epilepsy

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I've posted before about my son having huge meltdowns at the moment.
Do any of you have any experience with epilepsy, and can it produce rage and anxiety attacks, along with really distorted sensory issues: pain from light touch, distorted vision (which I am sure isn't a hallucination, as he squishes up his eyes as if he can't believe what he is seeing and says we look "wrong"). This only happens while he is having a meltdown. He also says he feels like he can't breath.
I may be barking up the wrong tree, maybe he is "just" having a panic attack, but any of your experiences would be appreciated.

hubby had similiar issues when he was little....was tested for epilepsy, but docs said he didn't have it~that was in the 70's though~not sure what to make of it all

Sounds more like a migraine to me. I used to get them. Or perhaps a reaction to red food dye #40 or yellow #5.

Sorry for the spelling, read between the lines

Nope. Ephilepsy doesn't concur with general AS or Authism. I have EP myself wich is succesfully medicated, even though I have a skull trauma. It also shows on EEG (you know, you get your head full of electrodes and a rubber chicken net strapped all over the electrodes)

I agree with Wendytheweird that it's more a migraine attack. And the red dye possibly affecting. We've a kid with severely intolerance of betacarotene (which is named E16* in the european glossary of food color).

Worth looking into. I'll be happy to answer question about allergic symptoms of betacarothene / betakaroten / E16* and so on from my point of view but remember I'm not a skilled professional in this, just a parent.

I have migraines. Severe migraines. Heavy duty medication. It is painful, and sometimes my vision goes away, but the headaches come on very slowly, and I always know when I'm getting them. This doesn't sound like migraine, and it doesn't sound like epilepsy either, which usually comes on with a complete seizure. My advice, see a doctor. Migraines are painful, epilepsy, if not handled right, can be life threatening.

Hope that helps.
btdt

Thanks for your answers. He is having an EEG done, at least that will rule epilepsy out.
But autism does concur with epilepsy! Up to 30%.
I'm interested in allergy symptoms, if you could tell me some more about food dyes. I'll keep check on what he is eating!
By the way, nice to see another Scandinavian here.

My son has seizures, he was diagnosed at age 2 after 10 seizures within the first 24 hours. He was dx with ADHD at about 3 years and we held off on medication until he was 5 and the summer before he started school. He is now 6, in the 1st grade and it has been a roller coaster. He was just dx with "it's most likely aspergers and not ADHD" yesterday.

My son has had meltdowns for years. (We have always called them meltdowns, or sensory overloads). The puzzle is finally fitting together. He was born at 32 weeks and never showed any signs of premee issues. But he would go into rages for unknown reasons. No pattern has ever developed, except changes, but that is not always what sets him off. We have taught him to adapt to some changes and warn him excessively 5-15 minutes before we do something new. Unfortunately, this does not always work.

We took him on a weekend trip last weekend, came home on Monday. He went to sleep when we got home, 3 hours later at 1 am, he woke up and jumped on my bed and on me and my husband, until we got up at 6 am and gave up. He would lay down for about 15 minutes at a time, so we took turns all night with getting a few minutes of sleep. He then stayed up all day and the next. So after seeing the dr on Monday, we got to do a return trip to the dr on Friday. His Psyc is 3 hours away. But at least we finally brought the dx forward.

Long story, sorry! But the rages, noise sensitivity, anxiety and such are not classic symptoms of seizures. However, my son does have all of the above. I was an epiliptic. I only had 3 gran-mal seizures until I was pregnant with my son. I had them non stop for 2 weeks (they stated non electrical, so they did not harm him. they did not show up on the EEG, even when the tech and dr watched me have several during the test) I have not had any since and do not take meds.

Some people have an auora right before a seizure. I never did. My son has not expressed one yet. But your child could also be experencing the peti-mal or partial seizures. The EEG is the only way to find out.

Good Luck!!

Thanks! I've been trying to work out why these meltdowns started so suddenly, and what triggers them. I don't want to overlook anything, and especially not anything like epilepsy!
I'm worried that IF he has epilepsy, it won't show on an EEG.
My son is being assessed for ADHD at the moment. Although it wouldn't surprise me if he has a bit of that, too, (always been pretty hyper, and EXTREMELY impulsive) I don't think it would explain the sudden onset of these really horendous meltdowns?