EEG/Neurology workup?

[awkwardpenguin]

DS (2.5) has been having occasional “space out” episodes. I’ve noticed a few, but daycare has noticed them more frequently. His sperm donor had epilepsy in childhood, so that raises our level of suspicion. We went to the pedi today and she referred us to pediatric neurology for a workup and an EEG. She said neurology would decide the specifics of how the EEG would be done and there are a few different options.

Anyone been through this? I’m wondering what to expect when we go to the neurologist, and how little ones handle EEGs.

[dock]

My DS has a seizure after his flu shot last year, so had an eeg and neuro workup.

The neuro workup was like a regular physical in a lot of ways, with specific actions/questions he had to do/answer. The eeg wasn’t really a big deal - it took forever to put all of the electrodes on, but the woman was great with him. Then we laid in a dark room (with a movie on) and he periodically had to do things/look at lights. He had to blow on a pinwheel for a while, I think trying to make him hyperventilate? Then she had to take the electrodes off. It was relatively uneventful, in hindsight.

I can try and answer specific questions if you have them, too.

ETA I hope it’s equally uneventful for you as well, and I’m sorry you’re having to go through it.

[mslhb]

My DD had seizures starting pretty much at birth through about 6/7 years old. She has had a bunch of EEGs. The process is pretty easy and she always handled it very well. Putting the electrodes on takes awhile. Especially if they “cement” them on. I don’t remember what age they stopped that process. The other hard part was she had to be sleep deprived so that she slept during part of the test. So if you have to do that I recommend scheduling during a normal nap time. Wasn’t that bad when she was a baby but as she got older it was a pain. One thing I wasn’t prepared for is that the EEG often doesn’t give conclusive results. Every EEG my DD has had has read “normal” but she clearly was having occasional seizures. I will say though that hers were very well controlled by medication and we were able to wean her off the medicine around 6/7. My husband had seizures as a child so we assumed there was a genetic component. Good luck. I know seeing a pediatric neurologist can be a scary experience.

[moxie]

My kiddo has epilepsy, diagnosed at age nine. The EEG is a simple and pain free process. My son actually kind of enjoys them, the room is very tranquil and almost spa-like. Just a heads up that the type of seizures kids grow out of are typically Rolandic epilepsy and it's not considered to be hereditary.

[awkwardpenguin]

Thanks everyone. My main concern is how he'll do with holding still for EEG setup. I'm sure the providers are experienced with that though.