In the first part of this series, convulsion was defined and the various other terms often used for it were also discussed. You can read the part 1 here
We will continue now with emphasis on what to do in case of convulsion and what not to do!!
There are two major categories of convulsions.
Convulsions that occur with fever especially when high – we call them FEBRILE CONVULSIONS
Convulsions or seizures without fever – we call them AFEBRILE SEIZURES, not just convulsions because other forms of seizures can occur here.
It is important to make this distinction early because of the implications in terms of treatment and future outcome
Both febrile convulsions and afebrile seizures can occur repeatedly. However, it is only the recurrence of the afebrile seizures or convulsions that is termed seizure disorder or epilepsy.
FEBRILE CONVULSIONS
A febrile convulsion is a fit or seizure caused by a fever. They are caused by a sudden change in your child’s body temperature and are usually associated with a fever (temperature above 38°C).
A high temperature may be a sign of malaria, infection (viral, bacterial, fungal) or other illnesses that can cause fever. A high fever does not necessarily mean a child has a serious illness. Fever on its own is not known to cause damage to the brain or other organs.
Most children with fever suffer only minor discomfort, however once in a while some children with high fever will have convulsions. This is usually common among children in the age group 6 months to 6 years.
Febrile convulsions are not harmful to the child and do not cause brain damage. They are, however, very scary and alarming to the parents!
Usually during this febrile convulsion, the child with a high fever may become stiff or jerk; and he or she may lose consciousness for a few seconds to minutes. Sometimes it may last longer than 5 minutes. Afterwards the child recovers and may either sleep off or pass urine or stool. In some cases, the convulsion can recur after some minutes or hours but this is not so common.
Most children who have a febrile convulsion will only ever have just one. Some children may have a repeat episode another time. This usually runs in some families – that is the tendency to have convulsion when the child has fever. It does not mean such children have epilepsy or will develop epilepsy in future.
WHAT TO DO DURING A CONVULSION
There is nothing you can do to make the convulsion stop.
So the most important thing is to STAY CALM – don’t panic!
I know that may be a tall order for many mums but please this is crucial so we don’t have to deal with unnecessary post-convulsion complications.
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Place your child on a soft surface, lying on his or her side or back.
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Clear a space around the person and prevent others from crowding around if it occurs outside the house. The goal is to avoid the child sustaining injuries during the convulsion episode
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Loosen tight clothing/neckwear.
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Just wait for the convulsion to stop. It will usually stop in a few minutes.
IF THE CONVULSION DOES NOT STOP WITHIN 5 MINUTES, TAKE THE CHILD TO THE HOSPITAL.
At this juncture, prolonged convulsion can cause brain damage. Such convulsion needs to be terminated using medications/injections usually available only at the hospital.
WHAT NOT TO DO DURING CONVULSION
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DO NOT RESTRAIN THE CHILD. He is likely to suffer more injuries that way.
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Do not put anything in their mouth, including your fingers, spoon, knife, sticks etc. Your child will not choke or swallow their tongue. The clenching of the teeth will not kill the child. These objects often cause serious damage to the teeth and mouth with attendant problems after the convulsion has stopped.
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DO NOT put ONIONS, SALT, PEPPER, HOLY WATER, METHYLATED SPIRIT, OLIVE OIL ETC on their eyes, nose, mouth….we will be dealing with conjunctivitis and serious eyes problem long after the convulsion is gone!
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DO NOT PUT THEIR HANDS OR FEET IN FIRE. I have managed quite a number children who sustained serious burns just because of ignorant people trying to stop a convulsion. Few of those children died from the burns complication. Others spent months in the hospital and had serious disability from contractures of their hands that were burnt in fire.
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Do not put a child who is having a convulsion in the bath of water in attempt to cool the temperature.
WHAT TO DO AFTER THE CONVULSION
After the convulsion, please take the child to the hospital. This is to address the underlying cause of the fever and treat it appropriately.
Sometimes fever and convulsion can occur in some serious illnesses like Severe Malaria, Meningitis (infection in the brain) and others. These conditions must be diagnosed and appropriately treated or else they may lead to long-term consequences and future disabilities.
HOW CAN I PREVENT MY CHILD HAVING A FEBRILE CONVULSION?
This is the question most parents ask the Paediatrician after they have witnessed an episode of febrile convulsion.
Unfortunately, there is no 100% guaranteed way to prevent febrile convulsions but the following steps may help.
