The Sleep EEG with no sleep

Today I took B to have her sleep EEG to see if we can get any hard evidence of the recent seizure developments. It consists of giving her enough sedation (melatonin) to knock her out sufficiently for them to capture what happens in her brain during sleep as her incidents tend to happen when she is exhausted.

But of course I should have known. The girl who at six had enough melatonin to knock out an adult and still wouldn't go to sleep, wouldn't today either. She dozed twice but got a pain in her knee both times that required repositioning (she is getting stiff knees very easily at the moment) and woke her up from her doze.

I very much doubt anything was caught. The technician said (and backing up what the Paed has said to us before) that sometimes nothing shows. Just recently a child whom the doctors felt very sure had epilepsy had their 5th EEG and finally they got something. All the others did not. Same with another little girl I know and the same with B. When we suspected just absence seizures, nothing..three EEGs before have shown nothing. Now there is more chance today's will because we have seen new types of seizure occurring and much more prolonged. But I very much doubt it.

Of course I don't want anything to show up but the fact its very likely she is having them, I would like some brain evidence, so we can say once and for all. I pushed the technician to tell me if she saw anything but she said she couldn't. I will have to wait for B's doctor to call me.

Anyway they finished, the doctor came in to make sure she was fit to go home. He said it has never happened before that someone hasn't slept on the melatonin and he wouldn't be surprised if she sparked out in the van on the way home.

nope....he just doesn't know her very well does he...
She is now playing the PlayStation. Right as rain...

Whatever the results it is agreed that we will medicate on low levels of epilepsy medication and see what happens.