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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / December 2003little girl with partial seizures
Hi all, When my daughter was 4 she had a seizure, she just dropped down while playing, and her eyes rolled back in her head and was unresponsive. She had a normal CT scan, but didn't have an EEG. We noticed today (she is now 5) as she stood on stage as an angel in her school play, that her left eye was twitching violently. I have noticed her doing this before, but though she was playing around. She had visit to the doc while she was still doing it, and the doc said she wasn't faking it, and she has referred her for an EGG. Doc says it's a partial seizure. What are the chances that the EEG will show anything? Also could the eye twitching be a warning that a bigger seizure is on it's way? I may be way off but my sister suffers with absence seizures, and everynight I wake up with sleep apnea. I wake unable to breathe for what feels like a long time, I hallucinate but I think that's due to the fact that i'm tired and wake straight up. Sometimes I get a burst of energy in one or both legs, and they need to jerk a few times. Could I have a seizure problem?  SignatureAndrea. Hi Andrea I'm surprised that your "doc" said it was a partial seizure, unless he/she saw something else when she examined your daughter. Regarding the EEG.....approximately 70% of persons with epilepsy have normal EEGs, so the test may or may not show any epileptogenic activity. Some (not all) partial seizures do secondarily generalize (spread to become a generalized/grand mal seizure). They can start as simple or complex partial seizures. A simple partial seizure may result in some type of activity (such as eye twitch) without an alteration of consciousness, while a complex partial seizure does reult in an alteration of consciousness. Hope this helps! Regards Michael > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Could I have a seizure problem? "Michael" wrote in message ... > Hi Andrea > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Regards > Michael Thanks Michael, One more thing is epilepsy hereditary? SignatureAndrea. I admit that I didn't read it all so I don't know if the link answers what you want to know. http://www.epilepsy.dk/Handbook/Hereditary-uk.asp > "Michael" wrote in message ... > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > One more thing is epilepsy hereditary? > I admit that I didn't read it all so I don't know if the > link answers what you want to know. > http://www.epilepsy.dk/Handbook/Hereditary-uk.asp My Netscape browser brought the page up as a scramble of html coding, but I was able to read it properly in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Anyway, the basis premise behind that page is what my first neurologist told me; the tendency thing. On one side of my family, we do have several individuals who have or had epilepsy (some are deceased). In fact, one of the family members, a distant cousin, suspects there were other people in the family (I'm talking many, many years ago) who may have had some type of epilepsy, but either it was ignored or kept hush-hush. This distant cousin is a genealogy buff, and she discovered that the epilepsy was only showing up in the descendants of our common ancestor and his second marriage but not appearing in any descendants from his first marriage. Another thing that is interesting is that we don't all have the same type of seizure disorder. Barb > > "Michael" wrote in message ... > > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > -- > > Andrea. > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > What are the chances that the EEG will show anything? The person's brain has to be in some kind of seizure activity so the EEG will pick it up. If the person isn't have abnormal brain waves at the time of the EEG, of course, the EEG will come back as normal, but that does not mean the patient does not have epilepsy. It just means the abnormal brain waves were not found at that particular time. If your daughter has sporadic seizure activity, it might be hard to catch them on an EEG. I don't know what they do with kids, but with adults they might try to provoke a seizure for testing purposes, put them on a portable monitor, etc. > Also could the eye twitching be a warning that a bigger seizure is on it's > way? Don't know for sure. > I may be way off but my sister suffers with absence seizures, and everynight > I wake up with sleep apnea. I wake unable to breathe for what feels like a [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Could I have a seizure problem? Are you being treated for the sleep apnea? There is some general information at http://www.epilepsytoronto.org/learning/topic/sleep/ Barb > -- > Andrea. Andrea wrote: and "CyberCafe" wrote in message ... > > Hi all, > > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > Barb Thanks Barb, I know I have sleep apnea, but my dr ignores me. I am soo desperate, I am a mom of 5 having very little sleep. Doc thinks is due to depression and insits they are panic attacks. It's been happening for years and is worse when i'm pregnant. I fall asleep, wake up either bolt upright or my whole body jerks forcefully out, unable to breathe for what feels like an eternity, also I feel like my heart has stopped & am usually hallucinating and then i gasp for air, heart races and i'm shaking. This happens every night sometimes 3+ times during the night. SignatureAndrea. Panic attacks are common in people with sleep apnea. A large % of people have these issues if they don't breathe. So many doctors really have no clue about sleep apnea and often believe it's depression. We get so many patients on SSRIs (Zoloft, paxil Blah Blah Blah) due to there sleep apnea. You need to find a doc who has some knowledge about sleep apnea. The only way I could think of doing that would be to call a sleep lab and ask for a general doc who refers lots of patients. You won't be able to have the specialist as your primary but the right doc will refer you right away. Sleep in a recliner in the mean time. Mike > Andrea wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] > -- > Andrea. Mikey kindly wrote in message ... > Panic attacks are common in people with sleep apnea. A large % of people > have these issues if they don't breathe. So many doctors really have no clue [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Mike