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When a child has fever, avoid the fever getting too high
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Monitor the temperature with your digital thermometer
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The best ways to bring your child’s temperature down are by:
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Undressing your child so that they are just wearing a single layer (for example a singlet and pants)
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making sure the room is not too hot or too cold
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Give paracetamol
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You can also tepid-sponge, that is rubbing the child’s body with wet towel dipped in “normal” tap-water temperature; not ice-cold or hot water pls!!!
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Ensure the child is treated early depending on the cause of the fever
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Some children have recurrent tendency to convulse each time they have fever irrespective of all the efforts by parents to keep the temperature down.
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Such children may require prophylactic treatment each time they have fever.
If your child has had febrile convulsion at least on two separate occasions; you need to see your Paediatrician about the prophylactic treatment against febrile convulsions.
In conclusion, convulsions can occur in setting of fever. Though they may appear scary, they are usually harmless if you know what to do.
However, ignorant application of commonly recommended traditional remedies can lead to simple febrile convulsions being converted to a very complicated, if not fatal event. Please be well-informed.
I look forward to reading your comments and addressing your questions and concerns.
Thank you so much Dr. God will continue to bless you and the entire team with more wisdom.
Thank You MummyD
Thank you very much..God bless you
You are welcome. Keep reading other articles and learning.
Good evening Ma. I appreciate the good work you and your team are doing through ATP. I haven’t witnessed a convulsion case but I’m glad to learn that most of the remedies (like putting a metal in the child’s mouth, onions in the eyes etc) I have heard people use in the management of convulsion are all wrong. Knowledge is power indeed! God bless you ma
Thank you….You are welcome
From what lexicon of the world’s languages, tongues and dialects, shall I find words of adequate strength and power, to say thank you, for the information? Dr. Gbemisola, you are one out of a million others. God bless you real good.
Thank you for reading…..Thank you too for your kind words
Good evening ma. Pls my younger brother have convulsions when he was a baby several times. And was not properly treated. Now that he is 21yrs old. The convulsion came back. And every 2week it show up.. But he is now on daily drugs. And the doctors said we should not stop the drugs. Until they have run a brain test for him.
Yes the doctor is right but they may need to adjust the medications so that he will not keep having the seizures at all.
God bless you for this piece. My 12 month old baby had convulsion n it was the worst experience ever. ( He was having fever due to infection) We took him to the bathroom n poured bathed him with normal tap water till he regained consciousness a few minutes later. Then took him back to the hospital. Should I not have bathed him? If I had just done removed his clothes without the water will it still be appropriate?
You should not have bathed him….You can wait for the convulsion to stop…if hot, you can take off his clothes and tepid sponge him.
Thank you so much. God bless you.
Amen…you are welcome
Thanks Doc for this piece, my question is what of those mothers that lost their kids at home during the convulsions, what exactly did they do wrong? What can make convulsions lead to death?
Delay in seeking appropriate medical care. You should take a child to hospital or call emergency ambulance if convulsion is not stopping within 5 minutes. The earlier the child is seen and convulsion aborted the better. Kindly read the article on how to handle a child who is convulsing.
Thank you doctor for sharing this beautiful knowledge with us, in a case whereby the person is stiff. How will you no if the convulsion have stopped. And will all this method still work.
You should take the person to the hospital as a person who is still stiff is not yet okay.
Thank you so much doctor, more grease to ur elbow, knowledge is indeed power. Glad to learn frm u.
You are welcome Tayo!
Thank you so much for this great information. My younger sister convulsed twice when she was about 2years ago, though its been over 20 years but it’s an experience I didn’t forget since. Knowledge is indeed power. Thanks ATP for the empowerment. God bless you all.
Thanks for sharing Horpeh! Glad to know your sister is fine now!
Thank ma
You are welcome
Thank u so much ma for this information, buh my question is what abt mothers living in rural areas dt does nt have access to hospital on time what wil they do in such a condition as a first aid to stop d convulsion…. Thank u ma.
No matter how rural, they will have an hospital or health centre they can go! They should wait for the convulsion to stop on its own and then they can take the child to the closest health centre or even call the community health workers who are trained on what to do in such cases on how to stop the convulsion. Most Local governments have a COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CENTRE which should have a doctor to handle such cases.
Thank you so much Dr. Gbemisola, you’re a blessing to this generation.
