Seizure in a 10 year old

[Giblet]

Hi all, my DD is 10 (11 in May) and this morning had a pretty bad seizure. She had a similar event exactly 9 years ago (aged 1 & 1/2). That event has left her with some neurological problems (short term memory, coding difficulties etc) and she has dyspraxia, spd and is underweight. She has also suffered sleep aponea in the past but this seems to have improved. . She is a fragile little thing who is under the care of a team including a dietitian, pediatrician, OT, psychologist and physio.

I brought her to the GP who checked her out and sent her home with the instruction if it happens again to go straight to A&E. He is referring her for an EEG, CT scan etc and a full neurological assessment. She had a temp of 37 and has been complaining of tiredness and headaches for a few weeks. This morning's event has really scared me but she is in good form this evening and apart from being a little tired doesn't seem to have had any other symptoms or effects. I had not expected this after nine years.

I guess this could be a one off but in truth in my head I am worrying that there is something more sinister going on. Just wondering really if anyone has had a similar experience and what other tests if any I can expect.

Hi giblet

im so sorry to hear your dd has suffered from a bad seizure.
I can relate how scary this may have been for you as my 12 year old son also has been suffering from seizures and the hospital are unsure as to why he is having them.
He has a brain malformation and brain cyst, dyspraxia, extreme tierdness and extreme head pain. my son was admitted for his first seizure in October and they did blood tests, mri and eeg and neurological exam. Although no neurological defecet were detected by the check, and no change was shown in his mri scan, he has had another 2 brief seizures at home. He seems to recover from them but remains fatigued for the rest of the day.
His eeg showed some minimal findings so they have said he has an underlying predisposition to a generalized and multifocal seizure disorder. We have since discovered that our son is severely vitamin d deficient so has now got medication for this. As a parent im worried for my son due to the daily pain he is in, so we are waiting for the neurosurgeon and neurologist to decide if surgery is the best way forward.
Its a process of elimination in most cases so the obvious tests for seizures are mri or ct scan and eeg for electrical activity. If these return normal they may want to do other tests.
as parents we do worry about our children and this is completely normal so i wish you all the very best and hope you get some answers soon.

sending hugs

Thank you so much for your reply Kathy and sorry to read that your boy is going through similar. We actually got to see a neurologist yesterday and he has referred her for an MRI with Epilepsy protocol. She will also have an 23 hour EEG. She will also have a CT scan but that will be later. He said if she has another event before we find out the cause he will put her on a low dose of epilepsy medication and if she has any trace of an infection she has to start antibiotics immediately and we have to keep temp controlled with paracetamol etc.

She has been complaining of headaches for about two years and also complained that when reading words were jumping about the page and had lots of blood tests etc done by both pediatrician and eye tests by the optometrist, Her OT referred her to a behavioural optometrist last year as they thought her visual tracking was impaired but it seems fine. They did say she was very light sensitive. Lately she has been complaining again of headaches and excessive tiredness so I suspect this is all related. You are right - it will be a process of elimination but it so scary and worrying. She will be going back to school on Monday and I am terrified to let her out of my sight!
I hope you get answers soon too - I think it is the not knowing that is hardest to deal with.

Hi, I hope you don't mind me replying. But I am in the same situation with my son, he is 14 and suffered his first seizure back in September, we called an ambulance the first time as we had no idea what was happening to him, was sent home to be told they will not perform any test's until he has another. Unfortunately he had another 2 months later in November.

He has now had his first Peadiatrician appointment and we have to wait 4 months for an EEG. I'm worried sick because I worry about when/where he will be when or if he has another. He has a long journey to school on a bus etc... We have been told to not let him cycle, bath alone and climb etc...

I had his eyes tested, and they were fine, but she did say he's very light sensitive as he is fair and blue eyed, and he allways looks tired.

Please stay in touch, it's nice to know we are not alone, and we can maybe support each other.

Regards

B

Sorry to read you are in a similar situation anotherbel. We are having an MRI this coming Friday with epilepsy protocol so that might throw something up. My girl went back to school Monday and she knows if she feels anything to go straight into recovery position. Like you we have to limit all activity including TV, computer games etc. So far she has been fine with this but she can't live this way so really hope we get answers. If it is epilepsy we can deal with that - it is not knowing and as you said being constantly on edge wondering if and when it will happen again.