Neurologist said she doesn't think son is having seizures, but should get EEG anyway

[Anonymous]

Took our son to a pediatric neurologist to get checked out for seizures. He occasionally "zones" out, but not everyday, and not for multiple times per day. Hes not making any strange faces or movements, and this doesn't happen in the middle of say eating or walking. Its usually when he's playing quietly and kind of spaces out. Sometimes happens during story time at school. She did a bunch of physical tests and talked about absence seizures and that this doesn't sound like those nor does it sound like complex partial at all. Also did the hyperventilation test and nothing happened.

She said we should still do the EEG anyway, because son has ADHD and if we want to medicate, we should rule it out. The test sounds like a nightmare. I suppose we should do it, but given how crazy my son gets if he doesn't have enough sleep, I do not see this going well at all. I mean, I could see him completely not cooperating, and maybe not even being able to sleep from being overtired.

Would you do the EEG anyway?

[Anonymous]

It's just a one-time test, OP, you have to weigh the discomfort and fall-out against a lifetime of wondering.

He probably has severe inattentive ADHD. My son did that as a little boy: completely zoned out, I would pass my hand over his face and call his name. Nothing.

Later he was diagnosed with his ADHD, medicated, and it stopped. He did so many tests, I can't remember if we went forward with an EEG or not!

[Anonymous]

Is this a sleep deprived EEg? Because I think that could certainly be skipped as overkill. Do a simple EEG.

[Anonymous]

If he is having seizures you'd want to know. It sounds like the medical professional who is an expert in this area has made a reasonable suggestion. Get the EEG. My daughter did it and it was not a big deal. You may be pleasantly surprised that things go smoothly. I understand your trepidation, but things may go better than you are predicting and it is only one day in what will likely be a very long life.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? We had the same concerns and did one. It was supposed to be sleep deprived but they didn't tell us. Our child was freaked out about the electrodes on his head but we got through it. Try to show some pictures and videos so they know what will happen. Its concerning but better to rule out than ignore.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like overkill to me. Kids zone out.

[Anonymous]

Oh here. He is 5, almost 6. Its the sleep deprived test.

[Anonymous]

We did at neurology in patient at CNMC. The nurses in neurology are very good. We made it through the night there. We checked in after 9 pm and got her all hooked up at 10 pm. It's good to have a snapshot. We didn't have seizures but it did show a slight abnormality. If you don't have it done, you'll never have an accurate baseline for the future to know what's normal for him. I would do it.

[Anonymous]

My kid was 6.5 at the time.

[Anonymous]

We did this last month for DS who had just turned 8. We had to keep him up 2 hours past his bedtime and wake up up 2 hours early so he got about 5 hours of sleep. I was dreading it, but the test was pretty easy. And we actually had a nice, quiet time together starting at about 4AM playing fun games on my phone (to make his brain tired). When we got there, they had him lie down, hooked up about 3MM electrodes / wires to his head and a few to his heart. They first had him hyperventilate and then flashed strobe lights for a while. And then they let him fall asleep for 15-20 minutes. And then we went home. About 30-45 minutes in total. The worst part was that he hated having the dried gel in his hair when he got home, but a quick hair wash made him happy again. Oh, that and a breakfast sandwich from McD's.... And then he took a 2 hour nap.

[Anonymous]

We did one after our son had a night seizure, and it came out normal, did an overnight one and it showed spiking. I would def test if they see zoning out. We've medicated for epilepsy and seen huge improvements in our son's add. Spiking can cause all kinds of issues. Absence seizures can be hard to pick up. But given that ongoing seizure activity can cause major problems and that you are going to medicate and some medications increase the seizure risk I would absolutely do the eeg. There is also new research indicating that if a child does not respond to adhd treatment an eeg should be done and the child treated if the eeg is abnormal. It's pretty interesting. Bottom line, huge upside of treating any seizures, low discomfort of doing the test. I know it's rare and a pain but the different for my kid has been huge.

[Anonymous]

Also, we did it at Georgetown and they made it really nice and calm. Not like being at the hospital really. And their pediatric neuros are awesome.

[Anonymous]

Also - almost all kids with epilepsy have adhd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this a sleep deprived EEg? Because I think that could certainly be skipped as overkill. Do a simple EEG.

IF there is the slightest possibility of absence seizures the sleep deprived EEG is a MUST.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also - almost all kids with epilepsy have adhd.

Person with epilepsy here. Have never ever heard this.