Can Benign Myclonic Spasms Cause Any Developmental Delay???

[PsMommy]

Around 3 months old we noticed our son was having very strange "twitching" episodes- of course I immediately start googling and self diagnosing...Originally I thought nothing of it but they got worse and more frequently. We took him to the ER one night and the doctor shook it off saying "babies twitch" I knew this wasnt normal, I've been around babies my entire life and had never seen one do this. It looked JUST like a seizure. We followed up with the pediatrician next morning and she as well shook it off...the episodes got worse and I took him BACk to the doctor where the finally referred us to Childrens Hospital. (When He was born he had a tiny cyst on his brain) When we got to Children's we were immediately admitted, after several CT's they told us the cyst was gone (he was born at 36 weeks, they told us typically these disappear by the time babies are born and his wouldve been gone had he been born on time) we then proceeded to have a 24 hr EEG, which came back NORMAL! and had another EEG to be normal the following week...I should mention he NEVER had an episode for the EEG's.They diagnosed it as Benign Myclonus in Infants. Anyway he is 7 months old now and they have stopped...we havent had one in almost 2 months now!! But i have noticed he is delayed. We are working on still gettin basic head control down..he can sit with a boppy around him but he can not sit alone. he has gotten better about tummy time and is really TRYING to roll over both ways his little arms just keep getting in the way..he kicks his legs back and is almost there (he has done it several times before but its not down pact) i see other 7 month old babies crawling, sitting and pulling up on things....How worried should i be?? Our pediatrician said to come back in 4 weeks and if his head control isnt 100& we will talk about Physical Therapy. He has gotten MUCh better but still not 100%...Please help!!!

[Zaylil]

Congrats on the little man crawling. Have you thought of maybe him being lactose and tolerant. My Nephew had really bad issues like that and they found out he was lactose and tolarent. Thought I would throw that out there. It could possibly be an allergy to something else who knows. Kids his age can have many different allergies and even just start developing them. Glad to hear nothing about tics though. : )
Good luck and dont forget to keep us posted. I like reading good endings.

[PsMommy]

well..good news! this weekend he started "crawling" more like a scoot but hes getting there. slowly but surely he will make it to his little toys!!! I am SO excited!!

[PsMommy]

Thanks for the advice! They have tried numerous times to trigger an episode and nothing..When we were admitted to Children's he had about 9 episodes that day, all of which I recorded to show the doctors. When the doctors diagnosed it as benign myclonus they explained to me that since he had SO many in one day IF it were some type of actual seizure activity that the EEG would still show some abnormal activity, he said "if it rains all night you dont wake up and the grass is dry" I was told they would just grow out of this and doctors have NO idea what actually causes them...but I was told stress could trigger one to happen..up until recently he was an EXTREMELY gassy baby & was uncomfortable ALL the time which I always said that the gas was part of the problem. He was tested for acid reflux and that was also negative. I pray they dont EVER return. Not being able to control your child from pain, sickness, anything like that is heartbreaking. I am glad to hear your daughter is developing quickly & the seizures are under control!

[Zaylil]

Ok, I will start by saying good job on taking control when your son was having seizures. I can probably say that 90% it was seizures. If he was not having episodes will the eeg was going on there is nothing to say that they were not seizures. This is what I would do. Have another EEG done, i know you said the tics have stopped but lets make sure there is nothing else going on in his brain. One side effect from seizures is delays in children. They get better so there is hope. All you can do is continue helping him he is only 7mnths old and he will catch up. My daughter is 2 1/2 and she is now finally beinging to talk. She has medicine resistent type of epilepsy (seizure disorder) so I know where you are coming from. She has had it since 8 1/2 mnths old. She had already learned to crawl by then. But everything else comes really slow to her. Her seizures are now being controlled with a diet and she is developing quickly. So keep your chin up he will over come these delays. But if he starts having tics again see a neurologist and have them do another eeg and if he doesnt seize while the eeg is going on keep trying. They cant have complete answeres for you until he does. Good luck hope the seizures are done for sure. Keep us posted.