A mother's instinct is generally right, so you need to fight all you can to get him diagnosed properly. It sounds like you need some second opinions. That being said, I have not personally dealt with this. But, a friend of mine has had similar issues with her child that ended up being seizures. She had a very hard time getting a doctor to look at her son and diagnose him. Everyone kept saying he was fine, but she knew something wasn't right. So, at 2 years she finally found some doctors at Children's Memorial Hospital (in Chicago) that looked at him and did all the tests. They diagnosed him properly and now he is getting the proper help. I hope for your case that your son is fine, but you need to be certain so that if any damage is being done, it is being stopped quickly. Good luck! *Hugs*

From what you've described it sounds like your son may be having a seizure. The description of his behavior for the rest of the day also sounds post seizure like. You've already had an eeg, but you may want to check with another neurologist for a second opinion.