Thank you Grace for your kind words.
Thank you very much for your usual informative and educative article. Wish there is a way to print the articles out and give to mothers in rural areas who do not have access to the social media.
We learn every day like the cliche’ goes. I was surprised to read that we could position our baby on the back while they are convulsing. It has always been to position the child on the side. I am usually afraid that putting the child in the supine position may make her choke on her saliva or something 🙂 Now I know differently.
The side (lateral position) is appropriate as well….in some instances, that may not be feasible and you can place them on their back especially if we need to resuscitate them.
Thank you for reading!
My daughter is 2 plus and she still convulses, she’s been on tegrtol and epilin ever since, though it has reduced but she still does it atleast twice before she wakes up in the morning, she has not started sitting and doesn’t have a good neck control. What other thing will you suggest ma, I just want to see my daughter live a normal life again.thanks ma. Yinka
Hi Yinka….You should be seeing a Paediatric Neurologist who can adjust the dose of the medications until the seizures stop completely.
It appears that you have a special needs child who is also having epilepsy. Kindly read the articles on special needs children here Help Paed! I have a child with special needs 1 and Help Paed! I have a child with special needs 2 and Disabilities and Prevention
It is well, lost a child to convulsion, when it started I was so scared, I strapped her to my back and was rushing to d hospital, had I known. Thanks for d information
Wow so sorry to hear about your loss Esther….May God comfort you.
Wedone Ma @Dr Gbemisola Boyede
Thank you Olusola
Wow,knowledge they say is power now I know more about convulsion have seen ppl use metal like spoon so the child don’t get to close their mouth and it seems to be d norm…thank u ma for this piece God bless u and urs in Jesus name..with this piece now I know about convulsion and I can also educate ppl about it. God bless u real Good ma
Thank you for reading…happy to know that you are better informed
Thanks to all Doctors! More grace. Education is d best
Thank you for reading
God bless u ma
Amen….Thank you Mummy Eyilore
Dr Mrs Gbemisola,
You are such a blessing to our world,information indeed is key.God bless you and your Team .
Thank you Stella….Amen
Thank you ma. God bless your wealth of knowledge
You are welcome
Wow, this is an amazing article, (Simply put) I could not help but proceed to the second o e after reading the first. Yea I have not had the experience but trust me these piece will surely help should the need arise. Thank you so much. God bless ATP team.
My boy of 4+ has experienced seizures like 4 times since he was 1+. He showed no sign of fever but very scary he’ll be looking so scared as if he saw something and jerking,the last one he had was in June 2017 in the school it was very embarrassing cos I teach there
I’m always scared any time I remember the scenes. What can I do to stop reoccurrence
He has seizure disorder. You need to see a Paediatric Neurologist so that he can be placed on regular anticonvulsant medications
God bless and reward you IJN! Thank you for ur time n effort!
God will continue to bless u and ur team ma.
Dr. Thank you for the very useful information. I would love to know more about tepid-sponging. I used to use room temperature water and then a paediatrician and a friend said to use warm water, more like tepid water. So now, I am a bit confused. Would love some clarifications. Thanks.
You are the right one – Tepid means NORMAL TEMPERATURE WATER like that of tap water….Not warm or hot water please
Thank you so much for making a different in our world, God will bless you ma. I lose my first child to convulsion, that has really make me seek for knowledge in children upbringing and health issues in children , I thank God that this platform has made this knowledge available.
Wow…so sorry for your loss Kemi….May God comfort you. Thank you for your kind words and prayers
Thank you ma for the enlightenment, my neighbours son has convulsion one day and my mum rushed out with spoon and aboniki balm and applied on the boys anus and eyes, while the spoon was in his mouth and after sometime they rushed the boy to the hospital and injection was given and he got himself. Now the aboniki balm pain and the boy started serious crying o lolz. What am just saying it’s very difficult for a mother to just watch her child convulsing and not do anything but with this I now know its not as deadly as our parents makes us believe. Thank you ma and God bless the ATP team.
