[adreamcometrue]

I just can't get over the image of my daughter during a febrile seizure. Does anyone have any experience with this. She is doing OK now. When I took her to the ER they checked her out and she has a middle ear infection and is now on a antibiotic. The seizure only lasted for about 15 second but then I had a hard time waking her up so I called 911. She was wake but very out of it for about 15 to 20 min later. Then she seemed OK. I then took her to the ER and they told me about the infection that she had but they said without seeing what I was describing to them that they could not be certain that it was in fact a seizure. They told me if it happens again (GOD FOR BID) to give her a tylenol suppository (SP?). OH my I do not handle things well. Now I'm affraid to be by myself at night with her. My husband works nights so all of this happened alone.
Melissa

[Travelkid]

My son had one last January - one of the worst experiences of my life. My heart goes out to you - scary isn't even the word!

They are actually quite common and are caused by fevers that suddenly spike. He went from 101 to 105 in less than a half hour. We were told to alternate children motrin/tylonol along with tepid (not cold) baths.

All the best to you and you are not alone - that image is still in my mind.

[adreamcometrue]

That is what I'm doing right now back and forth every 3 hours he said for 48 hours.

[ERAmy]

My oldest son had seizures. He grew out of them.
They are scary. Try to remember that they are not causing them brain damage. Keep yourself calm.
Have tylenol suppositories in the house.
Educate yourself on what to do if the child has a seizure (protect their head, dont stick things in their mouth, etc).

Remember that is is very common for them to be "out of it" for awhile after a seizure or wake up freaked out. This is all totally normal.

Sounds like you did great. Give yourself some credit.

[brink]

I know it is very frightening to see your child having a seizure. Our daughter had a febral seizure when she was about 11mo. old. Her fever spiked after a visit to the doctor (we were out of state, at inlaws). Their local doctor had just perscribed antibiotics for ear infection in both ears. Back at inlaws, I gave her the meds and tylenol, and put her down for a nap. I heard her scream out, but thought she was maybe just dreaming, it was that kind of a noise. Thankfully, I did check on her. I found her face down, straight out stiff, having a seizure. Long story short, after ambulance ride, ER suggesting they would do a spinal tap in the morning if it appeared to be menengitis, and a two night stay in the hospital because her fever spiked again, she was just fine. We could have taken her home doctor said, but I was too scared it might happen again and opted to stay where there would be help in watching her closely through the night. She is now 21yrs old and never had any more problems with fevers. My nephew and also his two children also had febral seizures when they were toddlers. Everyone has outgrown that tendency. Does that run in families, I wonder? Just wanted to encourage you that children usually outgrow this, though I know it will be worrisome for you for awhile. Just stay on top of any fever, and chances are it will never happen again.

[gibbs7263]

They are very scary if you are not familiar with that. But high temps with febrile seizures are really common and they cannot be treated. I know that my son had, had high temps and I was just waiting for the seizure to happen luckily the seizures have never happened to my children, but they have to me. Very terrifying. Hang in there. Winter weather always sucks for viral/bacterial infections in children.

[Tammy2005]

My son had one when he was 11 months old, his fevers went from almost normal to 104.6. We went to the hospital because thats were the Dr on call was, he checked everything, did blood work and all was well, except high fever. We were sent home only to have him have a febrile seizure, it was so scary. Hubby was walking the dog, I ran outside with my son and said lets go back to the hospital, I didnt even put him in his car seat, he was still having the seizure in my lap. When we got to the hospital they gave him a shot in the butt of meds, and sent us back home. We had to do the Tylenal then Motrin every 3 hours. The Dr on call called me in the morning, he said he was worried about the little guy and wanted to check in. He said the seizures are very common with high temps. Sounds like you did everything you should have, it will be scary for you, and eveytime she gets a temp for now on, it will be twice as scary as it was before this happened. Your not alone, and this is very common. Keep her close by you at night so you can check her temp off and on, and dress her lightly. I left my son in just a pamper and a lite blanket on him. I also put my son in his stroller by the couch and I didnt sleep a wink the first night. Sending prayers your daughter will get better soon, and hugs your way. Tammy

[Ms.Judi]

How scary!! Hoping you and your DD acan get some rest tonight!! Hugs!!!