I sleep so easy when I nod off on the sofa downstairs, but the reason I don't sleep downstairs is because I breastfeed my baby half-way through the night and he then co-sleeps with us. I have done this with all 5 babies, but my husband is starting to have reservations about it due to my sleep apnea becoming worse. I am slim, so was surprised to find out sleep apnea can occur in overweight people. Is there any hope for the future? I wonder what if any treatments I can have. My doc tried to put me on Prozac, but I declined. Thanks for all your help, Andrea. > Andrea wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 71 lines] > races and i'm shaking. This happens every night sometimes 3+ times during > the night. You really need to be evaluated, and if your own doctor won't do it, go to someone else. Your problem just seems a little too severe and chronic to be ignored. Have you noticed anything else with those nighttime episodes? How do you feel in the morning? How do you feel when you take daytime naps; does the same thing happen or not? Have you noticed anything that seems to help or make it worse? Do your menstrual cycles seem to correlate with this stuff? Andrea, I think you are going to need to hang around this newsgroup at least until this stuff is all sorted out for you. Barb > -- > Andrea. > > Andrea wrote: > > > > and "CyberCafe" wrote in message ... > > Thanks Barb, > > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > happen or not? Have you noticed anything that seems to help or make it worse? > Do your menstrual cycles seem to correlate with this stuff? When it's near to my bed time, I start to feel funny in my chest, I get adrenaline like feeling similar to when i'm having an apnea attack, but it's not a surge it's constant. I can't have daytime naps, if I do I end up with a headache or migraine. If I have had a nap it's been me sitting up on the sofa, not lying down, so I haven't had apnea then. I very rarely fall asleep in the day, which is surprising when I feel exausted! I haven't had a menstrual cyle for some time now, i'm breastfeeding a 6 month old. I find it's worse when I try and have an earlier night. I once believed it would help. In the morning I have a headache that lasts all day, and don't know what it's like to feel refreshed. I occasionally have terrible nightmares too, very violent ones where someone/thing kills me (a diff way each time) and I feel the pain, which wakes me up. These dreams have been there the same length of time. Sometimes the sudden jerk of my /sometimes whole body when I wake from an attack can be very violent > Andrea, I think you are going to need to hang around this newsgroup at least > until this stuff is all sorted out for you. > > Barb I am very touched by all your help. I have been put off going back to my doctor (he is only a general practitioner), he told me it was just to be expected, a depressed mom with children! I was at my docs about a year ago. I am in the UK, and hope that I can get sorted. I am unsure of the risks of apnea to my health apart from my grumpiness and tiredness. Andrea. Can I also add that my husband says that both my legs go up and down really fast in my sleep, he says i'm like a fish! I didn't know that till I talked with him yesterday. SignatureAndrea. > > Hi all, > > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > but with adults they might try to provoke a seizure for testing purposes, put > them on a portable monitor, etc. Aren't there certain inter-ictal (between seizures) EEG patterns that are sometimes found in some types of epilepsy and are used to help diagnose them? I sat in on an electroencephalography certification course once and I remember them talking about it. I often hear the neurologists talking about "inter-ictal spikes". As to you daughter I don't know but you sould like you need a sleep study done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms of sleep apnea. Hallucinating is not usually something that goes with sleep apnea but it does with Narcolepsey another sleep disorder. The leg movements can be attributed to either sleep apnea (no likely if your awake), Restless leg syndrome(RLS) or Periodic limb movement syndrome (PLMS). All sleep disorders. Do you have morning headaches? That would be a sign of low oxygen levels during the night. Good luck Mike > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > -- > Andrea. Mikey kindly wrote in message ... > As to you daughter I don't know but you sould like you need a sleep study > done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms of sleep apnea. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > during the night. > Good luck Mike Thanks Mike, It's so cool you are a sleep tech, and I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. I find the leg jerking happens just as I wake unable to breathe. I do wake up with morning headaches! I put it down to lack of sleep. The sleep apnea is bad all night, then seems to ease towards the time to get up. I am not sure if this is because i'm so exhausted. I can't catch up on sleep during the day either, or I end up with a bad headache. Even though I have poor sleep, I don't fall asleep in the day. If I try to have an early night the sleep apnea is at it's worst. I am also a migraine sufferer. If I ever get the opportunity to be observed in a sleep clinic, then I worry that it won't happen when i'm there. I got my husband to stay awake in bed with a dim light on to witness one of my apnea attacks. He said it was really frightening seeing me in that state. I was worried afterwards if I had looked like a dork during it! lol SignatureAndrea. > The sleep apnea is bad all night, then seems to ease towards the time to get > up. A common occurance that the best sleep is in the late morning. > I am also a migraine sufferer. Sleep apnea makes migrains much worse and more chronic. > If I ever get the opportunity to be observed in a sleep clinic, then I worry > that it won't happen when i'm there. Don't worry, you don't need to leap out of bed gasping to have sleep apnea:-) > I got my husband to stay awake in bed with a dim light on to witness one of > my apnea attacks. He said it was really frightening seeing me in that state. > I was worried afterwards if I had looked like a dork during it! lol Take you husband to your Dr. appointment with you! > -- > Andrea. Email me at psgt777@comcast.net if you have any questions, at