Absence seizures???

beach77

Hello again!  I have noticed something in my son lately that I think I may have been ignoring until now.  He has numerous episodes of "spacing out" and seeming unresponsive but awake for awhile now.  I kind of blew it off and figured it was part of being a toddler.  Well today I took him to the beach and this happened again, for much longer.  My perception was 10 mins., so it was more likely like 5 min.  He was completely frozen in place and unresponsive.  I yelled his name, tapped hi, waved my hands in front of his face, offered him a stick (his fav. outdoor toy), and nothing.  He did not even acknowledge my presence.  This is the first time I was really freaked out.  I picked him up after awhile and even then we has still a bit dazed.  Is this something I should be worried about?  I don't want to be a paranoid mom but am really worried this could be absence seizures....

Thanks for any input:)

 

Paigeo

Definitely schedule an appointment with your ped who will likely refer you to a neurologist.  There is a good chance though that it isn't seizures but you never know.  I found searching for and watching some examples on youtube to be helful for me.  My DD has been having seizures since she was 2 wks old.  They can be extremely subtle.  My advice is always trust your instincts.

Glendi428

DD#2 had these exact episodes when she was young... an MRI ruled out absence seizures (which we suspected), and she eventually outgrew it for the most part, but I'd definitely err on the side of caution and contact your pedi... good luck.

Alauren4

My son had these, he would also urinate during his episodes. I would definently let your childs doctor know exactly what's going on, how long they last and so forth...

Kelli7025

My younger brother has epilepsy (he is 16 now) and he frequently had what we called "staring spells" which are probably what you are describing.

We are 5 years apart, so when I was younger and I noticed him staring when a parent wasnt around, I was supposed to sing my ABC's and tell my mom what letter I was on when he came out of it (his didnt last too long, but were extremely frequent). It was a way for our family to measure the length of his staring spells, while all using the same unit of time. I would recommend tracking these on a mini pocket calendar (my mom never went anywhere without hers!) that way you have everything laid out for the pedi to see upon your next appt.

If it makes you feel any better, he has completely grown out of anything epilepsy related, has minor learning disabilities (just a littler slower in grasping certain things) and is in the 10th grade at a large public high school. He is no longer on an IEP, and is doing great. My mom never thought it would get easier, and maybe it hasnt necessarily gotten "easier" but our family has learned how to incorporate this into our daily lives and things have never been better with my brother.