When Sammy was 25 months old, he got a low grade fever of 99.9 F. He did not have a cough, runny nose, or any other symptoms, so we just gave him a dose of ibuprofen and put him to bed for the night. The next morning, he had another low grade fever, so we tried to give him more ibuprofen. He refused to finish it and insisted on playing. We had no idea we had a family history of febrile seizures.
A few hours later, Sammy suddenly stopped talking and playing. His entire body went stiff, his eyes rolled back into his head, his jaws clenched closed, and he turned very pale. We held him and shouted his name, but he did not respond to us at all. When we noticed that he was not breathing and was starting to turn blue, we called 911 immediately.
I attempted to use my training as a nurse to give my son CPR, but his jaws were closed tight and I could not give him any breaths. Fortunately, his body soon relaxed and he began to breathe. Just as Sammy was waking up, the paramedics arrived. His temperature had risen to 103 F, but he was recovering on his own. They gave him additional oxygen to help him along. By the time he was loaded into the ambulance, Sammy was drowsy but awake.
His fever had climbed further, to 105 F, so Sammy was given another dose of ibuprofen. We went to the nearest emergency room to try to find out what caused his first febrile seizure. We were never able to pinpoint the cause of the fever, only rule out meningitis, bacterial infections, ear infections, and electrolyte imbalances. It was most likely caused by a virus.
Though the entire febrile seizure only lasted a minute or so, it felt like an eternity. I could not believe that this was happening to us! I was 7 months pregnant with Sophie at the time. I was a neonatal nurse! In addition to blaming myself for not doing more to prevent the seizure, I also worried about the effects it would have on Sammy’s developing brain.
I was reassured when I did some internet research later. Dr. Alan Greene wrote:
Although febrile seizures are fairly common, many parents have never seen one until it happens to their child. Febrile seizures occur in 3% to 5% of otherwise healthy children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. Toddlers are the most commonly affected.
Dr. Greene continues,
This is usually one of lifetime’s most frightening moments for the parents. Most parents are afraid that their child will die or will have brain damage.
The NINDS Febrile Seizures Information Page states “The vast majority of febrile seizures are harmless. There is no evidence that febrile seizures cause brain damage.”
The Mayo Clinic website states:
If your child is prone to febrile seizures, you might be able to prevent them by treating a fever early. However, most febrile seizures develop suddenly and without warning. Being sure the child is safe during a seizure, offering comfort afterwards and following up with a doctor’s visit are good approaches for handling a febrile seizure.
What should I do if my child has a seizure?
- Lay your child down on the floor to eliminate the risk of falling.
- Turn your child on his side or stomach so that he won’t choke on saliva, mucus, or vomit.
- Don’t put anything in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue. It might cause further injury.
- Remove any hard or sharp objects near your child.
- Loosen the clothing around his neck. Open or remove his shirt.
- Don’t attempt to restrain your child’s movements during the seizure.
- Try to bring the fever down:
- Give an acetaminophen (Tylenol) suppository. Nothing by mouth.
- Place cool washcloths on his forehead and neck.
- Give him a lukewarm sponge bath. Ice water or alcohol can cause shivering, increasing the fever.
- Stay calm and observant. Try to note the time the seizure started and stopped, and your child’s behavior during the seizure. This information will be helpful to the doctors who treat your child after the seizure.
- Call 911 if the seizure lasts more than 10 minutes or if the child stops breathing.
What should I do after the seizure has stopped?
- Call your child’s pediatrician. The doctor may ask you to bring your child in for a visit or to the emergency room for some tests. It is important to try to find the cause of the fever, especially if it is his first seizure. Dr. Greene writes, “Most febrile seizures are brought on by fevers arising from viral upper respiratory infections, ear infections, or roseola. Meningitis causes less than 0.1% of febrile seizures but should always be considered, especially in children less than one year old or who still look ill when the fever drops.”
- If your child still has a fever, but is alert, you may give him medications by mouth. Give him a dose of ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol). Never give children aspirin due to the risk of Reye’s Syndrome. Ask your pediatrician for the correct dosages, and how often to give them.
- Continue to monitor your child’s temperature very closely. Check your child’s temperature often, especially before giving medication and thirty minutes afterward to see if the medication is helping.
- Encourage your child to drink plenty of cool fluids. This will keep him hydrated, as well as help control the fever.
- If the fever persists despite the medication, try cool washcloths to the forehead and neck, lukewarm sponge baths, or tepid tub baths. Don’t go overboard and cause shivering. Shivering is the body’s natural response to cold and raises body temperature even more.
- Though it will be difficult for both of you, try not to snuggle closely with your child, since this retains body heat. Keep him lightly dressed.
- Do not let your child be too physically active, since this may increase his temperature.
What can I do to try to prevent another seizure?
According to the Mayo Clinic website,
Most of the time, a febrile seizure occurs the first day of an illness. Often, a febrile seizure occurs before parents realize that their child is ill. Giving your child acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) at the first indication of fever will help reduce the fever, but won’t necessarily prevent a seizure.
- Invest in a quality quick read digital thermometer. Use a rectal (butt) or
axillary (armpit) if your child is under 6 months old, axillary or tympanic (ear) if over 6 months. We like the Braun ThermoScan digital ear thermometer which we purchased at Costco. - Monitor your child’s temperature very closely whenever he is feeling ill or acting differently than normal.
- If he has a fever, use this tips listed above to keep his fever down.
- Always keep a supply of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil), in both suppository and oral form (drops, liquid, chewable, whatever is appropriate for your child). Be sure the medications are not expired, and you know the correct dosages based on your child’s weight. If you are not sure, ask your pediatrician, nurse, or pharmacist for your child’s correct dosage. If child refuses to take the oral medication or vomits immediately after taking it, give a fever reducing suppository.
- If the fever does not respond to one type of medication (acetaminophen or ibuprofen) after thirty minutes, give the other one. Keep a record of the types of medications given at what times. Generally, acetaminophen can be given every four hours, and ibuprofen every six hours. Once the fever is under control, alternate acetaminophen every six hours and ibuprofen every six hours. This way, every three hours, the child gets some type of fever reducing medication. Try not to give more than five doses of acetaminophen and more than four doses of ibuprofen per twenty four hour period.
This article is based on my experiences as a registered nurse and a parent, as well as advice from our pediatrician, emergency room personnel, and some internet research.
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Hey Elaine,
Great article.
No matter what your training it is still hard not to freak out when a child is seizing. My wife is an RT who works in a pediatric ICU as well — she would freak as well.
A couple of other things I remember from medical school (that need to be fact checked by a pediatrician):
Febrile seizures can increase the risk of developing seizures later in life — although the absolute risk is low.
If the seizures don’t stop after a few minutes, don’t walk, RUN to the nearest ER.
Cheers
Tony “I don’t just blog” @ DJI.
Thanks so much for the comments, Tony! You brought up some very good points.
Here are a couple of updates taken from the Mayo Clinic website:
“Only a small percentage of children who have a febrile seizure go on to develop epilepsy…The most common complication of febrile seizures is the possibility of more febrile seizures. About a third of children who have a febrile seizure will have another one with a subsequent fever.”
“Most febrile seizures stop on their own within five minutes. If your child has a febrile seizure that lasts more than five minutes — or if your child has two or more seizures — call for emergency medical attention.”
Of course, if your child is not breathing or has been seriously injured during the seizure, call for an ambulance immediately.
I am writing this because my brother and sister in law are at their wits end. They have a two year old ( she will be two this january ), an about three months ago she had a seizure. They airlifted her to the nearest hospital ( Ft. Lauderdale ). She was put on medication, and stayed in the hospital for a week. Once home, she seemed fine, but had a reaction to the medication. She was taken off of it, and had another seizure within a few days. They went back to the hospital, and stayed for wnother two weeks. Still, they could not find anything wrong with Abigail.
She has a very limited vocablulary, and no inrterest in toilet training. Her walking developed very normally, and her contact is fine. She does, however, get VERY nervous in groups larger than mom, dad, and a few family members. I am not sure if this email will even get answers, but if anyone can tell us anything about why this is happeneing, please contact me. My email is jjohnssen777@yahoo.com. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you so much for your time.
Jody Ann Lewis
Jody,
It sounds like your niece had something more than a simple febrile seizure, but I am not familiar with the condition you described. Abigail probably needs to see a pediatric neurologist and get a CT scan or EEG or something to diagnose her.
I hope everything works out for her. Best of luck to your niece and her family.
Elaine
My son who is 5 last week had a febrile seizure. He came to me said he didn’t feel well and I took his temp and he had a 101. temp . I gave him motrin right away laid him down went to put the motrin away and came back 30 seconds later and asked if he wanted a blanket he didn’t anwser so i looked closer and his eyes were open and they rolled to the back of his head and he started turning white. i picked him up right away and i yelled call 911 he turned blue with his jaw locked and his eyes open we thought he was gone and my husband started air puffs into his mouth and he started coughing and the color came back. At that time he was taken in an ambulance.It lasted about 5 minutes .This was the worst scaryist thing I have ever been though. they said it was a viris, but 1 week later he is still not he’s self running low grade fevers on and off , and just not well. I am scared to death ,this will happen again. shouldn’t he be well by now?
Kaycee — like everything else, see your pediatrician if you have any questions, but a few things; if the seizure came back within 30 seconds, then by definition, it really didn’t stop. The fact that the whole episode lasted around 5 minutes means that it was sort of borderline with respect to actually treating the seizure; more than 5 minutes probably meant that the EMS guys or MD’s would have actually given medication to stop the seizures.
Having said that, viral illnesses can take up to 10 days to go away completely, and its hard to say with what you mean by “just not well”. Again, I’d keep a close eye on him, bring him back to his MD or emerg if you have any questions.
Good luck Kaycee!
Tony.
Kaycee,
Just wanted to let you know that it has been over a year since Sammy’s seizure. We have been very careful to monitor his temperature whenever he gets sick or just doesn’t seem his normal self.
Like Tony recommended, call or see your pediatrician if you still have questions.
I hope your son is back to normal soon.
Elaine
MY 18 MONTH SON HAD A FEBRILE SEIZURE LAST WEEK, HE WAS RUSHED BY AMBULANCE TO THE HOSPITAL AND THEY SAID THE FEVER WAS BROUGHT ON BY A DOUBLE EAR INFECTION. THEY PRESCRIBED ANTIBIOTICS AND SENT US HOME . A HOUR AFTER WE GOT HOME HE HAD ANOTHER SEIZURE(NOT AS BAD AS THE FIRST ONE AND THEN THE NEXT DAY ANOTHER LITTLE ONE. BUT NOW HE SEEMS TO BE DOING FINE AND THAT WAS TWO WEEKS AGO. MY QUESTION IS EVEYONE SAYS THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE SEIZURE PER ILLNESS, SHOULD I BE REALLY WORRIED THAT MY SON HAD THREE? I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO TAKE HIS TEMP EVERY HOUR BECAUSE I’M SO SCARED THAT HE’LL HAVE ANOTHER ONE.
It have been over 8 months since my sons febrile seizure and he is now great. it took about 3 months for him to get totaly well again but after that no trouble and he have never had another , although he has not had a high fever since. So, I will always be concerned by that. but, the doctors said more then likely this was a one time deal and it has yet proven to be. Thanks for your help.
Wendy and Kaycee,
I’m so glad to hear that your sons are both better now. It has been almost 2 years since Sammy’s febrile seizure. In that time, Sammy has had several high fevers that we brought down as fast as possible with medication, cool drinks, and tepid baths.
I hope all of our kids remain seizure-free in the future!
Elaine
I have a question about febrile seizures. My daughter had her first at 8 months old and has just had her fourth febrile seizure two nights ago and she is almost 15 months old. The pediatrition that she goes to says nothing is wrong with her and that she just has seizures when she gets fevers. Ihave read a lot of information on many differnt sites about these seizures and they seem to be unharmful for long lerm effects, but I still cannot help but wonder if my daughter is going to be ok.
Her first seizure lasted about 10-12 minutes and was te result from a sinus infection. Her next seizure a month later lasted about 8-9 minutes and was a result of an ear infection. Her third seizure a month and a half later lasted about 9-10 minutes and there were no infections found. The fourth seizure two nights ago (a month and a half later) lasted 5-6 minutes and no infection was found.
I just wanted to know I should be asking her pediatrition for something else. They will not give me anymore information about them, I don’t know if there is just none out there or what is going on, but its unsetteling to me and my husband. And we just want to make sure our baby is going to be ok.
Any information you could give would be a great help, thank you all for your time.
Tina
My son is 3 years old and has had 7 febrile seizures to date. His first was at 8 months old and he was actualy febrile status with this one. Every fever since then has been simple, lasting only 2-5 minutes. He is otherwise completely normal and healthy. Anyone else have a child with so many seizures. I feel like the only one. I am an RN and so I try and remind myself of the benign nature of these seizures but they still terrify me every time. Do they sometimes grow out of them sooner than 5. Does anyone know?
Tina and Kendra,
I hope your children outgrow their seizures soon. In the meantime, keep treating those fevers aggressively. Invest in a quality, quick read thermometer if you haven’t already. Be sure to keep track of when they take Tylenol and Motrin so they don’t get too much or too frequently.
See your pediatrician if you have more questions. Good luck with everything!
Hi my son Connor has had now 6 febrile seizures over the past year. We had him tested for epilepsy and everything you can think of and have found nothing. 101 seems to be the trigger temp for him and last night we found him seizing in his crib again. The neurologist suggested putting him on a medication called Keppra to prevent them. We are hesitant b/c it comes with some major side effects like hyper activity, sleep disruption, behaviorial issues and violent tendencies. Now that he has had 6 they say that there could be long term effects if he continues to have them. He gave us a scenario of if you lightly tap someones arm once or twice it doesn’t hurt, but if you continue the same pattern over and over eventually it will begin to hurt and leave a bruise. Seizure can work on the brain the same way and can cause learning disabilites, behavior issues, etc.
Now I am not a doctor, that is just the info that I was given. I am not sure what to do about the medication but with winter coming I am afraid of more seizures and illnesses. so for anyone wondering if repeat seizures are rare, I don’t think so. Like I said Connor has had 6 in 1 year now and only two of them have been b/c of infections.
Jennifer. Thanx for posting. it always helps a bit to know we’re not alone. How old is Connor? Are all his seizures febrile?
Connor is 2 and they diagnosed all of his seizures as febrile but honestly I don’t agree. He has had low grade fevers with a couple seizures so I am not so sure, but as of now the doctors do say they are febrile.
Vlady’s temp are low grade too and always have been with the seizures. He has never had a fever with out a seizure. First sign of fever is seizure every time. Its so frustrating. I know most people tend to say that the seizure happens after 102 degrees but not for us, so your not alone on that one either.
My daughter had another seizure last month and never had a fever at all, her temp didn’t even reach 100, and there was no source of infection. Her pediatrition finally ordered an EEG and decided to give her carbamazapine for the seizures, and we are now also waiting to see the pediatriac neurologist on the 11th of October. We took her for the EEG last week and still have not heard anything about the results but I am calling this Wednesday because it will have been a week. Also my husband and I have chosen not to give her any of the medication for the seizures until after we get the results from the EEG and talk to the neurologist in a couple weeks. But I will be sure to keep you all informed if they find anything. We hope all the children are doing well and staying healthy. Until next time, take care.
You know I completely agree with you on waiting to medicate until after the test results. Connor was prescribed meds for Epilepsy before the EEG and the test was negative. Make sure what ever you decide make sure you research the medication. Alot of these meds cause side effects that are more harmful than the seizures themselves. Conno was prescribed Keppra and a lot of people have had a lot of problems on it. Its used to treat Bipolar Disorder also so it works like an anti-depression. It also has a high suicide rate in adults so imagine what the kids will be like? We opted not to medicate until he is older. He is only having them when he gets sick and if we watch his temperatures he is ok. Good luck with your results.
