Yet another crappy appointment - absence seizures??! Can't deal with more bad news.

[Summerdaydreams]

Another day another appointment. I usually post on the CP thread.
DD is 2.5 actual and has probable CP but today at ophthalmology, dd was not playing ball and the opthermologist asked me if dd had seizures? I said no. He said that he noticed during the examination that she zoned out for a few seconds a couple of times as if day dreaming?? And that's why he asked.

Does anyone know about these? What is your experience?

He told me to mention it to pead when we next see them but surely if it is a seizure, I should be acting now. I have notice dd staring occasionally but when I talk to her she smiles/smirks as if she is doing it on purpose?

today, i feel like i cannot take any more , I have had it up to here with appointments after appointments and leaving them with worry after worry being throw at us . I just want an easy ride for dd for once, but I know she is not going to get one.

My first thought would be absence seizures too. (I have a dd with epilepsy, including absence seizures)

Look them up on say Epilepsy Action, but iirc it says that most children grow out of them.

We got investigated for these around the age of your Dd - weren't seizures after all

She is developmentally delayed - significant motor delays hence the probable CP. a bit delayed talking but every other area on track.
If they are absent seizures, can they cause long term damage??

Hi. My ds is 4 with spastic diplegia cp. we had the absence seizure conversation. It frightened the life out of me as yet another thing.

However for us, the paed when we eventually asked basically said ds is young, he's cross, and frustrated. He can't control everything and in his case this was akin to breath holding in babies. (He did that too, leading to full on mother panic and paed admission after going blue ). Anyway in the end they said the only reason it was mentioned was because of the correlation with cp, not because of how ds was presenting. I fear absence of knowledge leads to too many conversations like this with too little follow up, I'm not saying that there isn't an issue, but if there is you'll cope and it will be ok. It could however be just another one of those crap conversations.

When she has one of these absences can you snap her out of it e.g tickle her feet and she'll laugh. My ds zones out frequently but I think it's just his way of coping. Hoping it's not epilepsy for you but if it helps my niece had these but seems to have grown out of them. Non for a year and she is 6 x

Do I think she is having them??? I think NO but then I have been completely knocked for six at various appointments in the last week, that I really don't know what to think. She has sustained some sort of brain damage so I guess there is always the possibility it could be and I haven't noticed?!

I had thought we were on the spastic diplegic cp journey to then be told she was possibly athetoid/dyskenetic despite having very few symptoms or a possible metabolic/progressive disorder??
From the very early days I had always 'known' dd had CP but now who knows?

I am fed up of these doctors suggestions and fleeting comments with no follow up. How they they be so insensitive and thoughtless?? If they are going to suggest seizures at least provide me with information rather than tell me to wait and see and mention it to doctor at next appointment which is 6 months away!

I am going to watch dd like a hawk and call CDT pead.
Like some have said, I think it may be dds way of coping because in the past when she has been day dreaming, I have called her and she has continued staring but smirked or smiled as if she is fully aware that she is ignoring me?

ITA with zzzz - when my dd has simple partials, she often laughs and claps. While it is going on, we ask her if she is having a seizure and she can answer she is. It depends on the level of consciousness during the seizure. My daughter can always hear us, although she can't see us during seizures, when she appears to be unconscious.

Basically, a seizure can affect any part of the brain and produce all sorts of effects - anything from laughing, clapping, running around the room, taking the clothes off, kicking, cycling...as well as visual hallucinations, sensory effects....

What about ADD - that can also look like daydreaming, iirc?

I have looked on you tube and watched lots of absence seizures and none seem to be like what dd does or what the opthermologist thought she was doing?
Maybe ADD perhaps this is a possibility further down the line, We were always warned about it being a possibility with dd being premature but tbh I don't really know anything about it?
I called the pead, left a message, she didn't call back so will chase her back on Monday. And continue observing dd. thanks for your advice!