A very long week...

As many of you know Landon has "Breath-Holding Spells" which he has had since we picked him up from Taiwan. Actually since he was about 3 months old so we are finding out. He had been doing really well and improved so much in the last 6 months and had only been having them to where he actually passed out, about once every 4-5 weeks. Though he still has them about once every other day or so he usually catches his breath after a long pause but before completley passing out and going unconcious. In the last 9 days he has had 7 episodes in which he passed out and had breath-holding seizures. It is very scary to witness and leaves the days uneasy and very stressful. We are not sure why these past 9 days have been different but the only thing we can think of is the stress for so many specialist appointments. Surrounding the spells his eating and sleeping schedule change and it turns into a vicious cycle feeding off each other. Less sleep and balanced meal seems to increase episodes and episodes decrease sleep and appetite. Today he had 2 attacks that broke my heart. The second one he convulsed so much and was hitting himself in t he face scared trying to breath and busted his lip. Seeing the blood coming out and my child laying lifeless for several seconds, that feel like minutes, is so stressful and hard to handle. There is nothing you can do aside of try calling him to snap him out of it, lay him down flat so that blood comes back quickly, and wait. Many people have the misconception that children do this behavior on purpose when they dotn get their way but after much research, witnessing our child for 6 months and speaking to the Neurologist, we have found this to be nothing further from the truth. Sorry guys had ot vent a bit. Long day and it really hearts my heart that we can not help him. We should be getting the results back this week about his blood levels. Most of the children with this condition do have anemia, iron deficiencies or borderline conditions of these. Helping those conditions, if he does have them, will help the episodes slow down and be less frequent though it does not get rid of them. This is some info we found on the internet that explains some about what occurs during an episode for referrence. Landon has both, Transient ischaemic attacks and pallid breath-holding attacks, unfortunetly:

Transient ischaemic attacks A common and important group is the “transient ischaemic attacks”, where there is transient impairment of cerebral blood flow. This article will focus on these attacks.
1. Breath-holding attack The breath-holding attack is a common and harmless spell, which has its highest frequency in the age range of one to three years. A tendency to breath-holding, however, may be shown at a much earlier age, even from the early days of life.
Breath-holding attacks are induced by minor injury or frustration. In the classical attack the child takes in breath to cry, lets out a single cry and then holds the breath in expiration. He or she is then unable to breathe in again because of glottic spasm, and no sound emerges. The child becomes progressively more suffused, the eyes turn up, and neck and back extend with pronation of the upper limbs. The heart slows markedly as cyanosis develops and it is this slowing which results in cerebral anoxia and loss of consciousness. This lasts only a few seconds, after which the child relaxes and begins to breathe normally. Very occasionally a clonic convulsion will follow.
There is a widely held misconception that the breath is held purposefully in inspiration; the episode is not induced voluntarily. Unlike true fits attacks are always precipitated by physical hurt or frustration.
Management of breath-holding attacksAn association with anaemia - particularly due to iron deficiency - is sometimes found, and there is improvement when this is corrected. However, drug treatment is seldom necessary. A full explanation emphasising the good prognosis and that there is no relationship to epilepsy is all that is required.
2. What then are “pallid” breath-holding attacks?This term is a misnomer, because breath is not held during the spell as in the breath-holding attacks just mentioned. The modern term is “reflex anoxic seizures”. These are invariably induced by sudden pain or a fright.
The child gives a cry, and then abruptly loses consciousness. The face is ashen. Colour improves after ten to 15 seconds and consciousness returns. These spells are due to a pain-induced surge of vagal tone which slows the heart to a standstill for a few beats.
Management of “pallid” breath-holding attacksAgain, reassurance is usually all that is necessary. Attacks seldom recur after the age of four. Severe cases may be controlled with small oral doses of atropine.