Hello, I'm a new member and have found this board through various Google searches for "temporal lobe seizures," "ODD," "Trifectal," etc.
My son is 6.5 years old. He shows most (all?) signs of ODD and some of ADHD. He was a very easy baby and toddler and started to become incredibly stubborn, defiant, moody and difficult at about 2.5-3 years old.
We have been called to school for his behavioral problems since his first year of preschool, and those problems have become worse with each year. He is now in the first grade. This year he has hit his teachers, thrown chairs, pulled things off walls, knocked things over, and been generally disruptive. He screams at us, other children and other adults. His standard meltdown barage is, "I HATE YOU, YOU'RE AN IDIOT, YOU'RE GOING MAD, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
About a month ago we took him to a Psychiatrist who specializes in neurological testing. She did an EEG and said that he is having seizures in his temporal lobes and that these seizures are disrupting the brain's ability to regulate his emotions. She recommends Trifectal.
After that diagnosis I came home and did a ton of online research, and I can't find anything that substantiates her diagnosis. I've found a lot about temporal lobe seizures, but my son does not have absence seizures, he does not have visual disturbances, he does not smell things that are not there... he doesn't have a single symptom on the lists for temporal lobe seizures/epilepsy.
A friend of mine is an MD and I asked her about all of this. She asked two friends of hers - a Psychiatrist and a Neurologist. This was her email back to me:
Our pediatrician recommended a Neurologist at Children's Memorial (we live in Chicago) and we have an appointment for March 12 - that was the earliest he could see us.
I'm not sure what else to add. I'm sure I've left something out but will answer any questions that you have. I am at my wit's end. Thank you for reading
My son is 6.5 years old. He shows most (all?) signs of ODD and some of ADHD. He was a very easy baby and toddler and started to become incredibly stubborn, defiant, moody and difficult at about 2.5-3 years old.
We have been called to school for his behavioral problems since his first year of preschool, and those problems have become worse with each year. He is now in the first grade. This year he has hit his teachers, thrown chairs, pulled things off walls, knocked things over, and been generally disruptive. He screams at us, other children and other adults. His standard meltdown barage is, "I HATE YOU, YOU'RE AN IDIOT, YOU'RE GOING MAD, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
About a month ago we took him to a Psychiatrist who specializes in neurological testing. She did an EEG and said that he is having seizures in his temporal lobes and that these seizures are disrupting the brain's ability to regulate his emotions. She recommends Trifectal.
After that diagnosis I came home and did a ton of online research, and I can't find anything that substantiates her diagnosis. I've found a lot about temporal lobe seizures, but my son does not have absence seizures, he does not have visual disturbances, he does not smell things that are not there... he doesn't have a single symptom on the lists for temporal lobe seizures/epilepsy.
A friend of mine is an MD and I asked her about all of this. She asked two friends of hers - a Psychiatrist and a Neurologist. This was her email back to me:
The psychiatrist said that as far as he knew, these tests, EEG, Pet, MRI, etc. for localizing "Psychiatric" lesions are still experimental and not used to make clinical diagnoses. This is as of the last APA meetings in 10/08. I believe he was a past officer in the society and is knowledgable about this. This means that these tests are not routinely used for this purpose and psychiatric diagnoses are still made by a set of clinical sypmtoms generally.
This was corroborated by the Neuro scientist at Loyola. Both recommended that an opinion from a peds neurologist to confirm the suspicion about these "seizures".
Our pediatrician recommended a Neurologist at Children's Memorial (we live in Chicago) and we have an appointment for March 12 - that was the earliest he could see us.
I'm not sure what else to add. I'm sure I've left something out but will answer any questions that you have. I am at my wit's end. Thank you for reading