Thank you for sharing the experience. Yes I know most mothers do these interventions out of fear and anxiety but sincere willingness to help but we just need to make sure the help does not add more problems
Wow! Thank you so much for this
You are welcome
Thanks a lot Doc. , am so glad i read this piece on convulsion. Am more informed now
Thank you for reading
Thanks for this wonderful piece of information. My son is 5years now and has had convulsion like 6 times since he was 1+. The last one happened in May which is a first time this year. A paediatric nurse recommended phenobarbital for him but I have stopped. The few times he had convulsions there was no fever, but sometimes his head will be very hot which doesn’t result in convulsion. But since May when he last had seizure, his skin feels cold and when I check his temperature it’s always 35 or 36. Should I continue with the drug and is the drug one of such that stops it??
Do not give Phenobarbitone. However you should see a Paediatric Neurologist for proper evaluation and management. What your child has is AFEBRILE SEIZURES or epilepsy. Such children needs to be on routine antiepileptic drugs.
God bless you my Amiable Doctor for the great works you are doing here, have been reading posts and feeds back on convulsions here even reading it aloud to those here with me to learn….. On the process of my reading a woman here with me said , some reason why most people quickly apply ignorant application on child/children during convulsions is that when they clench teeth they can from there pass away( die) pls share more light on this …..
Thanks Folakemi.
That belief is wrong and it is a pure myth. The child having convulsions do not die because of clenched teeth at all. The practice of putting the items in between the teeth will often cause damage to teeth and tongue and it is really unnecessary.
Okay, thank you doc. What happened with people who lost their baby to this convulsion? To watch your child n that process is scary
I am not sure what you meant by what happened to them? If convulsions are not addressed promptly and appropriately it can end in death. One can only speak to specific sitautions.
Thank you so much Dr.
You are welcome Rita!
Thank you so much for this, my 4 yrs old son has febrile convulsion 5 months ago, its very scary. I took him to the hospital immediately, but i was told its meningitis and they admitted him, he was discharged after 2 days of treatment. But unfortunately 2 days later he starts to behave abnormal, he’s not active and cant express his feelings, i was told it was because he didnt take complete doses of injection. but he’s getting better now. I dont wish any body to go through what i went through. May God bless your team
Meningitis can not be treated in 2 days!!!! The minimum duration is 7 – 10 days and sometimes can be up to 3 weeks in the younger babies. Well, I am glad that the treatment was completed and your son is doing better now. Thank you for sharing!
Good day I have read and understood what they call convulsion.at the samebtime it happened to my 5years old boy.anytime that happened to him I tried my best to stop it ,at times I put my hand or spoon because of fearness .but the that one happened to him last which I believe is the last time that will happen to him.it took us An hour before he woke up.I was able to see pedestrian and hehe was reffered to where he did EEG test.after that he prescribed carzepen and B complex for him .I thank you for enlightening us on this.I got the same knowledge from you.
Thank you God bless you.
Thank you for sharing Biodun. I am happy to see that your son is getting apprpriate treatment.
Hmnnnn, I ‘ve suffered so much scary moment on dis convulsion of a thing on my children bt I’m thanking God now. Tnx so much ma.
You are welcome ma’am
Well done Doctors! May God continue to bless you. I heard that if a child is given “ogun ile tutu” monthly, he will not experience convulsion.Please, how true it is and what is ogun ile tutu?
This is not true and we Paediatricians do not encourage and indeed PREACH AGAINST the use of such herbal concoctions in children. These herbal drugs are rich in alcohol and other substances that can damage the kidneys of the children. If a child has febrile convulsion frequently, please see a doctor preferably a Paediatrician who will advise you further on mode of prevention. Please do not use “Ogun Ile-tutu”
Thank you so much Ma for always making out time to teach and most importantly answer questions. I really enjoyed this article but I was told by two different Doctors (not paediatricians though) to always give a cold bath or put the child in pool of water with the head above the water anytime febrile convulsion occurs with the aim of bringing down the temperature. I will therefore be glad to know why I shouldn’t do so as stated in your article. God bless you
Thank you for reading. That is wrong and dangerous information. Please DO NOT place a convulsing child in water!!! The time to bring down the temperature is BEFORE the convulsion and that should be done with bathing the child or mopping with towel dipped in TEPID (lukewarm) water, not cold water please.
Once the child has started convulsing, then you should allow the convulsion to stop and place the child in a way that the child will not suffer any injury to himself. Convulsions lasting more than 5 minutes should be taken to the hospital.
Kindly show your doctors this article so they do not keep perpetuating those dangerous pieces of advice. Thank you
Thanks so much Dr, mine happen last week I took him to the hospital thank God he’s OK now
Great to hear!
This is a great eye opening write up. Thanks doc!
