Febrile Seizures
While fever is the body's natural defense against infection,
approximately five percent of children have what are classified
as "simple" febrile seizures while running a fever.
If anyone has a child who suffers from febrile seizures, take
heart ... 99 percent of children outgrow them by the time they
are six years old and there are generally no ill after effects.
Febrile seizures can occur in babies as young as three months
old. When the child is running a fever, a seizure brought on by
the sudden rise of their body temperature can overtake them.
Febrile seizures look like epileptic attacks and they are one of
the most frightening events a parent can live through. These
seizures happen only when a child has a fever and are not a
precursor to epilepsy, although in about 1 percent of cases,
febrile seizures are an indication of more complicated
neurological problems.
When my older daughter was 18 months old, she had her first
febrile seizure. Thankfully, I had read about them and knew what
was happening. The first episode lasted less than two minutes
and by the time the paramedics arrived, she was sleeping
peacefully. I wish I could say that was her last febrile
seizure. She had at least ten more in the following four years,
with the last episode occurring when she was
five-and-a-half-years-old.
While we tried to learn everything there was to know about these
seizures, the best explanation any doctor had was that they were
hereditary. Sometimes I wonder about the genetic conclusions
doctors jump to. As far as my husband and I knew, no one in our
immediate families had recurring febrile seizures, nor did our
younger daughter ever have a febrile seizure. As we were told by
numerous physicians to expect our other children to have them
too, we were enormously relieved when we were spared yet another
5 years of anxiety and living in fear of the dreaded fevers.
Not all children who have a febrile seizure will have another
one. I believe the statistics are 30 percent of children will
suffer only one. If you've lived through this once, I pray you
are one of the lucky parents who never have to witness your
child in the grips of this malady again. While these seizures do
not cause the child long-term harm, they can age a parent ten
years overnight.
There are many redundant articles online that explain and
explore febrile seizures, their complications and coping
strategies for parents, although all that can really be done is
to make sure the child is safe and allow the seizure to pass.
Knowledge is power. The more you know about febrile seizures,
the better you will be able to cope if your child ever has one
or has already suffered one or more seizures.