Hi My son has been having breath holding spells since he was 3 weeks old. The first time it happened we took him to emergency and they did a full check but did not do any further tests. He is now 14 mths old and still has them frequently , I have seen a GP and have got a referral to see a paediatrician. Obviously it is incredibly upsetting when he has an episode. I was wondering what other IM'S do when there baby has a breath holding spell and also if they have found any medical reasons why there baby does this.
7 Replies
Is he passing out?
Or does he cry till he has no sound, roll eyes, and come back?
Our lil girl has reflex anoxic seizures.
They can get confused with BHS. She looks like she cries till she runs out of breath, then a seizure will follow. These need to be caused by something that triggered it. She didn't get them till 10 months. She is now 3yrs old. If it's the same feel free to ask any questions. I'm also part of a really good support group.
Hi Hayley I'm the mum that posted the question. As far as I'm aware he does not pass out. It is triggered by hurting himself usually or if he is tired but it doesn't always happen when he is tired or hurts himself. I can generally tell if he is going to have one and sometimes he will have a few in a day and then none for a few days. He is also very dazed afterwards for a few minutes. As he has gotten older they have become more frequent and last longer.
The RAS is a sensitive nerve (vagus, spelling??) in their spine, it controls the heart to some extent. google the stars website I put on below. Hopefully you can find a paediatrician that know about either BHS or RAS. Video his episodes to show the doctors. Because they are the same to a point but the causes are different.
Breath holding from what I can understand can be manipulated (as in a tantrum) (RAS, is a reaction to an incident)
Our lil miss has a few different triggers mostly being hurt, if she is frightend (someone walks up behind her and yells, ect..) humidity, going from really hot to cold (vise versa)
Between 10 months and 2 years she had a lot mostly in like a cluster. The she has these others that she just blacks out (petite mal).
She will not always have a full seizure which are tonic clonic ( she will be stiff and then pass out). Have a look at the You tube clips they are pretty standard to what out girl does.
It takes our miss a few hours to a day to get over it, but we too can tell when she is due. Like I said previous add me to FB if you like or even to the FB site.
I've done heaps of research, too much for this sort of thing.
My 12 month old daughter also has reflex anoxic seizures. It was very scary the first time it happened and like you we called an ambulance. I'm fortunate enough to work at our Emergency Dept and with a paediatrician so her diagnosis was made rather quickly. Her first seizure was 3 months ago and she has had around 10-12 seizures since then. All have been triggered from her hurting herself - mainly from bumps on the head.
There are quite a few videos on YouTube of children and babies having one of these seizures (some more severe than others). The article in Wikipedia is quite descriptive as well.
Other possibilities for the passing out episodes that the paediatrician investigated were:
An iron blood test - some babies with either high or low iron can be prone to fainting
Simply listening to her heart sounds to see if there may be any cardiac issues.
I wish you all the best. I know you must be feeling scared like I was. If you want any further information or just want to talk, let me know x
Karlie, I can add you to 2 forums on facebook if you would like. S.T.A.R.S is another good website.
Syncope.trust.and.reflex.anoxic.seizures.
Poor lil honey! I hope your lil muchkin doesn't have too many episodes or all the other lil things that come with :)
That would be fantastic Hayley. I'm relatively new at all of this and it's quite scary. Thank you
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RASsupport/
Put in Reflex Anoxic sezures and support group in the search tab, I will let them know. They are world wide. They have been a great source of information, comming straight from the mums.
Also ask me any questions. Our lil miss has runs of them about every 8 weeks she will have a week of lots of seizures.she is now 3 years old and has had them since 10 months old.
There is like a lead up where they are more prone to seizures then other times (even though they need a trigger)
If you lil miss is 12 months she will have a rocky year or 2 ahead, our miss is just starting to pull herself out of them or she will lay down after she feels "yucky".
bit tip, watch their eyes if their eyes are dull, face is pale, lips are grey, a bit clumbsy the triggers will be more likely to set of the seizure.
my Face book is Hayley Teasdale feel free to add me if you like.
I remember feeling so lost when she had her 1st. Luckly you have the medical knowlege at hand which helps.