all! > <snip>I don't know but you sould like you need a sleep study > done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms <snip> My apologies for butting in on some else's thread, but I've got just a quick question to ask that you may be able to answer. The reason I ask is that my muscle damage is occurring _only_ at night although, once the damage has been done, the effect lasts through the daytime but is not noticed unless I put some sort of strain on the muscles. I've described my symptoms, which always develop at night, on another thread called: "Muscle and/or Tendon Pain", although I don't know how I'd distinguish between muscle & tendon pain. The biceps (mainly) and other upper arm muscles, triceps to a lesser extent, & forearm muscles become extremely painful. I couldn't raise myself off the mattress this morning because of the pain. There is no bone or joint involvement and no problem with back, chest, stomach muscles, etc - maybe the legs to a minor extent.. Neither I, nor my wife, has noticed any kind of unusual movement during my sleep. Does this possibly fit in with any sleep disorder that you are familiar with? Thanks Bob Slow wave sleep allows for the body to regenerate. For example if a child is abused to the point that their sleep is so fragmented by their surrondings, drugs and other forms of abuse, and they arn't able to get slow wave sleep(stages 3 and 4) they can have growth problems, because growth hormones are mainly released during slow wave sleep. As an adult the growth hormones are just a maintance but fibromyalgia has seen alot of issues with slow wave sleep and pain but not the way you describe it. This is the only illness that comes to mind. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Mike > > <snip>I don't know but you sould like you need a sleep study > > done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms <snip> [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Bob > Slow wave sleep allows for the body to regenerate. For example if a child is > abused to the point that their sleep is so fragmented by their surrondings, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > that comes to mind. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. > Mike Thanks much! I appreciate your response. Just trying to cover all possibilities because this has been a real mystery with no solution so far. Bob > > > <snip>I don't know but you sould like you need a sleep study > > > done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms <snip> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > > > Bob > > <snip>I don't know but you sould like you need a sleep study > > done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms <snip> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Neither I, nor my wife, has noticed any kind of unusual movement during my > sleep. Is there any tingling or numness in the shoulder, arm, hand, or fingers? Is there any discoloration (pink, whitish, blue) anywhere in the extremity (including all the way to the fingertips). Is the area warmer to the touch? How is strength in the extremity (including the hand)? Is your hand grip okay. Can you feel sensations normally (heat, pressure, etc.). Can you reach extremes of movement normally (shoulder, neck, elbow, wrist)? Do you get headaches? Barb > Does this possibly fit in with any sleep disorder that you are familiar with? > > Thanks > > Bob > > > <snip>I don't know but you sound like you need a sleep study > > > done. I am a sleep tech and you have some classic symptoms <snip> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > > Is there any tingling or numbness in the shoulder, arm, hand, or fingers? None. I do get cramps in my hands frequently (the fingers lock into position until pulled/moved) when using them for certain tasks that might momentarily stress my fingers, but none of the other symptoms. > Is there > any discoloration (pink, whitish, blue) anywhere in the extremity (including all the > way to the fingertips). Is the area warmer to the touch? None of the above. > How is strength in the > extremity (including the hand)? Is your hand grip okay. I've always had a very strong handgrip & that continues as usual. I just checked that now & it doesn't seem to cause the pain I'm talking about. > Can you feel sensations > normally (heat, pressure, etc.). Yes. > Can you reach extremes of movement normally > (shoulder, neck, elbow, wrist)? I can still play the piano without pain, but I get serious pain when I, for example, try to reach behind & scratch my back. The movement is basically impossible because of the pain it causes. > Do you get headaches? Nothing to really remark about in that area. Thanks Barb! Bob Oh I have an idea, ask your doc to allow you to have a Pulse oximetry test over night or for a couple nights. If you have sleep apnea it will show. It's much less expensive and may be a comprmise the doc will be willing to do. If you do have this done sleep on your back and flat to show them how bad it can be. Mike > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > -- > Andrea. Mikey kindly wrote in message ... > Oh I have an idea, ask your doc to allow you to have a Pulse oximetry test > over night or for a couple nights. If you have sleep apnea it will show. > It's much less expensive and may be a comprmise the doc will be willing to > do. If you do have this done sleep on your back and flat to show them how > bad it can be. > Mike Hi again Mike, What exactly is a pulse oximetry test? Do I wear it? Andrea. > Mikey kindly wrote in message ... > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > What exactly is a pulse oximetry test? Do I wear it? There is a device that they clip onto one of your fingers to measure oxygen levels (it reminds me of a clothespin with an attached cord). I kind of think that's what Mike is talking about. Barb > Andrea. It measures O2 and heart rate during the night. It usually clips on your finger but could go on your toe or even your ear. Another thing is to have you spouse tape(audio or video) you while your sleeping and bring it to the Dr.. You need to be your own advocate and shove it down his throat, if he is so dense as to still not even order a oximetry. Then tell him what you think of him and walk out and never return. Mike > Mikey kindly wrote in message ... > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Andrea. |
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