Kendra, Tina, and Jennifer, I’m glad you were able to share your experiences with each other. I hope everything goes well for you and your children. Please keep us posted!
My son william 13 months , just had his second seizure last night. Its shorts, about 2-3mins. His first seizure wal 6 weeks a go. All caused by ear infection. Since both of my sons havefebrile seizure ( the eldest son is 3 1/2 years old), I always carefull treating the fever (with Motrin and tylenol back to back just like our pediatric told us to do ) everytime they got sick. But still … after the 2 boys had their second seizure ( all of them caused by ear infection), I still could not believe it is happening to us, and how many seizure will happen again in the future. Because last night, it happened after 2 hours a gave him tylenol, william has been taking back to back fever reducer for about 24 hours and the seizure still hapenned. We just don’t know what to expect, even we already doing what we need to do .. I checked his temp after I gave tylenol, he was 100F, but 2 hours later…. YOu know…..sometimes … it just happened. I am still wondering if there’s anything else that we can do to prevent this?
Hi everyone, I just wanted to share a little bit of information with you about my daughter’s visit with the pediatric neurologist.
First of all the doctor said her EEG looks good and that there is more he would like to look into on it, because he didn’t have too much time to look it over when we were there. Second of all the doctor (the pediatric neurologist) explained to us that these days when anyone (child or adult) has 2 or more seizures (febrile or not) they are considered to have epilepsy. So that’s how they are now treating my daughter. She is now taking Carbatrol 100MG 2x a day. The Doc said that what our family Doc prescribed for us was okay but it is the generic of Carbatrol, and when it comes to seizure medication your are 20% more likely to develop the side effects of the medication if it is a generic.
Other than that my daughter had her blood levels tested and will be going back to the neurologist in 6 weeks. At the next appointment she will be getting an MRI to make sure that she does not have any damage to her brain from the previous seizures, and her blood levels will be tested again to make sure she is doing okay with the medicine.
Other than everything mentioned above we were also given 2 Diastat 2.5 MG tubes, if you don’t know what it is, it is to stop a seizure if it is lasting too long. It is basically a medicine that is given rectally if a seizure lasts for more than 5 minutes or if there is a cluster of seizures happening.
Like I said before I just wanted to share this information with all of you. Maybe this can give someone else a little relief as well. I know that I feel 100% better about my daughter having seizures now that she is seeing a pediatric neurologist, they really put my mind at ease and helped me to realize that this is something we can control. I would suggest to anyone to go ahead and take their child to a pediatric neurologist if they have had 2 or more seizures. Just be sure they are specialized in pediatrics because they know what they are looking for in children. I hope this helps with someone reading this.
Sandra, when my kids are sick, I feel like I am constantly checking their temparatures. I know how quickly a small child can go from a normal temperature to an alarmingly high one! Be sure to write down what medication you give at what time, to make sure your child does not get an extra dose, or a dose too soon. We always keep a small notebook near our thermometer.
Tina, thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I’m glad the pediatric neurologist visit has made you and your daughter feel better. I hope her MRI is fine. I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers!
Tina, after receiving an e-mail from another regular reader, I have re-read your comment and I have a few things to add. I want to remind you all that while I am/was a nurse, most of my knowledge about seizures in children come from my experiences with my own kids.
First, regarding 2 seizures automatically being epilepsy, our pediatrician and ER doctors all told us that IF there’s a second seizure, then our children needed to be WORKED UP for epilepsy, not that they automatically had it. It sounds like your daughter is in the midst of an epilepsy work up, so if the test results are conclusive, then it appears that the medications are appropriate.
Second, every member of my family uses generic drugs whenever they are available. We experience the same results as with brand name drugs. http://www.fda.gov/Cder/consumerinfo/generics_q&a.htm explains the differences between the two.
I plan to look into this further and will post more comments as I come across additional information. I realize that many of the people who are led to this article are probably dealing with febrile seizures in their own children. I know this is a very difficult time for any parent. I hope others will feel free to post their experiences and opinions as well.
Special thanks to Tony of DJI for emailing us his comments.
My son aidan had his first febrile seizure two days after his second birthday and they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. on september 29th he had multiple seizures that were difficult to stop he was admitted to hospital had a spinal tap, eeg, mri, and cat scan done and found nothing. On dec 23 he had another one due to a fever but no one is sure what caused the fever. Again the next day he had another seizure worse than the day before was taken by ambulance again to hospital. Both times we were sent home but the one on the 24th they told us we werent giving him the proper dose of ibuprofen or tylenol. Isn’t it silly that the day before we were in the hospital and was asked how much we give him and no one said anything the next day they said our doses werent high enough. I don’t understand why a hospital wouldn’t have caught that and this last seizure could have probably been prevented. I feel like they were making us out to be the bad guys. Still wondering how much more of this we can take this is very stressfull for any parent!!
Lisa I know that this is very frustrating especially when you don’t know why this is happening to your baby. You should get a referral to a pediatriac neurologist. We love ours and since my baby has been diagnosed with eppilepsey and been taking carbatrol 2x/day she has been seizure free since October. I hope you guys find out what’s going on. Good luck with everything.
weve already seen a neurologist several times and they couldn’t find anything wrong and we just had a follow up on thursday and they said they still don’t want to put him on medication because all there tests are coming back negative. How old is your baby?
Thanks for this article. My 19 mos. old son had a febrile seizure on Dec. 27th, and it was soooo scary. He vomited once the morning of Dec. 24th & he was constipated too, so I kept his fluids up, checked his temperature too (he didn’t have one), and gave him some Infant Motrin. On Christmas Day he still wasn’t himself, and he had a low-grade fever, but nothing serious, so again I gave him Infant Motrin & half of an Infant Supository. The supository worked & he had 2 bowel movements, and by the end of the day on Dec. 26th he seemed like he was getting back to his normal self (playing & very verbal while visitine family). Then on the morning of Dec. 27th he was overly tired (less then 1 hour after waking up, he was ready for a nap, and after waking from his nap, he was still really tired). I commented to my Mother that he didn’t seem like himself, so I called our family physician to make an appointment for the following day, with a follow-up call to Ontario Telehealth to see what I could do for him. While on the phone I looked at my son, and had my heart stop – his eyes began to roll back in his head, his arms & legs stiffened, he arched his back, and his face became contorted. I hung the phone up, started to freak out (luckily, my Mom was a nurse for over 20 years), and I called 9-1-1. My son’s seizure lasted about 1 minute, but it seemed like an eternity, and after the seizure ended he was completely limp/lifeless, and really couldn’t be aroused. The ambulance took him to the hospital, where he had blood work done, which said he was slightly dry, and he had a chest x-ray, which revealed that he was in the beginning stages of a viral pneumonia. I was so shocked to hear that, because aside from a slight bit of vomiting & a low-grade fever, he wasn’t coughing & didn’t seem sick (I just thought he had a common flu bug that had seemed to be going around). Anyway, this was one of the scariest times in my life, and I was so worried about losing my son, or brain damage, or so many other terrible thoughts that ran through my head?! The emergency room doctor prescribed antibiotics for him, and a follow-up visit with our family doc, but also said that this is common in children his age, it’s not my fault, and there’s really nothing I could do to prevent it from happening. Now there’s a 1 in 3 chance of this happening again if my son gets a fever, so without being paranoid, I’m doing some research & I found your article to be one of the best informative pieces. Thanks for offering tips & sharing!!!
It has now been one year since my son connor had a 5 min. fibrile seizure. I just wanted to let you know that for some of you it is true that this can be a one time deal and it may be something you will never have to go through again. hopefully this will be true with your kids also. connor has be super all year. keep posting. this sight helped me get through a really scary time. Thank you.
Sara, I’m so glad you liked my article and found it helpful. I hope it is just a one time thing for you as well.
Like Kaycee, it has been quite a while since my son’s febrile seizure, and hopefully none of our children will ever have another one.
Good luck and Happy, Healthy New Year to all of you!
Just thought I’d update for the new comers. My son Vlady is 3 and a half and continues to have febrile seizures. he had the first one when he was 8 months old. He tends to have one about every 6 months or so and has had a total of 7 now. He is a perfectly normal, rather exceptional, adorable healthy little boy and the seizures have had absolutely no effect on him whatsoever. My pediatrician says that he wouldn’t dream of medicating him and that a neurologist friend of his says that anything under 12 seizures is nothing to get excited about. Vlady has seizures every time he has a fever and unfortunately the seizure is the first sign of the fever. he seizes the moment that the temperature goes up so Tylenol/Motrin aren’t really preventative. We still live in fear because they are so scary but our pediatrician is wonderful and his own son had febrile seizures and he is confident that he should be growing out of it. Just to let you all know that I’m out here dealing with this over and over and we are fine and surviving and just plodding on and most of all that my little boy is perfect despite multiple seizures.
My 8-month old son adam had a 3-minute seizure last week. That was his first seizure. He had gone through a CT Scan but no abnormality was found on his brain. There was a slight infection in his blood and we are still waiting for the culture sensitivity result this week. He will be undergoing an EEG next week. His pedia neuro recommended phenobarbital as anti-seizure medicine. According to her, we will be giving the medicine until we get 5 consecutive normal EEG data. Initial treatment duration is 5 years. I am afraid that medicine has some adverse effects on my baby. Does it really take this long before knowing if the seizure is just a simple fibrile seizure or not? Based from what I read in the articles over the internet, my baby had a simple fibrile seizure only. Thank you.
I hope all is well with your children. Ciao!
You are so right. my son had one and has never had another. I would no but my baby on anything if he only had one. I hope your son has had his last.
Amphy! I would seek a second and even third opinion if necessary. My son has had multiple febrile seizures and my pediatrician is not even close to considering medicating him. He’s fine. And my son was also 8 months when he had his first one. He’s never even had an eeg. I could almost understand the neurologists concern if the seizure was prolonged or not related to a fever (although medicatin him with phenobarbital would still be radical in my opinion). Anticonvulsants have very serious side effects and are more dangerous than simple febrile seizures!! Sounds like you need to get all the details from the neurologist cause if this is what it sounds like she is very, very wrong.
Thanks for the information. We already stopped giving him phenobarbital. You’re right Kendra, we should have asked for a second opinion right after knowing our pedia neuro’s judgment. It really was just a simple febrile seizure. I just hope it would be his first and last seizure.
Amphy. I just read your latest post and just want to add that I never endorse stopping a medication without the guidance and advice of a physician. I hope that you got a second opinion before stopping the medication. I cannot diagnose a febrile seizure all I can say is that what you have described sounds to me like nothing more than a febrile seizure. most family doctors mange these without a referral to a neurologist. So I hope everything turns out well for you but remember that all medication changes should be made under the guidance of a doctor.
I was very happy to find this site and all of your comments. My 3-year old daughter had a first ever febrile seizure just before Halloween last year. Of course, I was hysterical and called 911. In the pediatric ER she had a CT scan and lumbar puncture to rule out brain abnormalities and meningitis. Both tests came back fine. Even a follow-up MRI came back normal. The ped neuro in the hospital recommended putting her on Keppra because the EEG conducted following the first febrile seizure came back abnormal.
I was horrified of the medications’ side effects and sought a 2nd opinion. Thank GOD I did, because a more senior neurologist in the same ped neuro practice recommended against medication. He said when the EEG was conducted my daughter was still postictal and, had the EEG been conducted later, the results would likely have been normal. Moreover, he said if the seizures are always fever-induced, an anti-seizure med may not prevent them from happening anyway.
My daughter had a 2nd febrile seizure just before New Year’s this year, but her fever was 106 (it was 103 with the first, and due to ear and upper respiratory infections both times).
I urge any parent dealing with this to seek 2nd and 3rd opinions, if necessary, before putting your child on medication. Every doctor treats differently, and you don’t want your child to suffer medication side effects unnecessarily. My daughter will likely outgrow febrile seizures by the time she’s 4 or 5, and I would have never forgiven myself for putting her on a long-term medication with adverse side effects.
Thanks for stopping by, Connie. I’m so glad that this article is still helpful to people over a year after I wrote it. I definitely agree to seek a second or third opinion whenever the first one just doesn’t sound right. In some cases, talking to another pediatrician or ER doctor is just as helpful as a pediatric neurologist consult.
Thanks Elaine. Something has been really nagging me since my daugther’s first febrile seizure, although no doctor that I’ve talked to has much to say about it. About one week before her first febrile seizure, she got a flu shot and a Hep A vaccination at the same time. Since that time, I’ve read a lot of articles on the web that are critical of children receiving mutilple vaccines simultaneously. I had no idea of the risk. Does anyone else have any thoughts or insight on this?
Connie, last October my daughter got a flu shot and Hep A vaccine at the same time also, and she didn’t even get a fever. In our case, it was harmless.
I have heard about people spreading out vaccinations to try to make them more effective and/or less difficult on the child. It’s a pretty new theory, so I don’t think it’s proven yet. If your doctor and insurance company go along with it and if it’s convenient for you, it probably wouldn’t hurt to try it.
Many times over the last few years, my kids got as many as 4 shots in a single doctor’s visit. At the time, I wasn’t aware I could spread out the vaccines. With my insurance coverage at the time, I might have had to pay numerous co-pays for each office visit.
Vaccines have been getting a bad rap lately, but I still believe that they are important for each child’s health as well as the public’s health. I do always ask if there’s a thimerisol-free vaccine available, especially for my 2 year old.
This is a lot to think about, but I hope it helps.
I just went through a similar situation with my son, Keaton who just turned 1. He started arching his back and his eyes rolled in the back of his head. He had a fever of 101.9 but also tested positive for the flu. He had 4 seizures back to back all the way to the hospital and while we were still there. They STAT flighted him to Kosair Hospital and there he stopped and has done fine since. That was two days ago and we just came home. I’m very scared of what may happen but I just pray that God will not allow anything like this to hurt my little man again. It’s so hard seeing your baby bagged, lying lifeless, and having tubes to help him breath.
Hi everyone! I’m glad also to have found this site. My son just had his 2nd febrile seizure and is 2 years old. He had his first one when he was 7 months. Since a long time had passed, I thought he was in the clear. But yesterday, it happened again. I was so scared again and now I find myself researching a lot and so scared to let him go to sleep at night, thinking it’ll happen again. Just wanted to share and say that I hope everyone’s babies grow out of this soon because it’s one of the scariest things to witness in a mother’s life.
Kellie and Brandy, I hope your sons are doing better now. I completely understand that scary, helpless feeling when your beloved child is having a seizure. All you can do is be prepared and try to stay calm. Best of luck to both of your families.
Just wanted to update my good news. My son Vlady who will be 4 in May had his first fever EVER that did not cause a seizure. Every fever he has had since 8 months was accompanied by febrile seizure so I feel that finally maybe he has outgrown them. Fingers crossed!!!
