Anyone have any experience with Absence Seizures?

dragonflyRN · Jul 21, 2006

I am sorry that your little one is going through this. No experience with it though...but your family will be in my prayer's.

Meerkat · Jul 21, 2006

I am sorry that your little one is going through this. No experience with it though...but your family will be in my prayer's.

Thank you, you are very kind.

perfectbluebuildings, BSN, RN · Jul 21, 2006

yes with a family member... it is a weird experience... always got very very tired and slept for hours after a major one. after figuring out the right medication they have done much better, and growing older too, seemed to help. Still get really bad headaches every now and again but not sure if that's related to the seizures or not. Good luck to you and your daughter, i hope you have found a good pediatric neurologist. :)

Meerkat · Jul 21, 2006

yes with a family member... it is a weird experience... always got very very tired and slept for hours after a major one. after figuring out the right medication they have done much better, and growing older too, seemed to help. Still get really bad headaches every now and again but not sure if that's related to the seizures or not. Good luck to you and your daughter, i hope you have found a good pediatric neurologist. :)

Thanks, yes, we are seeing a peds neuro. She doesn't get sleepy; as soon as she snaps out of it, she moves on with what she was doing. It's like someone pressed PAUSE on her! Glad your relative got better. Thank you for the input!:penguin:

rhapsodyRN · Jul 21, 2006

I had a few absence seizures when I was younger. I grew out of it by the time I was in my teens. My neurologist at the time just told us to watch it and of course bring me in if anything severe happened. But usually I'd just sit there like you describe and then I'd go about my business like nothing happened. It wasn't until my grand mal at 13 (completely unrelated to the absence seizures..btw) that they really did anything test-wise. Good luck!

mandana · Jul 21, 2006

I know three people that have them. One is an adult - her life is fine, she just doesn't drive, actually she became a neurologist because of her experience, so her life is more than fine. She's on meds and has no plans to stop, her only regret is that she can't be on the meds and become pregnant, and she's weighing that decision now.

The other two people I know are kids who are 5 and 6, both are fine. They seize quite often, maybe 10 or so times a day. One has seen significant improvement with meds, the other is still having meds adjusted. The only drawback for the one doing well on meds is that she's often more fatigued than she would like to be.

The parents of one of the girls explain it in a neat way - they tell her that her body is just taking a quick little rest. It's amazing, but it barely phases her now. I was playing kick ball with her once, she had one lasting about a minute, and as soon as it was over she just resumed the game like nothing ever happened. On occasion, it will be a harder one for her and she'll get a little upset, but this is very rare - certainly understandable. The biggest concern with her is swimming, requires a ton of vigilance around water (which should be SOP for all parents, anyway).

I'm sorry that you are dealing with this, I'm sure this is a rough time for you. I just wanted to let you know that the folks I know that are dealing with this are doing really, really well and I'm sure your daughter will as well. She's unbearably cute!

Amanda

Meerkat · Jul 21, 2006

I know three people that have them. One is an adult - her life is fine, she just doesn't drive, actually she became a neurologist because of her experience, so her life is more than fine. She's on meds and has no plans to stop, her only regret is that she can't be on the meds and become pregnant, and she's weighing that decision now.
The other two people I know are kids who are 5 and 6, both are fine. They seize quite often, maybe 10 or so times a day. One has seen significant improvement with meds, the other is still having meds adjusted. The only drawback for the one doing well on meds is that she's often more fatigued than she would like to be.
The parents of one of the girls explain it in a neat way - they tell her that her body is just taking a quick little rest. It's amazing, but it barely phases her now. I was playing kick ball with her once, she had one lasting about a minute, and as soon as it was over she just resumed the game like nothing ever happened. On occasion, it will be a harder one for her and she'll get a little upset, but this is very rare - certainly understandable. The biggest concern with her is swimming, requires a ton of vigilance around water (which should be SOP for all parents, anyway).
I'm sorry that you are dealing with this, I'm sure this is a rough time for you. I just wanted to let you know that the folks I know that are dealing with this are doing really, really well and I'm sure your daughter will as well. She's unbearably cute!
Amanda

Thanks, that's a really sweet post. Did she fall over when you were playing with her? The way the doc explains it, they kind of 'freeze'. Also, do you know why the platelet count is high with these? Hers is double the normal value.

mandana · Jul 21, 2006

Thanks, that's a really sweet post. Did she fall over when you were playing with her? The way the doc explains it, they kind of 'freeze'. Also, do you know why the platelet count is high with these? Hers is double the normal value.

No, I've never seen her fall. She just stopped in her tracks. I have seen her want to nap right after it, but that's rare - it's usually just what you describe. She freezes for a few seconds with her eyes fluttering and then goes back and resumes where she left off. Hmmm...don't know about the platelets. I'll see what I can find.