Hey Mamas,
Hoping some mothers can help me out with this one...Up until 5 days ago I had a perfectly healthy three and a half year old boy. We has never had any health issues rather than a few colds,and he is tall and big for his age and very mature. We came to NJ 2 weeks ago, we live most of the time in India, and in these few weeks have moved around quite a bit, which is not that unusual for him. Saturday morning I woke up to him having a seizure, the duration was a few minutes and he was unconscious for about 15 to 20 mins after. We went to the emergency room and he was admitted to the Childrens hospital, but after about half a day of testing (blood, urine, CT scan) they sent us home saying to schedule an MRI and EEG, it was a weekend and nothing could happen till monday they said. Tues am we went to his PCP, they checked him and still he was fine, until this am about 1 hour after waking he had another seizure. Though it was smaller and he was not unconscious for more than a couple of minutes if at all, it still had all the marks of a seizure, peeing himself etc. We are now sitting in the hospital waiting to be seen by the neurologist in the evening...
Now, I will just say a bit of the variables that have occurred recently...as I said all the travelling, but this is his 4th visit to the US in his life and we do travel India quite a bit, and he has always been easily adaptable. The main thought I have is that we gave him a deworming course of Albendazole, perscribed by his ped in India after he complained about "spiders in his butt" for a month or so. It was a 2 dose course, one I gave him April 12th then the second the day before the first seizure (19 hours before). We later read that this med has a rare side effect of seizures, but more importantly, I learned that the death of the parasites can cause seizures (especially if he has a condition called neurocycstocosis) brain parasites caused by eating pork. This may sound out there in a western context, but it is a well known fact in India that eating pork causes worms, and I have even heard of "worms in the brain" there. I spoke to the infectious disease Dr about this and she said given his context it is possible, but would be more probable if he were older, and would be confirmed by the MRI when he gets it (hasn't happened yet). But this was before the 2nd seizure. Otherwise, the only other thing to mention is that my brother died a few months ago in the house we are staying in, and i only say this because I know how sensitive children are to vibrations, but I don't think I even believe that this could be the cause...
Here are the questions...
They are already speaking of putting him on meds, which neither I or my husband are comfortable with at this point. We lead a pretty healthy lifestyle, though my son eats much more sugar than I would like, and we are meditators. Does anyone have any suggestions of any non medication treatment plans we could research? Or alternative or natural medicine doctors in NJ that have success with seizures? Or even why some of you may have chosen to put your kids on meds, and the benefits and side effects of the medications. Is is common to put them on meds after 2 seizures, assuming that the tests come back normal? Has anyone used Dr Hulda Clarkes regimen for seizures?
I know this is long but I wanted to give all the info...Mamas I have seen you all be a fabulous resource to other mamas and I'm hoping for something to help us out. I had never even thought of seizures till a few days ago and know nothing past a few google searches and talks with friends in the medical profession.
Thanks so much!!!
Thanks Mamas for the input, some very helpful advice. After I wrote this he had another that lasted 15 mins before they gave him a med to stop it. That was the decision maker for both of us, and we decided to start the meds just to stop the seizures. We are now looking into complimentary treatments to go alongside the meds. We are now trying to just relax into this and integrate this and start searching deeper for a cause.
I always cook pork to death for that very reason.
No other ideas, sorry.
I would do a lot of research on your own. I heard of mothers finding the answers on there own. Look up mystery diagnosis. Google symthoms. How are they going to put him on meds before knowing what is causing this? Research. Good Luck!
It sounds like he has had grand mal (tonic clonic or whatever the current term is) type of seizures. From your post, it sounds like they happen during the time (about an hour either side) of his sleep/wake cycle. The MRI might help to pinpoint things - the EEG will see if they can trip him into a seizure (not to scare you, to prepare you in case you didn't know that - it's how they help figure it out) Is your EEG to be a sleep-deprived one?
Get all the tests done first - before any meds. It sounds like they are on track w/it all, tho, as they don't usually worry about just one seizure as one can happen w/o an apparent reason (like it seems now) - it's when the second one happens the docs start looking! Good luck - and don't be afraid of the meds as he might possibly outgrow the seizures later on.
I don't know that much about seizure disorders but I recommend you work with a pediatric neurologist to get it figured out. Good places in our area are UMDNJ or St. Joseph's children's hospitals (one in Newark and one in Paterson).
I would have all the studies done and then have a meeting with the neurologist. Can't really do anything until then. I believe in medications for
seizures if necessary. You have been lucky that he has been in bed for
the seizures. If he is out playing, he could very well get hurt. See what the
docs say and then come back and give us some more info. Good luck.
Had your baby gotten any vaccines before the seizures? A girlfriend of mine's daughter starting having seizures after a round of vaccines and she's positive it was the vaccine. It may even be mentioned as a side effect.
Good luck - I feel for you.
My heart goes out to you and unfotunately I can't offer any advice as I have not had to go through anything seizure-related myself.
Those pork stories though have me horrified. Once everything is figured out and resolved as I hope it will be... maybe a vegetarian diet should be adopted! Nothing good comes from eating meat.
