What can be causing my sister to doze off several times a day???!
Question: My sister dozes off a couple of times during the day. It looks likes shes daydreaming but shes not. Its like she's off in another world. She has rapid eye movement if you look closely. And her breathing also changes. If you talk to her, she wont respond quickly and if you ask her questions she will answer them but sometimes its the wrong answer but she comes out of the daze when you ask her questions. This has been going on for about 5 yrs or so. Shes 17yrs old. She had 2 seizures last year one in August and the other one in October. Those are the only 2 she's ever had in her life. She was never dropped as a baby. Doctors have done 2 MRI's on her and everything shows up normal. But her dozing off continues, and noone can explain why. We dont let her drive for the same reason cuz she almost crashed because she suddenly dozed off when she was about to make a right turn. If anyone has anything that can help us we would really appreciate it.
Thanks!!!
Answers: My sister dozes off a couple of times during the day. It looks likes shes daydreaming but shes not. Its like she's off in another world. She has rapid eye movement if you look closely. And her breathing also changes. If you talk to her, she wont respond quickly and if you ask her questions she will answer them but sometimes its the wrong answer but she comes out of the daze when you ask her questions. This has been going on for about 5 yrs or so. Shes 17yrs old. She had 2 seizures last year one in August and the other one in October. Those are the only 2 she's ever had in her life. She was never dropped as a baby. Doctors have done 2 MRI's on her and everything shows up normal. But her dozing off continues, and noone can explain why. We dont let her drive for the same reason cuz she almost crashed because she suddenly dozed off when she was about to make a right turn. If anyone has anything that can help us we would really appreciate it.
Thanks!!!
This sounds very much like petit mal epilepsy, which now has a more PC name. (Absence seizure? Something like that.) I think she should be evaluated by a physician who knows about these dozing incidents and their frequency, and about the seizures.
I'm not a medical professional, but I know that not everything that's wrong shows up on an MRI. This condition affects her safety and even her future employability, so the sooner it's diagnosed and treated, the better.
Take her to a different neurologist and ask him to see if she has narcolepsy.
sounds like narcolepsy
She needs a full medical with an EEG & maybe a PET scan if insurance will cover it.
Her episodes don't sound like dozing, as the other person said it sounds like petit mal seizures. In narcolepsy her eyes wouldn't be opened during these events.
She may also have sleep apnea which would make this worse. See if her MD will give her a prescription for an overnight sleep study.
Google:mayo clinic>>diseases.>>seizures
>>narcolepsy>>& sleep apnea.
Keep investigating!
Good luck