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Need Advice - Are these seizures? 6 year old - Abnormal EEG
Tue, 05/31/2016 - 21:12Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
First let me start with some info....
Daughter is 6.
She's had the sleep deprived 1 hour EEG - Came back Abnormal
She's had the 24 hour video EEG - Abnormal, but didn't capture any seizures
Currently diagnosed with Complex Partial Seizures.
Takes Keppra and Topamax twice a day.
No medical professional has seen her have the seizures. School staff has seen it and family.
Now...what happens is generally when she's running around, outside in the sun (although it has happened inside- but generally she's outside in the heat/sun etc), she gets a bad headache, followed by passing out for less than 10 seconds, when she "comes to" her eyes lids are open half-way and her eyes just stare, she's unresponsive and stays that way for up to 5 minutes (generally 2-3 minutes), then you can tell she starts feeling better, she's able to talk and after 10 - 15 minutes she's back to normal.
She's still has these seizures/episodes even though she's on medication. It hasn't seem to help it much but it helped a little (she was having these seizures almost daily and now it's maybe 3 times a week). I'm concerned there may be something else going on - maybe cardiac related? (just thinking since it happens mostly while she's running around - but neurologist doesn't think so). Anybody else have similar episodes?? Suggestions? Even the neurologist has said she's unsure what's going on! That sure didn't make me feel any better. I'm just a concerned mom reaching out to the community. Thanks in advance. I hope I provided enough background info.
The EEG is a brain wave test
Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-06-01 - 11:33
The EEG is a brain wave test showingthe electrical output in the brain. The neurologists want to find abnormalities. Normal waves will look like everyone elses. Abnormalities would be spikes or waves or both. They are mentioned as abnormalities, spikes, waves and seizure activity.The EEG can show seizure activity and the person taking it not have a seizure.A seizure is caused by an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the braincausing a chain reaction. So in seeing the spikes and waves the neurologists know the person can have seizures. Each person has a seizure threshold. JUst like a pain threshold it blocks seizures to a certain point. pain threshold stops pain to a certain point.She's had the sleep deprived 1 hour EEG - Came back AbnormalShe's had the 24 hour video EEG - Abnormal, but didn't capture any seizures.As for her seizures you have seen a reduction in the number so the medications are working. It takes time for the body to get uesd to the medication and time to get the dosages set to control her seizures better. The neurologist is correct when saying the seizures are not related to her daily activity. Youe daughter is just like other kids who play and run arround. Keep trake of the number of seizures she has and note the time in them and time to get back to normal.Without knowing when she was started on meds one can not tell a lot. Generally a neurologist has an visit set about 3 months after the RX was started to see if the medicatios are working so dosage adjustments can be made. It took time and working to get mine adjusted several times. Oh and understand that if the dosages ate 2 times a day they should be 12 hours apart. I take mine 8 am&pm. That way the therapeutic levels stay constent helping keep break through seizures from happening.I hope this helpsJoe