hallucinations? visual disterbences in 5 year old?

[vivica2]

my 5 year old son has been telling me for 2 weeks now that when he sits at the dinner table everything grows and shrinks in size. iv asked him if he sees stuf that isnt there and he says no, mommy, or sister or the cup get realy big then realy small. 

is this a hallucination..? everything online says a hallucination is seeing somethign that isnt there? what shoudl i call it int he mornign when i call the doc AGAIN. 

anyone heard of this?

[LynLyn]

I have this from time to time. Usually happens when in a dimly lit room (but not always), while trying to fall asleep, or while watching something on TV in the dark. Being drowsy doesn't help matters. I go through phases where this happens frequently for a periods of weeks or even months then disappears for months (or years) at a time. I remember this happening when I was a child but it seemed to be limited inability to sleep due to high fevers. After seeing a few neurologists and an epileptologist and hearing similar stories from my epilepsy diagnosed brother, in my case it is either due to complications from narcolepsy (visual hallucinations...any kind of visual abnormality that isn't consistent with real life) or the aura leading up to a partial seizure (or partial seizure itself). I personally believe it has more to due with premature sleep cycles in only small portions of my brain (narcolepsy being the mastermind) but, I have not confirmed this hypothesis. For me these visual size changes have never led directly into anything more serious. I've had other issues in the area but not caused by or preceded by events like you described. Perhaps bring this up with his regular doc and see about getting referred to a specialist if you feel put off by a general practitioner or ped. 

[RStelle]

I had a friend growing up who had similar hallucination type things--it turned out to be a form of epilepsy. It was changing the way he perceived things such as colors, size, and sound. It took them a while to figure out what was going on and boy was it scary for him for a while. Good luck!

[JynxGirl]

It's called Alice in Wonderland syndrome. It's fascinating to have, and while you can outgrow it, it's difficult to diagnose and even harder to treat. It isn't dangerous, but you should definitely mention it to his doctor.