Help! my babys having seizures (allergy related I swear)

[FunkSoulMommy]

So my son has a few times in his life did what his father said was "hold his breath till he passed out" I just always assumed that was really what he was doing, because my lil taurus is about as bull headed as they come & will honestly hold a really loud angry cry till his lips turn purple... Apparently I shouldn't have been so quick to think daddy was right.
Especially since this only happened at daddy's house!

Yesterday when his father brought him home I heard him crying outside the door and ran to get him before hi daddy even knocked... my lil man was obviously upset & hsi dad said he was mad for no reason. He just started crying. well I got him inside, closed the door, & not 15 seconds later my lil man just fell backwards in my arms. His lips were purple his little limbs went stiff and his arm kinda shook. He did this for about 20 seconds, then he kinda pulled upright (he was leaning backwards over my arm where he fell with my hand under hsi head) & I thought he was better, but his eyes were rolled back in his head.... He kinda looked at me, but I know he couldn't see anything, then he fell over sideways onto my arm & looked like he was going to sleep about 15 seconds later he came to, but my normally very anti-snuggle baby wouldn't turn lose of me & just wanted me to pet & love on him.

He did this again about 20 minutes later, but didn't stay out as long.
This is teh only time I have actually seen him do it... & HE IS NOT HOLDING HIS BREATH TILL HE PASSES OUT!!!

I know the first thing everyone will say is call the Dr. but unfortunately my Dr is a firm believer & CIO and thinks my son is spoiled & has actually frequently told me "he'll just pass out & start breathing again"

Now I bet you're saying, where do the allergies come in right? well I did something very simular when I was a baby & my mother couldn't get a dr to take her seriousy & believe I was having seizures till I was almost 13 and had one in the hospital. When I was a baby they realized I had a corn syrup intolerance & that stopped a lot of my constant crying, but they still didn't really believe I was having seizures. Turns out that when they finally figured out what was wrong, I was having seizures for two reasons, one was my blood sugar dropping, & one was I have a REALLY NASTY reaction to MSG in even the smallest amounts (like someone opens a bag of doritos next to me & I inhale the dust & get sick).

When my son is with me he eats what I eat mostly, & I make sure to avoid foods that may contain msg, whic means I avoid alot of processed things. His father on the other hand, still insists on giving him babyfood. He stays with my sons grandparents on the weekend & grandma is constantly worried about saw choaking, so he only gets babyfood & mashed potatoes.

I think that since my son is only having these reactions while with his father, or right after coming home that probably it is food related like mine is. So what I am looking for is 2 things, 1 tips on how to actually start him on an elimination type diet, hopefully one that even his VERY mainstream grandparents can understand (since I know hes not having the reaction to things I give him & therefore have NO clue whats going in his mouth with them thats causing this) & also maybe a easy to understand chart that they could record EVERYTHING that goes in his mouth....

I am just soooo scared that my baby is gonna go through what I did as a kid & I cant imagine putting my itty bitty man in that kind of misery... uuuggghhh....

[peachskittles]

I'm not sure if this is food related or not but what your son is doing is exactly what my oldest did for awhile...The doctor called it breath holding spells or something to that fact...The way she explained it to me, when he got scared/upset/startled he started to cry but didn't know when to stop, hence passing out...If you read about it online, a lot of articles insist that it's the child making himself pass out (well this was when I researched it 4-5 years ago), which it isn't always the case...I had to make sure he started breathing again within a minute (which was always the case, usually 15-20 seconds later)...He's 6 now and has successfully grown out of it (the doctor mentioned it could go on as long as 7 or 8 years old)...This could be a possibility instead of food related problems...

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/tc/br...topic-overview

That seems to have some information about them for you...I hope you figure it out...I know my son's spells left me so frightened each and every time...

[kjbrown92]

But if it only happens when he's with DH or shortly thereafter and OP had same issue as a child... doesn't it sound more like food allergies? I would probably bring him to the doctor to rule out anything else, but I would start the food journal immediately. And ask anyone else who has him to fill it out when they're with him. I'd suspect MSG since that's your issue, but it really could be any food (that's not in your normal diet if he's not having the episodes with you).

