My 11 year old son was seen yesterday by a neurologist at Childrens
hospital. I described to him what I called periods when I noticed
my son would "blank" out, lasting about 2-4 seconds. The neurologist
had my son blow a tissue (held close to his mouth) with as much force
as he could, for about 3 minutes. During this time, my son exibited
exactly what I had described. During the few seconds that it lasted,
the neurologist said something to my son (like the sky is blue), and
when my the episode was over, the neurologist asked him if he had heard
what he had said. My son said he hadn't. I have a few questions about
all of this.
1. Why did blowing the tissue for 3 minutes cause my son to exibit what
I had been attributing to happening only during times of great
concentration (such as when trying to problem solve, reason, etc.)?
2. Why does my son need to be deprived of sleep the night before the
EEG (no more than 4 hours)?
3. What are the medications Zarontin (Ethosuximide), and what are the
side affects should my son end up taking them?
4. Why did an EEG done at age 5 not detect any of this?
5. What is the difference between giving an EEG to an adult vs. a child?
6. How can the onset of puberty stop this from happening (I was told
puberty can make these episodes go away)?
7. How can I learn more about this before the EEG, so I understand better
what is going to be done, how it should be done, and what the
results will really mean?
If this newsgroup is not the right place to post this message, I would also
appreciate any information on where I should post this message.
Thanks in advance for any information that may answer any of my questions.
Barbara
