Hi Everyone,
My son (who is almost four) was diagnosed with epilepsy as a newborn. Until this point, his seizures have mostly been nocturnal seizures. He has recently started rolling his eyes way up into his forehead while awake, and the doctor said this is most likely indicative of absence seizures. The problem I am having is that I am not sure if they are really seizures, or if my son is just playing around as he is very smart and expressive and makes a lot of eye movements in general. When he makes these eye movements, it appears to me that he generally does not stop what he is doing (as I have seen children with absence seizures in on-line videos do). Rather, he often continues talking and laughing during the eye-rolling incidents. Is that possible during a seizure?
Also, sometimes after he rolls his eyes, he says, "Oh, my eye," so it seems that he is aware of what he is doing. Typically, he may blink a few times before rolling his eyes two or three times.
I always try not to discuss his eyes in front of him as I want to test him to see what is actually going on. One of his brothers, however, told him to roll his eyes the other day, and he did...which means he is capable of making this movement on his own...even though the doctor told me that it's not possible for someone to purposely roll his eyes that far back into his head.
The other odd thing I have noticed lately is that his left eye often seems to suddenly shut for no discernible reason. Can such a movement also be related to seizures?
He has another appointment with the doctor soon, so I wanted to ask others for their input before our visit.
Strangely, the eye-rolling seems to frequently take place when my son is on the toilet, taking a bath, or eating.
My son (who is almost four) was diagnosed with epilepsy as a newborn. Until this point, his seizures have mostly been nocturnal seizures. He has recently started rolling his eyes way up into his forehead while awake, and the doctor said this is most likely indicative of absence seizures. The problem I am having is that I am not sure if they are really seizures, or if my son is just playing around as he is very smart and expressive and makes a lot of eye movements in general. When he makes these eye movements, it appears to me that he generally does not stop what he is doing (as I have seen children with absence seizures in on-line videos do). Rather, he often continues talking and laughing during the eye-rolling incidents. Is that possible during a seizure?
Also, sometimes after he rolls his eyes, he says, "Oh, my eye," so it seems that he is aware of what he is doing. Typically, he may blink a few times before rolling his eyes two or three times.
I always try not to discuss his eyes in front of him as I want to test him to see what is actually going on. One of his brothers, however, told him to roll his eyes the other day, and he did...which means he is capable of making this movement on his own...even though the doctor told me that it's not possible for someone to purposely roll his eyes that far back into his head.
The other odd thing I have noticed lately is that his left eye often seems to suddenly shut for no discernible reason. Can such a movement also be related to seizures?
He has another appointment with the doctor soon, so I wanted to ask others for their input before our visit.
Strangely, the eye-rolling seems to frequently take place when my son is on the toilet, taking a bath, or eating.