[peachskittles]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

But if it only happens when he's with DH or shortly thereafter and OP had same issue as a child... doesn't it sound more like food allergies? I would probably bring him to the doctor to rule out anything else, but I would start the food journal immediately. And ask anyone else who has him to fill it out when they're with him. I'd suspect MSG since that's your issue, but it really could be any food (that's not in your normal diet if he's not having the episodes with you).

I agree it could be a possibility but it doesn't sound like a seizure to me...If it's only happening with dad, maybe he is frustrated or upset about the transfer or upset about something in dad's home that causes them...It sounds like he likes being at home with mom and is relaxed there, but with dad he gets a whole range of emotions and he can't control himself...Her depiction of what happens is identical to what a breath holding spell looked like to me as well...I went as far as to ask the doctor for a test to see about seizures, but upon watching a video and talking to her, we decided that it was too invasive and to monitor him constantly...The test for seizures meant looking at normal brain waves and then re-enacting a spell while he was hooked up to monitors...

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/003931.htm This is what was the next step for us...I never went that far though so I have no advice about it...

I do agree that it COULD be a possibility and I'd talk to a doctor first...The doctor that helped diagnose my son had me watch a video of a child have a breath holding spell and asked me if what I was seeing was an accurate depiction of what happened during my son's...It was so odd to see it but in reality it was exactly what happened...

Also, it could be related to iron deficiency, so make sure your peditrician checks his iron levels as well...

[harmonyhobbit]

My baby does this too. My ped is wonderful, believed me and explained the condition. It's an abnormal breathing reflex that couses his breathing to shut down when he's stressed. Usually it happens when he's crying hard, but often he goes right into the seizure without making a sound.
I've found that being tired and hungry trigger the episodes, but exposure to allergens, while it doesn't exactly cause the seizures, does seem to make them more likely. At this point, he seems to have outgrown the allergies, but still occasionally has seizures.
My advice is to shop for another ped. We drive 60 miles to see ours, but he's totally worth it.

[FunkSoulMommy]

[QUOTE=peachskittles;13622260]The way she explained it to me, when he got scared/upset/startled he started to cry but didn't know when to stop, hence passing out...If you read about it online, a lot of articles insist that it's the child making himself pass out (well this was when I researched it 4-5 years ago), which it isn't always the case...QUOTE]

Thank you so much for your imput and more information on the breath holding spells. I really did think in the begining that that was probably what he was doing, but when he did it in my arms the 2nd time day before yesterday & then yesterday he really wasn't crying for very long. It was almost like he was crying because it was about to happen or because he felt something was wrong. He just let out the worlds most pitiful cry and fell backwards... I will do some more research on breath holding spells, but I'm not so sure I am certain that that is what is going on.... because he HAS had times where he cried so hard or got so mad he held his breath & they really didn't happen like these particular eppisodes.

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

But if it only happens when he's with DH or shortly thereafter and OP had same issue as a child... doesn't it sound more like food allergies? I would probably bring him to the doctor to rule out anything else, but I would start the food journal immediately. And ask anyone else who has him to fill it out when they're with him. I'd suspect MSG since that's your issue, but it really could be any food (that's not in your normal diet if he's not having the episodes with you).

Yeah, MSG allergies are like much much much more likely to happen in females, so I was hoping he would be safe. I really hope thats not what it is. But I'm still looking for a good like log sheet to give his dad to fill out on what he eats while there. There are so many things that we dont eat here that they do that it makes my head ache just thinking about it.

Originally Posted by peachskittles

I agree it could be a possibility but it doesn't sound like a seizure to me...

