EEG strobe light reaction?

[RockerMama]

My 3 year old had his sleep deprived EEG today. During the open eye part of the EEG he seemed ok. But when he would have to close his eyes, his arms and legs would tense up, and he'd lift his arms. Almost like he was stretching? I actually thought it was that at first, since he was so tired. But then he kept doing it. Is that a "normal" reaction during that part?

Also, when he was asleep for a few minutes, he jolted awake shaking with the saddest and most panicked look on his face. He quickly fell back to sleep, so I am wondering if it was just that "falling" sensation people get when they are overtired, and I have just never seen it?

 

[Nakamova]

One marker of myoclonic seizures are that they are bilateral (muscles on both sides of the body are tensed at the same time), so it's possible that was what was going on when his muscles were tensing. But since kids will also clench their muscles when they're frustrated or tired or uncomfortable, that may be the more likely scenario. The "jolting awake" sounds like the "hypnic jerks" we all can experience when falling asleep. Since it only happened once, it seems likely to be harmless too. The EEG recordings will hopefully shed more light. When will you hear from the neurologist about the results?

 

[RockerMama]

I was wondering if it was just that. His back arched, his arms and legs tensed and shook, but not rhythmic jerked like his previous febrile. And he didn't seem as zoned out as he did when he has had the two previous light induced episodes. I should hear back from the neuro by the end of the week. I just couldn't help but be curious.

 

[donnajane]

My 22 month old has been having these type of movements fo over a year now. They are not sure what they are. I have caught some of video for paed and she said to her likey look like partials, he also does something very similar when he is awake. His nureologist says he is not sure that they are seiruzres but they are not quite right. When he first had an eeg overnight in hospital I had to watch him and it was very confronting when I saw how many of these sudden jerks he did while he slept and they kept getting closer together until they woke him up very distressed.
Now he still usually does a variety of strange jerks/spasms/shudders over night. Some he arches right back. Sometimes it looks like he is having an absence seziure overnight both the Paed and Nureo agree it looks like one but can't say for sure.
He is on a waiting list for a sleep study before christmas so hopefully they will be able to tell us more. The sleep specialist did say we may not learn any more though as his lesion is very deep in his brain and EEG's have not picked it up in the past so she may not be able to see it either but what she is going to look for is if his brain has the ability to allow him to go into the normal sleep rhythm or if these jerks etc interfere with it.
Hope you get some answers soon.
Donna

 

[RockerMama]

Donna, I am sorry you still don't have answers for your son. How frustrating.

My son has had... 6, I think, sleep studies, starting at about 10 months old. The first suggestion was his adenoids causing the apnea, so then he had that surgery. Next was the suggestion of reflux. He was put on medicine that made things SOOOO much worse. Then switched to a different medicine that made no difference. After which is became a "who knows?" situation until we had his tonsils out. Now his sleep is MUCH better, though he is still twitchy and active.

Is there any chance your son has apnea? There is obstructive, which is when something physical is the problem(weight, tonsils, adenoids) or central apnea, which is when the brain "forgets" to tell the body to breath.

Also, low iron can cause active and restless sleep.

I called the neuro, and talked to the receptionist. It sounds like they have my son's results, so she sent a note to the nurse to call me. Whether I will hear from the nurse or the neuro, I don't know. But hopefully they call soon!!

 

[donnajane]

Wow 6 sleep studies. I hope they find something definite like sleep apnea as something is definetly happening. I keep getting told we know there is something not right but we don't know yet what it is so they keep testing to rule things out. He was, what they now think misdiagnosed, with reflux from pretty much birth and put on different meds to help, then more strange things started happening and from around 7 1/2 months they said nureological but still searching for an answer or way to help him more. He is on Tegretol which we feel has opened a door in his brain which was closed before so he is now able to interact with others around him before he had tims where he was like an empty shell for over an hour at a time, totally emotionless. He still has some strange events and weird things happening though which they are trying to work out. Lately we have started to notice he is hurting himself more and not telling us or even crying out which has resulted in some injuries getting worse as he has kept playing without realising. He is also on a multi vitamin with iron to see if that helps with his issues. He has been tested and his iron levels are normal but Nureo still decided to try him on the multivitamin.
I hope you get your results soon. We know we are in for a long wait after our little mans next MRI as its on the 18th Jan but we don't see his Nureologist or Paed until the 25th feb as Nureologist is away and results don't get forwarded to his paed until Nureologist has seen them. I have learn't that waiting doesn't always mean there is nothing. We waited nearly a month to get the full results of his last MRI which showed he had a brain lesion. His Nureologist hadn't told us the full story until he had seen us as he said there is nothing to be done anyway but wait and see.
Take Care.
Donna