Hi everyone. I just found this site and am so happy that I did. I have an almost 5 year old son (he turns 5 on 4/15) who has had 6 febrile seizures – the last one happened 2 months ago. His first was when he was 13 months old. The first 5 seizures were all “simple” – a minute or so long. There was 15 months between the 4th and 5th seizure and 13 months between the 5th and 6th seizure. These large breaks between seizures gave my husband and I the false belief that he had outgrown them. During these “breaks” he did have fevers but they didn’t lead to seizures. We are always aggressive with motrin/tylenol and have him sleep with us when he is battling an illness. Unfortunately, his last seizure was in Feb of this year and lasted about 20 to 30 minutes (he did have a fever at the time). It was horrible. He was rushed to Childrens Hospital here in Los Angeles. We’ve been seeing a Ped Neurologist since his 3rd seizure and have never medicated him with anti-seizure meds since prior to this last one, they have all been simple and all seizures were febrile. However, after this last long seizure, the neurologist had us do an EEG and MRI – both came back normal (thank goodness). So, we are back at febrile seizures. For whatever reason, he had what they call a “complex febrile seizure” (lasts longer than 15 minutes). I know the fear you all face. Every runny nose scares me to death and I check his temp all the time! I have a 2.5 year old daughter who hasn’t had one and we are hoping that she never does. I just wanted to post and share my story. We are anxiously awaiting the day he not longer has these! And, I have been told by all the doctors we have seen that kids outgrow these by 6 years old. Most outgrow them by 5 but all should by age 6.
Kendra, I’m so glad Vlady is doing better! Like Katie, I’ll still be worried about my son until he finally turns 6 years old! I am also extra careful whenever my daughter gets sick.
We still alternate Tylenol and Motrin to keep their high fevers down, despite new studies that discourage this. Our pediatrician explained that as long as the medications are given properly (right dose, right time interval, etc.), then the risk of liver damage outweigh the risk of another febrile seizure.
I’m wondering if this is still a common practice. Have any of your pediatricians mentioned the new studies or told you to treat your child’s fevers differently?
Okay—spoke way too soon. A day after I posted Vlady had another febrile seizure and then had another two with a string of virus over a three week period. My ped still thinks its within the range of normal simple benign febrile seizures but has refered me to a neurologist just to double check. My ped’s own daughter (who is 35 and fine now) had about 12 febrile seizures and they stopped when she turned four. I must say though that my paranoia and anxiety have peaked this time and I am getting one of those baby monitors with a camera so I can watch him in the evening and then I sleep with him most nights. I hope my paranoia at this point isn’t doing more harm than the seizures themselves. And of course he continues to be happy and healthy overall. Thankyou all so much for sharing your stories. It makes a world of difference to know we are not along. I’ll keep you posted.
Kendra, sorry to hear about Vlady..I sure thought he had grown out of them since he hadn’t had a seizure with that one fever. But don’t worry, the day will come! But don’t feel bad, Sunday, Noah had a febrile seizure at a park at the lake. We were riding boats and picnicing when i saw Noah get quiet. I felt him, he was warm, so I took off to the nearest drug store to get Motrin. By the time I got back to the park, my husband and father were on their way to the hospital because of the seizure. It happened that fast…This was his 3rd seizure but the last two happened within 2 months ago. I’m so scared now…I understand what you mean by knowing you are not in this alone. Not many people want their babies to grow up too fast, but in this case, we are waiting for the day for our babies to turn 5-6. I’m here if anyone ever needs to talk or vent.
Kendra, I have video monitors in both of my kids rooms because of Jack’s seizures. So, no, I don’t think you are being paranoid. It is really just peace of mind. When Jack has a fever, he sleeps with me… 3 of his seizures happened in his bed (I saw them on the monitor) so I love having the monitors.
I have a question to a nurse or whomever will know. My son is Keaton, I posted a comment on Feb. 18th. Everytime he has ran a fever since and I call the doctors, they are not concerned with it at all. Just give Tylenol. OKAY! I know this, but the thing that gets me is that his ped. never saw him, they just got a report saying they had a patient stat flighted and was at Kosair. His first seizure lasted for about 10 min and he was completely blue, we had to breath for him. He stopped for a couple of minutes. The paramedics got there and he started another one this lasted for 12-15 minutes, they couldn’t get an IV started. He was still seizing when they got him into the hospital and got the IV started and gave him med. He had another one like within 5 to 10 minutes after that but they immediately gave him med. When the helicopter got there he was 15 min in flight and started to have another one.
I just worry b/c most febrile seizures don’t happen like that or as long as those do they? I know that they are Considered “normal” but I don’t know if it’s just b/c it happened to my child that I’m so scared of every fever or b/c the length of his, and that he had 4. Which everything was normal no brain damage or anything (Thank God for that) but, is this just something that I should just not have as much concern with b/c the doctors don’t or what? Everytime I call it’s either give him tylenol or give him breathing treatments. Am I just worrying to much or what. If not, what should I tell the doctors. I haven’t recived his paper work from the hospital so like I said they wasn’t there and didn’t see him and I don’t even think they know he was on the respirator?? Maybe I’m just being overprotective but should the doctors be more concerned. Thanks for any advice.
Kellie,
I’m so sorry about you scary experience. I do understand how it feels. Your son’s febrile seizure was a complex febrile seizure as opposed to a simple febrile seizure. Theses complex seizures are also supposed to be benign in nature although I certainly would call for an appointment to discuss your concerns face to face with your childs doctor. Write everything you want to say and ask down. Has Keaton had any other seizures since?
My son’s first seizure was also complex (and I have read that first seizures are more likely to be complex than subsequent ones). His was complex because it too lasted a long time (about 25 minutes). My pediatrician gave me a prescription for rectal diazepam that I can give my son in the event that he ever has another prolonged seizure (greater than 10 minutes). We haven’t ever used it luckily but I have a bit of peace of mind in knowing that I have the drug to stop the seizure if the need ever arises. I hope that you get a chance to talk with your doctor and that he/she understands your concerns. Good luck.
My son Elliot is 2 and had his first febrile seizure @ 14 months. It was a simple seizure lasting ~2minutes and he was found to have an ear infection. His temp was >102. We got tubes and he was seizure free for a year. Then a month ago he had one with a virus and this weekend he had 2 eight hours apart with what seems to another virus. For all of his seizures his temp was >102 and he had received a dose of Motrin and Tylenol prior to ALL of the seizures. We had an MRI done (which was normal) after an abnormal EEG which we found out later was done too close to a seizure. I am living in fear of more seizures. We have a Dyastat at home now and do not want to put him on permanent meds but I don’t know what to do for him!
Your stories have really helped me! My daughter has had two bad febrile seizures that came up so fast…we didn’t have time to treat with motrin. Thank you for your stories!
Laurie & Debbie, Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. I hope your children will be seizure free in the future.
Laurie, I’m not familiar with Dyastat, but if it was prescribed to your son for emergencies, make sure to always bring it with you, along with a thermometer and fever reducing medications. Be sure that everyone who takes care of your son knows what to do in case of another seizure and to dial 911 if necessary. Best of luck!
Wow
I have been looking for a website like this for a long time. My son was involved in a atv accident n Sept 07. 2 Days later he had a clonic tonic seizure lasting 3.4 mins. He had a very slight fever that never rose above 38.6 yet the docs called it febrile. the next night he had another one with no fever. He has since had 4 more all lasting about 3-4 min no fever or virus was detected.He has had simultanious jerking of both arms and legs and voiding during the seizures. He cries out before each one and doesn’t remember anything when the episode is done. He is taking medication called clobazam. He has had two seizures since being on meds, but the last one was 2 months ago. He has 2 EEGs that were both normal and 1 CAT scan that was normal… We are travelling to Vancouver Childrens Hospital in June to see if they can figure them out. He is almost 5 years old and I just want to know what is causing grand mal seizures in my boy, for no apparent reason. Anyone with advice please respond Thanks Katie
Katie, I hope you figure out what’s going on with your son soon. Keep us posted on what you find out in Vancouver.
I was also very frustrated when my daughter had a seizure but no fever, and the doctors kept calling it a febrile seizure. It turned out that she had a rotavirus seizure.
What is a rotovirus Seizure?
Has anyone heard anything about Clobazam? I haven’t noticed anything to much different with Logan, accept it keeps him awake instead of making him sleepy like it’s supposed to. I still hate putting him on daily meds when we don’t what the problem is.
Katie, I’m not familiar with Clobazam. Maybe someone else who’s posted here is?
Rotavirus is a common virus that causes diarrhea and vomitting. It can be very serious when infants get it, but for adults it’s usually just an inconvenience. In some cases, like my daughter Sophie, it also causes seizures. Here’s more info on rotavirus and the new vaccine for it: http://www.aap.org/healthychildren/07fall/HC-Fall07-Rotavirus.pdf.
Logan never had rotovirus. At the most 1 time before a seizure he had a slight touch of the flu. I mean he only threw up 3 times an no diarrhea. A nature path told me they could be due to low sodium in his blood. Has anyone else heard of that? We are also getting testing by the Naturepath as we need answers and the doctors don’t seem to know much.
Hi All
unfortunetly Logan had another seizure on sunday. I thot maybe we were out of the woods cause it has been 11 weeks since the last one. I am glad our trip to the specialist is in less than 2 two weeks. This time I missed Logans meds by 2 hours and it caused a seizure. My doctor said it rarely happens that fast, and my pharmacist said that almost never happens(a seizure coming on within 2 hours of missed meds.) I don’t always give i to him at the same time, and he has not seized before. The doc wanted to up his dosage but I said I wanted to wait till we see the nuerologist and see what she has to say? Anyways just an update.
Hi my daughter is three and she had her first febrile on Sunday. She had a temp of 103 when we went to the ER. They told me she had some kind of viral infection but never checked her ears. Her fever was still high on Monday so I took her to her regular doctor which said she had a right ear infection. I’m just so scared that this will happen again. We live in Florida and I’m worried that just being in the heat can cause another one. I’m just looking for more information on febriles. Can she do everything she did before? What are the chances that this was just a fluke? That was the scariest moment of my life. It lasted about 2-3 minutes but felt like forever. I keep wondering what I did wrong and how come I didn’t notice she was sick. Any information on these would be wonderful.
Hi Terri,
I am so sorry you had to join our little group here. My son has had 9 febrile seizures since age 8 months and he just turned four. It’s scary, and there is not a darn thing that can be done except wait till they outgrow them. As a parent I feel it is importabt to remind others who are going throught this that my child is perfect and smart and wonderful. The seizures have had no effect on his intelligence, learning, behaviour or anything. Given that your daughter is having her first febrile seizure at age three there is a high likelyhood that she may never have another. Tylenol and advil may not even be effective and i know this from experience. The only advice i can give is to remember that febrile seizures do not hurt children. They scare the crap out of parents but I think all of our kids on this post are otherwise perfectly healthy and normal. As far as what kids with febrile seizures can and can’t do–I am always watching my son in the bathtub whereas if he didn’t have seizures I might feel comfortable at this age getting his pj’s from his room for a second or something but I will never leave him. Tje only other precaution I take is I don’t let him have foods that are very dangerous choking hazards like popcorn or grapes or hard round candies just in case he has a seizure with one of these in his mouth. Other than this I try to be diligent about handwashing and carry a bottle of purrell in my purse to disinfect his hands while shopping and stuff. Nothing else I can really do. Good luck and for your sanity;s sake I hope you never have to go through this again.
Kendra is right, both of my son had a seizure, Justin now 4.5 he’s seems outgrown it, he had 2 seizure and his last one when he was almost 3 years old. So far Justin had a few high fever up to 103.5F with no seizure , which is in the past 103F is his trigger. My my youngest son william, 19 months, he had 3 seizures and his first one when he was only 13 months. Its still hard for me to face a seizure with those many episodes on both boys, but looking at justin growing with nothing to worry about, makes me feel much better to know that William will outgrown his.
Hi Kendra
Thank you for writing me back. Knowing that they can’t harm her makes me feel a lot better. Her dad is gone in training right now and I think when he gets home I will feel more comfortable. Its amazing something like that does not harm them. You’ll all be in my prayers and I hope your kids will outgrow them soon.
Hi All
So we got back from Vancouver Childrens hospital this week and we were told that Logan is in fact an epilectic. His EEG at this hospital was abnormal and now that he has 7 seizures that did not accompany a fever, they have diagnosed him with epilespy. Just an update, Thanks for thoughts and prayers.
Katie, sorry to hear about Logan’s diagnosis. I hope the specialists were able to put your mind at ease about the medications you are giving him, etc. We’ll continue to keep him in our prayers.
Kendra and Sandra, great advice you gave to Terri. Thanks so much for posting.
These scary seizure experiences have brought together such a great group of supportive parents and caregivers. That is really priceless. I’m so glad to have “met” you all!
Katie, here’s the long overdue link about my daughter’s rotavirus seizure: http://marloelaine.com/2007/05/12/sophies-frightening-ordeal/
Katie! Thanks for updating about Logan. My thoughts and prayers are with you and from what I understand a great deal of childhood epilepsy syndromes are eventually outgrown. And at least a diagnosis finally stops the what ifs and the guess work. I wish you and your family all the best and hope that youcontinue to update.
Thank you for the support and prayers. We too are praying that Logan grows out this. It is great to know a diagnosis, but it still hurts to know your child has an illness. Thanks again for the prayers, and I will update you all periodically.
Hello everyone, I just went through reading all of your posts and I feel a little better. My son is 19months and just had his first seizure on Tuesday. He quit breathing for 2 minutes with his and his fever was only 102.4, he was sleeping in my arms when it happened. He had been given motrin 2 hours before, so i couldnt give him anything else yet. It was the worst moment of my life. We went to the hospital and they did blood cultures and he has no infection, they said he had a virus. They told me it was a normal thing and I almost bit their heads off, there is nothing normal about what my baby did. What scares me is that he also has breathholding spells, which is where when he gets mad he holds his breath and passes out. It only lasts maybe 30 seconds and until the other night I thought that was the worst. My husband did cpr on him and got him breathing again, I still am not sure if that was something that had to be done, or if he would of started on his own, but when your kid does this how do you not start cpr. The doctor told me there is no link between the seizure and the breathholding spells, but they are both neurological so how do they know? We are supposed to get an appointment at a childrens hospital near by with a neurologist, but we dont know when it is yet. Do any of your kids have both?
Samantha, my son has febrile seizures (I’m the Katie with the son who has had 6 febrile seizures, not the Katie with the son who was just diagnosed with Epilepsy) but my sister has 2 kids who had breathholding spells. She has 7 children total and 2 of them had these spells but grew out of them. They were both between 3.5 and 4.5 years old when they stopped. They both had many of them. Whenever they would get hurt and cry, they would hold their breath and pass out… It was horrible to watch but they are totally healthy and neurologically perfect (one is now 8 and one is almost 6). I see a ped neurologist because of my sons febrile seizures and I asked him about the breathholding spells. He said that they are considered a “seizure” but not neurologically damaging and kids outgrow them – similar to a febrile seizure. I also thought that there may have been some sort of link between the 2 since my sisters kids had them and my son had FS but our neurologist said that they are not linked. I know how scary these seizures are and I hope this gives you a bit more info….
Katie, thanks for posting a reply to Samantha.
I’m glad to hear that breathholding is harmless. I can’t imagine how frightening it would be to have to live with that!
Thank you Katie, it is just aweful to see your child stop breathing. I have gone out and gotten an ear themometer and we have more motrin and tylenol then ever before. I am so scared. He has gotte over his virus and is his old self again, but I feel like I am just waiting on the next one. With him having the breathholding spells, I just know that he is gonna do the seizure thing again, but I pray he doesn’t. I have atypical migraines, and I had the breathholding spells as a young child. I knew that there are simularities with my migraines and seizures, but the doctor keeps saying breathholding is not related to seizures, I just know there has to be a reason behind him doing all of this. Thank you for asking your doctor about it, we are still waiting on our appointment at MUSC, a hospital nearby that has a wonderful peds department. The pediatrician said if he does it again than he will get him in without any more waiting, but most kids don’t do it again, so at this point he is not as urgent. I don’t like that answer, but what can I do? I am sorry that your children have had so many, it is so, so scary. Do they quit breathing everytime?
Hi! Joining the group! My son suffers from Febrile Seizures. He just had his 7th one in his 3 years of life.
