difficult child had something strange happen

[Kjs]

Yes, difficult child still gets headaches. Two weeks ago, I brought him to school on a Wednesday morning at 7:30. At 8:30 he calls me and said he thinks he is having an anxiety attack but it was different. Told me to come and get him. He was saying other things but his words were all jumbled and I couldn't understand him. I hung up and called the office back. I asked if he was alright and they said, No. He was very flushed and his eyes were droopy. He has xanax at school and he asked for that.

I picked him up and some things he said were jumbled, others were fine. I asked him if I should call the doctor and he said no he wanted to go to the hospital. I told him I would call the doctor first. He said no, because doctors always tell him he is "just fine" and he isn't.

I tried to tell him I DO understand he isn't feeling well, or right. But we try to reassure him that he is ok. We got home and he went to bed. He slept for 5 hours. he was out. I would check on him and touch him and he was so out of it. Then he felt better.

I was wondering if this could of been some kind of seizure???
We haven't gone to the doctor because he was feeling better.

 

[smallworld]

Kjs, it could be a seizure. Please call your doctor and explain what happened. Your difficult child should have a full workup by a neurologist. If you don't like the neuro you saw before, find a different neuro for a new evaluation.

 

[Andy]

Next time take him to the ER. His speech being jumbled is an added visible symptom that the docs would pick up and take serious. Tell your difficult child that it is more than the headache symptoms that the docs have seen in the past and that they need to check him ASAP.

I agree with Smallworld also in that you should call his doctor tomorrow even if he is feeling better. Did the school give him his Xanax as he requested? Ask the doctor if that should be given or withheld with the symptom of slurred speech. If he was given the medications, was it before or after the slurred speech, droopy eyes, ect.? That would be important to know also.

I hate to see him go through this. However, he is at the point where new symptoms are needed to show themselves for the docs to take his headaches seriously.

 

[Kjs]

Xanax was given AFTER. I think that is why he slept so sound for so long. He rarely takes xanax.

 

[Wiped Out]

I agree about calling his doctor; he/she needs to know about this.

 

[BestICan]

Sounds very much like the seizures my difficult child used to have. I agree with the advice to call a neurologist. I was once told that having an EEG soon after a seizure (if it was a seizure) may make it more likely to see things on the EEG that wouldn't show up otherwise. So it might be a good idea to have an EEG soonish if you can get one approved.

 

[Marguerite]

A workup by a neurologist sounds like a very good idea. Try to find one who specialises in migraines. While this could be a seizure and it shouldn't be ruled out, this still fits with migraine.

Pity you're not in Australia, I know exactly who you should see!

Marg

 

[gcvmom]

I agree with the seizure suspicion. I hope he's o.k.!

 

[ML]

How frustrating. I hope he's feeling better today and I do hope he gets in to see a neuro.

 

[rejectedmom]

I once had a similar experience. Even though I had a history of migrain my GP sent me to a neurologist. A call to the doctor would be prudent. -RM

 

[Shari]

I hope he's feeling better!

 

[JJJ]

Next time it happens, please go straight to ER. They need to run tests while it is happening or immediately after for the best chance of accurate results.

 

[susiestar]

I am so sorry. You must both have been very scared.

It is totally understandable to not want to go to the ER, esp with the increasing costs. Sadly, with this new symptom it is imperative that you take him to the ER if it ever happens again. Going to the doctor won't help. They will take days or weeks to schedule an EEG from the pediatrician/family doctor's orders. It will probably take even longer to get in to see the neuro if your neuro is anything like our old neuro (not sure about the new one - haven't seen him enough to know).

With this symptom it will likely be impossible to figure out what is going on unless you can get an EEG done during or immediately after the headache.

This symptom could be dysarthria (wikipedia description: [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysarthria[/ame]) or could be something far more serious, such as a stroke.

This web page describes a LOT of migraine variants and may or may not have info that helps you. I found it very helpful in understanding Jessie's migraines and mine.

It is so frustrating to know that all you can do is not enough to stop your child from hurting. You are doing a great job helping your son grow and learn through this.

Hugs to the whole family.