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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just to be clear, it sounds they are suggesting a sleep deprived EEG which is where you wake the kid early, maybe skip a nap, and the child is awake but sleepy during an outpatient test of an hour or so.

This isn't about an overnight E.E.G. That is done inpatient, where the child is monitored in their sleep and during the day for 24 -48 hours.

Yes, everyone has a seizure threshold, but most people's seizure thresholds are a lot higher than functioning on reduced sleep.  If they weren't then new parents and frequent travelers would be having seizures left and right.

The fact that the OP's child's behavior changes so dramatically when sleepy that she's afraid of this completely noninvasive test is an indication that she should have this checked out.  It will probably be negative, bit given that ADHD meds can increase seizures in kids with low seizure thresholds, and that he's at a critical point in his educational journey, thus particular vulnerable to  the disruption that seizures cause, it makes sense to try.

Comparing an EEG to almost drowning someone is absurd.  Compare it to a cardiac stress test where someone provides a common level of stress by asking the person to walk on a treadmill.[/quote]

it's just not standard of care to do an EEG on all ADHD kids who get nuts when they are sleep deprived ... I am not encouraging OP to go against considered medical advise, but instead to have another convo with the neurologist about it. These things can be subjective, and if the dr knows that OP isn't the "do all the tests!" type then she may reconsider her recommendation. [/quote]

But it is the standard of care to investigate the possibility of absence seizures when a child is reported to have lapses in attention that aren't explained.  Given that the neurologist feels that seizures haven't been ruled out, it makes sense to continue to investigate, especially since the test, while annoying is not at all invasive or risky.

My kid had similar lapses and the neuro asked for an eeg that was negative and a sleep study that showed apnea.  He was diagnosed with having episodes of microsleep caused by apnea.[/quote]

But it sounds like she has ruled out absence seizures, due to the clinical picture and the hyperventilation test. [/quote]

No. They are ruled out after the sleep deprived eeg which is why you do it. I can't believe this is the same forum who usually encourages all kinds of evaluations and recommends that everyone see a dev ped if they have issues. You don't do all that and then for some reason refuse to do a basic test to rule out seizures when they aren't that insanely rare at this age and cause what school has seen. [/quote]

look, absence seizures have been all but ruled out for OP's child. absence seizures are one of those things that untrained teachers will claim to see whenever a kid is acting spacey. if OP's doctor strongly pushes the EEG that is one thing. but I suspect the neurologist might be fine with watchful waiting for a few months. there is no need to do All The Tests at once.[/quote]

If they weren't considering medication that lowers the seizure threshold you might be right, but sorting this out before ADHD media makes sense.

And no, I am not a anti meds.  My kid takes them.  But I am also a special ed teacher who has seen kids have very bad reactions to ADHD meds when used in kids who didn't actually have ADHD.  [/quote]

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