[dkateriz]

Febrile seizures are common in kids 6 mos-6 yrs (mostly happen from about age 1-3). They DO NOT cause any brain damage and they do run in families. Truthfully, you cannot do much about stopping them. They happen with a rapid change in temp and often before you even know your child is sick. They do happen more than once in about 1/3 of cases. The most important thing is to know this and remain calm should it happen again. The "out of it" or post ictal state is to be expected but should be relatively short ...although when your child is seizing or post ictal seconds are too long. They are very scary but there are no long lasting effects and they do grow out of them.

[hol332]

I am with you 100%. SOOO SCARY!!!! My daughter had one on Dec. 6 (my son's birthday). We went to the ER. I had never even heard of it before. Now we know. I felt a lot better after hearing about how common they are and the fact that they do not result in any long term damage.

Yep. It is completely scary!!!

[TheFoxx]

Febrile seizures are common in small children and it's normal that your child would be out of it for a time after the seizure (the body uses an incredible amount of energy during the seizure and it exhausts the person - it happens with adults who have seizures as well).

DS came home from Guatemala on 12/10/2001. On 12/15 I awoke and got his bottle and sat down with him. He just stared at me and I asked him why he was being so defiant. Then his beautiful little lips started to quiver and then his whole body into full grand mal seizure. I called 911 and luckily a police officer was right there and was at my door in about 30 seconds. He fell asleep immediately after and I was in hysterics - the officer explained it was normal.

My son had 5 seizures that day. No temp at all. To this day, we have no idea what caused them. He was on anti-seizure meds for about 8 months. Thank Gd he has never had another one and we've had some very scary (105.5) fevers with no seizure whatsoever.

One thing that really helped me was taking an infant/toddler CPR/first aid course. I highly recommend doing so. It gave me some power in a very powerless situation.

Glad your little one is on the mend.

Oh, and before I forget... two fever busting tips... wrap lower legs/feet in warm wet towels. Also, Vicks Baby Rub on the bottom of the feet and cover with socks with also help break a fever (this works for adults too) but keep in mind that fevers, generally speaking, are good and you don't want to fight a fever 102 or less.

[kimbo1]

They are VERY scary!! Our oldest had a siezure.....the kind where we couldn't wake her up. One of the SCARIEST things ever!

It ended up being the only time she ever had one-thank the Lord!

Praying for peace of mind for you!

[JGarrick]

One of my twins had a febrile seizure when he was around 16 or 18 months old. It started with tremors but then he stopped breathing for a couple of minutes and turned a rather alarming shade of blue.

My wife completely panicked. I had to take the phone from her so that I could relate our address and Q's condition to the 911 operator. Fortunately, he started breathing again on his own just as the 911 operator was describing to me the proper procedure for CPR. The police arrived while I was still on the phone and the paramedics were only a minute or two behind them. Of course, by that time the seizure was done and he was once again a healthy shade of pink. In fact, he looked rather better than my wife, who was still a ghostly shade of white.

The long-term consequences were zilch. Once the illness that caused the fever ran its course the seizures were gone, and he never had another. We were also told at the time that our experience wasn't uncommon and that in almost every case the child will start breathing again on his own.

In the short term, however, another adventure followed. They prescribed phenobarbitol for the seizures, and the treatment was worse than the disease. He behaved like he was drunk when on it (we were told he would adapt fairly soon), but what was worse was that he hated taking it so much that it took three grown adults to get it in him. Two of us had to hold him down while a third forced a syringe of the stuff into his mouth. Once in, we had to hold his nose and mouth shut until he swallowed it. We felt like we were running a torture camp, and after a day or two of that we told the doc we were quitting the phenobarbitol and would just monitor the fevers closely. I did taste the stuff myself and had to admit it was truly horrid. We couldn't get the poor kid to take any kind of red medicine willingly for a long time afterward.

It was years before my wife slept well when he was sick, and my oldest for quite a while referred to him occasionally as "my blue brother." All in all, it was very scary, but essentially harmless.

[adreamcometrue]

Yeah, it was just so weird. After about 20 minutes or so while we were on the way to the hospital she was acting pretty normal. I had the music on and she was telling me to dance and that she wanted to see more pretty Christmas lights. I just could not believe it. she is laying in bed right now sleeping and I'm just hoping that she does not have another one. I think she took about 10 years off my life.
Melissa

[amyfk]

I am very sorry to read this. I hope your dd is doing better soon!
Amy K, NJ