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New to Community..question regarding confusing EEG

Sun, 01/23/2005 - 21:40
Hi I am new!!!  My name is Karen and i am a mom to 4 children, dd 10, identical twin boys 8 and ds 4...my dd was dx with absence epilepsy approx 3 yrs ago and was on Zarontin, thinking she had been seizure free for 2 yrs she had a f/u EEG that showed her seizures continuing and we are now moving her on to Epival (Valporic Acid)....my twins both had multiple febrile seizures as babies but have had no incidents since they were 2...my youngest was born at 27 wks but has done very well considering...he had stomach surgery in Nov 03 and since then has had severe GI issues which has left him G tube dependent on on several medications (Zantac, Losec, Domperidone and Senokat)...about 2 wks before xmas we woke to a loud wail, when we reached him we watched him go from periods complete stiffness to full body twitches lasting about 20 minutes...as the ambulance arrived he seemed to stop but remained unresponsive...when we arrived at the hospital he had started to "respond" and open his eyes...blood work was normal except his sugar was a little low at 2.9 or 52 (he has a history of dumping (dropping his sugars) but he had never gone "low enough" to have a seizure and always self recovered)...he had a CT scan that was normal...I thought the seizure had to be due to low sugars but his ped did not think so and sent him for a sleep deprived EEG...there have been no further incidents other than one night about a week and a half ago with me awaking to a clicking noise coming from him (I figure his tongue), it awoke me and then continued for about 30 sec but when it stopped he seemed fine(although didn't wake up) and i didn't think much of it....I recently rec'd the results of his EEG and was surprised to find out that is wasn't exactly normal...I was wondering if you might help me with the findings...

The final impression was stated as the following...."This EEG is to be considered abnormal with several paroxysms under 2.5 seconds of what appeared to be generalized spike and waves seen during the drowsy portion of the record.  The remainder of the record showed no abnormalities but follow up should be considered for this child"

We are currently waiting for a referral to be made to my dd ped neuro (who also read the EEG)....I have tried to figure out what if any significance these results may show..can anyone offer me any insight or information...i realize you are not Drs but i thought if anyone with experience with this terminology might be able to assist me....

Thank you so much for any help you can offer...

Karen

Comments

RE: New to Community..question regarding confusing EEG

Submitted by mexican_fire on Sun, 2005-01-23 - 16:53

Hi, I am nancy, and went through med school studying to be a neuro, but got sick and was 10 months away from blowing that pop stand, and wound up with severe Meningitis, and never went back, becasue I fell too far behind to catch up.

I also did my rotations in an EMU, as well.

All that EEG is saying is that he is having sharp, fast, abnormal, periodic bursts of electrical activity coming from his brain.  That is NOT normal for the brain to just be spitting out bursts of activity like that. 

The spikes and waves are a common finding in children who have normal brain activity while awake and then when they are either drowsy or asleep their brain waves go haywire, and you wind up with all this high voltage generalized garbage on the monitor.

It is referred to as Continuous Spike-and-Wave During Sleep.  It is a form of gneralized epilepsy.  That just means that the whole brain is effected at the on-set of the seizures, rather than just being focal or localized.

Don't EVER ignore any funny, or suspicious sounds coming from someone who has a known history of seizures.  Generally, if it doesn't sound right, it most likely isn't.

You need to watch him at all times.  Get him a medical ID bracelet or necklace--HE NEEDS ONE.  Mine saved me 3 times.

You might try a baby monitor in your rooms at night.  That is what my mom and I had to do upon the epileptologist's request.  I have nocturnal Grand Mals that are Secondarily Generalized from either a simple Partial or Complex Partial seizure.

I also have JAE which is Juvenile Absence Epilepsy which produces Primarily Generalized Grand Mals, and Absences--Absence being the main seizure type for that syndrome.

Then I have Myoclonic seizures that I was born with.

I take 1350 mgs of Depakote and 3600 mgs of Neurontin.

Failed 7 other drugs.

VNS--1997 (the year it came out)

Have an alert dog.  House pet who turned herself into a seizure alert dog.  She is 4 this June, and is a 10 pound Lhasa Apso, named Sheeba. 

Nancy

 

PS~~ this should not be a life-long condition for him.  It should be one of those "out-grown" ones by sometime during adolescence.

 

Hi, I am nancy, and went through med school studying to be a neuro, but got sick and was 10 months away from blowing that pop stand, and wound up with severe Meningitis, and never went back, becasue I fell too far behind to catch up.

I also did my rotations in an EMU, as well.

All that EEG is saying is that he is having sharp, fast, abnormal, periodic bursts of electrical activity coming from his brain.  That is NOT normal for the brain to just be spitting out bursts of activity like that. 

The spikes and waves are a common finding in children who have normal brain activity while awake and then when they are either drowsy or asleep their brain waves go haywire, and you wind up with all this high voltage generalized garbage on the monitor.

It is referred to as Continuous Spike-and-Wave During Sleep.  It is a form of gneralized epilepsy.  That just means that the whole brain is effected at the on-set of the seizures, rather than just being focal or localized.

Don't EVER ignore any funny, or suspicious sounds coming from someone who has a known history of seizures.  Generally, if it doesn't sound right, it most likely isn't.

You need to watch him at all times.  Get him a medical ID bracelet or necklace--HE NEEDS ONE.  Mine saved me 3 times.

You might try a baby monitor in your rooms at night.  That is what my mom and I had to do upon the epileptologist's request.  I have nocturnal Grand Mals that are Secondarily Generalized from either a simple Partial or Complex Partial seizure.

I also have JAE which is Juvenile Absence Epilepsy which produces Primarily Generalized Grand Mals, and Absences--Absence being the main seizure type for that syndrome.

Then I have Myoclonic seizures that I was born with.

I take 1350 mgs of Depakote and 3600 mgs of Neurontin.

Failed 7 other drugs.

VNS--1997 (the year it came out)

Have an alert dog.  House pet who turned herself into a seizure alert dog.  She is 4 this June, and is a 10 pound Lhasa Apso, named Sheeba. 

Nancy

 

PS~~ this should not be a life-long condition for him.  It should be one of those "out-grown" ones by sometime during adolescence.

 

Myoclonic Seizures

Submitted by skyblue on Wed, 2005-10-19 - 18:52
Nancy can you tell me what you know about Myoclonic jerks. I have them when falling asleep and when awake. I am 43 years old so they came along as an adult. They seem to hit newer and newer parts of my body in different ways. It seems like they are slowly getting worse. They seem to overcome whatever medicine I'm on? My name is Ann and I would love to hear from you. There is m ore to my story like standing in the middle of a kitchen, in the middle of tasks, and suddening not knowing who, or what, or where I am for about 50 minutes. I just stand there looking around. Anyway I can be reached at skywide40@yahoo.com. Thank you, Ann

myoclonic

Submitted by david morrison on Wed, 2005-10-19 - 20:28
hi skyblue i too suffer myoclonic siezures wich is part of the abcence siezures i suffer . dont worry unless u punch yourself in the head like i did the other day as for becomeing confused not knowing who what where u r i would suggest go see your doctor straight away most epileptics suffer this sort of thing but only in short bursts 50 min seems a long time you will need your meds adjusted i would say

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