[begaines]

Well, Abby is 4 years old. It started back in April. She would have these spells where her little body would tremble. Well she had 4 spells back in April, she knows that it is about to happen, she will come and tell me, mommy I am shaking and within 2 minutes she will be trembling. She acts terrified. She wants to remove herself from whereever she is. These episodes will last anywhere from 5-12 minutes. We took her to a Pediatric Neurologist back in June, they did a MRI and EEG and it was normal. So, we didn't have anymore spells until The first part of November. She has had 5 spells so we took her back to the dr. they have now performed a 24 hour ambulatory study. We will not know the results for 24 hours. They said first thing they want to rule out is seizures. So, the dr. mentioned that maybe it was migraines. I just really don't believe that it is migraines. When these episodes happen she is scared, she normally hates the dr. and screams when she finds out that she has to go. But, when she has an episode she begs to go to the dr. She is usually hot after the episode is over. She has told me that the top of her head hurts. She told the dr. yesterday that her head is shaking when she shakes. She has also said that she hears thunder....does anyone have any insight?

[dac_cincy]

is she on any meds? her siezures sound like what my nephew has when he takes benadryl.

[laylasmom]

Any chance she has these only when she stands up? Just thinking that when you stand too fast and are dehydrated the blood rushes to your head and you get that 'thunder' sound. (dehydration also can cause trembling and headaches - just a thought as my son has a medical disorder that causes him to dehydrate).Does she get dizzy at all?
Sorry you are going through this, I am sure you will find answers soon!
Good Luck!
Janie

[begaines]

No, she can be playing in the floor. Riding in the car, it doesn't matter. One night we were in the restuarant, she was fine then all of a sudden she started freaking out and was ready to go.

No, she is not on any meds. She says she is bizzy (dizzy) tells me that the room is going round and round. The dr. we saw yesterday says that it could possibly be migraines. I really don't think that is so. Because it doesn't last long then when it is over it is over. I have an order to get blood work done. So, we will see. I am just so frustrated right now.

[Saya]

First, I'm SO sorry you're dealing with this. It must be so scary to see her going through this and not knowing what's causing it.

I have heard of some migraines causing seizure-like symptoms. I found some interesting material about how migraines and other conditions can often mimic seizures, including a table comparing symptoms (it's meant for doctors for assistance in making a diagnosis, but you may find it helpful).

Features of Seizures versus TIAs versus Migraine Attacks

[WJarman]

Auditory disturbances can be caused by Temporal Lobe seizures, as can the 'aura' (knowing she is going to have one befre the symptoms start) and the awake seizure activity. These are hard to catch on an eeg and usually an MRI will not show anything. If they don't see anything on the 24 hr eeg, don't give up. It can take years before they catch the abnormal brain activity. Some neurologists will go ahead and treat and then monitor if the symptoms go away (confirming seizure diagnosis)

Good luck!!!

[allgodsgrace]

I suffer from migraines and have many friends who to as well. We all have different reactions when they come on and different symptoms during them. Children usually react differently to illnesses than adults to too-- like strep is a belly ache often and not a sore throat. She may indeed be having them. Just curious, everyone I know who gets migraines (adults) always say they are wore out when they go away-- even if the headache was caught early. I know I feel like I have been run over. How does your daughter seem afterward? Lower energy? Hyper? Subdued?

I will be following this as it is both a concern as a fellow parent and something I haven't heard of in children. Please keep us updated. I pray whatever it is the doctors come up with a very easy fix/solution to treat it.

[stacytoadopt]

no ideas, but after watching friends deal with unknown symptoms - write down everything she eats, drinks, activities, sleep, etc... then see if there are any patterns after the fact.
good luck

[CT4]

Have they done a blood test to check her blood sugar? My blood sugar will crash and I have about 2 minutes notice and everything starts spinning, I shake and sweat, see spots. I have to stay away from sugar, eat often, protein is good. Might want to have it checked. Good luck.

[gwenrenee007]

the dizzy part makes it sound like vertigo.

Check out the symptoms here: Vertigo - Signs, Symptoms, Complications of Vertigo, Dizziness - neurologychannel

good luck and I hope your sweet girl is feeling better soon.

[shanpine]

How scary and frustrating for you....I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. Is she able to talk or communicate DURING these episodes?

[Whistler]

How scary!

As a migraine sufferer myself I have done a little research and there is a type of migraine called "cluster migraines" or "cluster headaches" that last a short amount of time with an intense pain just on the crown of the head. The recur in bursts then go away for a period of months. Maybe this is what the Dr. meant when he said migraines? The auditory "thunder" fits with that also.

You can google "cluster headache" to see if it fits at all.

[praying4rlittl1]

You've been given some great ideas. One more thing you might want to try, is to catch an "episode" on video. Since the episodes aren't regular and predictable, it might help them begin to narrow her diagnosis down if you have something to "show" them.

[begaines]

To answer a few questions. We are having labs done on Monday. I wondered about hypoglycemia but wouldn't you have to eat to make the spells stop?

She one time told me that the top of her head was hurting. Yesterday we were talking about it and she said that everything was green.

Last night she woke up and vomited just a little bit. I thought she might have a virus but she only did it that once. I asked her if she was hurting anywhere and she said her head, and of course her tummy. She said that everything was green again.

So, maybe something will show up on the lab work.

[campingfayrene]

When your daughter tells you that something is going to happen she is experiencing "aura"
The doctor that is taking care of your daughter is he/she a pediatric neurologist
From dealing with our son demand to be sent to a hospital that has specialties
We were sent to St.Louis Childrens Hospital in St.Louis and OH MY GOSH!
It will give you goose bumps
From our local peds. taking care of "it could be this or could be that"
They just jumped on him with both feet
He had hydrocephaly with no documented cause so basically he was in-operable but we were told "he will grow out of it"
They also told us if any infant needed a shunt he did but they couldn't operated they could find no deffects so the increase spinal fluid was causing all his seizures
It now has been 11 yrs and many times scared to death
to look at him now you wouldn't know anything was ever wrong
Be aggressive with these doctors if you feel uncomfortable about what you are being told
Until we felt ok they know what they are talking about did we feel good about what to do from here
Cindy