Posted by Todd (216.199.5.21) on January 18, 2000 at 22:15:16:
In Reply to: Kids and clusters posted by Andrea on January 18, 2000 at 15:45:25:
Hi Andrea,
I am NOT a medical professional. These are just some thoughts I've had in the past few hours since reading your post.
I believe I recall a post from a mother who had reason to believe her infant (1 yr as I recall) might suffer clusters. I don't recall if she ever posted the outcome. In my limited research, I have found little in the medical sources about this. Remember that clusters are diagnosed in two basic ways: first, by exclusion....MRI's MRA's CT scans, etc to rule out other causes, such as tumor,lesion, etc. Once this is accomplished, final diagnosis is based on patient description. Obviously, this is impossible in infants, possibly accounting for the lack of data about clusters and infants/young children.
I don't wish to present false hope, but I must share my real idea with you, so that you and your pediatricians can consider it. Children are wonderful mimics. You didn't mention whether your husband has been in cycle in the past 17 months, or, probably more appropriately, recently. IF he has, and IF your son has seen his behavior AND seen you giving your husband caring support and attention, it is POSSIBLE that your son is emulating your husband's attacks in order to receive Mommy's attention and caring. This by NO MEANS implies that you have neglected him.
Okay, perhaps I'm grasping at psychological straws, but it APPEARS that clusters are rarely hereditary, particularly to direct offspring, and I HATE the thought of an infant suffering these. I don't know nearly enough about the meds we use, but my totally uninformed guess would be that even figuring the dose for, say, Imitrex, for a dude who weighs what? 40 pounds? would be a bear. I will keep my fingers crossed for you, your husband and especially "Butch".
May you find the peace each of you deserve.
KTSSU,
T