The head drop is usually brief and may be accompanied by a loss of consciousness. These head drops usually develop into full drop attacks where the child falls down because many of the muscles in the body lose their tone at the same time. The drop attacks are physically dangerous, because the child falls and hurts itself. Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is characterised by multiple types of fit. As well as drop attacks, these are likely to include atypical absence fits and massive myoclonic jerks.
Myoclonic jerks are the violent jerking of one or more limbs.
Specific cases of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome may suffer from a wide variety of other forms of fits, and in particular from severe status epilepticus. In status, the child will lose consciousness, and may suffer from a sequence of atonic and myoclonic fits alternating between floppiness and rigidity. Status can persist for hours, days or weeks, and can cause severe mental damage. If you think your child is in status, you should call an ambulance immediately. Teach all carers and others the emergency procedure for status epilepticus.