OT: Febrile seizures

[belle&beast]

My DS2 spiked a high fever earlier this week and had a febrile seizure. It was mild and lasted about 2 minutes, but it was very scary. I work with lots of kids with special needs, so I have seen lots of different seizures over the years, but when it was my own child and unexpected, it was very frightening.

My question is, does anyone have any experience with febrile seizure? The doctor said about 50% will have another episode...I hope we don't! TIA

 

[southernbella]

Hi, I am so sorry you had to deal with this! Our oldest DD had one when she was about 2 years old & that was the scariest thing I have ever dealt with in my life!

We were eating lunch at the restaurant DH works at (he was waiting on us). She didn't jerk like you think of when someone has a seizure. She kind of looked like she was in a trance. DH noticed it & cauught her before she hit the floor. She also drooled alot. We paniced & ran out the door with her. We called 911 & they met us down the road. Thankfully, DH's restaurant was very understanding (the hostess saw something was happening & let the manager know).

She stayed overnight in the hospital & didn't remember a thing. She (knock on wood) hasn't had another one since. I pray our youngest doesn't have one, but the ped. said there is a good chance she will. The only "warning" was she had recently gotten over a bad cold.

I hope your DS doesn't have anymore. SBella

 

[lauritagoddess]

My son has had several febrile seizures. The younger the child when they have the first one, the more likely they are to have another one. But I think it's only about a 25% chance that a child will have a repeat seizure. And yes, it's very scary but it has no long lasting effect on the child. My son's seizures have all happened during the night except for one that actually occurred in the car on the way home from the pediatrician's office (his temp had been 102 at the doctor's office but spiked really quickly, it was 104.8 when we took it as soon as we got home).

I've found the best way to try and avoid them is to keep my son carefully medicated when he gets a fever. I give him meds every 4 hours. He responds too strongly to motrin (it drops his temp too quickly) so I give him Tylenol which doesn't drop as temp too much but keeps it more steady, i.e., he's less likely to have a have a fever at a steady 102 than at a temp that goes down to 100 and then shoots up to 103.5 in a short period of time. Also I never give him baths to try and bring down a temp since it works too well for him, Good news is that despite being almost continuously ill all last winter (culminating in getting ear tubes and his adenoids out at the end of March) and having numerous bouts of croup this winter and one of pneumonia, knock wood he hasn't had a seizure since December of 2004, mostly I think because I monitor him so carefully whenever there's a hint of fever or illness.

 

[ebethuk]

my daughter, mary catherine, had a FC when she was 15 months and had the chicken pox. i woke up because she was seizing next to me (we co sleep when needed)... it was very frightening.

now we carefully medicate the minute she gets a fever.. we use ibuprofen and paracetemol (uk version of tylenol) together and then begin to alternate them. we will also take off any clothes she has one. we do not, however, sponge her down as that can change her temp too quickly, bringing on another seizure.

apparently, they outgrow them by the age of six. hang in there.

ebeth

 

[TerriBelle]

One of my twin boys had one. We always give him Motrin and/or tylenol when sick. He hasn't had another one and he is now 8.

 

[rhiannonwales]

MY sister had them as a child almost every time she had a fever over 101.AS a result all 3 of us had to take phenobarbitol whenever we had a fever since they felt if was hereditary.Neither of us others ever had a seizure.However, the affected sisters son had constant febrile seizures from 3 months old up until they removed his adenoids at age 3.
It is very scary, my sister used the alternating medicines technique .... example: Tylenol at 12, motrin at 2 tylenol at 4 motrin at 6...etc.It did seem to make the seizures less sever when they did happen.
I feel for you i know how scary it its... it happend once when i was babysitting my nephew!
Sherrie

 

[Kae]

My Niece had one when she 2.5 & now is 10.5 & has not had another one. I hope you have the same results.

Kae

 

[Ariel8676]

im so sorry that you had to go through this..very scary i know. My dd was 8 months when she had her first FS, she ended up having about 6 (hasn't had one since she was 3..she's 4 1/2 now). Herr fevers spike very quickly, the highest going up to 105.
We are very aggressive in treating her fevers now...repeating tylenol and motrin as needed. Also room temp.(not cold) wash cloths help to bring it down a bit(on forehead and neck), and maybe even a room temp bath. Good luck..hopefully you won't have to go through this again...

 

[luvmydogs]

My ds10 had was hospitalized with bacterial meningitis when he was three, and ran a fever @105 until the antibiotics finally kicked in. He had three febrile seizures while there, and although the drs. weren't concerned about them, they certainly did scare me! That was seven years ago, and although he's spiked fevers a little over 104 since then, he's been seizure-free--I hope the same for your son.

 

[belle&beast]

Thanks to everyone for their good thoughts and information. I am calmer now, and hopefully the worst is behind us. If it happens again, I know what to do and I will deal with it the best I can. I think the surprise was the worst part of it! Now I know it can happen and we will be rally careful with fevers! Thanks again!

 

[bjakmom]

DD (now 28) had a febrile seizure when she was 2 1/2. She seizured for quite a while - all the way to the hospital in the ambulance (I was sitting, terrified, in the front seat making deals with God - I had no idea what a FS was before that). Good news is that she never had another - I was, of course, fanatic about watching/treating any fever after that. However, when she was 4 she was diagnosed with a mild-moderate hearing loss that the Drs all agreed was caused by nerve damage during the seizure. It never held her back, but was an important dx as she needed some special considerations in the classroom in order to succeed - I was always glad that her pre-school teacher had picked up on it at such a young age.