Had Fever, Shivers, Hands Cold, Sleeplessness. Are They Seizures?

Posted on Fri, 16 Dec 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 Answered on

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi, my son is 18 month-old. Last night he had fever, not high, but he shaked duing his sleep. I woke him up, he still shaked a bit, for almost 30 minutes. he didn't lose his conscious though. He still smiled to me, but he kept yawning. His hands were cold. After about 20-30 minutes, when he stopped shaking, his hands turned warm, didn't yawn anymore and his fever went up. He couldn't go back to sleep and it took him more than 2 hours to fall back to sleep. Similar things happend to him three times before, but much worse. For those times, he didn't respond to me then and shaked badly, even his skin turned darker and he fell back to sleep after the shaking stopped. I think it might be seizures for the first 3 times, but what was it last night. I'm really worried. What should I do if it happens again?

Answered by Dr. Hema Yadav (2 hours later)

Hello XXXXXXX

Thanks for posting your query.

Your child has had another seizure last night most probably a febrile seizure due to high fever, less likely due to hypocalcaemia or epilepsy.

Sometimes consciousness can be retained even in a seizure.

You need to consult his Pediatrician for confirming diagnosis and starting medications like clobazam to prevent future attacks.

During seizure you can make the child lie down to his side to prevent aspiration and tongue bite.
Call emergency if you see him turning blue or it persists for more than half an hour.

Hope I have answered your query. Please accept my answer in case you do not have further queries.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E