The following is a copy a message I posted over at the Parents OF Children With Epilepsy Support Group that I belong to:
Ok, so my 18 month old daughter Julia has been waking up at night flipping out. When I say flipping out I mean screaming bloody murder, crying so hard she coughs, throwing herself around (too the point that I have to put her down because I am afraid I may drop her). When I put her down she crawls over to her crib, hits it, whacks the rug, goes to her changing table and pulls all of the clothing off of it, yells, etc. Picture the worst temper tantrum you have ever experienced/seen a two year old have and you can imagine what I am talking about. This happens in the middle of the night usually, so its not like something could have happened to make her this upset. She has always been an easy baby too. Honestly, I have never in my life (and I have Emily who's behavior has always been very challenging) seen anything like this on an eighteen month old. It's very disarming. She has an absolute fit, which I don't even think I can fully describe in words. So...I am wondering...do you think it's possible she could be having seizures in her sleep and is waking up disoriented that when she does come around she is flipping out to the degree that she is? I wouldn't come to this type of conclusion if I didn't have Emily who has a borderline diagnosis of Tuberous Sclerosis and has a history of seizures. Julia also has a 6-7 month gross motor delay (she is 18 months and is not walking) and a slight speech delay as well. We recently brought her to a developmental pedi and she tested Julia for TS but we haven't gotten the results yet. She is in Early Intervention and is also having Physical Therapy outside of EI... just for some background info. I might be able to understand these fits at least a little bit more if it was in the middle of the day and something happened to make her mad(even then I think 18 months is a bit on the young side for such a huge tantrum) or, if we as a family had just experienced some major change or something. These fits of rage come on seemingly unprovoked which is what really has me thinking something else could be going on here. Sorry I am rambling here. Any thoughts? Does anyone else remember anything like this happening to their child with seizures when they were younger?
Feel free to jump in on the comments and offer any thoughts you may have!
Wow. It's certainly possible. Or abnormal activity (below seizure threshhold) could be causing the night terrors.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I'd put a call in to the friendly neighborhood neurologist, as the only way to tell for sure is to put her on the monitors while she's sleeping.....
And I know you must be freaking out, so hugs to you and Ryun :)
Wow indeed. The above sounds like great advice. I'd guess if it's not seizures or something below that threshhold, it would have to be vividly bad or strange dreams and a reaction to same. Still, to have dreams like that - ever, let alone at her age - is enough of a stretch that it's friendly neighborhood neurologist time.
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