Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Parenting
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-18-2009, 06:51 PM
 
371 posts, read 1,255,282 times
Reputation: 216

Advertisements

well, another visit to the neurologist this morning. Still thinks it sounds like breath holding syndrome and we are to increase his iron supplement since, oddly, children are often low on blood iron with this. As we already knew, we can't just ignore it nor do we give in ( obviously! )- the main objective is to not allow him to get injured. He had an episode in the food store cart where, b/c of his intense stiffness and arching back, my hand was 'crushed' into the cart wire protecting the back of his head. Kids w/ this don't wake up still mad or even remembering what made them mad...they wake up sweaty, docile and disoriented. Also, these kids are not holding their breath mad..they're mad and then go into this spell- just as excrutiatingly afraid and panicy as the parent!! I am actually a nurse, so on the outside I look as calm as if I was at work. It's inside my heart pounds and I want to cry! When it's done, we simply hold him, rub his face, whisper it's ok until he comes to. Then it's back to things as usual.
thanks for the words of compassion. It is hard, more than hard, to watch and most would think it's a seizure. I will look for a 'support' group online. It seems all I want is assurance that he will grab that breath again and that indeed noone has come out of this with serious complications ( like all his doctors claim ). Supposedly will grow out of these...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-21-2009, 06:06 PM
 
Location: nc
436 posts, read 1,517,855 times
Reputation: 463
I was watching an episode of "Mystery Diagnosis" today and I remembered reading this thread a few days ago.

On the episode, there was a child who, since birth, would have episodes of involuntary breath holding. The doctors could find nothing "wrong" with the girl and told the parents to deal with it. When the child got a little older, I think around 4, the doctors discovered that when she went into an episode her heart would slow down a bit and they figured that was what was causing this so they put in a pacemaker. That seemed to help, then she started screaming in pain and half of her body would turn red. I forgot what the doctors told her this was and they said there was nothing they could do. In the end it turns out the child had "Paroxysmal Extreme Pain Disorder" which attributed to the symptoms.

Now I don't know if this is like your child at all, but I just wanted to share this info with you. Hope this helps.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-21-2009, 09:17 PM
 
371 posts, read 1,255,282 times
Reputation: 216
wow! How did you remember the name of the disorder!? He's had a cardiology work up that was ok. Our next step in 6 weeks is to repeat the EEG, with the 20 wires glued to his scalp. Only this time he wears it home for 24-48hrs so they can 'tape' all the episodes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-21-2009, 09:18 PM
 
371 posts, read 1,255,282 times
Reputation: 216
We'll see how the iron therapy ( supplement ) works. We're vegetarians, so you can imagine all our carnivore friends are having a field day!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-23-2009, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Dallas, Texas
3 posts, read 4,869 times
Reputation: 11
My son is 18 months old, and also does the breath holding spells, and while my doctor said its not that common, that i have nothing to worry about and that he'll grow out of it. He's only done it twice, but those two times it was a tantrum gone wrong. He was tired, over stimulated, and just ready to go home (I was at my parents house visiting). They are scary! I was so alarmed I started crying, until i realized he was okay. One thing that seems to ward off him passing out, is when i noticed him beginning to hold his breath i'll run over and blow air in his face. It startles him into breathing, and so another crisis diverted. Its scary, and I hope he doesn't have another one anytime soon. He also has a mild case of Stridor (I believe thats what its called), the doctor said that he'll grow out of that too and not to worry about it, but i often wonder if that can help cause the breath holding or not.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-23-2009, 01:54 PM
 
Location: in a house
3,574 posts, read 14,303,346 times
Reputation: 2400
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liza54 View Post
well, another visit to the neurologist this morning. Still thinks it sounds like breath holding syndrome and we are to increase his iron supplement since, oddly, children are often low on blood iron with this. As we already knew, we can't just ignore it nor do we give in ( obviously! )- the main objective is to not allow him to get injured. He had an episode in the food store cart where, b/c of his intense stiffness and arching back, my hand was 'crushed' into the cart wire protecting the back of his head. Kids w/ this don't wake up still mad or even remembering what made them mad...they wake up sweaty, docile and disoriented. Also, these kids are not holding their breath mad..they're mad and then go into this spell- just as excrutiatingly afraid and panicy as the parent!! I am actually a nurse, so on the outside I look as calm as if I was at work. It's inside my heart pounds and I want to cry! When it's done, we simply hold him, rub his face, whisper it's ok until he comes to. Then it's back to things as usual.
thanks for the words of compassion. It is hard, more than hard, to watch and most would think it's a seizure. I will look for a 'support' group online. It seems all I want is assurance that he will grab that breath again and that indeed noone has come out of this with serious complications ( like all his doctors claim ). Supposedly will grow out of these...
There is an uncommon disorder called "catoplexy" - has any of the healthcare providers considered that?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-23-2009, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Lakeland, FL
326 posts, read 1,297,706 times
Reputation: 128
My nephew use to have it when he was younger. He is now five and has completely grown out of it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-23-2009, 06:55 PM
 
371 posts, read 1,255,282 times
Reputation: 216
yes, the doctor says it gets worse around 2-3y when there's more to trigger these spells, and should be grown out of them around 5y.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-24-2009, 02:53 PM
 
220 posts, read 863,503 times
Reputation: 68
My mother-in-law told me that her eldest son did this, and the doctor told her to grab his hair and pull him up if possible to "shock" his system into breathing. This is back-in-the-day, and so it will probably start another whole debate on child abuse. but that is just what she told me, not sure if you're willing to try that now a days...

I'm sorry you're going through this OP, I know it must be scary, and I wish you the best of luck... I would say go with the advice your doctor gives you & pray. Best regards.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2009, 02:44 PM
 
107 posts, read 306,320 times
Reputation: 66
my mother tells me i did the same thing as a baby! i'm not sure when it stopped but i will tell you as an adult and all thoughout my life i have dealt with panic disorder.......not sure if it is at all related but mom seems to think so.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Parenting

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top