Febrile convulsions

[erja]

DS had - what turned out to be - a febrile convulsion yesterday lunchtime with a temp of 40.1 and was brought by ambulance to A&E for a check.
They ruled it as a viral throat infection and told us to give regular medication to keep his temp down.

Is it normal for a febrile convulsion to happen again?
I called the ward this morning and told them that he was being stubborn with taking the Nurofen/Calpol (he's almost 2), and was told to keep trying but if he seems fine then don't panic.
I managed to get a dose in this morning. I just gave him a Calpol dose now (50 minutes after he was due for another one because he was being difficult) and he had another minor convulsion 5 minutes after taking it, and he's now asleep on my chest. Do I panic? Is it normal to have a second one? Should I be allowing him to sleep?

It sounds like he needs to be seen by a paediatrician at A&E, not assessed over the phone.

About a year ago, my son had very high temp with tonsillitis, cold hands and feet, mottled, slow capillary refill. fast pulse - all sepsis markers. Out of hours GP sent us to a&e where he was admitted and given IV antibiotics to be on the safe side.

Hopefully your DS will be fine but if it were me I wouldn’t want to wait and see as they can go downhill fast. Good luck.

PS sepsis isn’t a blood infection, that’s septicaemia. Sepsis is the body overreacting to an infection - usually bacterial but can be viral I believe - almost like an autoimmune response.

Paramedics came and assessed him. He was back to his usual self that point after Nurofen as well as Calpol with his temperature pretty much back down to normal. They said not to worry, just to keep him off my body heat, give Nurofen every 6 hours (although I was originally told no less than 8 due to only being able to take it 3 times in 24 hours) and to keep an eye on him.

So happy to hear he's been assessed and was back to normal.

@Divgirl2 me too, I just feel completely on edge and terrified now though waiting for it to happen again!

Oh OP it so difficult (as I say that as someone whose DS has had febrile convulsions and sepsis - at different times)

I have learnt though that if a lot disappears when the fever comes down and if the fever comes down its ok. When he had Sepsis he went downhill fast and stayed downhill and the only thing that brought him back up was IV antibiotics

I too have had paramedics out when he had a fever and other symptoms and because of his history went to A&E oral antibiotics and calpol/neurofen brought that down

When he did have febrile convulsions it was definitely viral - we were on holiday in Austria so went via a private clinic so they did a blood test for it

Alternate calpol and neurofen and until the fever breaks keep on top of it. The amount you see on the bottle can be increased under medical advice (and only under medical advice)

My DS had this at 18 months. I called 999 and they admitted him for a couple of nights for observation. They gave him calpol, and said to try to regulate his temp as much as possible, and to give calpol if it starts to go up. They said I had done the right thing by calling an ambulance.

He's 20 now and as fit as a fiddle, and at a great university.

It was terrifying at the time, but as it turned out, not at all unusual. Must be very scary for you OP

Yes, I'm just freaking out as they advised Calpol every 6 hours and Nurofen every 8 (to stay within the daily limits)
But the convulsion happened when -
He'd had Calpol at 8am, and then again at 2.30pm, and Nurofen at 10am and still had a convulsion until an early Nurofen dose was administered. I don't want to give him too much medicine but I'm scared that that happened so quick and he didn't go back to normal until Nurofen again.
If that even makes sense to anyone? I'm just panicking trying to prevent it.

The struggling to stay awake isn’t necessarily a cause for concern - my son has had 2 febrile convulsions and we were told it’s normal for them to be really tired after one. It’s also common for them to stop breathing briefly during a seizure - I didn’t know this until he had his second one and it was terrifying so just warning you in case!

You really need to get his temp down. See if someone can bring you a thermometer so you can chart it and strip him down. Even if he’s feeling cold, it’s more important to get the temp down

In my DS's case, they lasted for quite a while after I started to bring his temperature down. But if they are getting more frequent then call 999. Don't hesitate. Nobody is going to criticise you (or they have no business to)

Febrile convulsions are caused by the rate at which temperature rises. It's the bodies way of trying to reduce it.

And quite frankly they are fucking terrifying to watch.

However mottled skin and cold hands and feet with fever are worrying in a different way.
I'd take him to a and e and get them to see him rather than judge over the phone.