Seizure 5 and 6 where in the same sickness/night so his neurologist put him on valproic acid 2x a day. We have gone almost a year and one fever without a seizure. He got a fever friday night and had a seizure.
He goes for a follow up to start weaning him off medicine on Tuesday so Im sure we will either A) Up his dosage for his weight or B) Put him on another medication.
My main concern is the long term effect. I thought we had seen the light at the end of the seizure tunnel in the last year. I am so angry and disapointed that this medicine did not work for us.
Thanks for all the comments on this topic – its always reasurring to know you are not alone.
Thanks for visiting, Anita. I hope your son will be seizure free soon.
My son is 10 yrs old now. He has had 4 fever induced seizures. One at 3yrs old, Two at 5 yrs old and then One more at 7 yrs old. We thought he would have grown out of it by 5, but then he had one at seven. We have been to two different neuroligists. One when he was 5 and one when he was 7. At 5 they said he would grow out of it, at 7 they sent him for an EEG and MRI. They found 2 areas in his brain that they referred to as “migrations anomalies.” He explained it like this—Some people have birthmarks-those are skin anomalies. My son has 2 anomalies in the matter in his brain that he feels is where his seizure focus is. They did not put him on medicine, because his seizures have only been fever induced. My son has had many fevers over the years, even had one this past week and it still scares me everytime he is sick. Still till today, I give him Motrin/Tylenol with fevers and I sleep with him whenever he is not feeling well. I set my alarm and wake up every hour and check his temp. It is the rapidly increasing temperature that causes his seizures. I worry when he is in the pool the most. He hasn’t had a seizure in 3 years and hopefully never has one again. So many years have passed and I still worry about him getting a fever that could cause a seizure.
Hello Everyone!
I am so happy that I found this site. It is so nice to be able to talk to people going through the same thing.
My daughter, Katherine, is 18 months old. She had her first febrile seizure while in her cribe on June 27 (my birthday). We did not witness the seizure–just the aftermath. She was seen by our ped. and admitted into the hospital for a high temp (103.8), slight dehydration and monitoring. All her bloodwork came back normal and she had no signs of a UTI— they had to cath. her 3 times. Febrile Seizures were not even mentioned while we were at the hospital.
Then, just this past monday, july 14— she had another seizure. As you know it was the most awful thing ever…i looked up and saw her seizing. She immdeiately turned blue, stopped breathing and was unconscious. We thought she was choking—ended up doing CPR and called 911. The ambulance arrived and took her to the ER where she had temp of 104.7—they gave her motrion and made us wait 4 hours to be seen. They diagonsed her there with febrile seizures and now I am doing everything I can to read and learn as much as i can about them.
One area I am having difficulty finding information about is when they stop breathing and go unconcious. What do we do? Do we administer CPR and call 911…do they come out of it on their own? Is that a “normal ” part of the seizure? It is unreal to watch your child do this. the Seizure itself is bad enough.
Also, when do you start to feel safe again? Ever??? Both times she spiked her fever so fast…now i feel like i need to take her temperature everyday—all day.
Our ped. says if she has another one in a short amount of time he will send her to see a ped. neuroligists. Do you feel it something we should do before she has another since she is 18 months old and has had 2 in 2 weeks??? This is all so brand new and scary.
Any help anyone can offer would be great. I just want to educate myself as much as possible.
Again, i am so happy to have found this site and I look forward to learning so much from those that are vetrans at this. Reading all of these postings is unbelievable…thank you for sharing your stories.
Christine
Hi Michelle,
I’m so sorry to hear about your son. I know how scary these seizures are. I have a few questions for you since your son had a seizure at 7…. Were all his seizures less that 5 minutes long? And is a “migration abnormality” something he was born with or something that developed once he was born? I ask because my son also had a MRI and EEG (he is 5 years old and has had 6 seizures, the last one lasting 20 minutes). Both came back normal and I’ve been counting the days until he is 6 years old (when he should outgrow them). Lastly, since he has a “focal point”, are his seizures still called febrile seizures and something that he will outgrow? Thanks!
Katie,
I am sorry about your son too. I hope you find comfort in knowing you are not alone…although I know there is nothing comforting about your child having seizures. My son’s seizures have all been less than 5 minutes, but the post-ictal state has lasted quite long. His MRI is what showed these two areas of “migration anomally”. MD said that it is the way his brain developed. My husband’s family has a history of febrile seizures, so we assumed he would grow out of them by 5. We too, couldn’t wait until he was 5, then he had 2 more, then we couldn’t wait until he was 6, he had none when he was 6 so when he turned 7 we were so relieved, that was short lived because in less than 2 months he had another seizure.
Two different MD’s called them “fever induced seizures” however they did says that they are not the same as “febrile seizures.”
I have had such a hard time finding out more about it because everything I find is about febrile seizures that a child grow out of by 5 yrs old.
MD said that they do not know if it will get worse or better or stay they same because the “migration anomalies” are in the gray & white matter of his brain and that as you grow the matter moves so things can change. He did state that with these types of seizures we should try to avoid him having any ” sleep deprivation” because that could cause a seizure (He’s 10 years old, we do the best we can with the sleeping enough hours thing). He also said that during growth spurts like puberty he could have seizures….or he could never have one again.
They said if he ever has a seizure without a fever then they would put him on anti-seizure meds. I pray for the best although I live as if he may have another, so I am always ready.
Christine,
When my son has a seizure I turn him on his side and try to elevate his head a little.If his head points down to his chest to much it decrease the amount of oxygen he is taking in and his lips turn blue. So it is important to keep the airway open.
For us, it is not how high his temp is, but how quickly it goes up. Alternating Motrin & Tylenol helps and when he is not feeling well I take his temp every hour, sometimes more frequently and I constantly am colling him down with lukewarm baths just as a preventative measure.
I found a great website with videos…check it out…includes all different types of seizures, but it shows you what to do..
http://www.epilepsy.com/mmc/video
Hope this helps a little…
Hello everyone,
I hope all of your kids are doing well. I have yet another question if anyone can answer it. My son has only had one seizure, but he ran a fever a couple weeks ago (the first since the seizure) and had really bad muscle spasms with it. At 10:30 he woke up and was hot so I cooled him down with cool washclothe, took his temp, (102.1), and gave him motrin. He did start breathing heavy like he was snoring again, but he didnt actually seize or quit breathing this time. He would just kinda jump every 30 seconds or so. Sometimes his arm, sometimes his leg, sometimes just him. Do you think it was a mild seizure? I asked the doctor about it and he didn’t seem concerned, but I am. He goes on August 13 to the pediatric neurologist so I will ask him but I was wondering what ya’ll think having lived with this. He twitched for at least half an hour.
My nine month old Jacob had a simple febrile seizure about a month ago– sounds very similar to Samantha’s and Elaine’s– he just stiffened in my arms, his eyes were fixed in a blank stare, he turned very pale, his lips turned blue and he stopped breathing. As you all know, this was an incredibly traumatic experience–we thought we were loosing him, and it came completely out of the blue (his fever less that 102, he had had tylenol 2 hrs before, and I had just given him a cool bath). It lasted about 2 minutes. I too wonder if stopping breathing is a common occurrence with febrile seizures and what causes this– did his tongue block his airway (turns out he had strep throat so his throat would have been swollen), or is this an effect of the seizure itself? How long can they be unconscious and not breathing and be ok? This is the first site I’ve found with a lot of references to the breathing issue. It’s also so helpful to be able to find information from people who’ve been through it and can understand the emotional aspect as well. I think this has to be looked on as a traumatic event for the parents. Another question– my doctor wants us to do a brain scan (EEG I think) but I’m worried this will just be scary and difficult for my son and don’t know if it’s really necessary after one simple febrile seizure. Thoughts? Thanks so much.
Amy, the doctors and nurses we spoke to in both the ER and our Pediatrician’s office did not recommend an EEG for either of our children after their first and only seizures. A lot of lab tests were done to try to pinpoint the cause of the seizures.
Sam’s was confirmed to be a simple febrile seizure while Sophie’s was a rotavirus seizure. Both were short but very scary, and thankfully left no permanent damage.
Make sure you seek a second professional opinion if you’re not comfortable with an EEG for your son. Good luck with Jacob!
Amy, An EEG doesn’t always find anything wrong in the test. My daughter Kaylee has had 2 EEG’s done and they still have found nothing. She has had 6 seizures in the past 2 years and is on anti-seizure medicine. The most recent of her seizures was at the end of may when she had one 2 nights in a row, no known causes. The neurologist upped her dosage of her medicine and that was that.
I do not believe that my daughters seizures are febrile and neither does the neurologist. But she also stops breathing, or kind of like does a chocking gasping thing for air while she’s in an episode and she has always came back fine after wards ( knock on wood). Another thing is that my daughter doesn’t always seize while she is in a seizure she has lay their lifeless dazed and twitched a few times as you are describing of your son. Anyways I just wanted to comment back to you because I do have a little experience with this situation and would like to let you know that you are not alone. About the EEG, do what you feel is right. neither one of them hurt my daughter in anyway because she was sleep deprived when they were done so she fell right to sleep during them. They were actually better than I had anticipated them to be. Good luck with you and your son.
Amy,
It is so hard when your baby does this. It kind of consumes you I think. Shawn was supposed to go to the neurologist on the 13th, but they called the day before and said that they do not accept the insurance plan we have him on. I had to switch plans and that does not go into effect until the 1st, so they won’t even give me his appointment until then. We got reffered on May 30th. I am so upset I can’t explain it. I am terrified that he will have another and I can’t get any clear answers from anyone about this. I think that the episode of muscle spasms was a mild seizure but how can I tell? I can’t imagine having such a little one doing this. Mine is 21months old. I do wonder if anyone else has behavior issues with your kids? Shawn is into head banging, biting himself, and pulling his hair. It is like he doesn’t know how to channel his anger when he doesn’t get his way. I am working with him but he doesn’t seem to be doing any better with this. I just want to help him and I want to know what if anything is wrong. His physical apperance is a big head and short legs. His head is in the 89%, his weight is in the 76%, but his height is in the 30%. The docs say not to worry, but with everything going on in his little life, I worry about it. I just have so many questions and no one can seem to answer them.
Samantha, you could see if your pediatrician can refer some kind of developmental evaluation for your son since you are concerned about his behavior.
In Illinois, the state program is called Early Intervention. The state pays for the initial evaluation done in your home, then works with your insurance if any kind of therapy is needed.
I had both of my kids evaluated. One didn’t need therapy, the other needed a few months of OT and Speech. It definitely gave me piece of mind.
Elaine,
I hadn’t even thought about that. It is a really good idea. He has hit all of his milestones after the 6month ones early but his behavior is just so… I can’t explain it. He does what all the charts say he should but he is so extreme with his temper. I would worry about autism with him but he is so socialable. You know that feeling you get when you know something is just not right? I get that with him. I don’t think that something is truely wrong, but I am not sure. Maybe someone coming here, watching him where he is comfortable will be able to pinpoint what it is. It at least can’t hurt.
My daughter had her 1st fever accompanied by her 1st seizure at 11.5 months. She just had another two last week. It was a very scary event, I was alone with her for the 1st, the 2nd one my husband was with us and it was difficult as we were on the highway 45 minutes from home. With my daughter the 1st fever we couldn’t find a cause, the 2nd fever we tried to do a urine test to see if it was a urinary tract infection, but the doctor said they have a lot of false positives because of the way the urine is collected. My daughter had a grand mal seizure the 1st time with her body stiff, full loss of consciousness, blue lips etc., the 2nd & 3rd were not as intense, however she did stop breathing and was bubbling at the mouth. With every parent I think you need to trust your instincts. I believe my daughter is having febrile seizures as they are only around when she has a fever. However when she gets a fever it lasts 4 or 5 days and I am required to administer tylenol and motrin every 4 hours until the fever stops entirely. Without the medications her fever rises rapidly and once the first seizure is taken if her temp is around 39.9 she starts to fade out, and we can see another seizure starting. Does anyone else give their child this much medicine? How long do their fevers usually last?
Hazel,
The fever can last any amount of time, depending on the cause. The motrin and tylenol we all give to our kids. My son gets it now when he gets the sniffles, just in case he was going to get a fever, I try to head it off. I don’t think it will hurt them to have that much medicine. I don’t do it with my oldest son, because he doesn’t have the seizures.
I give my son alternatning Motrin and tylenol as well but these have never stopped a seizure so I am not as rigid about them as I used to be. My pediatric neurologist did suggest tepid sponging as a cooling method but I am skeptical but of course I’ll do anything I can. As I have metioned in previous posts my son has had a seizure with every fever he has EVER had. Any yes…the fevers can last days to about a week. My son only has one seizure with each separate illness so I don’t worry too uch about the duration of the fever. He almost always has a seizue at the outset of the illness and then I know it is over and done with. And again…he is never really that sick…usually just a little cold. Onetime it was an ear infection but that was the only time we ever even needed to call the doctor. By the way…Are everyones kids otherwise healthy, normal, intelligent, have normal behaviour overall. My son is wonderful and smart.. abit impulsive and temperamental but he is 4 so I assume this is normal. I want to hear about how great and bright and otherwise normal all our kids are. Maybe we can help convince ourselves that we have nothing to worry about. Please follow-up. I’d love to hear about your kids when they are not having seizures.
Hello Everyone,
We finally got to the neurologist with Shawn today and I think that we got some pretty good news. He says that Shawn will probrally have more seizures but that they are normal, simple, febrile seizures. There wasn’t a lot of poking and proding like I thought. Shawn has both febrile seizures and breathholding spells so I worried about a link between them and a possible underlying cause. There doesn’t seem to be one which is the good news. He is just a normal child who has the febrile seizures. I can live with that I think, although I wish he would find a calmer hobby. The doctor gave us a perscription for diastat, which will stop a seizure if it goes on too long. I guess I feel better because the doctor confirmed things for us. I do not look forward to another seizure at all, but I do feel more prepared now so I feel like it will be ok. There is a chance of course that he wont have more, but time will tell and I am glad that we are prepared just in case. Shawn has a really bad temper and the doctor is putting that on his intellegence and him getting frustrated. As he gets older, with a little guidence, we will be able to curve that frustration. The bottom line is he has a bright and shining future ahead of him as soon as we get over this mountain we are climbing.
Samantha that is great news! (not that anyone wants their child to have febrile seizures but they are so much better than all the other types of seizures)My daughter has had one with each fever she has had-if we don’t keep her fever down she has started to take more. We take precautions every time she gets immunized just to make sure she doesn’t get a fever.
Without causing major controversy is everyone still getting their childs immunizations? I was told there could be a connection between immunizations, febrile seizures and autism but I have not found anything concrete. I would appreciate information anyone has. I wish you all the luck with Shawn-fingers crossed no more fevers until he is 5!!!
Hazel, as Elaine mentioned in response to my earlier post about exactly the same question, I now ask for preservative-free (thimerosal-free) immunizations each time either of my children has an appointment. I still get their routine/required immunizations, but I will not get either of them a flu shot again. My pediatrician’s office informed me that their flu shot is the only shot they can not get in a preservative-free form. All others are preservative-free.
From the CDC “Thimerosal is a very effective preservative that has been used since the 1930s to prevent contamination in some multi-dose vials of vaccines (preservatives are not required for vaccines in single dose vials). Thimerosal contains approximately 49% ethylmercury. There is no convincing evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site. However, in July 1999 the Public Health Service (PHS) agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure.
