DS had a febrile convulsion today

My DS was a bit under the weather this morning, seemed to have the same cold that's floating around the household. He nearly fell asleep at 10.30 am most unusually (normally naps about 1pm), so I popped him into bed. Chatted with our friends who were visiting for a playdate - apart from the fact one playee was asleep - heard a little squawk at 1pm, so DH went to get him up. Discovered him starfish-style in the bed, jerking slightly, eyes staring open. He then coughed and started vomiting, then went totally limp and was unresponsive. He then responded slowly and sluggishly. After a quick clean up, he then zoned out again (but no vomiting) at which point we wisked him off to the doctor -we have a fab GP just up the street who in emergency situations is quicker than our nearest hossie.

Turns out his temp was 39.7. And as you've gathered, he had a febrile convulsion. I'm just really hoping it doesn't happen again. He's dosed up on panadol & nurofen and his temp has come right down, so hopefully we'll be right.

And I guess I don't have a question or anything... just had to get it out... cos I think I'm still processing! :o And how many times do you think we'll be checking on him tonight!!!!

Oh ok here's a question, anyone else's kids get them, and did they ever get them again? Think i'm gonna be paranoid about him having a temp now! I gather it's the temp spike that does it, not the actual "height" of the temp.

You poor things! DD had one just after her 1st birthday and it is the scariest thing I have ever witnessed. I was vigilant with temps after that and dosed her up as soon as she got one and she never convulsed again. She is now 19. Neither of my other kids have ever had one.

Oh no poor darling:( so scary babe. I would say it is the spike too because RCH say over 42:o Izzy's a mth ago was 40.3 one hour after panadol and she was flat as a tack but no convulsion so I guess you just don't know. When my kids have such a high fever I'm paranoid at night. I give panadol then check half hourly until it is below38.5 then 2 hourly. Once below or at mid 37 at night I deep a bit better but I keep giving panadol if it's 38 or more. Waffling on but they also say to treat the fever as they react to it, so if they are shivering a light blanket if sweating strip down but don't keep the house too cold. Is he responding to panadol ? Both of mine usually do thank goodness but Iz didn't last time.

Good luck overnight babe hope you all get some rest.

It is a very scary thing to go through :hug: My 2 older DD's have had them too. DD2 has had a lot actually. It is the temp spike not the actual temp hun. I found nurofen and panadol together work best. Don't ever put your child in a cold bath or place cold blankets or washers on them (this keeps heat in), don't ever put them under a fan or aircon either. Interesting point, if children have fc under the age of 18 months they have a higher risk of reoccuring if they happen after 18 months they have a 70% chance of not happening again. DD1 only had one at 20 months, DD2 had her first at 14 months and has now had 9 in total. If you need anyother help pls pm me.

I find too that all my kids respond better to nurofen than panadol for a fever for some reason.

My DH is a paramedic, and he goes out to many, many children that have them. In fact it is the most common call out that he gets for young children. Just make sure that you keep his temp under control and don't try and aggressively cool him (meaning chuck him in a cold shower, as it cools them too quick and can cause more problems)

My DS has had them when he was little, but I was lucky as DH was home and treated him.

They are scary, but very common.

Some info to remember
•1 in 30 children have a febrile convulsion at one time or another, usually between the ages of 6 months and 6 years.
•Nothing can be done to prevent the convulsion from occurring, remain calm and try not to panic.
•Putting a child in a bath (to lower their temperature) during a convulsion is dangerous.
•Febrile convulsions will not cause brain damage. Even very long convulsions lasting an hour or more almost never cause harm.
•If the convulsion lasts more than 5 minutes call an ambulance, otherwise make an appointment with your family doctor.
•If you are worried for any other reason, please see your family doctor.

:hug: how scary! Hope he's ok, I can only imagine how worried you'll be overnight! Don't have any profound advice like PP but just wanted to post my support and hugs..lol

:hug: that is scary. Mine haven't had one but my friend's DS has. She's a nurse and told me that the FC is similar to us as adults getting the shivers when we have a fever. It's the body's way of trying to bring the temp down... (someone correct me if that's not right). Either way, it's sure to be scary when that happens and it's our own kiddies. Hope he's all ok now.

:hug: that must have been very scary... hope you got some sleep last night & all is well now.

How scary! Hope he is on the mend now :hug:

Poor thing, they are scary to watch.

DD has had 2, the first was when she was around 8 months & lasted 5 mins, she was taken to the ER & nothing was found. The 2nd she had in may this year & she was 22months. It lasted an hour and a half & she was taken to ER, then put in an induced coma & taken to ICU. After numerous tests, an MRI & an EEG, once again nothing was found.

We have a family history of the DF had 11, MIL has had a couple, and I've had one. We also have epilepsy on my side of the family, hense the EEG.

Some kids have 1 & that's it, other kids have it happen a number of times. When DD was in ICU they told us the stats of febrile convulsions are that 1 in every 20 kids will have at least 1 before they are 2.

