Febrile Seizure - Haslet, TX

Had your child been recently vaccinated?

You need to contact Dr. Donna Smith in Wichita Falls! She can find out what the real cause of this is! She can be reached at ###-###-#### or email ____@____.com website is www.advancedclinicalnutrition.com. Please call her! She's a PhD clinical nutritionist and can get at the root cause of this rather than just treating the symptoms and taking years to figure out what's wrong. In the meantime the doctors will be medicating your son until they figure it out, if they ever do! Good luck!!

J.,
We had an experience with son having a febrile seizure when he was 5. It was very scary. And it was that he spiked a fever very quickly, and for no apparent reason. The doctor did tell us that perhaps it was he was slightly dehydrated and then add a low or sudden fever and viola. We watched his temperature for a few months and gave him ibuprofen at the slightest increase. We were told he would outgrown these types.

A friend of mine has a niece who developed febrile seizures at a young age, and they had to take her temperature once an hour and give medicine to keep it normal, if it got any above her normal. I thinking it did get better as she got older.

Perhaps with your son being a preemie, his body is having problems regulating his temperature... so at the slighest increase it sends signals to the brain, causing the seizures. Body temp can rise for many reasons, some people have more sensitive immune systems and a fever is a way of fighting off viruses.

Hope it all works out for the best for you and your family.

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Hi J., my oldest son had febrile seizures. We were told they were not caused so much by high fevers but his temperature changing too fast. He had one out of the blue one day and months later he got flu or something and then he had like 2 or 3. They prescribed him an antiseizure drug and he became a very terrible 2 year old. We took him to a pediatruic neurologist and he told us febrile seizures cannot be prevented with anti seizure medicines so we weaned him off and he became a normal 2 year old again. After he turned three y/o, he never had another one. He is 18 y/o now. My father also had them as a baby/toddler. I was told it runs in the family. Ask all your relatives, because if anyone had it, then that's probably why your son gets them and they'll go away like they came... on their own. God bless! I know how scary this can be, I've been there.

M.

Hi J.,

I have an 11 year old who started having seizures when she was little. She also had febrile seizures. She would only have 1 or 2 a year but it was still scary. The first one she had in the docs office and she started turning blue. Thank God we were in the Docs office. We had to go to Cooks in the Teddy Bear ambulance. It was our first experience with anything like this. She had a fever so we had to do like you and give her tylenol and motrin whenever she was sick. The EEG is no big deal takes about an hour. They put little electrodes all over your child's head and then let you rock them to sleep. One of the other moms said earlier that they will tell you to keep your child up late and get them up early. This is correct. They want them to be so tired they will fall asleep on their own. After they do they will flash strobe lights in a number of patterns to see if there are an electrical misfires in their brains. They let us stay in the room with our daughter. It's a pain on your eyes. The tech and a nurse are usually right in the next room monitoring your childs progress. I would encourage you to not be overwhelmed. There are alot of parents who go through the same thing. It may be nothing or it may be something but whatever it is you want them to find out now. Not later. It took us 8 years to find out what was going on. So keep looking. Ask questions of the Doctors and other parents and keep notes on anything weird that you notice. That way you can tell the Doctors. We had a great neurologist at Cooks. His name is Jeffery McGlothin. So there are great doctors at Cooks too. If you want to talk or are overwhelmed send me an email.

So sorry that you guys are going through this. The first thing I thought of is that there may be something going on with the hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain that controls the body's temp, etc... If it gets out of whack it can cause the weird temp. variations. My angel son was special needs and that is how I learned what happens when it is not functioning correctly. Since your son was a preemie that could have something to do with the hypothalamus functioning improperly. I would mention this to the neurologist as a possibility although I am sure he is checking into everything. I hope things work out and that your sweet little boy gets over this soon. Thoughts and prayers to you both. Take care.

Did your child just have a vaccination? If so your doctor will say it has nothing to do with it . BUT THEY DO!
If you have questions read Jenny McCarthys book or go to www.generationrescue.com or just google her.
L.

J.,
How scary this all is for you. I haven't experience this, but I know fever means there is an infection somewhere in the body, I'm sure his white blood cell count was up... Maybe his body is trying hard to fight it off. I'll keep you in my prayers, you'll have to keep up inform on what's the neurologist says.
God bless your little boy and your family!

Hi i dont have any answers for you. I just want to let you know please do they the test for your son.
My grandson craig died august 29 th 2009 they said it might have been from a febrile seizure. Hes been in a foster home for 8 months his mom was getting him back. He never had a seizure with us. But, the first foster home he had a infection and fever and the second foster home high fever and he had another seizure in her home too. Then august 29th he died in his crib. The last foster home didnt check him for 11 hours and he died.