You are welcome
I never knew convulsion could stop on it’s own without the putting of spoons in the mouth or onions in the eyes, thnks so much ma for the write up.
Now you know….Knowledge is power. Keep reading and keep learning.
Thank u for this ma, but pls how come some children gave up during convulsion since its something that can stop on it own .
If the convulsion is too prolonged or the child aspirated during the convulsion, that is what can cause death. Convulsion on its own will stop. Also people do wrong intervention can also lead to complications.
Thank you ma for this wonderful information, but I have a question…… Can a child pass on while convulsing?
If the convulsion is too prolonged and oxygen is not getting to the brain or the child aspirate – leading to airway obstructions; yes that scenario can happen. Sometimes some of the approach by sympathisers to a convulsing child leads to such complications
Thank you very much for this vital information, ma. I wish our local television and radio stations can air weekly programmes that would enlighten the public on health related first aid treatment before one have access to any medical personnel. This would go a long way towards preventing a lot of complications. God bless your efforts@ the entire team of ATP.
Thank you Tina….We hope to be able to do more on the mass media once we get sponsorship.
Good Evening Doctor, my 11 month old son just had a convulsion. He had high fever (something he does often anytime we travel) and in the process of sponging him down I mistakenly started from his head with the fan directly on him. He shouted and immediately stretched and stiffened in my arms with his eyes rolled back . I went into 5 secs shock then gently held him & started praying. It was an ugly experience. His teeth started clenching, he was breathing funny. But to God be the Glory it eventually stopped awhile later. Now he is calm, temperature gone back to 36.9c . But he isn’t playing has before. He is weak. An in-house Doctor friend has seen him and asked me to give him Paracetamol and malaria drug. Is this okay ma’am?
Awaiting your reply. Thank you
Hello Mrs Adebola. I am sorry to hear that – that is what we call febrile convulsion – that is convulsion due to fever. Once the fever is down, the convulsion stops. It is something some children between the ages of 6 months to 6 years are prone to. It is nothing to worry about. It is better to alays give paracetamol once the child has fever and not to allow the fever to get so high before treatment.
Hello ma’am my baby of 1 month had a febrile convulsion he was admitted in children hospital and was treated of infections now u posted that febrile seizure is just for children between 6 to 6 years do I need to worry about him
Hi Amaka….your 1 month old did not have febrile convulsion. He has convulsions due to another reason – could be birth asphyxia or meningitis or infections but not febrile convulsion which is convulsion due ONLY TO FEVER and it is usually from age 6 months to 6 years. You can see a Paediatrician if you have any concerns about your baby
As per ” yellow clothes can cause jaundice “, what my mum said was that if a baby has jaundice after birth, wearing yellow clothes will make it difficult to detect the jaundice on time as the yellow clothes will blend with the yellow coloration of the jaundice. That’s why yellow baby clothes are rarely sold.
Exactly Adetola but some mothers believe it is the yellow clothes causing the jaundice itself….that is the myth we are correcting. Believe me, I know mothers who believe that as ridiculous as it sounds….I see them all the time as a Paediatrician.
Good evening ma! My daughter of 1yr and 4months had convulsion that lasted abt 5mins due to high fever and severe malaria,her temp read 38.5C
She is currently on admission,she is placed on Ceftriaxone sodium, Artesun and quinne.
I was told she ll be on Ceftriaxone for 5days
From ur comment above u said 7 -10days,pls is the 5 days treatment still okay?
Hi Irene. Kindly direct the questions to the managing doctors. If he is having severe malaria, he really does not need antibiotics unless they are not sure and decided to treat infections as well as Malaria. However since I am not seeing your baby, I will not be able to comment on the treatment plan. I hope your child is okay now. For Questions requiring faster responses, please post on our Ask The Paediatricians Facebook Group from Mondays to Saturdays!
Thank you for this information ma. God bless you.
Where I come from, it is believed that should a nursing mother or a pregnant woman witness a child convulsing, her own new born baby or the baby in the womb will likely suffer convulsions as a child.
Please how true is this?
Thank you Nne for reading! That is a myth o :)….Not true at all!