Today, all routinely recommended licensed pediatric vaccines that are currently being manufactured for the U.S. market, with the exception of influenza vaccine, contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts. Thimerosal preservative-free influenza vaccines are available, but in limited quantities. The total amount of inactivated influenza vaccine available without thimerosal as a preservative will continue to increase as manufacturing capabilities are expanded. ”
I will NOT be getting my son (4-months) a flu shot, and I will never get my daughter (3 years) another one. I’m convinced that her flu shot/Hep A vaccine combo triggered her 1st febrile seizure at age 2 1/2 (fever of 103). She had a 2nd febrile seizure two months later (fever of 105.6). She’s now 3 1/2 and (thank God) she has not had a 3rd.
I was fanatically intent on getting a 2nd opinion when the first child neuro that saw her recommended putting her on an anti-seizure medication. We live in Georgia, and travelled to Maryland to get a 2nd opinion from Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurology. I’m SO glad we did! All her tests in GA came back normal (CT Scan, MRI, Lumbar Puncture, Blood Cultures), except for an EEG that was given the morning after her 1st febrile seizure. This test alone is what the GA ped neuro based the medication recommendation on. Johns Hopkins repeated the EEG and it came back completely normal. In fact, they said the EEG should not have been given prior to 48-72 hours after the 1st seizure, because the brain is still postictal at that point (meaning a normal reading or an abnormal reading could be false). The pediatric neuro at Johns Hopkins said it would have been a horrible mistake to give my daughter anti-seizure meds because she is not epileptic…and the side effects of the medication can mean developmental delaly, among many other things.
Johns Hopkins has an awesome team of pediatric neurologists, and I highly recommend them to any parent navigating febrile seizures. The doctor that we saw said my daughter should outgrow her seizures between age 4 & 6, especially since she was older (over 2) when she had her first.
I urge all parents to be their children’s advocate. Please don’t just go along with the 1st opinion without succinct test results, seek out all avenues until you’re satisfied with the diagnosis.
Connie and Hazel,
What you are saying is that the vacines could be causing this, at least to a point. I never really thought about that before but Shawn got his vacines less than 3 weeks before his first seizure. He got the hep a, and all the other shots that he was supposed to have at 15months. We had put off the 15month ones cause he kept getting sick. I agree with getting 2nd opinions as well. I havent this time because the doctor didnt try to do any invasive tests on Shawn, but did give us the medicine to use if he goes into a really bad seizure next time. If Shawn does start having them often, or without fever, or one that lasts too long, we bring him back for extensive testing. At 2 year old check up he is supposed to get the other part of the hep a vacine. I have always gotten their vaccines for them, should he not get this one? He has already had the 1st part…
Everything I’ve read and all the doctors I’ve questioned will not say, for certain, that the vaccines “cause” seizures…they usually say there’s “no evidence”. For that matter, there’s “no evidence” that they won’t cause seizures either (seizures are listed as a possible side effect of some immunizations). My feeling is why not take precautions whenever possible? Children with suppressed or compromised immune systems are at greater risk for suffering severe side effects of immunizations but, many times, parents don’t know that their child’s immune system is compromised until AFTER the fact. That’s just not a risk I’m willing to take lightheartedly.
While I do agree that immunizations are important to protect children, and the overall population, against preventable diseases, I don’t agree with loading children up with multiple doses simultaneously or with putting mercury (even in trace amounts) into their bodies.
Flu shots and the MMR vaccine have been mentioned repeatedly in many articles that I’ve read as being the standouts. I’ve read recommendations, mostly from mothers of autistic children, for getting single dose vaccines and delaying between each one. I even went back 40 years and examined my own childhood immunization record. I received measles, mumps and rubella vaccines in single doses, appx. 6-8 weeks apart. Why can’t my infant son receive the same? It’s no safety guarantee, but it’s certainly worth taking the precaution.
The problem I’m running into now is finding a pediatrician that will separate/delay the MMR into single doses for a healthy child with a normal immune system. My regular pediatrician says they follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to give the multi-dose shot and if I want it split I’ll have to go to the Health Dept. So, I guess it’s off to the Health Dept. I go!
I know of some pediatricians who will space out immunizations if the parents request them. Get a list of doctors from your insurance company and just call to find out if they’ll do it for your child. You could also check out this link: http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/Vaccine_Friendly_Doctors.asp
My pediatrician’s office offers both regular flu shots and flu shots without thimerisol for children under 2. I always request the infant flu shot for both of my kids (ages 5 and 2 1/2).
Elaine,
What about the nasal flu vacine?Do you know about the mercury levels in it? Shawn had the regular flu shot last year and the year before, but my older son had the nasal mist one. I think that it is so crazy that we give these vacines to protect our children, but now we have to protect them from the vacines. I am pro-vacination but I never knew that there was so much involved. I think I will ask the doc about the infant shots for both of my kids. My kids catch every single bug that goes around, but they have never caught the flu. I really like getting them the flu shot and can only imagine how Shawn would fare without the shot. I am so glad that I can come here and get so much info on all of this. Thank you all so much. I try to get all the sides I can but every site says the same thing it seems. At least here we can talk to real people who have dealt with the things we are now being faced with.
Samantha, no one in my immediate family has received the FluMist yet. The CDC website says “the nasal-spray flu vaccine LAIV (FluMist®) does not contain thimerosal or any other preservative.” http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/about/qa/nasalspray.htm.
Be sure to read the whole page to see if you or your child is eligible to receive this vaccine. It contains live, but weakened viruses. Keep us posted on what you decide and how your kids do during flu season!
Elaine,
You are so great thank you yet again…I am gonna go read now
Hello Everyone!
I just want to say thank you again for all of the posting that are made here. I do not ever say much, but I am always reading each and every message that comes through.
I just went back to check wenh our daughter, Katherine, had her shots in comparison to when she had her first febrile seizure— her shots were 10 days before her first seizure. I cant believe it. I would never had put the connection together. It makes me worried about the next set of shots that she is due for next week.
I am happy to report though that she last week had a fever from Tuesday morning until Friday afternoon and this time did not have any seizures with the fever. This is the first seizure free seizure she has had. I was a nervous wreck then entire time just waiting for the seizure to start.
I am wondering if everyone goes to see a pediatric neurologist after their childs first or second seizure—our doctors said to wait to see if she has a third and then we would go.
Again, thank you for all of your postings and i appreciate the fact that you know what I am going through.
Christine,
We went to the neurologist after 1 seizure, but Shawn had breathholding spells as well. They won’t do any extensive testing unless he does something out of the ordinary. The shot thing is scary to me as well now. Shawn didn’t do this until after his shots at 18 months. It was a matter of a few weeks I believe.
Hi there everyone!! Just to put in my 2 cents Vlady’s first seizure was nowhere close to the time he jhad his vaccinations. His was most likely caused by Roseola as he had a fever and then a flat red rash all over his torso. And Christine, we didm’t have the specialist see him until after 9 seizures. His pediatrician was always quite confident that his seizures were just simple febrile seizures and he never really made too much of a fuss about it. The ped. neurologist said the same thing. Just have to wait to outgrow them and they won’t do him any harm.
My daughter had several febrile seizures from the age of one year to five years of age. She was also collicky (sp). Now, at the age of 14 years, she is struggling with these symptoms: Extremely hot and clammy torso and extremeties, extreme gas and bloating, and dizziness/feeling faint. During the times that she feels the mentioned symptoms, she is not running a temp! Her torso and neck are so hot to the touch and she is sweating. I’ve quit taking her to the doc, even though she has missed many, many, days of school. Don’t know who to turn to, the doc’s have run multiple tests — but nothing comes up. Oh-her stomach aches are miserable as well. We’re at a loss. Does any of this sound familiar or are there any ideas on what may be causing all these problems???? Thanks in advance for all your help!!
Mary, I’m glad to hear your daughter outgrew her seizures at 5 years old. My son just turned 5 last week.
Have you ever had your daughter allergy tested? When my daughter was an infant, she could not tolerate any dairy products. She was gassy and crabby all the time. I wonder if your daughter has dairy, wheat, or other food allergies? Here is some info about allergy testing: http://www.foodallergy.org/questions.html
Hope this helps! Good luck with your daughter.
Hi, I am new here but very familiar with all the comments. My older son Connor had a febrile seizure at 22 months and did not have another one until tuesday morning (now 4.5 yrs old) my husband noticed him with his eyes open and arms twitching. He screamed for me and upon waking I assumed he was talking about my youngest son Justin who had a febrile seizure on May 16th of this year. When I realized he was talking about my older son my heart dropped because I knew that he was not sick he had no fever was fine the day before. He was fine at the hospital running around playing. We went to the ER and he had a CT, blood test, urine test all came back normal..He has an appointment on the 30th for a ped. neuro for a EEG. I am so scared. Has anyone had this experience? I am terrifed because there was no fever involved. If anyone has had a situation like this please any info would be great..Thanks
I wish I had found this article and all of these comments sooner!
My son had his first febrile seizure in June 2008 at 16 months old. He had a fever the entire day and around 5pm, he began to twith on one side of his body. His seizure lasted approximately 7 minutes. We called 911 right away, and by the time we arrived at the hospital, his seizure ended and his fever was 102.6.
We saw a pediatric neurologist at the advice of the ER doctor and our pediatrician.
Because of the length of the seizure and the fact that it occured on one side of the body (rather than the usual entire-body seizure), the pedi neuro ordered an EEG.
We received the results at the beginning of August. They were normal. A week later, my son contracted the coxsackie virus, an evil little virus which I have since learned spreads like wild fire in the summer, which causes very high fevers.
The pediatrician told me to be very careful and alternate motrin/tylenol every 3 hours. I also gave my son a lukewarm bath when his fever just seemed to be out of control. Nothing worked and he had another seizure. This one lasted about 12 minutes. I tried to time it as best I could.
I called 911 again. The seizure stopped as we got to the hospital. Temp was over 102 again. Seems to be his magic number.
Pediatric Neurologist was not concerned. She said if he has a third, we might consider another EEG. There has been no talk of medication, except for the motrin and tylenol.
My son just had a cold and his fever went to about 101. He did not have a seizure this time.
Still, every time he has a runny nose, I freak out.
Ali, sounds like you are doing all the right things. You can’t prevent every seizure, only try to keep your son safe before, during, and afterwards.
Just remember to practice good handwashing, always keep a thermometer and tylenol/motrin nearby, and let all teachers/babysitters/etc. know of your son’s seizure history and what to do.
Good luck!
Ali,
102 is our magic number also…Shawn still has only had one seizure and one almost seizure but those are the only times his temp hit 102. I say almost seizure because when he started to have one, the breathing irregular, we were able to drop his temp using washclothes on his foreheads and whatnot…he sat in my arms having muscle spasms for a while but never went into a full blown seizure…I wish you and everyone else luck through the flu season with this…My son started June 17, 2008 and he was 19 months old at the time.
Yeah!!! We got through a temperature of 103.6 with no seizure and that was last week and now he is totally better. Oh God maybe this is finally over. Keep your fingers crossed for me !!! I hope…i hope..i hope.ihopeihopeihope!!!!
I have just got back from an overnight stay at the hospital. Yesterday my daughter Ella (21 months) had a bit of a cold – nothing major, and was her normal happy self. In the evening I went to sort her tea – and she said Dr – which meant check her temperature – I did and it was 37.8 – so not too concerning. I went back to sort her tea, and she started grizzling, I picked her up and she went blank – staring and not responding. Her breathing slowed and was irratic, blowing on her face made her take a few gasps, and then nothing. She had stopped breathing, and started turning blue. I lay her on the floor, still nothing. My sister phoned for the ambulance while I started rescue breathing. I did this for about a minute before she started breathing on her own. I put her in the recovery position, where while she was breathing, was still dazed and staring. the ambulance arrived and transported us to the hospial – where she was diagnosed with febrile convulsions. She was given pamol and Brufen – at first her temp contined to rise but eventually came down. She was kept in overnight for observation. The Drs dont seem to believe me that she had stopped breathing – and instead it had just slowed. I am a nurse, and feel insulted that I am not believed. I was relieved to find this site and find other similar stories. thank you.
Rebekah, I’m glad you found our site as well. I’m not familiar with the medications you mentioned. You must not be in the USA.
I am also a nurse and my son stopped breathing and turned blue during his seizure. He clenched his teeth tight and we couldn’t do CPR! Luckily, he started breathing on his own and we didn’t have to give him any breaths. The doctors later scolded me for trying to pry his mouth open, but I was very concerned about his airway. What was I supposed to do?!?
No I am not in the US – New Zealand. I think the 2 meds I mentioned are exactly the same as the 2 your child was given. The Doctor tried to explain Ella’s breathing with clenching her teeth – but they definately werent clenched as I was able to do the rescue breathing. I dont know what happened, but it scared me so much. I really thought my daughter was dead!! I am worried it will happen again – but I have read that only 30% will have a subsequent febrile convulsion, and half of those will have a 3rd, and most will have no more than 3. Is this your understanding?? The doctors made me feel if this happened again I do not need to take her to the hospital. But I feel that not breathing for a whole minute, is reason enough to take her to the hospital – no matter what the cause!! I also wonder how long you are supposed to wait before starting rescue breathing?? Especially when you dont know why they arent breathing.
Rebekah, I am still worried about febrile seizures any time either of my children have high fevers. Repeat febrile seizures generally occur before the age of 5, if at all. I was told that if my son suffered from another seizure I should call an ambulance if emergency care was needed, otherwise just call the pediatrician. Even though he turned 5 a few months ago, we still carefully monitor his temperature when he is sick, just in case.
Rebekah,
I am so sorry that you have gone through all this, as all of us have. It is just an aweful experience. My son also quit breathing with his and they try to tell me that it is highly unlikely that he did. I know and my husband knows that he did though. It is aweful. I dread this flu season here and just keep my fingers crossed that we can have an uneventful time.
Hello,
So I am sitting here with that feeling in the pit of my stomach scared out of my mind. Shawn is now 2 years old and he has a fever of 101.6….He has only had one true seizure but here we are tonight and he is feeling so bad. I have given the tylenol and motrin and the fever is still there. I can only wait. Nobody understands how I feel except the people reading this with children like mine. If I have one more person tell me that I am obsessed I am gonna break down I think. I am not good at waiting. I just hope that tonight isn’t as bad as I think and that he is at his worst and will start to feel better…I hope all of you and your little ones have a good night and I will post again when the waiting game is over…
Haven’t had to post in a while because we had been so lucky. 9 months with no febrile seizure including one illness with a high fever of 103.5 and then last Thursday, Vlady had a seizure. Temp was 102. Had upset stomache, then a mild diarrhea, then some respiratory symptoms the next day and now conjunctivitis 4 days later. Jeesh..poor kid. he is 4.5 years old and we were so sure he’d outgrown them….sigh….maybe by 5. Anyway, he is fine as usual…I am a wreck as usual. I have a 2.5 year old daughter as well and I worry about her too. Plus, I’m expecting another boy in February and am already anxious about this baby suffering the seizures. My mantra…we’re fine, everybody is fine, nothing to worry about. As usual you are all in y prayers and here is wishing you all a Happy and HEALTHY holiday and New Year!!!
Kendra,
I am so sorry that Vlady had another one…last time I wrote I was sitting up with Shawn worried that he was going to…he didnt that time but his fever peaked below 102 so…it feels like you just wait around on it to happen…my only other child is 4 and has never had one so I am very blessed there…Shawn did go around six months without a breathholding spell and then started up with them again…they normally outgrow those by about 3 and he is only 2 but with 6 months without it I just knew he had outgrown it…that is not as serious of a condition in my opinion but he has the seizures as well…it is all neurological so in my mind there has to be a conection…the doctors all assure me that there isn’t but how do you ever know for sure…the chances of him doing both and not having a cause just seems too slim for me…I am glad as all of us are that they do outgrow all of this…
Congrats on having another little one!!!!!!!
