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Abnormal EEG - Absences and other stange symptoms in child
Thu, 07/30/2009 - 08:34Hi, new here, hope someone can shed some light on my 12 year old Son's symptoms.
He has always been considered as having some ADHD traits, not diagnosed though, and always high functioning. Has had a lot of strange symptoms that we had pinned down to psychological: seeing things ie. meteors, hearing things like name called, voice like sounds, (never bad though), de ja vue, feeling of electricity going through his body, numbness in lower teeth, occasional occurances of sudden strange vocalisation (but not like a tick) without knowing why, facial grimaces without knowing why, gets angry v easily - always had trouble with concentration, staying on task, remembering instructions or being in trouble for not listening at school. He is becoming more aware of missing important instructions, and even some time lapses in class, where he actually notices missing time. He can been seen staring for up to 30 secs, this is noticeable by his friends (who get bothered by it) and us.
Anyway, finally got an EEG done, results are "from the outset of recording, multifocal sharp waves seen in both frontal regions, and over the frontal poles irregular 3-4 and 4-6hz activity is seen. At times, sharp slow wave discharges spanning both cerebral hemispheres. Hyperventilation induces slowing to 3-4hz with increasing sharp wave activity seen in both the temporal and parietal regions, spreading in to the frontal poles with sharp slow wave dischares.
So -as we haven't been able to see the neurologist yet, we are wondering if this could be causing all the other symptoms as well as the Absences. Or are the visual and auditory disturbances something else? Does anyone have any ideas or comments. Our Son is otherwise a normal functioning able 12 year old who lives a very normal 12 year old life.
Thanks for your help
Michele
Comments
Re: Abnormal EEG - Absences and other stange symptoms in child
Submitted by 1oliver3 on Mon, 2009-08-03 - 21:12
Re: Abnormal EEG - Absences and other stange symptoms in child
Submitted by chris68 on Tue, 2009-08-04 - 11:49
Our older son had motor seizures first so we had a diagnosis prior to understanding all the sensory stuff. Our younger son has only had the sensory and we only realized they were seizures because of our experience/research with our older son. Both boys are doing really well currently. Our 13 year old was diagnosed at age 8 and has been on Trileptal (which didn't work for him), Lamictal (didn't work for him by itself) and now takes a combination of Carbatrol and Lamictal. He has been on this combination for about 3 years and usually only has seizure activity (auras) when he is sick. He does very well in school, participates in sports and plays the guitar...pretty normal 13 year old (attitude and all)! We just got a definite diagnosis for our 10 year old a few months ago (but we knew about a year ago). He does not take any medication at this time. His episodes are a lot less severe and less frequent and so we are choosing to hold off for now. It is a tough decision and one I am sure many would disagree with, but we are doing what we think is best for them both. He also does well in school and sports.
I really didn't find much info about the sensory seizures. The responses I received from the posts here were probably the most helpful. You could try a search online and see what you find that way. I even have a book which describes all the different types of seizures and it barely mentioned them.
As far as the medication goes, just remember that everyone tolerates medications differently and meds that work for some will not work for others. Our older son got all the way up to 1800 mg of Trileptal per day. It started making him feel dizzy and nauseous so we went down to 1500 mg which didn't control his seizures. We had a similar experience with the Lamictal. There are lots of other out there who had success with these medications so if you choose medication, you may be in a trial and error phase while you figure things out. He did seem a little slow when he was adjusting to the Trileptal. I don't remember side effects with the Lamictal. When he first went on Carbatrol, he was EXTREMELY agitated. He had just gotten out of the hospital after 5 days and they didn't gradually increase his doseage like they usually would. They just put him on 600 mg per day and sent us home. The gradual increase is recommended to give their body time to adjust.
I hope I didn't forget to answer any of your questions. If I missed anything, just let me know. Again, feel free to ask me anything. It makes it easier to know that there are others out there who can relate.
Take care,
Chris
Our older son had motor seizures first so we had a diagnosis prior to understanding all the sensory stuff. Our younger son has only had the sensory and we only realized they were seizures because of our experience/research with our older son. Both boys are doing really well currently. Our 13 year old was diagnosed at age 8 and has been on Trileptal (which didn't work for him), Lamictal (didn't work for him by itself) and now takes a combination of Carbatrol and Lamictal. He has been on this combination for about 3 years and usually only has seizure activity (auras) when he is sick. He does very well in school, participates in sports and plays the guitar...pretty normal 13 year old (attitude and all)! We just got a definite diagnosis for our 10 year old a few months ago (but we knew about a year ago). He does not take any medication at this time. His episodes are a lot less severe and less frequent and so we are choosing to hold off for now. It is a tough decision and one I am sure many would disagree with, but we are doing what we think is best for them both. He also does well in school and sports.
I really didn't find much info about the sensory seizures. The responses I received from the posts here were probably the most helpful. You could try a search online and see what you find that way. I even have a book which describes all the different types of seizures and it barely mentioned them.
As far as the medication goes, just remember that everyone tolerates medications differently and meds that work for some will not work for others. Our older son got all the way up to 1800 mg of Trileptal per day. It started making him feel dizzy and nauseous so we went down to 1500 mg which didn't control his seizures. We had a similar experience with the Lamictal. There are lots of other out there who had success with these medications so if you choose medication, you may be in a trial and error phase while you figure things out. He did seem a little slow when he was adjusting to the Trileptal. I don't remember side effects with the Lamictal. When he first went on Carbatrol, he was EXTREMELY agitated. He had just gotten out of the hospital after 5 days and they didn't gradually increase his doseage like they usually would. They just put him on 600 mg per day and sent us home. The gradual increase is recommended to give their body time to adjust.
I hope I didn't forget to answer any of your questions. If I missed anything, just let me know. Again, feel free to ask me anything. It makes it easier to know that there are others out there who can relate.
Take care,
Chris
Re: Abnormal EEG - Absences and other stange symptoms in child
Submitted by chris68 on Mon, 2009-08-03 - 09:18
I have two sons (ages 10 & 13) who both have epilepsy. They have both experienced visual and auditory disturbances...considered sensory seizures (which are a type of simple partial seizure). My younger son has experienced the feeling of deja vu. My older son has experienced the numbness in different parts of his body.
I had a hard time finding much information about the sensory seizures, but got helpful information from others on this website. I don't want to inundate you with too much information about their situations, but please feel free to ask me any questions you may have and I'll be glad to help if I can.
Chris
I have two sons (ages 10 & 13) who both have epilepsy. They have both experienced visual and auditory disturbances...considered sensory seizures (which are a type of simple partial seizure). My younger son has experienced the feeling of deja vu. My older son has experienced the numbness in different parts of his body.
I had a hard time finding much information about the sensory seizures, but got helpful information from others on this website. I don't want to inundate you with too much information about their situations, but please feel free to ask me any questions you may have and I'll be glad to help if I can.
Chris