Good day Dr, God bless the work of you hand I really love you pasonaly I have this boy of 18years that always have convulsion his parents dose not believe is medical problem they Spain its spiritual what can I do to help him
Hi Nike! Thank you so much for your kind words. You can share this article with them as well and also encourage them. I am afraid it can be difficult convincing people at times! We can only persuade them to at least give the medical angle a try while continuing with the prayers. The two methods are not mutually exclusive. As a Paediatrician, I see a lot of such cases in my clinic as well and even I also struggle with convincing parents that convulsion is a medical issue and not spiritual. Let us just keep trying and disseminating information and hope for the best! Thank you!
Good day Dr. Ma, my son of 2weeks old twitches while breastfeeding. Is this normal or not because I’m worried?
You should do a video recording of this twitching and show a doctor so we can see if it is something to worry about or not.
Thank you ma for this information. I now realised why my mother lost four children to convulsions just because of lack of knowledge. I could remember givingsuch children cow urine to drink .how I wish these information goes round all mothers
Wow…so sorry to hear that Omolola. Kindly help us share the article and recommend the website to everyone so they can get informed.
Thanks a lot Dr. for this.
My baby convulsed at 9 months. Then, I was a first time mum. I was so confused. I grabbed her and ran to the hospital. Something was inserted into her anus and she eventually calmed down. Then i realized I was not only barefooted but putting on just singlet and boxers. The personnel on duty laughed the living daylight out of me but hey, my child was okay. That’s all that mattered to me.
Could you shed light on what was inserted. Is it an OTC medication that one can buy and keep at home?
Thanks.
Most likely it could be rectal diazepam…something to stop the seizure first. No it is not something OTC…It has to be prescribed. If your child’s seizure was not caused by a fever, you need to see a Paediatrician for further evaluation of the cause of the seizure. What you did was the appropriate thing to do.
Thank you so much ma,my son of 3yrs,started consulting a yr ago,at least like 3times now, when I took him to d hospital I did test it was High fever he was given comosunate,amodiquine and atesunate and I was ask to be treating malaria for him once in a month,is it right to treat malaria wen he doesn’t have it.secondly ma what is prophylactic treatment.thanks ma
That is not right! Was the convulsion ALWAYS associated with fever? If yes, then it is febrile convulsions. If not always associated with fever, then it is epilepsy. For both conditions, you need to see a Paediatrician preferably a Paediatric Neurologist at any of the Teaching Hospitals for further management. The Specialists will prescribe the prophylactic treatment. I am not comfortable with the doctor or hospital you are using right now. Kindly see the specialists – paediatricians in any of the Teaching hospitals for the right management and advice.
I am so happy reading this,my nine month old son has been having a febrile convulsion,was given prednisolone in the hospital but no improvement,but with this information,I will take him to the hospital to see a peadeatric neurologist.thank you very much ma.
Glad to read that Tosin…All the best!
Hi Dr. God bless you real good for this. my 8yr old son first had seizures around this time last year but it literally stopped, then it came again this year, the seizures usually comes while he’s asleep at night and it is not accompanied by any fever, we were referred to a pediatrician yesterday and now an MRI has been recommended. He also has enuresis, though I admit it’s hereditary from both we his parents but I didnt think it can be addressed medically until I read your article on enuresis just now. Please where cam you recommend that we take the MRI test. Please treat as urgent ma, thanks a lot
I think you should do the MRI as soon as you can and your doctor may want to start the child on drugs for convulsion since he has at least two episodes of seizures without fever I guess so as to prevent recurrence. For urgent questions, please ask on our Ask The Paediatricians Facebook Group
Thanks alot, may God continue to increase you in wisdom.
Now am informed!!!.
Amen, thanks
Good evening ma, my son is 2yrs now and since 1yr plus he has been having convulsion. He first started with when his temperature is high but now he dont use to have temperature and he will be having seizures and after that he will be sweating and fall into deep sleep, when he wakes up, he start playing again. It happened yesterday and today again.They said it can only be treated in a local way. Am confused, i dont want to loose my only child again. I cant sleep in the night i will be watching over him Help me Doctor, please help me
Hi Sandra.
He is having seizure disorder which can be treated with anticonvulsant medications.
You need to take him to see a Paediatrician preferably a Paediatric neurologist in a Teaching Hospital. Most can be successfully treated with medications and the child will no longer be having the seizures. A few may require more than one medication.
It does not require any local way to treat at all. Please see a Paediatrician immediately.
Thanks for this platform ma. About the injection given to children when the convulsion refused to stop, can it be given for both febrile and afebrile seizures?
