I need some advise, please

Jenny P · Feb 3, 2003

One of my neighbor's kids had febrile seizures when she was young; I got called over there several times when she was between the ages of 10 months and 3 years because of this. The one time that "Joy" (not her real name) did stop breathing, it was because the Mom was holding her and the airway was occluded while whe was seizuring. That doctor didn't believe in giving drugs for something like that; he believed that controlling the fever was a better plan.

That Mom finally learned to put "Joy" in a tepid bath and give Tylenol whenever she was ill to prevent fevers from getting high enough to cause a seizure. It IS scarey to deal with a seiz-ing toddler; I feel for you.

BTW, "Joy" is now 22, in college and a basketball player! Good Luck!

Lpn2be · Feb 6, 2003

thanks for the input, it is definitely a very scary thing. I hope that he never has another. I am glad to hear "Joy" is grown now and has no problems. That helps out this worried mother alot.

JustMe · Feb 6, 2003

Sorry to hear about such a little one having seizures. Our son started having febrile seizures at just 6 months old. The pediatrician said he was febrile from middle ear infections, but his temp was as high as 105! The MD put him on Phenobarb. When he was about 20 months old we were referred to an ENT who took his tonsils and adenoids out and put tubes in his ears. No more febrile seizures!! We live in an agricultural area where many kids get middle ear infections because of allergies. Hope this information helps.

djw26 · Feb 6, 2003

I agree with Jenny. I've heard that the best thing to do is to bring the fever down.

There is no known cause for febrile seizures. It is thought to be caused by the immaturity of the brain. They say that 4 children out of every 100 has experienced a febrile seizure at the onset of fever.

Once your child has a febrile seizure there is a 30% chance they will have another. So, it's not unusual that he's had a few. I think the best thing to do is to rule out the possibility of a seizure disorder. So, getting an EEG should give you some peace of mind. If you know that your child doesn't have a seizure disorder and is in fact having febrile seizures you can be assured that your child will have no lasting complications.

This is something your child will out grow. I think that's its a good idea to monitor his temperature. Since it is more likely that a febrile seizure will happen at the onset of a fever. Then you can put him in a tepid bath and give him tylenol ASAP.

Good luck & I hope nothing scary like this happens again!

renerian, BSN, RN · Feb 6, 2003

My mom had those type of seizures, I did and my son did. He had so many he was on seizures meds for about 6 years. He grew out of it. My sister has epilepsy. Most kids outgrow it. What does your Dr. say? Scarey to watch I know.

renerian

mumseyllama · Feb 6, 2003

My daughter developed a seizure disorder @ 10 months, not febrile. She had 4 before she was put on phenobarbitol. It was a wonder drug. She never had any more. She was weaned off the phenobarb at 2 years old. She's perfect now.

nicudaynurse · Feb 7, 2003

I am currently working for a pediatric neurologist right now, but will be going back to the NICU shortly (yea!) Anyway I see a lot of epilepsy kids. The kids with febrile seizures almost always outgrow them, but there will be a few that go on to have a seizure disorder (rare). Most pedi. neurologists will not treat the seizures with medication because it is not worth the risk. Seizure meds. have the potential for a lot of side effects. It is best to treat the fever as everyone has said. It will be a good idea to have an EEG done since he has a had 4 of them just to be sure. I do know that it is horrible to see your child have a seizure. VERY SCARY!! Don't worry your son should outgrow his febrile seizures very soon. Hang in there!!!

Lpn2be · Feb 7, 2003

I have heard that by the age of 5, they no longer have febrile seizures. I hope that this is true. I dont know if I could stand very many more years of this. My oldest son never had one, my daughter had one seizure when she was 3 and that was it.

Lpn2be · Feb 7, 2003

BTW I am taking him to the dr tomorrow and will find out then, he has had pneumonia. I am still going to take him to CHKD and have them do an EEG, just to be sure.