absence seizures vs daydreaming | ADHD Information

My friend said her daughter did this when she was young. She is an adult now. They thought she had ADHD. It rurned out she was having seizures. My son has done this also. I don't know if there are any Neurologists here. I live in a city of 75,000. Will I need referral from my son's doctor for this?It depends on you insurance policy. Seizure treatment is tricky cause most won't treat unless it shows up on the eeg. Our regular Dr. gives our sons Depakote Er. These type usually in 80 % are gone in adulthood. I have had no seizures since being a adult. This is classified as childhood epilepsy. My eegs will always be abnormal. School stuff is still hard but not as hard as when I was a kid. I can't qualify as Ld anymore either. This can be mistaken for daydreaming. It is breaf staring spells. If you see this I suggest say see a Neurologist. I am going to find another Neurologist who listens cause I will add no more meds until this is addressed. If I am wrong why do I see it in our son's eyes. He get's a glazed not here kind a look. What and how would you handle this one?Oldtimer, my son had absence seizures and has ADHD.   Yes, the daydeamy type!   He went through all the neurological testing and they came out fine.   learned that some seizure activity does not show on the eeg's, or that some "seizures" are actually emotionally based.  Like psychological, rather than chemical.  I'm sure they contributed to his issues in school.  His last spell was at the beginning of 7th grade last fall.  We keep his blood sugar up, and watch his stress level, and he seems fine now, or has grown out of it.  Sure was scary seeing that glazed over look mid conversation, that I could not shake him out of.  Keep researching and asking questions till you are satisfied.   

I have a 8, almost 9 year old daughter and she has struggled with school since she was 4.  We thought she had a hearing problem, but after doing an ABR it showed her hearing was good.  Then we thought it was ADD or ADHD but after doing the QEEG the doctor suggested doing a full EEG, and when we did they diagnosised her with absence seizures.  At first we were upset, and then the Neurologist assured us the we would see a new girl after putting her on Depakote.  Well, I didn't want to put her on medication at all, because the DR. said that most kids grow out of it, but after awhile we finially put her on the medication, thinking it would help her with paying attention at school.  After a few months of medication we did another EEG and there were no seizures, however, her attention, daydreaming, and school work didn't get any better, in fact, it got worse.  Now the DR. is telling us that she may have a learning disability but the she should stay on the medication. 

OldTimer, does your sons having any problems with attention span or school work after being on Depakote?

Wally