Everyone my 4 year has been having seizures for about 1 and half now, everytime he has a fever. And believe it or not, i have only encountered the first and frankly don’t want to see another ever. I am a single mother and have a nanny for him, and sadly everytime im at work and he comes home from daycare a fever comes on and poor old nanny deals with it, and has dealt with it like a super star.
Now just to let everyone know mixture of tylenol and then Motrin will not help, i have stuck to motrin alone, and that too 4 times over 24 hours Would parents agree that fevers come on a great deal more over night then the daytime, cause my little one tends to be back to normal during the day, but keeps me up all night. Motrin is the trick with light clothing, and it really helps to keep talking to your child while making efforts to bring their fever down, children are more co-operative. Hope i can help someone with my blog.
My daughter also has seizures. The first one was at aprox 1 year. I did not even notice she was sick, I just so happened to be passing her room while she was sleeping and heard very weird sounds.. when I went into the room she was puking blue in her lips and shaking uncontrolably. She did this for about 3 minutes and half of the way to the hospital. She stopped shortly before getting there but was limp and would not open her eyes. They did tests and found nothing wrong with her at all except a fever of 104. I felt horrible because I had no idea she was even sick ! I had taken her temp earlier as I suspected something might of been wrong but the thermometer was broken and said everything was normal. Since then I have bought a 50 dollar thermometer that takes 2 seconds to read and is very accurate. Just 2 days ago [she is 19 mo now] she was playing fine her usual self NOTHING out of the ordinary. At 6 o clock she puked her diner up twice. She had been playing rough with her dad and he had been flipping her and what not an hour before dinner so I thought that might be the reason for throwing it up. She puked 2 more times until her stomach was empty. No fever. At 8 o clock she had a fever of 101 I gave her Tylenol, at 8:50 she was laying in my bed right next to me watching cartoons just fine then all of the sudden she started screaming; something was definitely wrong I looked at her and asked her what was wrong and I watched as her eyes glazed over and she followed ’something’ from the left of the room to the right. After the ’something’ reached the right of the room her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she was lifeless for about 3 minutes. I stayed up all night watching her and at 4 in the morning she was in her crib starting crying and JERKED both hands and feet up fast opened her eyes then fell back to sleep. I believe this was also a seizure. She did it 10 minutes later and we took her to the ER. That was the quickest trip I ever made to the ER. They had me in and out in 20 minutes. Told me once again they weren’t sure what was wrong. I believe she is/was sick with Rotovirus as she is now having diarrhea but no fever. She hasn’t had a seizure in 32 hours. My sister is Epileptic and has Grand Mal seizures on a regular basis even though she currently takes Klonopin. I am afraid my daughter is also epileptic. I think I am also because I experience what is called ‘Sleep paralysis’ on average 4 times a year however when I was pregnant with my daughter it happened over 4 times in a month. I now am not so sure it is sleep paralysis as my sister just confessed to me that she also experiences this but was told it was a seizure. I have no insurance because Medicaid has lost my paperwork 5 times now. My daughter doesn’t have insurance either but I take her to the ER anytime I need and I pay out of pocket for Docter visits even though I can barely afford grocery s. It is very frustrating and beyond nerve wrecking to see your child go through this and have no idea what it is from. I just pray these are simply febrile seizures and she will outgrow them. Unfortunately I have a feeling it might not be. Does anyone else experience sleep paralysis ?
Amelia,
That is so awful…I don’t know anything about sleep paralysis but I thought I would respond to your entry anyway…If the only seizures your daughter has had has been with fever then there really is a good chance it is simply febrile seizures…I guess time will tell but keep the faith…It is so nerve wrecking to go through a seizure with your child…not to mention multiple ones…I would talk to your pediatrician or whatever doctor your child sees normally and request a neurologist…I know you dont have insurance but a lot of childrens hospitals will work with you on payment plans that are affordable and some will even eat some of the costs…I would however go to the medicaid office and refuse to leave until they give you a medicaid number for your child providing that she qualifies…I sat in the office for around two hours with my child fussing the whole time last time I had to renew the paper work…It is well worth the wait…Good luck with everything and I hope she doesnt have anymore for you…
Yes i have suffered from sleep paralysis, when i was in my teens, never had it since i was 18 year. But my boyfriend has it on a regular basis and he is a grown man that gets freaked out by it.
You can look it up on Wikipedia. Its nothing to worry about except one advice you will be more prone to it if you sleep on your back, so make sure you sleep on your side.
Tanya
I just found this website and honestly it made me more anxious about my daughter’s seizures – just when I thought i was calming down…My daughter Abby is 2 yrs and 4 months old. She had her first seizure at 18 months old and it was caused by Roseola virus at a fever of about 103. It only lasted a few seconds then she turned blue and threw-up. It was awful. She just had her second seizure about a month ago – with a fever of 106 due to a urinary tract infection. This one lasted a miinute and happened at the ER (I took her as soon as I saw the fever spiking – because she was already maxed out on fever-reducing-meds) She has had fevers during the six months in between ( as high as 102) that did not cause a seizure and so I thought we were finished. I was so hoping to be in the lucky 2/3 group that never sees another seizure. I check her temperature constantly now and i am always at the pediatricians office just in case. I don’t want to become a neurotic Mom – but those seizures happened so so fast – I feel like I need to be on top of it all the time.
It felt great to share. Thank you. I hope all your babies grow out of this fast!
Rachel
My daughter AnnMarie had a first febrile seizure yesterday. I have been on edge ever since we left the hospital. It happened in the morning as we were getting ready to take her to the doctor about her fever. We had been giving her tylenol and he still rose to 103.8. She was really fussy all morning and as we were changing her diaper her eyes started to roll back into her head. Then she started to jerk. I called 911 and as I was on the phone she stopped breathing and her dad had to do cpr. After he did that twice she started to make coughing sounds(Thank God). The ambulance took her to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I have to say I am really disappointed with the service. When we arrive I tell them the situation and what had happened. The residence doctor came in first and checked her. She said, ” her left ear looked great but her right ear she had infection. However the head doctor would come in to check. ” She also told me they would not run any test which I really didn’t understand why. We waited on the Main Doctor to come in and of coarse he says the opposite of the first. He said that her left ear was infected and her right was fine. AnnMarie has had an ear infection before and she wouldn’t even lay down. So I don’t even believe that is even what caused it. I just felt like that wanted to get us in and out. We had to call our doctor last night because even after alternating motrin and tylenol every three hours her temp still rose back up to 102.2. She said if her temp is not down by tomorrow to 100.4 she wants us to take her again. Also today she got really fussy and started to act like she did when the seizure happened before so we called the doctor again. It was almost she was having petit mal seizure today. But when the doctor called back which was about 30 mins she was acting back like her self. I just pray every minute that they didn’t miss diagnose her with an ear infection when something else is causing the fever. I have never experienced anything like this before and I just hope everything is going to be ok. I almost wish they would do more studies and also let parents know about febrile seizure before hand. Too everyone who is or who has gone through this my prayers are with you all. If anyone has any thoughts or advice please let me know. Thanks to everyone who has already wrote and the advice already given. thanks so much!
Heather
Heather, I hope AnnMarie is feeling better. My prayers are with your family as well.
I agree that parents need to be better informed about the danger of very high fevers causing seizures. That will have to start with us. Tell all your friends with young children about what happened with your child, so hopefully it can be avoided in other families.
Thanks everyone for reading and sharing.
I don’t have time to tell my story in detail right now, but I have to say thank you to all of you! My son is 17 months and had his first febrile seizure 4 months ago. He has had 3 now. I have searched for a group of people like this who had been through what we have. I will be back!
Hi everyone,
I am here with a question. I have left several comments about my son Shawn who has had at least one febrile seizure and several mild ones or bad muscle spasms depending on which doctor you ask. I was told on Friday that he now has a heart murmur. This afternoon I caught him staring into space. We were in the car with my husband driving. I turned around and called his name and he didnt look at me. So I reached back and shook his leg. Still he didnt so much as blink. I told my husband something was wrong and I started calling his name and shaking his foot more and after a few more seconds he snapped out of it. It scared me really bad even though it didnt last probrally a minute. I am bringing him back to the doct0r tomorrow morning but I am wondering if any of you know about this kind of thing. I have read about absence seizures but dont know if that is what happened or not. He had fever on Friday but not any on yesterday or today.
Samantha, I can only really comment on the heart murmur. My son also has a heart murmur (in addition to 3 febrile seizures). He saw a cardiologist, and his murmur was diagnosed as innocent. I don’t believe the heart murmur and seizures to be related.
Just an update. Vlady has gotten through 2 fevers with no seizures since December. He has just turned 5. Fingers crossed. Daughter is now 3 and 4 months and luckily has never had any seizures. New baby is 4 months old and I am so worried and anxious that he too will have seizures. He has never been sick yet. I am praying that we never have to deal with this horrifying event again. Fingers and toes crossed and knocking on wood…lol… Hope everyone is doing well and lets all try to remember that febrile seizures are HARMLESS.
Hi again,
We saw the doctor with Shawn today and he did have an absence seizure and the doctor still heard the murmur so it wasn’t one that was only present with fever. We are going to see a ped cardiologist in a little less than two weeks. Shawn is right over two and a half years old now and I should add with all of this going on he is also doing well. Kendra added to remember that the febrile seizures are harmless and she is so right. Waiting to see the doctor today I had the healthiest kid in the waiting room singing his ABC’s to me and counting to twenty. It is so easy to get wrapped up in worrying but even with the concerns we have with Shawn he is growing and developing right on schedule if not ahead.
Samantha, I’m glad Cheryl and Kendra were able to comfort you with your comments, since I don’t have much experience in either murmurs or absence seizures.
I’m so glad Shawn is doing better. Hope all goes well at the cardiology appointment.
Hello – my daughter Sydney is 14 months old and 6 days ago she had her very first febrile seizure. I cannot even believe that I am writing this because I am still so shaken up by the whole thing. She is my first and only child so far so I am still kinda a new mom. It was around 3am and I heard gurgling noises coming from my monitor, I went in her room and there was vomit in her crib, her eyes were rolled back and she was twitching. My baby. I had no idea what was going on, my screams were like a horror movie, woke up half the block and my husband called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived she wasn’t seizing but she was completely lethargic and just kind of sleepy, long story short the ER took her temp, it was 102.7 and they told me it was a febrile seizure from a virus most likely, they see 3 or 4 cases a night and to go back home and give her tylenol and motrin. She is completely healthy and I have never been so scared in my life, it was horrible and I never want to see that again. I took her to the ped the next day and she actually had Coxsackie (hand, foot, mouth) which is common, causes high fever spikes and fussiness. I had no idea that she was even sick until the seizure, she was acting a little fussy but nothing bad. So mad at myself for not recognising she was sick. I don’t sleep much because I am glued to my video baby monitor, I take her temp often even though she has been fever free for 3 days now and totally acting back to her old playful loving perfect self! I am new to all this and just hoping that I never have to see this again. Is it normal to be this scared? I just need to keep reassuring myself that these are not harmful, just hell for parents. Hope the fear subsides soon. Thank you for any comments and for listening.
Stephanie, so sorry you had to experience a febrile seizure with your daughter. I was also very freaked out and constantly checking my son’s temperature after his seizure. He’s almost 6 and I still carry a thermometer/motrin/tylenol with us whenever we go out.
I originally wrote this article to try to prepare new parents about the possibility of febrile seizures and how to prevent them, but it seems that most people find it after experiencing it with their child.
I would like everyone to forwards this article to all caregivers of young children so they can do what they can to prevent high fevers and febrile seizures (when possible), and know how to react if they ever encounter one.
Good luck to everyone! I hope none of you never have to experience another seizure ever again. If you do, I hope you will be better prepared for it. Thanks for reading!
Stephanie-
I am so sorry that you had to witness what all of us have witnessed that are on here. It is a scary club to join. You found a great site. I do not say much on here, but I read every single post that comes on. I have learned so much and that is what you need to do to start to feel ok.
We are actually coming up on our daughters one year “anniversary” of her last seizure. Katherine had her first seizure on June 27th (my birthday)—we spent the night in the hospital—her temp was up to 102.9 and she was becoming dehydrated. It was awful. Her second seizure was just over 2 weeks later on July 14th. We were at my parents, she was sitting on the couch and started to seize. We thought she was choking. She stopped breathing and turned blue. My brother did CPR as I called 911. We were rushed to the ER. Her temp was a 104.7 this time. They sent us home after figuring out it as a febrile seizure.
Anyway—I remember someone telling me shortly after it happened that I will find a new “normal”. As time goes on…the worrying does not stop, but you find a “new normal” for your child. It will not be on your mind every second of every day. Not to say that I dont think about it…I am always feeling Katherine. I keep a thermometer in the car, my purse, upstairs, downstairs, etc. Along with tylenol and motrin. You will just get used to your “new normal”.
I was very nervous this past June 27th—did not want her out of my sight. It is not like her body knows and is saying—hey you had your first febrile seizure one year ago today—let’s do it again today. It is just something you will never forget.
Please know that life will get easier, you will be less freaked out as time passes. I know right now that does not seem possible, but take it from a fellow mom who knows what you are feeling. The best piece of advice I can give is to keep her temp down. If she is getting close to 99 degrees give her the medicine, put a cool towel on her forehead. You can never be too safe. Also, as scarey as they are…they are said to not be dangerous to them. It is just their bodies way of reacting to a spike in temp.
I wish you the best and hope this email brings some comfort. Just give that little girl of yours tight hugs and kisses! She is very precious and is lucky to have you as her Mom. Give it some time….you will find your “New Normal” I promise.
Christine
Stephanie,
I too was so afraid that I don’t think I ate or slept right for a month. During my son’s first seizure I thought he was dying, and then I thought he had become a vegetable. I am still nervous, but as has already been said, it does get easier. My son has had 3 seizures total – 2 were during the same illness AFTER receiving fever reducers (just a little too late), but one of them occurred with NO warning. He had no signs of illness, and he was acting normally until he seized – his temp was only 101.5, which I didn’t know until afterward as I had no reason to take his temp prior to the seizure. At that point I became convinced that I probably can’t prevent some of his seizures, and I can’t stick a thermometer up him every 5 minutes, so I’ve tried to just relax and take things as they come. It sucks, but I’m glad he will outgrow them so there is an end to look forward to. You are not alone. Hang in there. Oh, I carry Tylenol and Motrin with me everywhere. Do you know you can give them concurrently? I give Tylenol, then 3 hours later Motrin, then 3 hours later Tylenol, etc. Of course check with your dr. but I’ve been told by several dr’s that this is safe.
Hello, my name is Jorge. My wife and I have a 20 month old son who has had 4 febrile seizures since January of this year. His first seizure happened the first week of January. It was the most awful and freighting feeling we have ever had. My wife was getting ready for and he began to cry. I didn’t think much of it since he had done that many times before and went right back to sleep. Not more than 2 minutes later, he let out an awful sound and I jumped right out of bed and he was having a seizure. I screamed for my wife and held him trying to calm him down. My wife call 911 and within 2-3 minutes they were in our house. He was diagnosed with an ear infection and was prescribed amoxicillin. We were introduced to a new world that we are still trying to get accustomed to.
