I received the following email from a friend of mine. I am not sure how many of you have heard about Febrile Seizures, but this was incredibly informative to me. I have heard of three cases of this in the last couple of months, with children of varying ages, and varying states – but all were children of close friends. She gave me permission to share her story with you, as well as the information that she has found out/researched on the topic.
As you know, I am not a medically trained professional, however, I am a mom, and this scared the heck out of me. If this is something that you would like to learn more about, please speak to your child’s pediatrician to find out more. .
I hope this is helpful to you….and over to Sonia’s story:
Christina had a seizure in what was the most terrifying moment of my life, ever. I can’t even go there in sharing what I thought was happening to her. Calling 911 and going to the ER in an ambulance just added to the terror. The reason for the seizure is due to a rapid spike in fever, usually at the onset, so you really have no way of knowing its coming. Christina was happy as can be running around Costco all morning and 10 minutes before it happened was chasing her brother in circles. I now know it is common and NOT harmful and has no long-term effects. I wish I was more knowledgeable on it and maybe then I would’ve realized what was happening.
I hope you never experience it, but being ready can’t hurt just in case. And, again, Christina is fine all things considered, although me, not so much…
More information on Febrile Seizures can be found here.
Sonia also passed along these 2 tips:
1. My nurse told me that lukewarm water to the forehead/ neck area can bring down a fever faster than the medicine. Whenever my children feel warm now, it’s the first thing I do as I give them medicine (not a replacement for medicine, just a first step). It really works!
2. Be prepared. I never leave the house now without a little bag that has in it: fever reducer, thermometer (easy to use forehead one), small water bottle, washcloth, pad & pen to jot down temp and time of dosing. I just use one of the cute free makeup bags i got from Clinique once and it’s bright enough that I never forget it.
Please feel free to share this information with your Mom and Dad friends as well as anyone who may be caring for your children.
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Thank you for sharing this! This week, I experienced this with my youngest daughter, 23 months. Hands down it was the scariest moment of my life. Ambulance ride to the ER was a blur but I did learn that applying wet towels, even just paper towels, was key to getting her temp down fast. One other thing I learned is that febrile seizures run in families. So it’s a good idea, as your parents and your in laws if you or your spouse ever had high fevers as a infant to age 6, when there is the greatest risk for febrile seizures. Thank you for bringing awareness to this.
Thank you for bringing awareness to this topic. My daughter had a febrile seizure 2 years ago. It came on so suddenly and it was the scariest moment of my life. The doctor told us that the seizure was a response from the body to the sudden spike in temperature (sort of like an internal defense mechanism although my daughter’s temp after the seizure was 105+!!!!). I also learned that applying lukewarm water to forehead/neck/wrist areas is key to reducing body temperature quickly. Also, as Jen pointed out, it does run in families. My husband and I never had one as a child but my husband’s siblings did as did a few nieces and nephews.
Thank you so much for sharing your tips Theresa. I only became aware of this recently and really wanted to spread the word. The families I knew that this happpened to were all as surprised as I would have been.
Jen, thank you so much for sharing this and I am so glad that your little one is ok. I am sure you all will take a while to get over the shock….
Nice article, it was useful for my seizures research.