Hello!

Just wanted to introduce myself. My son, BJ, is 4-years-old and was born with a rare cluster of birth defects called VACTERL Association. He also had tethered cord. He has had 7 surgeries and is doing awesome...you wouln't know a thing was ever wrong with him.

Until recently. About three weeks ago he started yawning excessively. On average about once every 25-seconds, but sometimes even more intensely. He may go for several hours with only yawning a couple of times and then have a couple of hours where he will yawn several times a minute. It doesn't look like his usual yawn or sound normal.

We took him to his pediatrician who believes this is most likely a tic. At my request we had basic bloodwork done which came back normal. We self-referred to a neurologist who ordered an EEG. That came back normal. But, the neurologist saw his yawning in clinic and agreed it was odd...either an usual tic or an atypical seizure. He recommended doing an inpatient study EEG with video 24-48 hours. That is schedule in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, we are very anxious. We got a pulseox to check his oxygen levels...which have been fine.

We have noticed that he seems to blink a lot, but maybe it's because the yawning is making his eyes water.

We have also noticed that he complains of itching - most on his right hip, but also the side of his head.

His sleeping and eating and everything else has been normal. He says he's not tired and doesn't hurt anywhere and doesn't feel out of breath.

So, here I am hoping that one of you out there has experience with something similar, has ideas, or recommendations.

It does seem the yawning has changed a bit in the past two days...it's more breathy and not as much like a yawn.

Any ideas at all are much appreciated!

Thank you,
Rebecca

I can imagine how frantic you are, especially after all you've been through. I know some very wise folks will be by here who will know where to best direct you--which of the forums are most likely to put you in touch with people who might recognize your precious child's symptoms.

I don't know whether or not you'd like to be in touch with our Sanctuary/Spiritual Support Forum in the meantime. Here's the link, just in case: http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum27.html

Take care. You & your husband remember to take care of each other during this difficult time, too, you hear? Best thoughts going out to B.J..

-- C.G.. . . . a work still being worked on

I am a french physician and work on yawning

*edit*
European neurology search yawning

*edit*
I thing that the baby needs an RMI to search a brain pathology

with best regards

Thank you for your reply! I will certainly look at the research you describe.

My son had a full spine and brain MRI as a newborn (May 2007) and again at just before 1-year-old (March 2008) and again after tethered cord surgery (July 2008). None were with contrast. None showed any brain abnormalities, just tethered cord with a lumbar syrinx.

Do you still believe another MRI is prudent? If so, should it be with contrast or performed in any special manner?

My best regards and thanks,
Rebecca

I set up a baby monitor in my son's room last night and heard him yawning as he fell asleep, had two 5-minute yawning episodes in the middle of the night, and then another yawning episode when he woke up in the morning.

Here are several videos of some yawning episodes. Please ignore the 2-year-old and 1-year-old in the background!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsBty5o_uBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG-ru_HJOJY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyvGJGbxY5w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnlZ2I9GoSg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jiwri5-MUKk

Excessive yawning can indicate vagus nerve and subsequent heart problems. I would have him evaluated by another doctor. Being the sudden onset and frequency, this sounds very abnormal.

Please post an update when you find out what's causing it.

Should we see a cardiologist then? He had a cardiology eval after echocardiogram as a newborn and everything was structurally fine. The only thing was "mild tricuspid insufficiency" but wasn't concerning to anybody so he was released from that specialty.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what you mean by "evaluated by another doctor"...another pediatrician? Another neurologist? Or a new sub-specialty altogether?

Thanks!
Rebecca

I would take him back to his pediatrician and discuss whether he thinks a cardio consult is warranted, just to rule out any problems. Has he seen the videos or a log of how many events? This just seems way outside normal limits. Have they done routine blood work recently? I'm glad the neuro is doing the extended EEG to rule out atypical seizures. The pulse ox hopefully rules out any O2 desaturation..,.which is a good thing.

The pediatrician saw him yawn during the appointment a few times, but not as severely as in the videos. At the time of the appointment I hadn't yet kept a formal log. We did do basic bloodwork and that was fine...everything wrhin normal range - including bicarb (it was 28), which is something usually below normal for him because of kidney issues. Kidneys were our main worry at first, but when the bloodwork came back normal we felt okay.

I will call the ped on Monday to schedule another appointment. Or should we throw in the towel and head to the ER? It may sound silly, but I feel like we has been through so much with him that we are desensitized to what is or isn't an emergency.

Thanks again,
Rebecca