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Has my nephew inherited my epilepsy?

Wed, 08/22/2018 - 06:37
Not sure if I've already posted this. I tried to before but I don't think it worked, because I've only just registered. I have been using the epilepsy foundation seizure diary for a long time and have been on a couple of other epilepsy forums in the past. I was worrying about my nephew since before he was born, because I have epilepsy and apparently autism I'm worried that he might get them. I didn't get my epilepsy following an injury or anything, the cause is unknown but probably a lesion. I saw him for the first time last week (he's four months old) and a few things bothered me. His eye lids were flicking a lot, his breathing was irregular and laboured, at times he stopped breathing altogether for a couple of seconds at a time. His eyes sometimes rolled back in his head, this was something that particularly worried me. He also only wanted to look in one direction. I'm not around babies much, so I don't know if these things are just normal baby behaviour. But I would just like to ask, do they sound like "symptoms"? How likely is it that he could have inherited it? I don't want to scare my sister needlessly by suggesting that she should get him checked out by a professional.

Comments

If the cause of your epilepsy

Submitted by Amy Jo on Wed, 2018-08-22 - 14:03
If the cause of your epilepsy is a lesion, that is not a heritable issue. If your sister has concerns and her child's pediatrician is blowing those off, that's worth supporting her by suggesting consulting another doc. If you were an expert on seizures in infants, then you could say something. Parents get a lot of comments from family; many are unhelpful and they learn to ignore them, really. Ask instead about all the checkups your new nibbling has, there should be quite a few. Ask if she has a good relationship with the pediatrician, and if the doctor listens to her concerns.

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