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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Child Had Febrile Seizures. Taking Phenobarbitol. Swallowing A Lot, Increased Heartbeat. Petit Mal Seizure?

Hi my Daughter is 18 months old and has had 3 febrile seizures and the last seizure lasted for at least 25 minutes, she is now on phenobarbital and this evening she would get a blank stare on her face and then it looked like she was swallowing a lot and her heart would start to beat really hard. does that sound like a petit mal seizure?
Mon, 12 Nov 2012
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Pediatrician 's  Response
Hi,

Thank you for your query.

The description provided by you does not suggest that she is having petit mal seizures. I would suggest that you discussing with your doctor and get a EEG done to know the status of the seizures.

Since your daughter is already on phenobarbitone she needs to be monitored and the dose of phenobarbitone to be increase as she grows.

I hope I have answered your query to your satisfaction.

Regards,

RKK
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Pediatrician, Critical Care Dr. Tejas Shah's  Response
Thanks for asking your query here.

Febrile seizures are convulsions associated with fever. you haven't mentioned when was the first febrile seizure and whether she had shaking or not?

If Seizure is more than 20 minutes duration and not subsiding/regaining consciousness in between, patient needs to be taken to hospital and get checked over by ER/Pediatric doctor.

Blank stare on face/swallowing etc could be manifestation of seizure. It needs to be watched by a Healthcare professional to determine whether they represent seizure or not. It could be aura prior to seizure or absence seizure (i.e. petit mal).

My advise would be:
1. To get checked over by Pediatrician
2. If possible, to get opinion from Pediatric Neurologist
3. Continue current medications till changes are suggested by your doctor
4. She may need EEG (Electro-encephalograph) of her brain
5. Please ask your doctor to give you written instructions in event of another seizure at home, lasting >10 minutes.

I hope she recovers soon

Regards
Dr Tejas Shah
Pediatrician
Ahmedabad
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Child Had Febrile Seizures. Taking Phenobarbitol. Swallowing A Lot, Increased Heartbeat. Petit Mal Seizure?

Hi, Thank you for your query. The description provided by you does not suggest that she is having petit mal seizures. I would suggest that you discussing with your doctor and get a EEG done to know the status of the seizures. Since your daughter is already on phenobarbitone she needs to be monitored and the dose of phenobarbitone to be increase as she grows. I hope I have answered your query to your satisfaction. Regards, RKK