I would probably say the same thing if I hadn't had almost the same reaction for a long time. I only hand the grand mal seizures sometimes, I often had what people tend to call "absent" seizures where the person looks like they are persectly fine if you look at them from far away, but up close you can tell they are stiff & not really there... I often had seizures where only part of my body would shake as well... the only time I had the full on grand mals was when my system was just sooooo overloaded with the stuff... like I had a big bown of ramen noodles & a gigantic salad with RANCH dressing and flavpred crutons when I hadn't eaten anything else. I dont know if 2 days with Dad could result in his little system getting THAT overloaded, or maybe hes just too cool for grand mal seizures... I dont know.... he wont tell me :-P

Originally Posted by peachskittles

I went as far as to ask the doctor for a test to see about seizures, but upon watching a video and talking to her, we decided that it was too invasive and to monitor him constantly...The test for seizures meant looking at normal brain waves and then re-enacting a spell while he was hooked up to monitors...

Also, it could be related to iron deficiency, so make sure your peditrician checks his iron levels as well...

I dont want my little man to go through those tests thats why I'm trying to get a hand on what is causing it as soon as possible. I have been off seizure meds for almost 8 years now & control mine mostly with diet. I am a firm believer that what we put in our mouths causes many of the issues people deal with... & at this point I would probably not subject my son to the many tests untill after I couldn't find a cause.

OH & his iron levels were checked last week & were well above danger zone thanks for the tip though....

Originally Posted by harmonyhobbit

My baby does this too. My ped is wonderful, believed me and explained the condition. It's an abnormal breathing reflex that couses his breathing to shut down when he's stressed. Usually it happens when he's crying hard, but often he goes right into the seizure without making a sound.
I've found that being tired and hungry trigger the episodes, but exposure to allergens, while it doesn't exactly cause the seizures, does seem to make them more likely. At this point, he seems to have outgrown the allergies, but still occasionally has seizures.
My advice is to shop for another ped. We drive 60 miles to see ours, but he's totally worth it.

Did the ped give you a name for it? I'm just curious. This sounds like maybe whats going on. Saw's lips turned blue which I know is a sign of lack of oxygen, but he wasn't really screaming or anything.
I do think that he is much more tired when hes at daddy's house, he refuses to nap like he does at home while he is with them. & like I said he gets mostly baby food when with them, while at home he eats like a "real people" so the lil guy is prolly hungry too... we always eat a big meal when he comes home....

I wish I could shop for a new ped... uuuggghhhh... right now I'm a non driving momma who is TOTALLY reliant on where ex hubby's insurance will pay for. & this is a college town, so most of the places that take the insurance are connected to the university & are on the cutting edge of giving people more drugs than they need My absolutely amazing Ped left his practice & the guy who took it over quit taking the insurance.... uuuggghhhh! so frustrating!




I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the input.... do any of you have any idea where to find a really easy to understand food chart for Dad? I can just do a notebook, but hes a lil slow when it comes to these things.... but has agreed to humour his "crazy hippie ex wife" and try to keep a log for me....

oh & sorry it took me so long to reply, just started a new job working 3rd shift... its kickin my butt!

[kjbrown92]

I have an excel spreadsheet I used for my kids. But all you need is:
Time... what he ate (including brands so you can look up ingredients if you need to).... what he drank.... any medicines taken... and if you want... when peed/pooped... and "seizures" (what time and how long). On mine I also had what time they woke up and what time they went to sleep (and how long if they took a nap).

[FunkSoulMommy]

thanks... I really had no clue where to start.... uuggghhh this is sooo frustrating.. I thought I would be safe since hes a boy! I never thought about OTHER possible allergies!

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by FunkSoulMommy

Yeah, MSG allergies are like much much much more likely to happen in females, so I was hoping he would be safe. I really hope thats not what it is. But I'm still looking for a good like log sheet to give his dad to fill out on what he eats while there. There are so many things that we dont eat here that they do that it makes my head ache just thinking about it.

I'm just now reading about glutamates and aspartates, and the dogtorj link in another thread. He mentions the two as known seizure trigger-ers, along with some other interesting stuff. I hadn't heard of the female connection with MSG sensitivities. I'll have to look into it!

more links:
glutamate thread
calcium thread
http://www.msgtruth.org/remedies.htm
http://george-eby-research.com/html/...n-anxiety.html (look up taurine)
http://www.detoxpuzzle.com/glutamate.php

I haven't actually tested (formally or informally) but I think we have high glutamate levels here (from high ammonia, from high protein/low folate), and are starting to see some good results from taurine.