My son had a febrile convulsion and I'm worried about long term affects and can't get the experience from my mind

[TakeTwoOfThat]

On Tuesday my son had a febrile convulsion, where his body went all stiff his eyes rolled and came unresponsive. He had a runny Nose but other than that he was fine but that morning he was sat on sofa and let out this horrifying scream that was quite haunting and then he went all still and unresponsive. I phoned an ambulance and I was Just screaming and it was made worse because I was alone and the ambulance service was on hold for ages. Finally got through and she was talking through with me if he was breathing and he had gone into a deep sleep but was thankfully breathing. Anyway ambulance didn't turn up it was apparently a very high demand area that day where I live but his dad came from work and took us in the car and he got at my house before the ambulance even came. So we got to hospital, by this time he had woken up but was confused and whingy. They said his temp was very high and had an angry red throat so points to infection. None of the rest of my kids have been ill and he doesn't go to nursery. Anyway ever since this fit he's been so whingy and upset over every little thing even though he's better and his temp is normal. Could the fit have affected him? And can it damage them. I can't get this from my mind either. It was terrifying

Take him to the GP if you're worried. Random internet people are not going to give you better advice than a medical professional.

@taketwoofthat how awful for you to go through that. I am not suprised you are feeling the way you are, I know it would take me a while to calm down from that experience and I am sure there were points where you thought you might lose your little one. Hand hold x

In terms of how it effected him, I think it would be wise to take him to a doctor. Try not to worry though, I would probably expect him to be acting the way he is after going through that. I know it's completely different...but after each of the jabs my son is different and wingey for a good week afterwards. Your son was obviously poorly at the time and I am sure his body is just recovering from that and the event. Definitely get him checked out again though for your peace of mind..

Thinking of you x

My youngest is the only one of my kids to have febrile convulsions. Lots of sympathy about how scary it is. After the first I used to give him paracetamol/ibuprofen at the first sign of illnesses as he seemed to go from under the weather to too hot in moments. He outgrew them by 5ish.

Nobody can diagnose him online so take him to a professional if you're worried.

From what I’ve read (so of course check with a medical professional) febrile convulsions aren’t harmful. What a horrible experience for both of you though. I’m so sorry that happened.

Even if his temperature is normal he might still be feeling a bit rubbish.

Sympathies OP my DS1 has had 6 now and they are terrifying! They're not harmful long term though, did you not get told that? At my hospital they give out a leaflet which explains it. He's probably whingy cos he's feeling poorly and tired from the infection though, as I understand it they don't remember the convulsion itself (my DS doesn,'t and he remembers everything! )

Oh and I struggle with remembering them and feeling anxious too. I'm going to see a GP about my anxiety next week and in the mean time I have various ways I try and keep calm. Its totally normal to be scared by it though!

If it's any reassurance, my dd had a bad one when she was 4, it was the most horrific scary thing that I'll never forget, but she's 8 now and she never had another one. She stopped breathing for a while and went blue, I honestly thought I was losing her. 30 mins later we were in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and I couldn't believe how she was sitting up chatting after something that looked so awful happening! Luckily she was thoroughly checked over and seemed fine and unaffected in any other way. For us it was a one off incident and the Dr explained that was often the case, but I was terrified it might happen again and for about a year carried calpol around in my bag wherever we went, as soon as she got even a cold I'd make sure she had some, as that was how it'd started that day. It seemed like an a average cold starting that morning, but by the early evening her temp spiked so high and so suddenly that we were told in really young ones, the brain just shuts the body down as a temporary coping mechanism. I couldn't forgive myself for not having given her some calpol, but it seemed like the start of a cold and she was acting normal.

She had no lasting effects from the fc, she was v pale and ill looking for a few days and totally exhausted. She couldn't remember a lot of what happened it was more at the hospital afterwards she remembered. She says now she can't remember it happening at all now. I will never forget! We were told quite often it's just a one off, and though it can be v scary for parents to witness, young children don't always even remember anything happening and there are no lasting effects. Sympathy to you though as it was probably the most scary thing that's ever happened, hopefully like us it won't happen to your little one again x