toddler abnormal eye rolling

Hi there. I am hoping someone can help me..I have a now 16 month old son who has been rolling his eyes since he was about 8 months old. He briefly will close them and roll them up 2 second episodes. At first they were very infreaquent and then the episodes started to happen everyday. I brought him to the ER where he had a CT scan of his head and neck and blood work up. In the coming months his episodes began to wax and wane..sometimes he will have 5-6 eye rolls a day sometimes none at all..sometimes weeks on end nothing. I continued to bring him to doctors and we have had more labs run...2 EEG's(1 EEG being a 24hr video)..2 eye exams(dialated) and phyical work up and so far nothing. I of course od been worried about a brain tumor...Does this sound like anything a tumor would produce?..would the CT scan likely see a mass if there was indeed one?..Should I just get an MRI at this point..he will be sedated for this which I didnt want to put him through if not needed(it hasnt been recommended) any imput would be wonderful!..Thanks!
Danielle

[margypops]

Are you sure he hasnt learned this behavior ,older kids and some adult kids,find it fun to teach Babys to do things, a lot of them are good things but a lot are negative ,in a store the other day I saw an older child of about11yearold looking after an 18month old whilst Mom shopped, the older girl kept pulling out her tongue ,over and over till the Baby was doing it,also Tickling her till the Baby was in Hysterics and in discomfort.Sometimes Moms just dont see whats under their noses, and hey get Him checked out again goes without saying till you get some answers.

[rileysmom456]

My 22 month little girl does this as well. She rolls her eyes back usually when she is sleepy. She will shut them and then they open and they roll back. It's only for a second or two. She just started this about a week ago, and it all started when she was sick with a virus and fever of 103+. Fever broke about 4 days ago but she is still doing the eye rolling.
We have an EEG scheduled for next week. I see that your message was from July and it's now November so I was wondering if you had any updates. I am just trying to find out as much info as I can. I am just so worried about her..... Thanks.

[brycesmommy]

Hi - Can you tell me if you've had any luck getting to the bottom of this?  My one and a half year boy has been rolling his eyes up a lot, and I feel strongly that it's an involutary action.  I don't want to put him through more than I have to, although the pediatrician has suggested an EEG and MRI.

[kristemplogin]

My 36 month old daughter does this, sometimes frequently, sometimes infrequently.  She is otherwise fine.  I am sure that it is just a quirky thing she does either voluntarily or involuntarily because she can.  I believe your doctors are taking you for a ride simply to spend money.  I know of doctors who have done this before, unfortunately (our health care system is broken, remember?).  I suggest two things: (1) get another pediatrician soon and (2) if nothing else is wrong with your boy, take comfort that he is a perfectly healthy little guy that doesn't need to go back to the doctors for this habit that he will eventually stop doing.

[brooksmum]

Hi,
My son started doing the same thing, eyes rolling back a few days before Christmas last year, he had just turned one. My doctor rushed us to the emergency room and he was admitted to hospital & had an eeg, ecg & MRI, which were all normal except for the MRI which showed he had Arnold Chiari Malformation type 1 which is unrelated. His paediatrician said he had complex partial seizures & put him on phenobarb.
In the two weeks it took for the phenobarb to kick in his 'seizures' changed, and he now has absence seizures where he just stares off for up to a fw minutes as well as the eye rolling episodes.
In feb this year we spent a week in hospital after a few days of gastro, and theregore not keeping his meds down he went into status. Basically he was absent & it took him over 1/2 an hour to get out of it.
They changed his meds to Tegretol after another eeg which again showed nothing, and a neurologist & nurse AND the eeg technician said there was nothing wrong with him.
He is now drug free in preperation for his sleep deprieved eeg tomorrow, and has been having tons of 'seizures'.  I just want proof & for a medical professional to see his seizures or tell me what it is!
I really don't believe it is something he has picked up or does because he can. Have you tried to roll your eyes back while they're open? Its not possible.
Good luck with your son!

[Devinsmama]

PLEASE let me know what the test results were. My son has already had an MRI and regular CT scan... as well as a ton of blood work. All came back normal. We will be having the 48 hour EEG this week.... he has ben "eye rolling" since 10 months- 19 months now. It is NOT voluntary. Sometimes he'll do it for reaction, but the rolling I am concerned with is more frequent when he is sick, tired, upset.
He is also delayed- motor and speech with problems with "motor planning". Like a stroke victim, he has to be taught the movements it takes to carry out a simple task- push to sit, stand,  walk etc. Is anyone else's eye roller delayed???
Thank you.

[Dazee]

I'm sure you have figured this out by now but my daughter recently started doing this and the result seems to be Benign paroxysmal tonic upgaze here is a link that was helpful http://www.john-libbey-eurotext.fr/en/revues/medecine/epd/e-docs/00/01/AD/D7/article.phtml you can also search on you tube. Parents have posted videos of their babies doing this and it is much relief to see and compare. Thankfully it doesnt seem to be anything serious. Blessing to you and your baby. I hope everything continues to be ok. As much as we are happy to hear "We found nothing" sometimes we want an answer and it could be frustrating not to get one. But hang in there. If this is the case with your baby then he will be fine.