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Abnormal EEG-
Thu, 10/26/2017 - 14:25Topic: Parents & Caregivers
A few months ago, my daughter (8) had a sleep study to test for possible sleep apnea. As a result of that test, we were told she had several spikes in her brain while she was sleeping and we were ordered a sleep deprived EEG to follow up. The result of that test showed more spikes. I was told she doesn't necessarily have epilepsy but that she's possibly as risk for it and we were referred back to the neurologist. Because she's considered a new patient, all new patients appointments are scheduling way out right now. The nurse said she was going to talk to the dr (who is on vacation this week) because my daughter needs to be seen right away and they'll have to fit her in as soon as possible.
We have never noticed any type of seizure behavior from her. I've conferred with her teachers and they've not noticed anything either. No muscle spasm, no staring off, no tics, nothing. I did do some reading on this site and saw people posting about dizzy/fuzzy spells, so I'm going to gently ask her if that's ever happened to her.
I guess my questions are:
1. Is this unusual to have the spikes but no seizure activity?
2. Are there other symptoms that I don't know about that she could have had that I missed?
3. Should I be concerned that they want her in ASAP or is that standard?
4. Most importantly: What questions do I need to make sure I ask at the appointment? I want to make sure I get all the info that I need and usually take pen and paper to appointments.
I'm definitely worried but not panicking. Just trying to wrap my head around this and get all the info I can so I don't walk into that appointment unarmed.
Thank you!
Comments
Well crap lol. I knew apnea
Submitted by Suse850 on Mon, 2017-10-30 - 14:03
Well crap lol. I knew apnea mimicked ADHD but had no idea epilepsy did too. That's interesting. Her ADHD meds are working as she's able to focus more in class, etc. However, now I wonder what the answer really is. The body and mind are just amazing. Confusing but amazing. I may try the magnesium pills. I think mama here could use them as well. As far as the apnea issue, she never stopped breathing. She is a bad snorer, very restless, flops a lot and has had some sleep walking instances as well. She's also had some allergy issues in the past with constant ear infections and tubes at 14 months. Since we've moved to a different area, the infections have gone away (knock on wood).
I don't know why my other
Submitted by Suse850 on Mon, 2017-10-30 - 14:24
I don't know why my other post got deleted. Frustrating. Let's try this again.I knew apnea and adhd symptoms mimicked each other. I had no idea that epilepsy and adhd did as well. Of course, I never knew about these abnormal waves until very recently. Her adhd meds seem to be working great as she's able to focus and things are greatly improved for her especially at school. I've added that to my list of questions for the dr and will try to get more info.I will try the magnesium for her to see if it helps her. Never thought of that, so thank you!
Yes, asking questions that
Submitted by Amy Jo on Mon, 2017-10-30 - 12:37
Yes, asking questions that are not leading questions is an art form :) Asking scary questions of a specialist without scaring a child who must be present is another very difficult needle to thread. My 10yo (youngest) is pretty aware which makes those conversations like walking on thin ice. I try to move some scary stuff to patient portal email but one can't do that completely.Poor sleep from epilepsy related activity can also contribute to tiredness (does for my youngest, who only has mild apnea but there's no snoring or other common apnea symptoms which is when I was told about central apnea). And while ADHD does occur with some epilepsy patients, sometimes ADHD is diagnosed when epilepsy is the actual problem because few specialists understand how epilepsy symptoms look similar to symptoms of their specialty.If your child can take pills, magnesium might help with some sleep quality issues. Long ago an ENT doc recommended that our oldest (almost done undergrad) take decongestant every night (she had non stop ear infections and multiple sets of tubes so maybe it was ok but I could definitely hear her stop breathing, didn't know to ask for a sleep study at the time). So aside from making her room as allergen free as possible (wood floors, few to no stuffed animals, any fabrics/pillows/linens washed in super hot water weekly, etc), we did the decongestant every night (age 4 to 8 tapering off more by 8). You might see some improvement to remove as much smoke, dust and dander as possible and getting the furnace/duct work cleaned.