(to GIGI) Re: febrile seizures and apraxia? (to GIGI)

[Guest guest]

Gigi,

Let me jump in and answer you. The bottom line is that the EEG is

not an invasive procedure -- no needles or drugs, etc. The only hard

part will be getting your son to sit still, or if it is a sleep-

deprived EEG, the hard part will be the night before. Once a child

has a second seizure, they often do an EEG. I think it is well worth

your time so that you can identify or eliminate obvious epilepsy. I

say " obvious " because there are people with frequent seizures who

show a normal EEG.

Furthermore, just because a seizure episode is associated with a

fever, this doesn't exclude other causes. A person with a seizure

disorder may have a lower than normal " seizure threshold " which can

be triggered by high fever.

To put your mind at ease, high fever is probably the #1 cause of

childhood seizures. I believe that drug use and/or sleep deprivation

are the top causes of adult seizures.

Our sons are about the same age. Cade was born May 1999. In April

2001 he had his first seizure while he was sick with an ear

infection, which the Dr. at the ER suggested was caused by his fever

and labeled it a " febrile seizure. " He also told us our son would

have future seizures until his nervous system matures at around age 5

or 6.

Well, the Doctor was right, there were more. In June, he had two

back-to-back seizures (he had a fever the night before) with

some " complications " (no need for details right now) and so they

pumped him with anti-epileptic medication and did an EEG and MRI.

Neither of these tests showed the causation of the seizures, but the

Neuros stopped calling them " febrile seizures. " He was kept on meds

for 3 mos. until our new Epileptologist weaned him off them. Of

course, the medication surely stunted his development aside from the

other causes of development delay he's battling.

In October, he had a seizure again when he had a fever, but the

Neuros still won't call them febrile seizures since they last about

10 minutes. These are long seizures and are cause for concern.

Bottom line: Hang in there, get the EEG. And make sure to share the

symptoms AND duration of any seizure with the Doctor. Also, check

your son's temperature frequently.

Get your doctor to recommend a more effective dose of Ibuprofen and

Acetaminophen. When our son has a fever, we give 1.5 tsp liquid

Ibuprofen, then three hours later give him about 1.2 tsp liquid

Acetaminophen, then three hours later repeat the process. Don't

follow my dosing without consulting your Dr. This time schedule was

recommended by a Dr. It keeps anti-fever meds always going through

his body. We _used_ to follow the hours on the bottle, but since one

is 6-hr and the other is 4-hr, it meant that some times during the

day, both meds would be fading about the same time. In fact, right

at one of those times (4hrs after acet and 6 hrs after ibuprof) was

when our son had his Oct. seizure -- his fever just spiked up!

Only a small fraction of children with true febrile seizures go on to

exhibit epilepsy. The problem is finding out whether the seizures

are truly caused by the high fever or something else. The EEG can't

tell you everything, but it is a helpful test.

Also, hello to the rest of you -- I'm a new member who thinks his son

may have some sort of Apraxia. Cade turns 3 in May and has a 50-word

vocabulary (though really poor enunciation right now). His symptoms

are mild when going through the list, but key factors such as

transition to solids, chewing issues, too much drooling as a baby,

inability to lick lips etc. really hit home with me. He's made a lot

of progress through therapy and now we're trying an Omega3/6

supplement. Also, his EEG of several months ago showed delayed

myelination in frontal & temporal lobes.

My prayers are with you and your son,

Rager

> hi i just had to jump in and add us to the list - my son (now 2 yrs

10

> mths - SID, speech delay) had a febrile seizure 3 weeks after

vaccines

> when he was 13 mths old. He also went thru the wringer at the

> hospital. He had another febrile seizure about one month ago

(nearly 2

> yrs after the first) and today he is having an eeg done. Any one

> else's child have an eeg under similiar circumstances? I sort of

feel

> like it's unnecessary since both seizures seem clearly fever

related

> but maybe that's denial and fear talking. think good thoughts for

my

> baby boy.

> na

> (mom to 2,10mths and Aimee 13 yrs)