Hectic vomiting with a seizure? Normal?

Elissa - posted on 02/05/2009

My son is on Clobazam

Sandra - posted on 02/05/2009

My daughter has tonic clonic seizures and will vomit after most of them. She is currently controlled by meds. I was watching a TV show on discovery -- one of those mystery diagnosis shows and they had a little girl who was presenting with only vomiting at night. It turns out that she had partial seizures that only affected the brain where vomiting was controlled. They said it was not very common. It was diagnosed by 24 or 48 hour EEG.

Lindsay - posted on 02/04/2009

What meds is your son on Elissa?

Lindsay - posted on 02/04/2009

You are spot on Elissa!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you everyone for your info!

Elissa - posted on 02/04/2009

My son vomits the entire contents of his stomach before or after every seizure. I am told that it is the hallmark of seizures that occur in the temporal or occipital lobes of the brain. It is uncommon enough that several pediatricians told me that it could not possibly be seizures because he was vomitting. They were wrong, and the neurologist has proven that. The concern with the vomit is of course airway during the seizure, because they can't roll over to clear it themselves. We have been told to roll him over so he is face down with his face over the edge of the bed and allow him to vomit on the floor... it's yucky, but... you do what you have to do to keep the vomit from entering their lungs. I won't hide that I am concerned that if he had a seizure in his bed while I was sleeping, or while napping at daycare, that there could be consequences.



I know what you mean though... you are asking, if they vomit, do you automatically think it was a seizure, or when do you know that it is just the flu... I'd say the difference would be if they are awake after they vomit, then it probably wasn't a seizure. If they are groggy and falling asleep like they are completely exhausted, then it probably was. The question then is... if it was a seizure, what would you do differently? Does knowing one way or the other change the way you deal with the aftermath?

Christina - posted on 02/03/2009

My 6yr old daughter vomits every time she has a seizure. As far as I know it is normal for her.

Farrah - posted on 02/03/2009

Hi Lindsay,

My daughter is 9 yrs old and has been having seizures since she was a baby. She's gone through many types of seizures...when she was about 5 yrs old she started vomiting along with her seizures, I believe it is common. You can google "vomiting and seizures" and be able to find some info. It is especially stressful for me bacause my daughter has these episodes at night while sleeping. Luckily she has been seizure free for about 6 months and the vominting has stopped since mid-December when we raised her medication dose. Also talk to your doctor if you are really concerned. Good luck.

Farrah

Dodie - posted on 02/02/2009

I have a niece who has had quite a few seizures, but not serious enough to medicate. The first one happened when she was ... gosh, maybe 18 months... They only last about 10 or 15 seconds, but always occur with vomitting. She has woken up in the middle of the night, told her mom she's not feeling well, goes to the toilet, thrashes her head backwards in this very quick seizure and vomits. My niece is now 10 and she has been seizure free for a couple of years. My sister said she was watching "Mystery Diagnosis" not that long ago and it was about a girl who would vomit and they had no idea what was wrong and finally came to the conclusion she was having a rare form of seizures that involve vomitting. I missed the show, but she said it was very informative.

Hope this helps you. Good luck!

Tracey - posted on 01/31/2009

My son started vomiting a lot after a grand mal (he mostly has absence or partial complex seizures). I remember that he wasn't sick but right after the convulsions stopped, he just started vomiting and didn't stop. Probably the worst night of my life. I remember the neurologist saying that it was possibly caused by the seizure. Thankfully, it hasn't happened sine.