Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Flip

Original poster

Anyone's child have Petit Mal or Absence Seizures? dd says she 'goes blank'

17 replies

Elibean · 29/11/2011 22:31

She's nearly 8. She says she just 'blanks out' and can't remember anything when she snaps out of it, as though her mind 'opens and everything whooshes out'. It scares her, she says she feels different

Last time she mentioned it, I thought it was just dd being dramatic (she can be) or describing a perfectly normal moment of spacing out....she's got a busy mind, I can imagine it needs a rest from time to time! But tonight I could tell she really was anxious about whatever it is, and I'm thinking I might have a chat with my GP.

Thing is, all I've read about Petit Mal (my uncle used to have it as a child) indicates the person who has it doesn't realize or remember it. dd seems very aware. I just wondered if anyone has a child who has described something similar?

OP posts:

stottiecake · 29/11/2011 22:54

I think I used to have them as a child. I could feel them coming on and I was afraid and I used to come back but not remember anything. It wouldn't last long. I could feel it coming. It was weird.

I grew out of it. I'm not sure if I told my mum- I think I thought it was normal.

I know that's not helpful. I've never really mentioned it to anyone but have sometimes wondered about it.

catsareevil · 29/11/2011 23:06

Have you noticed her looking blank or staring at all?

sillymillyb · 29/11/2011 23:19

One of my mums foster kids gets these - often accompanied by a lack of bladder control as well - she has been tested for everything under the sun and they cant find anything medically wrong with her though.

It is worse for her at times of stress and we can sort of tell when she is in the type of mood to have one, so watch her more carefully.

Maybe worth a trip to the doctors just to reassure yourself and her?

Original poster

Elibean · 29/11/2011 23:21

Thats interesting, stottie. I'll ask dd if she knows when its going to happen.

No, I haven't noticed anything - and her teachers haven't either, though they do notice she doesn't always hear when they call her, at least not straight away. I've noticed that too, but thought it was just selective hearing - which I'm sure it is some of the time!

She said when she 'comes back', she can pick up where she is and what she's meant to be doing quite quickly - but that sometimes she doesn't hear things. She also said she 'sees things that aren't there', bit like floaters by the sound of it - but at that point I did start to wonder if she was embroidering, iyswim.

OP posts:

BookFairy · 30/11/2011 00:13

I developed epilepsy at 18 and what you describe does sound like partial seizures. They used to make me feel scared as the feeling is incredibly odd and difficult to explain. Tricky to diagnose, as even if you have a EEG they only register seizures if you have one while the electrodes are on your head - possibly why your mum's foster daughter hasn't been diagnosed, sillymillyb?

Gosh I'm not trying to scare you Elibean, I'm sorry if I have.

I think you should make a note everytime your DD says it's happened and see the GP about it. They'll most likely ask you to note when it happens to see if there's a pattern - night/morning etc. Apparently it's quite common for young children to have these sorts of absences, then grow out of them as they get older.

Hope that helps a bit :)

HerRoyalNotness · 30/11/2011 00:44

My niece gets them. She will be in the middle of a game, stop and stare, come back and pick up where she left off. Her mum knows if she is coin to have a bad day wih them if she is a bit weepy in the morning, she gets more when she is tired too.

Best to get her checked as my niece can't go swimming on her own or has to wear a life jacket in deep water, can't ride her bike on her own etc

She has started meds recently to try and control it a bit more as it has started to get her down

Original poster

Elibean · 30/11/2011 14:27

Thanks, all - and no, its ok BookFairy

I spoke to a paediatrician mum friend this morning, and have taken a GP appointment for the week after next. dd says she sometimes has a feeling its going to happen, but that its hard to describe - she also says she thinks it only happens '2 or 3 times per week' and not every day, but who knows?! None of us have noticed a thing, no staring, no blinking, no lip licking. But they may be very slight/short.

dd also says she thinks it used to happen when she was 3, then stopped, then started again when she was 7 but its so hard to tell fact from imagination!

Apparently, Petit Mal is much easier to diagnose than Grand Mal - the EEG trace should show it, whereas GM you need to 'catch' the seizure as it happens. Or so says paediatrician friend.

