Nintendo DS Lite - Seizures & Children - Question

[summerrluvv]

I feel like an idiot for even asking this, but has anyone's child had a seizure or developed stuttering from the use the Nintendo DS Lite?

I'm asking because I was just reading over their health and safety concerns online and my son is having a problem that started around the time of him playing the game system. Now I'm curious if it's a direct result of the game playing.

Basically he has been stuttering since xmas break (when he got the game system and was playing it non stop). So now I'm wondering if he had a seizure that we weren't aware of and that has now caused him to stutter. He has some tests coming up and a cat scan this Tuesday to rule out a lesion on his brain, but I'm just trying to figure out why the sudden onset and am thinking just maybe this could be the reason (of course if there are no lesions, etc.).

 

[X and G's mom]

My thoughts are with you and your little guy!

 

[mnasmom3]

I hope your family gets answers soon. It's so hard being a mom sometimes. Prayers for you both.

My son, who suffers from an occassional siezure, hasn't had any while playing his DS. He has had them from similar things....computer game...before though.

 

[Mellie2162]

No stuttering or seizures here but my son will get a nasty migraine (complete with vomiting) if he plays Ed, Edd, and Eddy on DS lite. We have now confiscated that game from him. Other games it depends on how long he plays he might get tired eyes and a little headache, but generally we try not to let him play it that long, usually only in the car or something. Sometimes he will turn the volume down and play when we put him to bed. Most nights I have to check and make sure he's not playing it and actually sleeping.

 

[themarquis]

My understanding is that some people with an underlying seizure disorder can have seizures triggered by video games. but video games can't CAUSE a seizure disorder. If that makes sense.

If it does turn out there is something going on neurologically with your son (hopefully he is just fine ) then the DS didn't CAUSE it (though him playing it may have triggered something and made you more AWARE of it).

Also, having seizures triggered by flashing lights/video gaming is pretty rare. Most people with seizures don't have it as a trigger at all. And most people don't have seizure disorders in the first place. So very, very rare.

 

[JessR]

why not take it away for 6 months and see if it stops

 

[XYSRUS]

Those warnings are/were on every video game since inception. I hope your little one is doing better.

 

[summerrluvv]

why not take it away for 6 months and see if it stops

I did take it away,he is still stuttering which I have read can be the direct result of a seizure(s). He had a ct scan today, so hopefully that comes back normal. He has a 24 hour EEG in March and I'll bring the DS at that time and they can monitor if it's causing him to have seizures. He does have PDD (Autism spectrum disorder), so an underlying seizure disorder wouldn't be that abnormal since many kids on the spectrum experience it. He had a regular EEG a few months ago which came back abnormal, which is why the 24 hour EEG was scheduled.

I just got off the phone with radiology as I was typing this and apparently there was some movement with his scan today so now I have to bring him back. I asked about the weekend since I am having to take him out of school for all of this, she said that is fine but it would hold up the report, which now leads me to believe they saw something and need a better picture of it. I am going to take him back after school tomorrow. Please keep him in your prayers

 

[StartedAJoke]

Prayers to your DS, and whole family.

We began our seizure disorder journey in May 08. My DD12 had 2 mild seizures about a week apart. No stuttering, but definitely a slow down in thought process. She was fine all summer, and then 2 more (this time grand mals) a week apart in October. We, too, were looking for a cause or corolation. Each time she'd have one, she had been doing repeated cartwheels -- like 10 in a row. The seizures always happened within an hour of falling alseep, several hours after she'd been slipping around. (Now, there have also been plenty of times the cartwheels have not caused a problem.)

The neurologist doesn't think there's a link . . . but . . . everybody had a seizure threshold. Anyone can get one at any time. Our guess is, she's got a lower threshold than some.

Strobe lights can cause seizures. It's one of the things they used during one of her EEGs to try to induce seizure activity in her brain. Video games certainly replicate a strobe light effect (at times.)

Either way, the important thing is to make sure there's nothing else causing the seizures. My DD has not abnormalities in her brain, it's just the way she is. She's been put on meds to control the seizures and, hopefully, she'll be able to come off of them a few years down the road.

Good luck, and I hope you get some answers.

 

[redshoes]

I don't have any experience with seizures, but my oldest DS did stutter off and on for a few years. The stuttering always came before a huge growth spurt and went away after the growing was complete. I don't know if the two are linked together, but after tracking when the stuttering occurred we were able to see that there was pattern. It was almost as though his brain couldn't keep up with how rapidly his body was growing and so he lost some verbal skills during that time. He's six now and hasn't stuttered for a year. I hope that you can find what is causing the issue and there is an easy fix for it .

 

[imback]

Hi,

Just doing some research now by googling and I'm glad I came across this. Just this past week my little 6 year old experienced what looked to be a seizure in the early part of napping We witnessed his whole left side of his body tense up including his face, arm and hand. He was taking to emergency where they did bloodwork and a CT. Both turned up negative. A few days later, while on a car trip, he was again napping and same thing though it was not as serious as the first case. Interesting enough, both times just before napping, he was playing his DS. We have taking away his DS and he has not played for the past 4 days which is a record to him. He has that thing by his side for almost a year, yes I know he is only 6 years old.

We just came back from our pediatrician and explained the above which happened on our vacation last week. He will be booking an appointment with a specialist for an EEG which I take is a brain scan of sorts.

Has anyone else experience something similar and had an EEG done. Can you share what you learned and is there a connection with excessive video game playing.

thanks

 

[Sinderelli]

I just happened to stumble upon this thread...my DS9 has epilepsy. His seizures have ALWAYS coincided with high fever. However, last July he had one out of the blue, with no fever (1st time ever) while playing his DS. He was sitting on the couch and he fell backwards onto it (thank GOD). He was seizing with the DS still in his hands. He has had countless EEGS with the strobe light test and has not shown sensitivity to flashing lights. Needless to say, the DS has been taken away from him.