Secondly, somone said her child died 2hrs after receiving the injection, is dat a possible outcome frm the injection?
Yes, any convulsion has to be stopped immediately especially when it is longer than 5 minutes. The injection is usually diazepam (valium) or paraldehyde.
I don’t think so. We were not there but the child probably died as a result of the initial reason the child was convulsing in the first instance. The injection stops convulsion but it does not treat what is causing convulsion for example serious infection in the brain which can still cause death of child if not treated on time. Let the mother ask the doctor why her child died. It is very unlikely to be the medication.
Good morning ma, Thanks for d lecture I really appreciate,
Pls ma, what’s the cause of some people screaming so loud and then falling down(fainting) but not convulsing, and also the person had even being on drug since 15 years old and now she’s 23 years but no change at all.
Kindly encourage the person to see a doctor preferably an adult neurologist. It may be a form of seizure (convulsion is a seizure too but not all seizures are convulsions). Seeing a specialist in a Teaching Hospital is the best option.
Thank you doctors, all the articles are very helpful May God bless you all and keep increasing you all in knowledge. Truly seizures/convulsions are a very scary experience I can tell. I’m still trying to get over it. My 4yr old daughter is on medication Carpermarzepine tablet. We are told she will get over it but the father insist we go for herbs because our mothers are saying it’s caused by Ile-tutu. I told him doctors has advised we stick to our medication and it’s better we do.
Great. Please don’t give herbal drugs. Keep following up with your doctors regularly.
My one yr old child had convulsion due to high fever,am a 1st tym mom,i started crying nd so scared that i was going to lose my baby,i started puting onion in her mouth nd calling the blood of Jesus,some women later advice that it not hospital tin,dat we should have given her urine to drink and rub her black oil,but wit what i read now am thanking God i didn’t do any of that,my daughter is now ok,we were discharged from the hospital yesterday
Thank God and I am happy you now know better what to do
Hers is afebrile convulsion
Great to know she is getting the right care
Weldone Doc. I have went through different cases of convulsion on this platform and your response towards them. God in His mercy will continue to increase you in knowledge. I have a five years old girl that has been convulsing since 9 months. She has been taking in to different GENERAL HOSPITALS. And any time the case arises, we will be ask to run a FBC test . And at the end of the day, there will not be any malaria parasite. Artemether injection (for 3 days) and Cefuroxime axetil is always prescribed for her. One thing I noticed is that any time she is about to have the seizure, I would have done the tepid sponge for her , followed by paracetamol. Ma, am fed up, I need a lasting solution to this ailment
You did not state if the convulsion is always preceded by fever? In that case that is febrile convulsion and most children stop having that by age 6 years so no need to worry.
However if she is having convulsion without fever then that is seizure disorder and you need to see a Paediatrician preferably a Paediatric neurologist for further evaluation. You can Book Consultation with one of our ATP Clinics specialist if you wish.
Thanks very much doc, this is really insightful. May God bless you. Please make, I have a cousin who had convulsion when he was around 2-3yrs which left him dumb and had difficulty in hearing. Cold this be as a result of the convulsion or something else?
There are many possible explanations but I think the same underlying problem eg brain infection that causes the convulsion could also cause the hearing loss/speech delay. We need more information to be able to answer this question. If you want, you can Book Consultation with our Developmental Paediatrician for further evaluation.
Please what do I do?
My son of 6yrs is having seizures since last year
It happens once monthly
The meds from the hospital is not helping.
He is on carbamazipine and neurovite and still experiencing the seizure
You should see a Paediatric neurologist. You can book appointment with one on ATP. Send Whatsapp message to +2349056916818
A million thanks Dr, for I am well informed now than before through this your eyes open lectures.
My questions are:
1. is it right for a convulsing child be given oxygen?
2. What can make a convulsing child to be dehydrated or can a child convulsion leads to the child dehydration?
1. If it is needed, yes….it is doctors responsibility to know
2. A convulsing child who is not eating and drinking especially if the convulsion is prolonged.
Thank you so much Doctor. My Baby girl just had convulsion just 1 hour ago. we noticed some some abnormal behave in her and took her to the hospital. few minutes we came to the hospital the convulsion started. the doctors attended to her immediately, she is stable and sleeping now and that made me to start surfing the internet for the causes and treatment that is how i ran into your article. i have learnt a lot form you article, thank you so much.
You are welcome – please read the part 1 as well.