On Labor Day, my son was with his siblings in a waddling pool and was having a great time. I saw that he was shivering a little and took him out of the pool. He showed no signs of being sick. I showered him and he went to bed. He woke up 2 hours later and he had temperature of 101. We gave him Motrin and the fever went below 100. Our son is a very happy; all smiles-all the time baby, very energetic. Two hours passed and we knew we had to take him to the doctor. I had him in my arms and with a blink of an eye we had another seizure. By this time we had done some research on febrile seizures so we were a bit calmer. Still we call 911 and we were off to the hospital again, another Ear infection. By this time the ER doctors wanted to make sure nothing else was going on with my son. He was admitted to the hospital and had 4 different Pediatricians evaluate my son. He was given a spinal tap, blood work, urine test and CT scan. All the tests results were number to our relief. He was seen by the ENT (Ear Nose and Throat doctor) and he recommended we place ear tubes due to the chronic ear infections he was having. This was late May, on July the 2nd my son had ear tube surgery and we were relieved that the possibility of him having an ear infection was going to greatly decrease and him having another fever due to the ear infections were not going to happen again. We said, “No more seizure”. We spoke to soon! On Sunday July 5 we took him to the ER because he had a fever of 102. We were told that if after his surgery he had any fever take him to ER. We did and were sent home after fever went down and doctor prescribed amoxicillin because he might have an ear infection.
That same day around 12 noon my wife had our son in her arms and asked me to hold him while she went to the restroom. We had being giving Motrin and Tylenol to reduce the fever. My son is a fighter doesn’t take medicine well, he spits out most of and we have to use Tylenol suppositories. He was not acting himself due the fever and about a minute late he had another seizure. This time I was calmer, I laid him his side and comforted him. The Seizure lasted about 1 minute. We had called 911 but my son came to and we drove our son to the hospital ourselves. ER doctor told us that there was no signs of ear infection and the fever could have been a normal reaction to the ear tube surgery. Two days later we took him to Urgent care because he had a rash all over his body and just to check up after his surgery. The pediatrician told us right away our son had two viruses. Roseola virus and I forgot the name of the 2nd virus which causes lesions in the throat. Both of these virus cause high fevers.
We constantly find ourselves constantly checking his temperature and controlling his fever. Any little movement at night startles us and we are always checking on him. It is a very scary experience, but one we have to get accustomed to. We try and do all the research we can to be well informed about our sons health. We pray that it does not happen again and will try and keep our son as healthy as possible. My son will not live in a protective bubble and will have a normal childhood. We understand that he will get sick and we just have to be on top of his fevers. He needs to get his immunizations shots next week and we hope he does not get a fever because of the shots. I had a lot to say but it feels good to know that you are not alone. It makes you feel more at ease that your child is not the only case and that he will grow up to be daddy’s little wing man!
Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to say we are celebrating Katherine’s One year Anniversary of her last febrile seizure. I was on pins and needles today thinking back to her last febrile seizure and can not believe we have made it an entire year without having another one. We are so happy.
Just remember—we are all in this together! Thank you to everyone who post messages. They remind me that I am not in this alone!
Christine
Christine,
Congrats on a year!!!! I know that it was hard today. Give her a big hug and enjoy this time with her. These babies will only be young for a short time and it is so nice to just enjoy them.
Congrats Christine! I just wanted to say that we too are celebrating our 1 year anniversary seizure free! Last year, after Noah’s last seizure, #4, his doctor decided since majority of his fevers were from ear/throat infections, to take his tonsils and adenoids out..and to put tubes in his ears. He was 2 1/2. He is now 3 1/2, and has never had another seizure since! I am sooooooo happy and hope that he is finish with it.
I so know what all you other parents have/are going through..I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
The seizures did affect me and my husband mentally though, for we often have nightmares that our son stops breathing, giving him CPR, etc. I guess that initial day of his first seizure will stay in our minds forever because it truly was the scariest day of my life.
Good luck everyone..take care!!
Congrats all of you who have hit the 1 year seizure free mark. Sorry I haven’t been able to respond to everyone individually. Like Brandy’s Noah, my Sophie just had ear tubes placed and her tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday. The recovery is rough, but hopefully this will help with her hearing loss, snoring, coughing, etc.
Jorge, sounds like you are doing everything right for your little man. Best of luck preventing and dealing with future fevers/seizures. That coxsackie virus (hand, foot, mouth) is horrible!
My son had his first febrile seizure over the weekend. He is a week shy of turning 20 months. It happened at 2am after he began crying. He had a fever all day that wouldn’t break for anything. During his seizure, his lips turned blue and I told the paramedics, his ER doctor, nurse and his pediatrician. They all said he stopped breathing, but none of them seemed too concerned. As scary as the seizure itself was, I cannot seem to believe that a febrile seizure is harmless when your child stops breathing for 1-2 minutes. What concerns me more is what happens if he has another seizure that lasts more than 2 minutes and he doesn’t breathe? I am certified in CPR, but when his body is out of control and there is nothing I can do for him, how can we make sure he gets oxygen when he is having another seizure? I obviously prefer he never have another one again, but if he gets another seizure, I think we could handle it better if he would breathe and we wouldn’t have to worry about him not breathing. Elaine, you said your son had one seizure and stopped breathing too. Did he ever have another seizure? And if he has, did he stop breathing with those?
Denise, thankfully my son has never had a second seizure. He will turn 6 years old next month.
My pediatrician told us that if he ever had another seizure, watch him carefully and try to keep him from injuring himself. If he continued to breathe throughout the seizure, then just call the pediatrician. If he ever stopped breathing, then we were to call an ambulance. The ambulance would be equipped with oxygen and breathing tubes, if necessary.
We treat all of his fevers very aggressively every time he gets sick. We also check his temperature whenever he’s not acting like his usual self. The same goes for my 3 1/2 year old daughter, since febrile seizures can run in families.
I hope this helps, Denise. Good luck with your son!
Denise!!! I completely understand your questions and concerns. Please don’t worry too much. I have been throught this 12 times. The seizures stop 99% of the time. My sons first seizure was the only one that was long (15 minutes) and this is rare. I have rectal diazepam at hand in case he ever has a prolonged seizure. You can talk to your dr. about it. But it won’t happen most likely so don’t let it freak you out. And yes, i think all our children turned blue because they stop breathing but they don’t seem to entirely stop. When my son had his long seizure he was only blue for the first minute or 2 and he continue to seize and kind of have grunty breaths but breaths nonetheless. Hope that helps.
Thank you for the responses, it does make me feel better, I’ve been stressed and just a bundle of nerves.
I found a website by a doctor that said even though they turn blue, they are still getting oxygen, but the reason for turning blue is there is a lack of the oxygen. I think that’s what scared me the most, is that he wasn’t getting any oxygen, although I swear I remember seeing him breathe during this ordeal (its all a nightmare). I will try to fight his fevers aggressively. I’ve already invested in a more expensive thermometer, I have the motrin and tylenol handy and will keep some extra medicine along with us everywhere. He hardly gets fevers, but all I can do is act quickly, have faith and pray my little boy never gets another one. 
So glad I found this site!
Hi, my little girl is 3 and she just had a febrile seizure last Sunday. She had 3 already out of her little 3 year old life and its frustrating because it came on so quickly this time. She was so sleepy and she woke up gagging and she like past out and started seizing. I don’t think she was breathing and i didn’t know cpr so i just breathed in her mouth and she gasped. She went to the hospital and they said she had a rectal fever of 103.4 and she had a ear infection and a upper resperatory infection. Now, they only did a x ray and never a ct scan. I thought they are supposed to do ct scans for seisures. My little girl is back at headstart and now am worried when the next one will be because she had 3 already. Thanks for the article cause i now know its not my fault she is having them.
Hi Heather! I know how you feel!!! Our son had his first one two months ago @ 19 months. Yesterday he developed his first fever since his seizure. We rushed him to the doctor right away to find out he has an ear infection. We treated his fever aggressively with ibuprofen and tylenol every three hours, gave him a lukewarm bath and had him sleep in our bed wearing a diaper only and a fan on (we live in the SW…still hot here). I was such a bundle of nerves the entire night, but thank God he didn’t have another seizure. He hasn’t had a fever today and is already on antibiotics.
I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. But know that she is at the age where they outgrow them. I know how you feel about the not breathing. I am still so terrified about my son and pray every day he never has another one. I never want to see that again.
With my son they did a chest x-ray, but no CT scan. I believe the reason for that is because febrile seizures have no effect on the brain. They are harmless despite the fact they are so ugly to see. I pray your daughter doesn’t have another one. Hopefully this was her last.
I believe there needs to be better and more awareness for parents out there. I know more about this now ONLY because my son had one. But I still know so little and we should have more answers.
Our son Thomas had his first febrile seizure 10 months ago. He had a bit of a cold, and a slight fever. My wife called 911 and they told him to get some cold compresses on him. When the medics arrived his temperature was 100.4. The seizure lasted about 10 minutes, and we were given the standard advice that there’s not much to worry about, monitor temperature, Tylenol and ibuprofen, etc.
I had all but forgotten about the first seizure when two weeks ago Thomas had another one. This one lasted an hour, and it took enough drugs to bring down a horse to get him to stop seizing. Thed medics gave him valium, then at the ER he was given ativan and phenobarbital. The seizure subsided, but it took him three days to come down off the medication.
His EEG was normal, as was his CT scan. Because the seizure lasted so long, he was immediatlely put on a phenobarbital regimen. It’s been two weeks, and we’ve noticed just a bit of hyperactivity in him. But he’s only 18 months old, and that may just be him acting his age.
We saw our pediatric neurologist today, and he has prescribed him Keppra. We’ll be slowly bringing him off the phenobarb, and slowly upping the Keppra.
I can’t believe that more people don’t know about febrile seizures. It absolutely amazes me how little awareness there is given how common they are. It seems like they should be part of parenting 101.
Hey Denise, Thanks for your comment. I took my daughter for a check up today and she is doing good. She still has a cold, but i am checking to see if she has a fever all the time. The doctor told me that he thinks she will probably get more saince she had 3 already and he said hopefully bye the age of 5 she will out grow them. I am like wow, i have to go threw more. He explained to me that she did not have a fever at first, it started and rose during her seizure. To David, i was just told today that they will not put my daughter on the meds because study’s show that it makes your child have a lower iQ, but in your case your child has the seizure longer than usual so i beleive your doctor is in the right. I don’t really want my daughter on the meds anyways, but i don’t want her to have more even though i know she will. I am just gonna keep tylenol and ib profren on hand, but even with them she can still have a seizure. Thanks for posting your comments, i like to hear updates on your children too if thats ok and i will update my little girl. Thank you Heather
I’m so happy to hear your daughter is better Heather! And David, I couldn’t agree with you more. I am so shocked that doctors don’t warn you about febrile seizures when you take your little one in for their first cold. They warn you about all the vaccines they need, autism, RSV and so many other illnesses, but no mention of febrile seizures. I was reading up (on what very little information there is out there) that up to 1 in 4 children will have at least one febrile seizure. So that means when you walk into a grocery store or the mall, several children have had one and no one talks about it!
I even requested some information from NIND (Nat’l Institute for Neurological Disorders) and they gave me the exact same information on every webpage! Why don’t doctors warn and talk to you about at least controlling fevers more aggressively. I bet you could try to prevent most seizures. They need to also explain to you what it looks like and what to do.
Luckily for my husband and I, we had just found out literally a couple of hours before my son’s seizure, that my husband had one as a baby and I coincidentally read up on febrile seizures in, “The Toddler Years What To Expect” because I was reading how to more aggressively fight my son’s fever. But I still thought my son was dying when he had his. Most parents do.
I think I’ve moved from being so scared now to a little angry no one talks about it. I’m willing to do more to warn parents of this horrible experience.
I posted in 4/08 about my son Elliot who at the time had had 4 febrile seizures. Well we went almost a year between seizure 1 and 2 (3&4 were a month later) and then we have now gone 1.5 years with no seizures (but no real temps either) and now he has had 2 in 2 weeks. He is 3 1/2. That makes 6 seizures total. The last 2 were simple 3 minutes long, but seizure 2 was focal and 3and 4 happened 8 hours apart. SO I guess I will be biting my nails until he is 6! Kendra, I take hope in your history with Vlady that he had so many but is a smart healthy boy and (fingers crossed) has outgrown them! Elliot too is a smart little delight but even though I am a PICU nurse and know how to handle them, I still don’t like seeing my kid seize!
This site has been such a comfort.
I found this site very informative. I researched febrile seizures before and became more informed about febrile seizures. This site helps me feel like I am not the only one with the same emotions and concerns. My 3 1/2 yr old daughter had a fever that went up to 102 for 3 days 2 weeks ago and followed by a cough for 2 days, no febrile seizures. Today Marty had a low grade temp for a few hours. I put her to sleep but then she wakes up screaming, stiffening her body, shaking and then her body relaxes and lumps over my shoulder with her eyes still open, a freberil seizure has occurred. Her fever did not spike higher but her fever is slowly creeping up. I gave her tylenole and she threw up, then I changed her pull ups because diarrhea. I guessing it may be viral. I have been giving her liquids and offering her foods like apple sauce or bananas, (she wanted pizza) I guess I am wondering how this affects kids mentally andemotionally. When she went through the seizure I wanted to hold her tight but I knew better. I just talked to her that I was here for her and put room temp water on her forehead. I wonder why she screamed right before the seizure occurred? When I picked her up, her body was stiff and she was screaming, then her body was shaking. Will she remember it ? Does she know that her body is moving without her controlling it? Did she knew that her body was ready to act differently and that was the reason why she screamed? Right now she is so exhausted and sleeping. Seeing how it occurred I just wonder.
Martha, neither of my children remember their own seizures. My son was 2 when he had a febrile seizure. My daughter was 1 1/2 when she had her rotavirus seizure. My son witnessed his sister’s seizure when he was almost 4 and he still remembers it 2 years later. He was not too upset by it, and he understands why we act quickly whenever they are sick.
I wonder if your daughter had a rotavirus seizure as well. My daughter also had vomiting and diarrhea without a high fever. Initially the ER said it was a febrile seizure, but I told my pediatrician she didn’t have a fever at the time, and by definition it couldn’t be a febrile seizure. They told me that rotavirus is a very common stomach flu and it sometimes causes seizures.
Regardless of what kind of virus your daugther had, the treatment is the same. Watch for dehydration, continue the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast), frequent hand washing, watch for fevers or seizures, etc.
Call your pediatrician if you have any further questions. Hope Marty gets better soon!
Thank you Elaine! That info was very helpful. I did call the Dr but I missed his call. I will call him on Mon Morning. My daughter has been energetic, no vomit or diarrhea for the last two days. Her appetite has returned but I am still giving her liquids, applesauce, bananas and small amts of other foods.
I am Grandmimmy to 21 mo. old that has had febrile seizures since 9 months of age. Always happens during fall/winter months because of uri season. She started anticonvulsant meds week and half ago but had breakthrough last night and med level was too low. How often should med level be checked? Live in Texas DFW area but limited amount of pedi neurologists. The one being used has no bedside manner and does not share information freely. It is like pulling teeth to get “what to do” instructions. Any suggestions?
Milly, I don’t have firsthand experience with anticonvulsant medications, so I don’t know about checking the levels. You should be able to look up the specific medication online, though.
Regarding the pediatric neurologist, if you can’t get good information from the doctor, try the nurses. If still no luck, try an adult neurologist or maybe do a telephone consult with an out of town pediatric doctor? Check with the insurance company beforehand to make sure it’s covered.
Good luck with your grandchild, Milly! Hope this winter won’t be too rough!
Milly,
It depends what types of meds she’s on. Not all anticonvulsants need to be checked. Our Thomas is on Keppra, which doesn’t need to be checked. But we’re currently bringing him down off of Phenobarbitol, which does need to be checked. The phenobarb needed to be checked once a month. In terms of the pedi neurologist, my recommendation would be to go and find one in another city. Whatever it takes for you and your family to feel confident in the treatment you’re receiving, that’s what you need to do. If you’re stuck with the one you’ve got, don’t let him out of the room until he has answered all your questions. Insist on getting a cell phone number and e-mail address, and be a thorn in his side until he realizes it’s easier to answer your questions than it is to avoid you. Good luck.
