"Blank" moments: 11yo DS

[InMySpareTime]

My DS has started to "zone out" in the last few months, usually at dinner time, mid mouthful. He'll be looking directly at me or DH, but nobody's home IYSWIM.
He doesn't respond when we talk to him, and his eyes remain open, but if we wave or touch his shoulder to attract his attention he snaps out of it, with no memory of the spaced out time.
He's usually zoned out for a few seconds to a minute.
Is this normal, for an 11yo?

Could be normal, or it could be absence seizures. I'd get him checked out by the gp.

Was going to say absence seizure- we just had epilepsy training at work and this kind of zoning out could be one- Worth getting checked out at the gp Id say.

No i would not say this is normal.

Make a GP appointment.

I was also going to suggest the absence seizure so would definately make an appointment

Sounds like petit mal to me. Get him checked out.

Darn, Looks like I'll have to take him to the doctors. I really didn't think it was that bad. Still, better safe than sorry, why is it always him? Poor thing, DD never has anything wrong, DS has everything going.

I have an appointment for Monday, hope it's easy to sort out, as it's quite worrying watching him space out like that.

Hope the appointment go well, it may still be nothing but at least you can rest easy it has been checked out. I know what you mean though, ds2 is like your ds- poor thing!!

Thanks, someone suggested looking on YouTube to see videos of absence seizures, they look exactly like what he does. I will try to film his blank moments before his appointment.

It may be worth speaking to his teachers to see if they've noticed too. I would ring school. It's all worth mentioning to the gp.

I'll pop into school tomorrow if I get time. He's always been a bit of a daydreamer, I'm now questioning myself as to whether he's been doing it more than I know. Would I have noticed sooner if I paid him more attention. Then again, he would feel very uncomfortable if I was watching him the whole time, he's 11, not 3!

He's being referred to a paediatrician as the doctor suspects Absence Seizures too. I have sent him to school with a notebook to give his teacher, detailing what a seizure looks like, and asking them to record all seizures with date/time, duration and the circumstances in which it occurred. I hope we can identify triggers and get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later.

My daughter does something very similar to what you describe. I thought it was absences- but it was actually Complex Partial seizures. If you look up complex partial seizures in Wikpedia it gives you other features to watch for

He'll need an EEG. Treatment will depend on how much the seizures- if that's the diagnosis - actually interfere with his life.

DD has never been treated for her epilepsy and its never been a real problem - just switches off for a minute a few times a year. Academically she's doing perfectly well and the Dx has never held her back.

I see them several times a day, the scout leader has seen one, I don't know how much he does it at school, I sent in a notebook for the teachers to note down time/duration/circumstances, which should help find out the extent of the problem.
He said he was in the playground the other day, and thinks he blanked out as he turned to talk to his friend, but his friend wasn't there any more.
How long do referrals take to come through? Saw the Dr on Monday and no letter yet.

It's very sensible to set up the diary. Also worth asking teachers if any change in his academic ability.
There may be a fast track epilepsy clinic at the hospital. Normally it does take time for letters to work their way through administration. You could always phone the GP back next week - especially if things seem to be getting worse. My DS is waiting to see a Neurologist -I have been told 8-12 wks till appointment.

I have an appointment at the start of March, I caught him on my iPod camera spacing out twice during dinner last night.