I feel a little upset about it today, but am feeling better now I've taken action and talked to others..including you lot, so thank you

dd is also happier (not that she was unhappy in the first place, tbh) in that she's not keeping it to herself, and has some info about it all being ok and not just her. I will talk to her teachers tomorrow, so they keep an eye out too.

I'll update after the appointment, thanks again.

OP posts:

DeWe · 30/11/2011 15:30

Dd2 age also 8 and with a huge imagination, said very similar things last year. I started wondering about petit mal, and was going to book a doctors appointment when she realised I was serious. Then she admitted that she was really exaggerating and it was just the usual spacing out and she was trying to use it as an excuse why she hadn't done things.

She hasn't mentioned it since.

BookFairy · 30/11/2011 16:51

Absences come in all shapes and sizes, so are often tricky to notice. Best to keep calm and encourage her to tell you when she thinks that it's happened.

Sounds like you're doing all of the right things Elibean, I hope it all works out :-)

3monkeys · 30/11/2011 16:55

DS1 has them. He would go blank for a few secs and then come back with a bit of a shake. He wasn't really aware of them. Had EEg and diagnosed with petit mal epilepsy. Now controlled on meds. He was diagnosed at 10

QuickLookBusy · 02/12/2011 12:04

Glad you are getting it checked out.

My DD had the same thing when she was about 15. She was checked out and everything was fine.

She's now 21 and says she wonders now if it was hunger. She went through a huge growth spurt at that age and was a bit of a grazer with her food, so never eating a big meal. She's only just realised the "zoning out" always seemed to happen at school when she hadn't eaten for a while.

Original poster

Elibean · 02/12/2011 23:09

Sorry, just checked thread

Thanks, all very helpful. One of dd's class teachers (its a job share) hadn't noticed anything, but the other - who has known her for longer - said it would make sense. She has noticed dd occasionally being uncharacteristically 'away with the fairies', as she put it, for a few seconds. She doesn't shake or anything when she comes back, though.

dd said it happened a couple of times yesterday (she says not every day, that she's aware of). Sometimes she describes it as 'can't hear anything' and other times as 'cant' remember anything'. She says she then 'comes back' and realizes she's at school, and just gets on with whatever is in front of her.

I think we'll need that eeg to know whether its petit mal or just spacing out....either is possible

Appointment with GP on 19th could have been sooner, but wanted one of the female docs that dd is comfortable with....

Is there anything I should be careful of in the meantime? Swimming?

OP posts:

AnyoneforTurps · 02/12/2011 23:36

Usual advice for epilepsy is that swimming is OK as long as supervised.

AnyoneforTurps · 02/12/2011 23:36

PS not that I'm saying this is epilepsy, but just in case

Original poster

Elibean · 03/12/2011 17:36

Thanks

She's always supervised anyway, so that's good!

Just found out my sister used to have very occasional (every few months) 'absences', but the GP (long time ago) fobbed her off and never checked. She once had one on an escalator, that freaked her out, but she was ok.

OP posts:

Sticklebug · 12/12/2011 23:06

Have found your post Elibean - let me know how you get on. We have appointment on 20th for same. My Ds has 'focus' problems at school and a tendency to daydream. will see what dr says....

Original poster

Elibean · 13/12/2011 12:15

Well done Stickle, and sorry - I got distracted by something/one just after posting on your thread last night and never found this one!

Our appointment is on the 19th - parallel paths

No one has said anything about dd, but I have asked her teachers to report back anything they notice, and asked dd to let them know when it happens. One of them said 'yes, it would make sense, I sometimes wonder where she's gone - and just assumed she was daydreaming' but its not every day by any means.

Also, dd says it never happens 'when I'm being active, or when I'm at home' which doesn't sound so much like petit mal to me. She's not a big eater in the mornings, and I do wonder if she has the same low blood sugar thing I used to have, and that someone mentioned in this thread....causing a bit of spaciness in the mornings at school. Only way to find out is to get checked out though, so I'm going to push for the EEG if I have to.

Let me know how your ds gets on on the 20th!

OP posts:

Flip

Swipe left for the next trending thread