Febrile Seizures - West Harrison, NY

That is fantastic I am glad everything worked out for you

My daughter had a febrile seizure when she was 11 months old (now 2 yrs). She spiked a fever over 104 and started seizing. We called 911 and by time they got to the house, she was coming out of it. She was taken to WP Hospital ER and ended up having to have a spinal tap. Because of her age, they had to rule out anything CNS (Central Nervous System) related. They gave her Tylenol to bring the fever down, but that didn't work, so they gave her Motrin, that would bring it down for a little while, but then it would shoot right back up again. This went on for another 24-48 hours. She was transferred to FL Hospital South Pediatric ward and stayed there until her fever broke and stayed gone. She never had another seizure, and they never figured out why she was running the fever, except that it was some kind of infection of virus.

Once a child has a febrile seizure, they are more likely to have more seizures as they get older, but it is not definate that they will have seizures in the future. I'm sure the hospital recommended that your child be seen by a neurologist every six months until they are 5, then every year for a while after. If not, check with the neurologist that saw you in the hospital.

We were also given a prescription for seizure medication to give Katie if she had a seizure that lasted 5 minutes or more. We've never had to use it and she has never had another seizure. I do get nervous whenever she runs a fever, but so far, we've been lucky. H. your baby stays well.

Hi H.,

Your question has sparked memories in me that were scary to say the least. My oldest daughter, who turned 10 the day after Christmas (where has the time gone?) used to have febrile seizures. They started when she was 10 months old and continued until she was 3. She would seem fine, then suddenly spike a fever and have seizures. It was a very scary time for me. The first one she had an ear infection, and it was diagnosed febrile. She would get them 2-4 times a month when she was little and we went through MRI's and EEG's and many other tests for fear that these were something else. In the end it was decided her immune system was low due to a heart murmur (which I knew she had at birth) and a migraine disorder. The seizures were very scary and very often in the beginning but slowed down after the first 6 months to once a month or so, until one day she just never got them again. I can tell you that your daughter will grow out of this, and she will likely not have any lasting effects. It is good for you to learn ways to bring her fever down quickly and to monitor any signs of fever, Even low grade. for a child who gets febrile seizures, a low grade fever can sky rocket and become a seizure in a matter of minutes. I noticed that the majority of my daughters seizures occured when she was asleep. This is due to the body temperature naturally rising during sleep. During the time when she had the seizures I would take her temp beofre she went to sleep every time. If it was even a little high, I would give her iced water and a half dose of fever reducer. Some non-medicine ways to bring down a temperature include luke warm bath and cool (not cold) wet cloth under the arm pits. Another thing to ask your Dr. for is an anticonvulsion if she continues to get them. These are given anally during the seizure to stop it. Also, note that there are different types of seizures: Partial seizures where only one part of the body is convulsing, grand mal- what your daughter had- full body, and absence seizures, where the mind "blanks out" and the child is unresponsive, but no other outward sign. My daughter had all three, and we did not note the absence until we were unable to waken her from a nap one day. It is very uncommon for febrile seizures to occur as often as my daughter had them, and very uncommon for them to diplay any other way then Grand Mal, I just wanted to give you the awareness of my exoperiences. Good luck and just be sure you insist on full testing should she get them often.

Has your daughter had any shots in the past couple of weeks? this may be something to consider. They can have a reaction to them,for up to two weeks. H. all is well and take care.

Hi H.,

This is the scariest thing that ever happened to me and I'm afraid to say I did the same thing to my mom. I won't go into detail because everyone of the responses were so similar. I have figured out a lot since then however...

I'll give you facts first...
Seizures are caused because the brain can't keep up with the sudden change. In most cases a quick spike in temperature. The fever doesn't cause it, the spike does.

Seizures have triggers. The best thing is to avoid them. Ear infections usually happen without us knowing (which is what happened with my Emily beginning at 14 months and ending at 3yrs 3months). Sooooo, make sure you do everything you can to build your daughter's immune system.

Drugs are usually the first thing the doctor's recommend. Research, research, research! Don't just ask your doctor. Most of the anti-seizure drugs have LONG-TERM side effects. If you can dodge them altogether that is best, thus my point about building her immune system. We found that phenabarbital had no known long term damage and had been on the market long enough to know for sure. Boy, it did some short term stuff to my little one, though. She didn't get sleepy like it said she would. She got Maniacal! She kept trying to hurt herself. We had to take her off it and we only gave it to her when I sensed a seizure coming on. Please don't ask me how I knew one was coming, I believe it was God's grace.

Most seizures are not going to follow you into adulthood. That is a blessing. I think the brain "catches" up and can handle the triggers that it couldn't handle before.

Please, please, please don't panic. It is SO hard but your little one can sense it. I can give you more information on getting your little one's immune system stronger, detailed information. Please feel free to call me anytime (Verizon cell ###-###-####) and I would be glad to give you the benefit of two generations of experience and research.

God bless!

M.

P.S. I just read your other "mamasourcing" and saw that your little one had serious acid reflux. There is a connection. Please call me.

I can just imagine how you must have felt. My child (he's ammost 9 now) first seized around that age. Turns out he had a viral. Febrile seizures ocurr when the body cannot handle the high temp spkie in a short amount of time. However, he did have them again. You do not need to worry unless she has them again then your pediatrician will do more tests. My nephew had one around 2 and has never had them again and he's 14 now. Just watch her when she has a fever....good luck!!

my oldest son (now 13) had febrile seizures when he was little. he had about 4 all together. his fever would only spike maybe to 100, and he would have a seizure. he had no ear infections, but was teething. why doctors still say kids dont get fevers when teething i dont know. but he didnt have to have a high fever to seizure. my best advice is to keep a close eye on her for fevers and start giving her motrin as soon as you see it start rising. you can give tylenol 3 hours after you give motrin and alternat every 3 hours to keep the fever down. also, i'm sure the doctors told you what you need to do while she is in a seizure to make sure she doesn't swallow her toung etc. like rolling her on her side. and also learning other alternatives to bringing her fever down. luke warm bath, taking off clothes etc. you dont want to cool her down to the point where she has chills though. she will out grow it. i was told it is very common for these types of seizures. best of luck to you.

Hi H.!
Just after my daughter turned a year old, she had a febrile seizure. We had absolutely no signs or symptoms that she was ill...but all of a sudden around midnight one night we were woken by her making a strange grunting noise in her crib. When I got up to check on her, she was seizing and burning up. Same thing...unresponsive, foaming at the mouth. We called 911 and had her transported by ambulance where she was stabilized, diagnosed with a double ear infection, and after she was better...sent home and instructed to see her pediatrician in the morning.

We were warned that until she is 5 years old, we have to jump on the tylenol/motrin whenever we even THINK she may be getting a fever, just to be on the "safe side". The "funny" thing is that I had a febrile seizure myself at right about the same age. So far (6 months later) we have been seizure free. I know it's a horribly terrifying experience!
Good luck!