Extreme breath-holder?!?

[LuminosaJane]

My son has been holding his breath since about 8mo after incidents of anger, injury or frustration. During the mild events, when he begins to turn blue, we can blow in his mouth to stimulate him to breathe. During the sever events, that doesn't work and he passes out. Once this happens he starts to breathe again. Our doctors have assures us that this is normal, involuntary and that he will eventually out grow it.
This week has been rough--three major incidents each with new developments culminating in today's ambulance ride because of what we thought was a seizure after the breath-holding event. He's fine and the docs are 99.9% sure he's a breath-holder though we are considering doing an EEG to rule out a seizure disorder.

Meanwhile, how can I help my little guy? Has anyone dealing with this had any luck with natural care? We have a chiro appt tomorrow. He is not anemic--which is a common trait among breath-holders. Accu-pressure? Naturopathy? Stiff drinks for mama? Would love to hear any BTDT stories from mamas who've dealt with this.

[NiteNicole]

My really close friend's daughter did this exact thing.  She just had to out grow it.  It did look very like a seizure and I'm not saying don't rule that out, but it wasn't a seizure.  She's in 4th grade now and it's been YEARS since she had an incident.  I imagine it must be very very scary. 
 

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by NiteNicole 

My really close friend's daughter did this exact thing.  She just had to out grow it.  It did look very like a seizure and I'm not saying don't rule that out, but it wasn't a seizure.  She's in 4th grade now and it's been YEARS since she had an incident.  I imagine it must be very very scary. 
 

  My cousin is legendary for this.  She is now 42 and there's no noticeable health backlash from it.

[kblackstone444]

My youngest son started doing this literally the day he was born.  When he was tired.  When he was hungry.  When he wanted Mama.  When he wanted a diaper chance.  When he was scared.  When he was bored.  When he was uncomfortable.  When he wanted a change of scenery.  EVERY SINGLE TIME HE CRIED.  He also had a very shrill "I'm being beaten within an inch of my life" cry, even when he was only mildly irritated.  Scared the crap out of me every time.  He "only" passed out four times, but that was four times more than my heart and nerves could handle.  His pediatrician told me to gently blow in his face, near his mouth when he does it, to remind him to breathe.  That helped sometimes, but alot of the time, I just had to wait until my baby stopped looking like he was possessed.  I mean, seriously, strangers would stop and stare and either ask me what was wrong with my baby, or ask me if I needed the to call someone for me.  My son just turned two and is still a very intense little boy.  The two year old tantrums are epic.  But... he's down to the point where he'll only do the breath holding thing if he's really scared or really hurt.  It may take a while... but it gets better...