DS had a temp for a few days when he was 18mths old. We finally took him to the hospital around 730 one night (my mil and I), coz it just wouldn't go down, or if it did, it'd come back up again not long later. We got the hosp, saw the triage nurse who took his temp and asked him to stand on the scales. Both were normal and he was like a normal little boy (which he hadn't been for days)! We went back out to the waiting room and less than 5 mins later (we really had only just sat down), MIL was holding him and he started to shake. She called out for help, handed him back to me, where I worked out something was wrong, I called out help and a nurse came pelting out! The nurse took him off me and ran off looking for a bed. Then she ran back saying she couldn't find a bed and she needed a crash cart. Worst moment of my life. DS had stopped breathing. They had to resuscitate him. Thankfully he wasn't out long, had drips and cords and cables everywhere, and they kept him in overnight. He almost had another one just before midnight, but the nurofen and panadol combination helped slow his temp spike.

I was told that now he's had one, that there's a chance it could happen again, so each time he's sick, I watch him like a hawk :)

Hope he recovers quickly xx

Hope he is feeling better this morning.

Wow that must have been very scary for you and your DH! How is he feeling today?

My daughter used to get these EVERY time she'd get a temp, often the temp would only register after the fit, because it's the sudden shift in temp that sets them off, not the high temp itself, if that makes sense. With her low muscle tone the fit was not at all benign as she doesn't have the same gag reflex to protect her airway from the eventual vomiting. I've had to do ERR a number of times, I've just been lucky to catch it before it got worse... After five years of having to watch her like a hawk every time she seemed a little off, our Osteopath put her on a preGABA supplement. GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) is one of the amino acids that lubricates the brain and stops the synapses from over-firing - It works a lot like oil does in a car engine. You can imagine how the gears in a car engine would grind and spark without oil, same thing happens in the brain, hence the fit from overload.

Anyway, since starting her preGABA supplement DD hasn't had a fit. One day I forgot to give her her supplement and she got a chill that morning because the heater had broken (I was busy trying to fix it, hence the reason I forgot to give it to her) and she started to get a distinctive smell on her breath. I knew she would fit if I didn't get something into her to control the impending temp that would be on it's way. The research I've done since being put on the supplement shows that Febrile Convulsions are connected to two synapses' that are responsible for GABA distribution in the brain, which would explain a lot. Often needing a GABA supplement is connected with malabsorbtion in the gut. You ever wonder why they say if your sick to have chicken broth and why that would work? The goodies in the marrow of the chicken bone feed good bacteria - Good bacteria process toxins in the gut and also increase how much nutrients are absorbed from food - those vitamins etc. help the body fight the infection. I've since worked out that is why my DD gets a smell on her breath; it's a sign that she is going to fit because it is indication of an imbalance in her gut which is stopping her body from absorbing what she needs in order to make to make the GABA amino acid, without the GABA she fits because the brain doesn't have enough oil to deal with the rev of a rising temp.

Hi Belfie,

Your poor little DS and also poor Mummy and Daddy. It is terrible to witness your child having a FC. My DD started having them at 12 months of age and has now had a total of 5. Unfortunately she is one of the unlucky one's that has gone on to have multiples. The majority of children that have them only ever have one. We have a really strong family history of them (I had one as an infant, so did another of my sisters and one of my sisters had them constantly until she was 5 and had to be medicated for them as they were a real problem for her). My Paed has told us that they normally happen near the beginning of an illness where you get a sharp spike in temperature. It isn't really about how high their temp goes, more about the sudden increase. We used to call an ambulance everytime as DD's go for longer than 5 minutes (but less than 10). One of the paramedics explained that it is like a computer rebooting. That is their little brain's are not able to deal with the sudden rise in temp and they switch off and restart. Now we are 'old hands' at it so as long as the fit doesn't go for too long and she becomes responsive, we no longer call the ambulance.

Just know that he will have no memory long term of this. Sometime's I think it is harder for us parents to have to witness this. As long as the fit is a classis FC then there are no long term side effects.

I hope that this is a one off for your little man.

Janie xxx

Thank you all so much for the support & information. He had a good night and has been ok today, if still very subdued. He seemed a bit unsteady on his feet after his nap today but imagine that's just his system fighting the bug. And his temp has been good too. Our GP rang to see how he is going and to remind us to bring him back in mon or tues. I can't remember the last time I heard of a GP being that proactive!!

I am hopeful this will be just a once off. There is actually a member of my family who has epilepsy, so we'll just be very observant. The fact his looks like a very straightfoward fc is a good sign. Thanks again.

Thank you all so much for the support & information. He had a good night and has been ok today, if still very subdued. He seemed a bit unsteady on his feet after his nap today but imagine that's just his system fighting the bug. And his temp has been good too. Our GP rang to see how he is going and to remind us to bring him back in mon or tues. I can't remember the last time I heard of a GP being that proactive!!

I am hopeful this will be just a once off. There is actually a member of my family who has epilepsy, so we'll just be very observant. The fact his looks like a very straightfoward fc is a good sign. Thanks again.