Well…I finally have the confidence to say that i believe Vlady has outgrown his seizures!!!!! He is 5 and a half and has had no seizures in 11 months (the longest ever). He had strep throat last week and his temp went up to 104 and we were holding our breath but he was ust fine and had no problems. I am so thrilled this is over. Now, I have a 9 month old baby boy and of course i will spend the next 3 years worrying sick about him having one….but al least this time we know for sure that we will survive it with no problem or deficits whatsoever. God bless you all for sharing your stories. I sooooo needed to read about all of this and the experience others were having with this. I wish you and your families good health and the peace in knowing that febrile seizures are really anther part of growing up.
My son had his first febrile seizure on Friday. He is 11mths. I was so scared, it was diagnosed to be caused by a fever. I have never heard of febrile seizures before and I have 2 other kids. Neither of them ever experienced it. I can’t leave him for more than 2 mins with out checking his temperature. I am scared if he is sleeping too long.. I really needed to read about the experiences of other parents, because I can’t sleep at night scared that it might happen and Iwill be asleep. I really wished this isn’t part of growing up for some children. Its been 5 days and he has not gotten any so I pray he doesn’t get any more even though I was told there is a possibility he could get it again, but, it is a relief to know they will out grow it.. Thank you all for the support I have gotten by just reading about your experiences.
Sorry you have to come to this site Cyntra, however I look at it on the positive side and at least it is only febrile seizures. My daughter who is now 2.5 yrs old had her first at 11 months and it is scary, however like everything else the more you know, the better prepared you are. It is important to know that febrile seizures have to have a fever if your child has a seizure without a seizure it is not a febrile seizure. As we speak my 6 month old son is sick with some type of bacterial infection and the doctors have told me to expect a fever within the next 48 hours, so I sit here checking his temp frequently. It is not a pleasant experience to watch your child have a seizure however it does get a little bit easier once you know what to do. The doctors have told us this is hereditary and my son will probably have seizures too, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck and keep lots of tylenol and motrin in the house, car and wherever you go.
Hi My name is Marcia Gordon I live on in island in Sitka, Alaska. I am a single mother of 3 beautiful children, My son who is currently 2 1/2 years old has been having febrile seizures since he was 8 months old, He’s had a EEG done and MRI and a spinal tap, We’ve already flown to Anchorage to se a Neuro Ped. Specialist and from what this specialist told me My son didn’t need to be put on Medication, but if he had a seizure that lasted longer then 5 mintues to give him a supository that would quickly stop the seizures, Well since then my son was having 3-4 seizures a month and was constantly sick( he would only have a seizure with a fever) the ped. Dr. here informed me since my son was having so many seizures that He would need to be put on phenobarbitol, We tried it for a while but his behavor while on the medicine was aggressive and wasn’t him self. I was like he was drunk all the time walking around falling all over the place not being able to keep his eyes open. So i had called the Neuro, Ped. in Anchorage that we seen and he said that I could taper him off of the medicine, that the medicine didn’t seem to be helping him anyways he was having the seizures while medicated. So that is what I did. Since I have taken him off the medicine his seizure have reduced, in the past 8 months he’s only had 3 seizures. Mostly everytime we go to the hospital we wait to see the Dr. and they all say the same thing, just to keep his tempature down, recently He’s had 3 seizures in the past month and the ped Dr. said he’s needs to be on Phenobarbitol again, I do not agree with that! His older brother, ( not the same mother) has the same seizures and was on phenobarbitol for at least 4 years he has out grown his seizures but suffers from extreme learning disabilitys and has also gotten autism, his brother’s mother took him too a hosiptal in Iowa to get a second opinion and was told that him being on phenobarbitol could have also contributed to him having autism, Phenobarbitol has red No. 5 in it and have been proven to give children autism or epilipsy. I’ve been arguing with the Ped Dr here in town about giving my son Phenobabritol, It has came to the point where yesterday his Dr. called me and said that I am putting my child in danger by not giving him the phenobarbitol, but may I remind you that when he was on the medicine he was having 3-4 seizures a month and since he’s been off of it he has had 3 seizures in the last 8 months. So now they are recomending Keppra and Keppra side effects are almost worse then Phenobarbitol, I have been told if I do not put my son on some seizure medicine the Authorities can be called on me. I am so stressed out with this and I am very unsure what to do where to go and what is the right option for my son. I am a good mom and I love my son, but what these medicines have done to his brother and what his brother is struggling with now bothers me and I do not want that for my son! Any suggestions on what to do if so pls email me, I need all the support I can get, being in this alone is very hard! Thank you for taking your time to read this and I look forward to hearing your input on my situations.
Marcia Gordon-
Wow, Marcia..i am so sorry you having such a difficult time with this. i would defineately switch ped neuro cause it sounds like their is very little trust and if your son got no benefit from the phenobarb then why the heck would he recommend it. I would get another opinion for sure. I hope you can find someone who has a solution for you. Sorry not a lot of advice but I really don’t have a clue what the answer is.
just to update on my son Vlady. We just celebrated 1 year seizure free and then on Jan 6th he had viral gastroenteritis and boom! spiked a fever and had a seizure. He will be 6 in May. I thought for sure he had outgrown them…sigh…Will have to go back to the neurologist to check him out again if he has any more according to his ped.
Wow Marcia! It must be stressful! Would you be able to get something faxed in writing from the specialist regarding the orders he gave you? Remember who is the specialist. Confirm the orders the specialist gave you. Have the orders on hand and question the pediatrician why he is giving contradicting info. Get a different pediatrician. Get things in writing. Sorry I don’t have any additional info.
Marcia,
Get another opinion. See another neuro ped.
Our son Thomas had an initial febrile seizure at 8 months old that lasted about 10 minutes, and stopped on its own. At 18 months he had another that lasted an hour and which took significant meds, including phenobarb, to stop.
Thomas was on a maintenance dose of phenobarb for a month, after which time the neuro prescribed Keppra and began tapering him off the phenobarb. Thomas is three weeks away from being off the phenobarb, and is doing well with the Keppra.
We noticed a bit of aggression from the Phenobarb too. We didn’t have much of the “drunk baby,” but there was definitely a little something amiss. Thomas has been seizure free through two colds over the last three months.
Do your research about Keppra. Mine has shown that it is a good, safe, drug, with very few side effects. In adults, it has been known to cause suicidal thoughts, but so far there is no data showing a similar result in children.
Red dye aside, Phenobarb is a good drug too, and it has been around for years. But a very good family friend of ours who is a leading neurosurgeon in California tells me that Keppra is taking over the market very rapidly, because it is such a good drug. Although there is not a lot of information about the use of Keppra in toddlers, that is only because it hasn’t been around all that long, and that so long as you are in the care of a good ped. neuro, you should feel confident.
To me, it doesn’t sound like you’re all that confident with your doctor. If you can, see another one.
I am also an attorney, and I suggest that you get some local legal advice if your doctor is telling you the authorities may be contacted if you don’t take a particular action regarding your child’s health. You and your child have rights, and it is unethical for your doctor to be strong-arming you into a particular course of treatment.
We wish you all the best, and are happy to share with you whatever we can.
Thank you all for your advise. I wasn’t sure about my Doctor either but to let you know I am Tlingit Which is native so we get our health care for free and it seems to me that if I was personally paying for a Doctor at a different hospital I would get better care. This is gonna sound funny but My son’s brother’s mom, said that the same Doctor had said the same thing to her but she was only 17 at the time and I didn’t know better, She was afraid of getting her son taken away. I went to the Doctors today and talked to the Ped. Dr. and told him that he can not threaten me with such thing, I am a good mom and I care about the well being of my son and his health which is why I want to be able to research into febrile seizures and any medication he is put on first, I have the right to have a second opinion or even a 3rd. I figure Doctors are supose to be there to help you not threaten you with children services. He said well it is considered endangering your child. I said I am taking the advice of my Neuro Ped. and he said that my son does not need to be on it. He didn’t believe me so i gave him the number to my Neuro Ped. He called him and the Neuro Ped. said exactly what I told him. So now my Ped. wants me to get a second opinion from a different Neuro Ped. that will be coming to town next month. Your right I am not very confident in my Ped. Dr. It’s kinda different here in alaska with hospitals, There’s a “Native Hospital” and a Hospital for all other races. Like I’ve stated before I am a single mother of 3 kids so I do qualify for Medicade. So I was thinking I’m gonna switch hospitals and try another Ped. dr. It is reasuring to know that I am not the only one out there dealing with Febrile Seizures, Here in the little Island of Sitka there are only 2 other women who have children that have seizures and have been put in the same scenario as My child and I. I’ve been told that Children usually grow out of them by the age of 5 but my son’s father didn’t grow out of his until he was 11 and one lady that came here from a smaller village to see the Dr. about her son’s febrile seizures he was 15. Do they ever quit?
Everytime he has a seizure it is still like it’s the first one I still freak out and get all scared, I thought I would get use to it or at least be a little bit calmer but he’s been having them for the past year and a half and Im still on edge every time. The most frustrating part is having to see him go through this and there’s nothing I can do about it. He still has them when he’s on the medicine that is why I don’t see any point of having him on the medicine, Am I wrong? Idk I guess I just second guess my own opinions of what is the right thing to do for my son. Not having his father around is kinda a part of it too, His father had febrile seizures as well. Well thank you for all your advice and support I am soo glad I found this website!!
Marcia
Marcia,
You’re definitely not alone. There are plenty of us out there who have been just where you are right now. You and your boy are going to be ok.
In my opinion, if the medication isn’t helping, he shouldn’t be on it. Keppra is another option that you might want to try. Some drugs work for some kids and some don’t.
Another option is to give your child a diastat suppository at the first sign of sickness. Diastat is just Valium. That treatment has proven to be very successful. Febrile seizures are more likely to happen in the first 24 hours of the onset of illness, and when Valium is administered at the onset, it can ward off the seizures. You should talk to your doctors about the risks and benefits of this type of treatment.
There is nothing worse than watching your baby go through a seizure. I have described it to unknowing friends as “praying for every single breath that comes out of your child’s mouth.” It is excruciating. Fortunately, 99% of the time the only harm that is done is to the parents, and the kids end up just fine. Even if your boy does not grow out of it and winds up with a seizure disorder, most people with such disorders lead perfectly happy and normal lives with the assistance of medication.
Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will all be ok.
Marcia,
I’m so sorry to hear about your troubles. It’s hard enough dealing with the seizures, but you have so much more to worry about as well! I’m glad you’ve found comfort in this site. I’m thankful that the other community members were able to help you as well.
I agree with those who suggest getting a second opinion. Can your peds neuro recommend a new pediatrician? I’m guessing that your medicaid will cover you and your children at the “non-native” hospital.
I wish I had more to offer you. Please keep us updated, even if it is just to vent your frustrations. You are not alone in your struggles. We are here for you and your family. I sincerely hope everything works out.
My son hasn’t had a full blown seizure for 2 weeks now but for the past couple of days his arms and legs have been twitching to the point where he’s falling down, at first I thought he was tripping over things but then we were sitting at the table and he twitched so bad he hit his head on the edge of the table. When he does twitch he gets scared, and screams real loud and gets that same scared look he gets after a seizure it doesn’t last very long and he doesn’t have a fever at all. What it looks like to me when it happens is like he’s about to have a seizure but something is stopping it. I’ve been thanking god that he hasn’t had one but all this falling and hitting his head is really starting to scare me. When it first happen I took him to the Emergency room and we waited there for 5 hours for the DR to tell me that sometimes people just twitch like that. What?! R U kidding me? I said some people just twitch like that? I said so sometimes you twitch so bad it scares you and you fall on the ground? she was like no but sometimes people just twitch like that. I said no one I know twitches like that! I don’t think she even knew what the heck she was talking about. UGH!!! I’m frustrated about it. On one hand I don’t want my son on seizure medicine but on the other I’m afraid that Im making the wrong decision by not putting him on it. I’ve had our church’s Childrens pastor and our pastor pray for Blaise and his seizures. I believe god heals and I believe that the power of prayer is working! I am I wrong? I shouldn’t second guess my self or god. I should just believe but seeing my son scared like that more then 1 time a day is getting to be to much for me. Has anyone elses child had these twitches before and if so what was it and what could be done? Besides medicine?
Marcia Gordon
Good morning Marcia, I would first like to say my prayers are with you, as any type of medical issue with our children is difficult to deal with. I think it is important that you know that febrile seizures are directly related to a fever. If your child is having a seizure and there is no fever then it is not a febrile seizure and you should be following up with your doctor and a pediatrician as soon as possible. My daughter has had febrile seizures since she was 11 months old, and I have been told by the doctors that my son has a 99% chance of having them also. For us the most important thing is to keep our children healthy and to prevent any type of infection that may result in a fever. I wish all the best for you and your family. Follow your motherly instincts and don’t stop until you feel comfortable-remember you are the only advocate for your child.
So saturday my son Blaise had a grand mall seizure and for the first time he didn’t have a fever. We got a hold of his ped. nuero. and he said that most likely that blaise’s twitching is pedi mall seizures. His seizures are turning in to anytime seizures which is a first for us, before his seizures would only be fever related. The Dr. said that sometimes febrile seizures do turn into anytime seizures and in my son’s case that has happened. He said that my son twitching more then a couple times a day those are all pedi mall seizures and I should put him on seizure medicine. Which I have realized is a good idea. Just be aware that just because they start out as febrile seizures doesn’t mean they can’t turn into anytime seizures. I’ve taken my son to the infant learning program which is highly recommended for children who have seizures of any kind. What they do is they test the children to see if the seizures have effected them in anyway.
Hello Marcia, i am extremely sorry to hear about your son i am in a similiar situation with my 19 month old daughter. She has been having seizures since she was 4 months! She was put on phenobarbitol and has been on it for a year and trileptal as well. But the phenobarb hasnt been much help my child has significant delays. She isnt walking or talking, but it seems like when i give her the medicine she becomes lethargic, she doesnt make eye contact, and she barely smiles! During her seizures she is still and turns blue in the lips and they last about 30 secs. She has them every 3-4 weeks and its so hard to see my child go through this. My prayers all with you.
Jacoa,
I am sorry to hear about your daughter, You know my son was having alot more seizures on Phenobarb, You should talk to a pediatric neuro. I was told that more seizures could be from giving to much phenobarb. After I took my son off he didn’t have seizures for 8 month. I’m not recommending that, but I would ask all the questions that are possible! Everyone is different and has different situations. I’ve been arguing with the Dr’s about my son being on medicine and i believe that he does better with out medicines even when he has seizures, he’s more alert and him self. I’ve been researching all medicines and side effects and it seems to be more harmful then helpful, that’s my personal opinion on my findings, i recommend doing your own research for your situations til you find a method that is comfortable for you and safe for your child. keep us posted and my prayers are with and your daughter.
My son had his first siezure when he was six months old and now he is 4 years old. Ten months ago he had his second seizure, and two nights ago he had two siezures with 20 minutes apart from eachother. He had a fever of 103.1 right before the siezure started and after the siezure I took his temp and it was at 103.1. I told the doctors this but they were telling me that his fever should of spiked higher or lower and were telling me I was wrong. ( we all love doctors Right?) I am going to see a ped nerologist, but i’m so confuse on what really to ask of him. My son has slowly developed threw out the years he does only say a few words but he won’t talk. My son is always sick with something, and his fever is always high. But he has only had 4 siezures so far Thank god, but I ask questions and its like getting nowhere. The doctors say there surprised my daughter has had no siezures and shes two, and there thinking theres something wrong with her. If anyone knows of questions to ask it would help me out for the nuerolgist,