Absence Seizures/Sleepwalking in 14 y.o.d.

[momof7]

My daughter was previously diagnosed with sleepwalking after that took her out of the house and two miles down the road where she was picked up by a deputy.

She very recently (9/12) had a "sleepwalking" event during the day that took her out of the house. We were well prepared to keep her in the house at night, but had no idea this could happen in the day.

She was missing for 8 hours. Police, fire, rescue, search dogs, search helicopter later... she woke up in the woods, in the dark, alone and confused. Her footprints to the house show a very confused and disoriented state (pict of this is at contentmentacres dot blogspot dot com. In talking with her doctor, he thinks she had an absence seizure and that triggered a sleepwalking episode. She has almost all of the symptoms of having absence seizures. This was something I brought up with her previous doctor, but he dismissed as her not resting well.

This wandering episode happened right before her period..right when calcium levels drop. I have noticed she seems to have more of those spacey spells (absence seizures) just before her cycle. I know that taurine is linked to calcium somehow, but am not clear on exactly how. Can anyone help me understand this process?

We are also looking for GPS and/or radio controlled tracking devices for her. She needs something sturdy that also gives her some privacy about her condition.

She has an appt with a neurologist on 10/13. Anything I should ask him to check for?

Thank you so much!

 

[Nakamova]

Hi momof7, welcome to the forum!

It's possible that your daughter's seizures are catamenial epilepsy -- a kind of epilepsy related to her period and associated changes in hormone levels. And nutritional factors (like calcium or taurine) might play a role as well. If you can, it's great to keep journal that records the seizures, and also a daily log of anything that might be a potential trigger -- diet, exercise, fatigue, hormones, etc. The more information you can give the neurologist the better. Some people on this site have had luck using diet and/or neurofeedback to help control or decrease their seizures -- if the neurologist is open to discussing this (many are not), that would be a real plus.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Rae1889]

if she has a cell phone (ie blackberry or iphone) there is a GPS program you can install to track the phone and in turn where she is with it. If not there are watches you can get too where they are remote activated by the parent or officer. Check with your local police station. an ankle bracelet might not be a bad idea either and now they are smaller and sleeker than before for kids and people needing to go to school or work during the day.

 

[dfwtexas]

Growing up, I was a sleepwalker from 18 months until age 13. When I first starting having seizures last year, I kept telling the docs I thought my sleepwalking had returned, they finally convinced me after EEG I was having seizures
I wonder if there is any connection with E and sleepwalking?

 

[momof7]

Sleepwalking and Epilepsy

Thank you everyone! I will look into the catamenial epilepsy and already have something printed out to read next to me.

jgbmartin, I am wondering this also. Her first sleepwalking event happened when she was 11 and she was not menustrating at that time.

I homeschool all of my children, so I am able to observe her personally and closely all day. She has spells where she seems spacey, does not hear all of my instructions, "daydreams," loses track of time, etc. That all fits the absence seizures. They seem to come and go though. I will now be keeping a journal and seeing if these tie in with her cycle. She is an excellent student. She skipped 8th grade and had one year of high school. She can pass the GED right now and is preparing to take the COMPASS test for college entrance at 16. I need to know she will be safe on campus and see also how this will figure in with her driving. I am praying she outgrows whatever is going on. I have another daughter who seems spacey at times too. She is 6 and has never sleepwalked, but I'll be keeping my eyes on her!!!

 

[Rae1889]

If you have 7 children, it might not be a bad idea to get them all tested. *especially the six year old. you could catch it earlier rather than wait for her to sleepwalk first* I'm not sure about herefitary things or if more kids could have it in a family but i know it is possble just not always happening.

 

[moonchild1970]

I have always sleepwalked too since age 5yrs and now I have epilepsy. so yes please have them all tested if you can. That way you know. Good luck!

 

[epilepticloner]

I have absense seizures and I can totally honestly truthfully say that I know exactly how that is. And I can also say that doctors were telling me that same thing for over 3 years before I was finally diagnosed (and when I was my neurologist was like, "wow, that's one of the worst EEG's I've seen in a while."). But yeah I never have any idea of what i'm doing and they can get pretty long. I do stuff I don't know I'm doing and then get blamed for them or get like made fun of or something and it's just like "But I didn't do that!" It sucks so badly. I've walked into tables, pianos, chairs, walls, beds, practically anything you can think of...people. I'm just surprised I haven't fallen down the stairs yet. It's a good thing she didn't get hit by a car.