I have debated over and over on whether or not to share this story. It was a pretty traumatic event but I feel that other parents may need to know in case they ever deal with something like this.
October started out with a bang, as both boys were feverish. Calvin though, had a febrile seizure; it was the scariest moment of my life. Harlen has had them before but Calvin’s was just so much more severe, and traumatic, it lasted almost 4 minutes, I was on the phone with 911… SCREAMING for Jesus the whole time. I don’t know if you have ever called 911 but for some reason, I totally thought that they would have told me what to do and instead just kept asking me informational questions (like what our birthday is and other things)– which I know is their job, but I couldn’t concentrate in the midst of what I thought was going to be the end of my child’s life to answer her question.
Calvin's little lips were blue, his eyes were rolling back and I was giving him CPR . I had no idea what was going on. In between panic screaming and praying out loud on the phone, calling on the Holy Spirit frantically to hep, time just slowed down. I don't even know how to explain it, my thoughts during the time were just “this isn’t real, this can’t be happening, Lord help us.” When I tell you I was screaming bloody murder... I’ve never been so frantic and so scared in my life and it was the longest 4 minutes of my life.
Finally after what felt like I was an eternity the seizure subsided and Calvin was fine, weak, tired, and crying but seemingly okay. When the ambulance finally came, they told me he was fine, and his seizure was febrile, and you just have to ride him out, and if it happens again to give them a call and they will come back out and check him out again.
The craziest part? Earlier that morning I grabbed a book and started reading about febrile seizures. And then did some work on the computer, but moved Calvin from my bed to the couch where I could watch him, and literally thought “in case he has a seizure”. I truly believe that was a God moment.
It was the single most scary moment of my life. I’m still shook about it.
I called Connie, because even through Tylenol (which is a last resort for us) his fever wasn’t breaking. He was still retaining his heat in his body and it wasn’t “opening” up. Connie did some research and we came out with a few herbs that I feel should be shared here, along with what to do if your child has a febrile seizure.
A febrile seizure is a convulsion caused by a fever. The fever tends to be higher than 100.4 degrees. You’ll find that they will convulse and shake all over. They can last as little as seconds, up to 6 minutes (this is what the Mayo Clinic EMT told me while checking Calvin's vitals.)
Something I think parents need to be aware of, that doctors tend to lack in informing their clients, is that post vaccine febrile seizures can be common. (Which wasn’t our case but it is common)
“The risk of febrile seizures may increase after some childhood vaccinations. These include the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. A child can develop a low-grade fever after a vaccination. The fever, not the vaccine, causes the seizure.” – Mayo Clinic
The common ages for febrile seizures are anywhere from 6 months to 5 years of age. It’s also likely that if a mother or father ran high fevers, and had been prone to febrile seizures around those ages, that their children could be prone to them as well.
The good thing is febrile seizures look scary, but they produce no lasting complications. You may however find that it will happen again if the fever hasn’t come completely down after a while. (This was Calvin's case, he had a second one that lasted only a minute or so, about 4 hours later)
With no long term complications, there are some things we can do to help relieve the tension, or help release the heat of the fever/infection in the body (fevers are signs of bodily infections).
Connie and I both looked into some herbs and here is what was found.
This herb is not only great for fevers, but it opens the body to help regulate the body and induce a sweat.
I give this in tincture form with my kids or in a tea blend with equal parts yarrow, elderflower, and peppermint.
Dosing: 2-3 drops (not dropper)
Another great one for fevers as it's known to help open the body. It’s a diaphoretic so its induces a sweat which can help lower a fever in turn. I give via compress, which works GREAT, or I run a cool bath (you don't want to overheat the body) and pour some fresh elderflower tea in the water with some epsom salt or magnesium (which tends to be my go to as it can really nurture the body with minerals during sickness.)
Blue vervain is the herb that I found most interesting. Connie had held a book signing for Matthew Wood (a great herbalist in Minnesota) the same weekend Calvin had his seizure… and oddly enough he brought up febrile seizures. He mentioned that blue vervain is great to give after a seizure to help release built up tension in the body that is stored there after the seizure.
Blue vervain is great for releasing tension, but it also has a personality type that its prone to working well with– type A people. People who like lists, and then lists of those lists, who are sometimes up tight, often rigid with angst. (so pretty much me) But here’s the kicker, if you (as a mother or father) are this personality type, then your kiddo will probably react really well to this herb.
This herb is really bitter tasting so I do a tincture form with a tiny bit of juice in a little Tylenol cup and the boys take it well. Remember, the bitterness activates the body to do its job, signals the liver to kick in!
Dosing: 1 drop (not dropper)
This is quite possibly the leading homeopathic medicine remedy for febrile seizures. You’ll know they need this remedy through twitching of the limbs, twitching of facial structure, and twisting and twitching of the hands. There likely will be a loss of consciousness and rolling of the eyes will likely be present. When they come to, they will be extremely sleepy, which is common when the body is under such stress. Excessive heat fever and redness in the face are also common.
Beneficial for single limb twitching. Fever is accompanied by chills, and likely will want to be covered up at all times even in extreme heat and sweat during the fever. Frothing at the mouth may occur. Likely to be very cranky after woken from nap, extremely stubborn in nature and irritable when over stimulated.
You and kiddo are both going to want this Bach remedy, it just helps alleviate the emotional stress of what you both just went through. I put 4 drops into my water and drink it through out the day. It’s so good to have on hand for stressful moments, homesickness, or traumatic events where you can’t seem to let go of the emotional tension in the body
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As always this is not medical advice. Don’t ignore your doctor, and none of the statements I have made here have been FDA approved.
I hope this give some sort of clarity on these, because they really can be so scary. My mama heart goes out to those who have or do experience any form of seizures. Prayers to you all!
