off kilter

Topic: Febrile seizures-help please
Jan 26 2005 7:25AM
I know children with Autism in general are more likly to develope seizures as teenagers. but have any of you found your children have a problem with Febrile seizures?I need some help and support. Little Paul has really bad seizures everytime he has a fever. He gets them only with fevers. We put Paul to bed last night at 9 and I went into his room at 9:30 he was fine, I laid down in the extra bed in his room and not even a half hour later I heard horrible banging. I flipped on the light and he was having a grand-mal seizure. Full body and his face was blue. I yell for Paul's Dad to bring me a tylenol suppository and tried to put it in when Paul's seizure stopped, before I could he started seizing again so we called 911. He stopped seizing and then went into a 3rd one before the almbuance got there He was blue and postictal when they arrived and was diagnosed with a virus at the hospital, the fever that caused the fever was only 101. His first one was at 6 months he's had seizures with every fever since then, there is no warning. He just turned 7 and still gets them. He has seen a Dr. Who says there's not much we can do. He does find it really odd Paul is still having them at 7. Paul should not be having them after age 5--He should not be having them at such a low fever--he should not be having them one after another. All the test we have done are fine EEG's,Cat scans,MRI's. The Dr. did give us a script for valium suppositorys to stop the seizures and told us to always call 911 and get him in. Do any of you know kids who continue to have problems with the after age 4 or 5? Do you know any kids who have more then one at a time or at such a low temp? The Dr. said any type of daily antiseizure med. would be a pain in the ***, have alot of side effects for something that might only happen once or twice a year, I agree. I'm including basic febrile seizure info for anyone who doesn't know what they are. Can anyone shed some extra light on this for me. The Dr. did feel Paul's autism may be a factor only because it is a neurolgical condition.

Seizures and Fever

Febrile seizures, also known as convulsions, body spasms, or shaking, occur mainly in children and are caused by fever. (Febrile is derived from the Latin febris, meaning fever.) As with most types of seizures, the onset is dramatic, with little or no warning. In most instances, the seizure lasts only a few minutes and stops on its own.

Febrile seizures may occur because a child's developing brain is sensitive to the effects of fever. These seizures are most likely to occur with high body temperatures (higher than 102°F) but may also occur with milder fevers. The sudden rise in temperature seems to be more important than the degree of temperature. The seizure may occur with the initial onset of fever before a child?s caregiver is even aware the child is ill.

Seizures generally occur in those aged 3 months to 5 years; peak incidence is in infants aged 8-20 months.


About 2-5% of all children will experience a febrile seizure.


Of those who have had a febrile seizure, 30-40% will experience more seizures.


About 25% have a first-degree relative with a history of febrile seizure.


The seizure itself is almost always harmless. It does not cause brain damage or lead to epilepsy.n