EEGs

[eurydicebound]

My oldest is going in on Monday morning to have an "awake and drowsy" EEG done. That means only 4 hours sleep the night before, no more. Has anyone else had this done? Any idea what it involves? Any and all experience is welcome.

Comments

[b3zsgirl.livejournal.com]

Yet another thing this week I know nothing about. Except...that I can't even keep myself up awake all night.

Whatever you have to do, it will be worth it. Can you give him coffee?

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Not after midnight.

[mysticalforest.livejournal.com]

I went in for a sleep study, but that was for a normal night's sleep.

It turned out to be the single worst night of sleeping in my entire lifetime—but that's another story. The relevant portion perhaps for you is that they glued the leads to my head and the glue would only come out if I thoroughly washed my hair. Thoroughly. That was probably due to my long hair so YMMV.

[rentagurkha.livejournal.com]

I've had EEG's done in the past, can't remember if they were "awake and drowsy" or not.

Back then it entailed having a large number of electrodes poked into your scalp, all of which stung a little, and I think it took about 30-60 minutes, most of which was set up time. You had to stay pretty still during the process.

Not a lot of fun, but on the grand scale of things not all that bad (even from my perspective as a kid).

FYI, I had to do this regularly for a few years because I had suffered from a 104 degree fever at one point, blacked out, and been rushed to the hospital. They were looking for brain damage (no signs of permanent damage ever turned up, thankfully).

[rentagurkha.livejournal.com]

Done that too, although less goop may be involved for a study in which the person is awake.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I have no actual experience, but I write about it a lot. If it'll help: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/Epilepsy/EEG-Electroencephalogram.aspx?articleID=6951&categoryID=EP-nh2-05c

[berkanna.livejournal.com]

Had one when I was 18.

It was completely unremarkable, and I remember almost nothing other than watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off over and over on some cable channel the night before.

Mine ended up being a waste of time anyway, since I go from awake to asleep with very little "drowsy" in between. It ended up being a "sleeping" EEG which is not what they wanted.