Me (grandma) and his mom just visited him all week and the day before no signs of any fever and being sick. He was fine .

We are devasiated we will never forget this as long as we live.
So, I say to you please do all the testing and more please.

GOD BLESS YOU!!!!! GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't really know if I can help you much but my sis has a seizure disorder since she was 2. Hers were petit mal and she seemed to "grow" out of them until college when they re-appeared. As a child they did all the scans (they weren't that stressful but they weren't doing them directly after the seeizures either) and all they ever showed was that she had sezure tendencies. They made her repeat them when she was in college and got the seizures again and they said the same results. It turns out that hers are brought on by stress (at least in her adult life).
Now, my boss's son (who's family I am close to) ALSO has seizures. Not sure if his are petit or grand mal but his are longer than my sis's (I've seen a few of his). His symptoms are a bit like your sons but no fever that I am aware of. He is in 6th grade and has had them since 1 yr. His are controlled and treated by medication and he seems to only have issues when his body is gowing through probs (recently, puberty).

I am telling you all of this because
1) Is your child going through some major growth changes? Hormones are a biggy cause
2) Is your child under any abnormal stress or a "worrier"? these may be some causes or he may just be prone. But either way, I would not worry to much until you are SEEN by a nuerologist. They can guide you in how to contol them and though it is a trial and error procedure, I have not seen anyone whom has not had improvement with a nuero yet (and I know at least 5 patients)!

I know I did not answer any of your questions, but i wanted to ease them a bit. Don't expect this next scan to be anything like the first. The first was done as "an emergency" and the next is scheduled and probably in a completely different setting. It may be intirely different. Most kids I know actually LIKE going to the nuero! It is not like a hospital or ER!

Best of luck and God BLess!

I'm so sorry for all you are going through. I have to say I do not know anything about seizures. But I have a thought about the fever. My friend's son kept having fevers last summer and they couldn't figure it out. He had no other symptoms. As a last straw, the pediatrician did a rectal swab for strep. It came back positive. Everyone then went for swabs (oral I think), and the mom was a carrier for strep, She had no symptoms and kept passing it to her son.
Just a thought.
Best of luck to you and your son!

Hi J.,
Our youngest son began having febrile seizures at 6 months of age. Sometimes the "onset" of fever causes the seizure and therefore you can't know it is coming.......unless you notice your child is acting like he is going to get sick, then you can prevent with a little tylenol......but you say your child is not showing illness. So keep gathering information from your pediatrician and your neurologist.

We have done sleep deprivation EEG's. It shouldn't be too stressful. I'm guessing your other EEG was in the hospital. Our experience was lousy there too, but in the doctors office they are professionals and work with children. They will put those little things on his head to prepare for the EEG, then they will give you an opportunity to try and get him to fall asleep. If they still do it the way they did with us the night before at home is the hard part. You have to stay awake and keep your son awake so that he will be sleepy for the study. They will give you all the details I'm sure. Take whatever makes your son warm and cozy with you to the doc for the EEG study. A blankie, pacifier, favorite teddy... I rocked my son to sleep and then put him down. He is asleep for most the EEG. Try to make it no big deal.

I want you to know my son did have seizures without fever as well. No illness. He outgrew them, but it took awhile. Email me if you need support or more info....or doctors name.
Hang in There. We had some scary times like you are going through now, so I understand.
P.

I agree with a previous poster in asking was he recently vaccinated (meaning in the past few weeks)? It sounds like a "typical" vaccination reaction that is occurring these days. Watch him closely for a loss in speech or loss of skills he has already mastered. You may want to read Jenny McCarthy's book. Your situation sounds identical to what she went through with her son. Also you might want to check out the website www.nvic.org

My son just had a sleep deprived video EEG that lasted for 6 hours. Not too much fun since he is 10 1/2 months old. I would say that since your son is older, it would probably be a lot easier. My problem wasn't keeping him awake, it was being restricted to a small place and always making sure the camera was on him that was the problem. The tech was great and very helpful. My son's not having seizures (at least none that we are aware of - still haven't gotten the results yet), so I can't comment on that part. Just know that the EEG isn't pleasant, but it's not all that bad either. Good luck to you and I'll keep your family in my prayers!

