febrile convulsions does anyone know anything about them

[addictedtolatte]

my 18 month old ds had one yesterday and had to be admitted into hospital. he is home now and fighting off a viral infection. does he run the risk of having another one if he gets ill again in the future. i was probably given all this info last night at the hospital but it was all a blur i think i was in a bit of shock.

[alypaly]

febrile convulsions occur when the temperature spikes. they dont normally occur if the temperature is constantly say at 39...Obviouslt=y they can occur if it is above 40.it is when it jumps up and down very quickly that the body cant cope with the changes. If he gets hot again,strip him off and sponge with tepid flannel or put a fan on him to stop spiking.
the doctor should tell you about future risks,but from experience ,it is possible that it may be slightly increased and if he becomes febrile again,he doc should have advised you to treat with ibuprofen to help prevent it from recurring. Please check with doc though as i am only a pharmacy dispenser

[Brunettelady]

Oh god!! The exact same thing happened to me a while ago with my DS. It was the most horrific experience. I just made sure I kept giving him paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I read up on it, the hospital gave me a sheet on febrile convulsions. Apparently they do have a higher risk of having another one if they have already had one. I don't like giving medicine unless its really needed, so when my DS had a fever (but still seemed fine) I didn't give him any meds until he had the fever (I didn't really know to give paracetamol for a fever, I do now, lol.) In the future the first sign of a fever, I will be giving meds. I think the temp going too high is what sets the convulsion off, so you may be able to avoid it if it was ever going to happen again. HTH, and hope your DS is ok!!

[alypaly]

ibuprofen and paracetamol can be used alternatly as long as ibuprofen is only given 3 times a day and preferably with or after food....not on an empty tummy.
if they are being sick,you can get paracetamol suppositories to make sure they have enough drug.

[addictedtolatte]

thanks both of you for your advice. i got given the advice sheet you mentioned brunette but i misplaced it. i did the same as you i thought i was doing good trying to cut down on meds but i just feel so guilty now. it is horific to watch a convulsion i have never witnessed one before and hope i never do again. ds is ok at the moment ive just been keeping his meds up to date as advised by a and e

[bruffin]

There is a brilliant quote from Christopher Green in Toddler Taming

"The short fever fit does not damage the child only it's mother's nerves"
Both my Dcs have had lots of febrile convulsions, but there is genetic defect in my family which means that the children have fcs until their teens. MY DS had another one in May when he was 13.

However the chances of having a 2nd fit is only 3 in 10 so the odds are your dc won't have another.

There is very little you can do to prevent them as with my dc it is usually the first sign they are ill. I have found the other time is when calpol/ibroprufen may have worn off and the temeperature shoots up again. The high temperature is not what normally causes the fc, it is the temperature rapidly shooting up

[Brunettelady]

Yes Bruffin, you put it better than me, I was trying to type with my DH reading out bits of his magazine to me.

I think it is the rapidly shooting temp too, I will be medicating at the first sign of fever next time. Never want to witness that again and I was soooooo relieved my neighbour is a nurse and was in!!

[LastOfTheMulledWine]

It is the speed at which the temperature shoots up, not the temperature itself. My dn has them when she's ill and never really has a high temperature, certainly never above 40 but does fit.

They found that sometimes meds can exacerbate the problem because they would give them regularly until she fell asleep and they would wear off. The artificial lowering of the temp meant that as soon as the meds stopped working, her temp rose quite quickly and this seems to be the key time for the fits in her case.

They have had much more success with keeping her cool by natural means and her temperature constant with very loose to little clothing, no blankets, fans, cool drinks very regularly. No cold measures though, like cold baths etc as this causes the same problem, the body fights to raise the temperature again when they start shivering.

It's difficult because the temperature is part of the body's natural defence against illness and the body will fight to raise the temperature as the meds wear off.

It's so frightening. I hate seeing dn fit, but I always try to remember that it's a very clever defence mechanism and not actually harmful. And she will grow out of it thankfully.

[CarmenTinselPalmTreesSanDiego]

My younger daughter had one at about that age when she had some virus and she ended up in hospital overnight. They were more worried about what was giving her such a high temperature rather than the convulsion itself, although they gave her oxygen in the ambulance as her lips were blue.

She's 6 now and the good news is she hasn't had one since, but it was really scary - we hadn't even realised she was ill until she did it while I was changing her nappy ready to go out.

[addictedtolatte]

thanks everyone for your advice will remember everything youve told me so am prepared if there is a next time. ive been the docs with him today and they have give him a good check up he seems to be getting over the worst of it. BRUFFIN that quote is very true my nerves are shattered and probably will be for a while. my ds will do anything to get out of christmas shopping.