Febrile Seizures

My son is almost 3 and he had an EEG last week. They tell you to wake them up early and not let them nap so they are tired for the test. Then they apply about 20 small moniters to their head and wrap their head with gauze so they don't come off. For small children they only moniter for 20 minutes then they do the strobe light for 5 mins. My son never fell asleep, but he was tired enough that he stayed still. Also, they told me not to bring my daughter because it would be a distraction to my son. Hope this helps.

My kids haven't had to have EEGs done. But I personally have. I can't tell you exactly how they would do EEGs different for your children than they have to me. But I can tell you it doesn't hurt but can take an hour plus for them to do the test(They may not take as long for a child). I think that may be the hardest part is getting a 2 year old to sit and be entertained through it. All they did for me what was attach things (not sure the name of them)all over my head and they would just monitor my brain activity. They would use a strobe light and other things to try to stimulate seizure activity so they could pin point where it was happening in my brain. I have several EEGs done and they have repeated the same process everytime. I hope that helps and Good Luck!!

When my dau was 3 she had a seizure. We did not think it would happen again but it did when she was 5. An EEG is uncomfortable but the hardest part is for then to stay still because they want mommy. These are professional so if it is suggested please have it done. My dau was on Tegratol for a year and she has not had another seizure. She is now a well adjusted 11 yr old and gets straight A's in school. I do know that seizures affect your brain so the earlier it is treated the better. Also talk to your Pediatrian and ask them about the test. I am sure they will be happy to answer any questions. Good Luck

my daughter was older when she had to have one. but dependingon the time of the test i just woke her up in the middle of the night. this way by the time of the test she was ready to sleep again.

H.,

I just went through ALL of this with my 21 month old daughter over Christmas!!! We ended up in Tampa Childresn Hospital for 4 days, spinal taps, cat scans...the whole shebang! We went to a ped neurologist, had the EEG and everthing that you described..I see all the responses that you already got...I posted here too about it and received great support...if I can answer any questions or share any information at all with you just email me at ____@____.com I know what my dughter went through as well as my husband and I...dont wish it upon anyone...pls email me if you want!!! H.

Hi may I make a suggestion. My son also has Febrile seizures and his fever spiked to 105 than down to 99 than back up. We did every test under the sun than I found a WONDERFUL pediatrician who ran an obscure test and it turns out my son does not respond to vaccines like normal children. What was happening was he kept getting pnumonia and bacterial pnumonia. Had the peditrician not run that test we would still be in the same place. So he had a pnumonia shot (the same one they give the older people (over 65) and we have not spiked a fever since (had an unexplained fevers anyway). I dont know if this is something you could try but it doesnt hurt to ask? Also I assume that your peditrician let you know that most children will grow out of the seizures by 6. My 2 year old is now showing the same signs and had his first seizure in the Dr.s office so we will be doing the same testing on him. I hope this helps. Good luck to you and your children

I dont know how it works with children but I think it takes about 1-2 hours for adults. Not sure how its done anymore, but I can imagine it will be difficult to get your 2 year olds to sit still long enough to have it done. Try looking it up online in a search engine, there might be more info on how its done with children and what you'll all have to go threw. Good luck to you all and I hope this helps.

My son had febrile seizures when he was 1-10 years old when he finally outgrew them. He had an EEG done several times and there is nothing to fear about them. They just stick electric wires on with gooey stuff so its a little messy but not painful or traumatic. My son is now 26 and doing very well! God's blessing on you and your sons.

How scary, H.! My daugher had a febrile seizure once when she was 13 months old. We happened to be AT the ped's office at the time, and I totally freaked out because I didn't know what it was. They sent us to the ER because her fever spiked to 104.5!
Once there, they decided to run a million tests to rule out anything else - the did a spinal tap to check for meningitis, they did a CAT scan to check for tumors, then kept her overnight for observation. The next day, they did the EEG to rule out epilepsy - this was BY FAR the least invasive of all the tests they did. They put some jelly-like stuff on the wires and stuck them to her head, then just talked to her while they watched the readout. It didn't bother her at all. Now the spinal tap... that was another story.
It turns out that it was a one-time event in our lives, and I'm sure running all those tests was an overreaction by the docs to be on the safe side. I'm not sorry we did them, though, because it put my mind at ease in case it ever happened again.
Hope that helps, good luck! The good news is they do grow out of them, my doc said by age 5 or 6.
~R.

Hi H. ,
frist of all an eeg is no big deal . all they do is put little patches on his head . he wont like it but it will not hurt and this is so they can see his brain waves and how they are working . if you are cool about he will be fine he will have to lay still for a little bit . they might give him some thing to make him relax. it's better than not knowing what is going on . Hunter had 2 the frist time he was amonth old . after I saw how it was done I was okay with it then he had a sleep study . it was the same they hook him up to a bunch of patches to watch him sleep .( i dident ) the only thing that stressed me out was they used a glue to hold a patch on that keep falling off . the nurse just pulled it off instead of useing the wipe to make it come off . as you can tell it was not good for her so know what they are useing and make sure your able to be calm and he will do just fine . we will keep you in our prayers M.

I just wanted to give you a *hug* because I know it's scary! My twins both had febrile seizures, one more often than the other. She was in the ER at least once a month, and it was the most terrifying couple of years in my life. HOWEVER, I can tell you know they are a little over 4 and we are seizure free :) I know it is scary, and when they tell you not to be scared you are thinking "whatever, you don't know what it's like" :) I thought it everytime a Dr. told me not to be scared. But it will pass! Just make sure you are always calm when it happens so you can think logically, do not be scared to ask questions when you go to the hospital and know that this is more common than is realized.

The EEG is not that bad, and my daughters did not even flinch while it was done :) If you need anything at all, or have any questions PLEASE feel free to message me! Good luck!

Don't stress too much about the seizures. My son has had them since he was 9 months old, and I felt sheer panic each time I witnessed him seizing. Even when doctor after doctor consoled me that he was safe while these benign seizures took place, I couldn't help but worry. Take him in for the EEG. He will be fine! I promise! They just want to check his brain waves to see if he is having any other patterns of seizures that are underlying. Best of luck!

my son had to have an eeg when he was 4. the actual procedure is not bad at all. they put little leads all over their head and wrap their head to keep leads on. the worst was keeping him up late so he was sleep deprived. but he was a little older and so we let him stay up and play video games.