I had a somewhat similar experience. My daughter had just turned one. She had a seizure on and off for about 3 hours. Very non typical for a febrile sezure! When she got to the ER she was 102. We had to call 911 - it was aweful. Long story short... What I have learned it is not about how high the fever gets- but how fast it gets there- the spike. She did have the sleep deproved eeg- good luck! We did it around noon so I just got her up around 5 am. The procedure it self is not bad- it is just keeping them awake- she fell aslepp so that part was fine. The do not sleep all night thing is impossible when they are that small. Chudnow and group are supposidly the best neuroligst in the area and I have asked around and done a ton of research. His office is off of Coit in Plano. Anyone in his group is great (the office is not very plush or nice but who cares). Now when my daughter get ANY fever at all- i give her ibeprophen (works mush better than tylonol). Also, she was in the hospital for a week with this fever and NO other sysmptoms. They did a spinal tap and everything. It ended up just being some sort of virus. Apparently you can also just get a fever virus which she does seem to get- of course since she is the one overly sensative to fevers. Please make sure he is well...but that was my story- hope it helps!

J.,
I TOTALLY know what you are going through right now!!! I actually posted about this on Monday! My daughter is 2 yrs old (27 months), and she has experienced Grand Mal (it lasted over 20 minutes w/shaking), and Petit Mal (5-10 minutes w/no shaking). She has had 4 w/in the last 1.5 yrs. 3 of them have been since September. We have had the eeg, ct, sono and mri done a few times! The thing about the eeg is that, I believe, they have to be experiencing some sort of abnormal brain waves at the time of the eeg inorder for the machine to detect it. If it's just a febrile seizure it won't show up! If it's a form of epilepsy it should be detected. My baby girl just had a very bad one on Sunday night! She had a fever (starting Sun morning), and we alternated tylenol and motrin and she went to bed. I had not woke her up to give her a dose yet when I heard her wimpering....she was in a full blown seizure...foaming at mouth, her skin was BRIGHT red....her temp was 102 (under arm). She would not come out on her own, and so we called 911. Right before they got to my house she opened her eyes, but was still out of it (that's normal according to all of the nurses/doctors that I have seen. We went to Children's (Dallas) and had a few tests done, but the dr declared it a febrile seizure. We have to see our regular pedi on Friday b/c both er dr's (she had one on March 1st and March 15th) want her to have another mri and eeg just to check things out. Her seizures don't "typically" fit the "box" as far as febrile seizures, but she only seems to have them w/a fever!!

I am so sorry if this is soooo long, I am just trying to give you all my info so you know you are not alone!

It's soooo scary and heartbreaking to have this happen to your baby! Please message me and maybe we can help one another!!

Good luck!!

Hi,
I know seizures can be scary but your son is young. Many kids can outgrow seizures so don't panick. I have done the test you are talking about 3 times with 2 different kids. You have to keep them awake so they fall deeply asleep for the test. Tell him it will be a party for just you and dad. We did it in shifts. Plan on videos, cartoons, ect. Have him get up and do physical things to stay awake. Tell him big kids do this and it is called an 'all nighter' and how cool it will be to see sun come up. Make it sound like he is doing such a big boy thing. Ask them about what he can eat and drink. Sometimes they don't want the child to eat so many hours before the test. Also be careful about caffine. Also one of you may have to sit back with him to keep him awake in the car on the way to the appointment. At the apppointment, ask if one of you can be with him. They will rub his head with big Q tips and special toothpaste like stuff. They will put the wires on. That will all be like before. They may do part of the test where they have him look at strobing lights and ask him to hyperventilate. You will not know the results of the test when you leave. I highly suggest you call the local Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/setexas/ They will have lots of information about febrile seizures. Also check out the national website. My brother had this type of seizures as a child. He does not have seizures as an adult. He has 2 children and they do not have seizures. I have a son with autism who has another type of seizures. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/

N.

Hi, I am so sorry for what you are going through and I wish him the best. I know with my kids 102 should not cause a seisure. its not really that high of a fever. My oldest who is 6 now had a fever of 104 when he was 1 and he did not have a seisure and the dr just said the give him motrin when we called in the middle of the night about a 104 fever. I have been told its not the fever itslef its how fast it goes up that is the problem. but really a fever of 102 should not be causing seisures. I would go to the Neurologist for sure and I hope it all goes well.

Have you been out of the country with him? There are a number of tropical fevers which could cause his symptoms. Otherwise, I would keep at it with his pediatrician and ask for a specialist. Remember to repeat all his symptoms every time you talk to the doctor. They note them in their charts, but they can't remember everything. One small symptom can be the key to diagnosis.

Good luck with your baby. I hope all turns out well.

D. Kimbriel
Grandma to 2 beautiful boys.