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Possible absence seizures in 12-year-old
Sat, 04/22/2017 - 19:30Topic: Parents & Caregivers
Hello. I'm very concerned and found this site. I have a 12-year old son. Over the past maybe 3-4 months, we've noticed a few occasions (maybe 4-5, although I'm not sure), in which he would suddenly zone completely out for maybe 5-10 seconds. He could be in the middle of telling a story, then suddenly stop and look zoned out, and then he'd come out of it and often say, "wait, what?" It's possible it could have happened more frequently, but we haven't personally observed it.
At first we thought he was just distracted or overtired. He has struggled with insomnia for years. He's is an over-achiever, super concerned with academics, and tends to be a worrier. No extreme anxiety, but he tends to have stuff on his mind. The last couple of times, however, we started wondering. And this morning I found out that one of his teachers had observed such an incident.
So of course I start researching, and I came across "childhood absence epilepsy" or "childhood absence seizures." Panic. Then I come across "juvenile absence epilepsy" and "juvenile myoclonic epilepsy," which appear to be lifelong and would mean physical seizures.
He already has a neurologist, who we met years ago to help with his pretty nasty insomnia. I'll call her first thing Monday morning. But holy heck I am SCARED! I'm worried about him emotionally. He's already an anxious kid. I'm worried about him physically (skiing, swimming, someday driving). I'm worried about his long-term life.
I know I'm putting the cart before the horse, but damn. These things sure do look like absence seizures.
A bit of extra info. As a young toddler and sometimes as a younger child, he'd occasionally get a tic. For example, he'd go through a period when he'd blink a lot. Noticeably so.
Anyway, I'm just looking for advice, thoughts, anything.
Thank you!
Comments
even if he has epilepsy, your
Submitted by Amy Jo on Sat, 2017-04-22 - 22:31
even if he has epilepsy, your worries are way ahead of yourself. most people with epilepsy lead fairly normal lives, you probably know people with epilepsy who have never shared that they have it because it just doesn't take a huge part of their daily mindshare.not every neurologist is suited for diagnosing or treating epilepsy. so if things get hard, look for a pediatric epileptologist. there are both generalized and partial seizures that can look like absence (which is generalized). typical absence is usually easy to see on EEG, atypical absence can be weirder, partials can be hard or missed on EEG. disrupted sleep is really common with epilepsy, has he had a sleep study because apnea can exacerbate epilepsy? EEGs don't rule out epilepsy, they just rule it in when taking history and epileptiform abnormalities into account. if he has a generalized form of epilepsy then mri is not commonly done.
there's a difference between
Submitted by Amy Jo on Sat, 2017-04-22 - 22:31
there's a difference between typical and atypical but most people with atypical have serious cognitive issues and difficult to control seizures so it's unusual to have atypical absence in a normal child. the difference on EEG is pronounced. EEGs do not miss generalized activity if it's present. my daughter has disrupted sleep, easily noted by the epileptologist when looking at her EEG. we have done some CBT so she can put herself back to sleep without waking me. Years of someone else disrupting my sleep affects my functioning- our fourth child is the one with epilepsy.
there's a difference between
Submitted by Amy Jo on Sat, 2017-04-22 - 22:18
there's a difference between typical and atypical but most people with atypical have serious cognitive issues and difficult to control seizures so it's unusual to have atypical absence in a normal child. the difference on EEG is pronounced. EEGs do not miss generalized activity if it's present. my daughter has disrupted sleep, easily noted by the epileptologist when looking at her EEG. we have done some CBT so she can put herself back to sleep without waking me. Years of someone else disrupting my sleep affects my functioning- our fourth child is the one with epilepsy.