 

[summerrluvv]

Hi,

Just doing some research now by googling and I'm glad I came across this. Just this past week my little 6 year old experienced what looked to be a seizure in the early part of napping We witnessed his whole left side of his body tense up including his face, arm and hand. He was taking to emergency where they did bloodwork and a CT. Both turned up negative. A few days later, while on a car trip, he was again napping and same thing though it was not as serious as the first case. Interesting enough, both times just before napping, he was playing his DS. We have taking away his DS and he has not played for the past 4 days which is a record to him. He has that thing by his side for almost a year, yes I know he is only 6 years old.

We just came back from our pediatrician and explained the above which happened on our vacation last week. He will be booking an appointment with a specialist for an EEG which I take is a brain scan of sorts.

Has anyone else experience something similar and had an EEG done. Can you share what you learned and is there a connection with excessive video game playing.

thanks

How scary!

My son did have an outpatient EEG done back in Oct. It came back abnormal (he has PDD, so they said it's typically normal for the abnormal result we got for a child on the spectrum). Anyway, they scheduled a 24 hour inpatient EEG which is done at the hospital as a follow up to the first one. He just had that done last week. Basically he was hooked up in the morning and video taped while doing his normal activities (in bed at the hospital though) and it records everything for about 24 hours. I did let him play the Nintendo DS and no seizures were detected that I saw (something pops up on the screen). I didn't let him play for hours on end though like he was over xmas break. I think the longest he played was like 2 hours. He had the CT scan, came back normal. So we just aren't sure the cause of the stuttering, but it doesn't appear to be the result of an undetected seizure.

The outpatient EEG takes about an hour and is done while they are just lying on a table and basically resting so it might not detect a seizure unless he were to have one right then. They do hyperventilate them (make them breathe in and out heavily) though. So when your son goes for the outpatient EEG, if it comes back normal, I would request the 24 hour video one with the Nintento DS being played so it will pick up the seizure. Good luck!

 

[4rkdz]

I too found this thread as a result of a Google search. My 7y/o ASD son had his first seizure 2 nights ago and we are trying to find a cause. He loves the DS and has played a lot since he got it at Christmas. More recently we bought Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros games for the DS which he loves. The day of his seizure he was playing the DS a lot but the seizure did not occur until at least an hour after he stopped playing the DS. He was sitting on my lap watching TV after his bath when his eyes rolled to the top of his head and he went limp and drooled. I could not rouse him and after a short time his eyes closed. I still could not rouse him and he did not show any signs of consciousness for at least 20 minutes. We were in the ambulance almost to the hospital when he objected to the blood pressure cuff. He also had a mild head cold going on with a low grade fever of 100.3. We see the neurologist tomw and expect to get an EEG in the near future. It seems like he had several things going on that may have contrbuted to the seizure.
Thank you all for sharing your stories and our prayers are with you. We too live on LI, NY.

 

[KAMLEM]

This has nothing to do with Nintendo, but it does sound similar to what happened to my DD. When she was about 4 she started stuttering during Christmas week. It happened very quickly, one day she was fine, the next day she was stuttering. We took her to the pediatrician and he told us that quite often the excitement of the holidays or something similar can cause a child to begin stuttering. He told us it wouldn't last more than a few months and sure enough it didn't. I hope it's something as simple as that for you.

 

[CATRYNA49]

I am so glad I found this website. My two oldes grandsons (5 & 7 years) acquired DS games a couple of weeks ago. The 7 year old suffered a seizure just a couple of days ago (7/22/09). It just came on out of the blue while he was standing next to his mother at the computer. After it was over his lips were blue for a while and his walking ability was diminished for a couple of hours. We took him to Children's hospital for evaluation where they did a CT scan and want to do an EEG at a later date. We do have Epilepsy in our family; my father, one of my brothers and one of my children. My thoughts, after reading some of the discussions on this board, with this type of background perhaps my grandson's seizure was brought on my the intensive use of the DS. And, just this past week we bought two of the Mario Bros games.

Input from anyone is greatly appreciated. Catryna in Ramona, CA

 

[sbell111]

I am so glad I found this website. My two oldes grandsons (5 & 7 years) acquired DS games a couple of weeks ago. The 7 year old suffered a seizure just a couple of days ago (7/22/09). It just came on out of the blue while he was standing next to his mother at the computer. After it was over his lips were blue for a while and his walking ability was diminished for a couple of hours. We took him to Children's hospital for evaluation where they did a CT scan and want to do an EEG at a later date. We do have Epilepsy in our family; my father, one of my brothers and one of my children. My thoughts, after reading some of the discussions on this board, with this type of background perhaps my grandson's seizure was brought on my the intensive use of the DS. And, just this past week we bought two of the Mario Bros games.

Input from anyone is greatly appreciated. Catryna in Ramona, CA

I guess it's possible, but I would think that the history of epilepsy in your family would be a better hint at the cause.

 

[Sorsha]

Just to reiterate, guys.
Flashing lights/noises/video games do not CAUSE seizures in an otherwise neurotypical person. If a person has a seizure disorder and flashing lights/noises is one of their own personal seizure triggers, then playing the video games might bring on a seizure.

If someone has a seizure or symptoms of a seizure while playing a video game, its always worthwhile to have them tested. There might be an underlying seizure disorder that you weren't aware of. I just don't want all Nintendo DS systems to become demonized, KWIM? They don't CAUSE the disorder, they can cause SYMPTOMS of the disorder to become visible.

I suffer a seizure disorder. I can't eat foods with MSG, or my seizure activity increases. MSG isn't the cause of my seizure disorder, but it can cause symptoms of it to occur.