Febrile convulsions

[poopeeplops]

My 22mnth old had 3 seizures Monday and was taken to hospital as a result of a virus and high temperature, it was so scary watching my little boy stop breathing and have a seizure, I'm having trouble adapting now, I'm very anxious of his temperature, having constan thoughts of what happened and keep replaying it, I don't feel safe in my home now after what happened, I now my child is safe now and fine but any advice to help me get past this!! People keep sayin it's really common but it doesn't comfort me after seeing my child's face not breathing, please help! X

It's horrible isn't it? The same thing happened to my little boy. Maybe you can take comfort in the fact that if, if, it ever happened again he would be a top priority for the ambulance service - when we called for our son they were here in 3 minutes. Hope you're feeling less anxious soon.

Hope so it's just a comfort that u haven't just said oh he will be fine! after u have seen that happen its hard to just get over, thank u x

They are frightening I know. Both of my nieces suffer from them. Please try and reassure yourself that while they're frightening to witness, they do not cause longterm harm, they are relatively common and they do grow out of them.

It's important to be aware that they aren't caused by high temps but rapid changes in temp so avoiding anything which too quickly changes a temp (cold air directly on them, cold sponging etc) as this can cause shivering and temperature spikes.

It's a horrid thing to see in such a little boy.

My Ds had over 20 fc and dd had 4 because my family have gefs+

They are scary but there is a wonderful quote in Toddler Taming which has got me through 4 fc in two weeks between dd and Ds.
It goes something like
The odd fever fit does more damage to a mother's nerves than it does to a child.

Just remember your ds won't remember what happened at all.
Ds was 13 when he had the last one and he remembered nothing between being at school and waking up in hospital.
It is quite rare for children to have more than one and even rarer to have any more.

Oh they are horrid, aren't they.

My DD had one massive fit - stopped breathing. Ambulance came and we spent one night in hospital. Viral infection. She had it at 16months old. She is now nearly 6 and has NEVER had another one.

I do understand how you feel. I felt utterly terrified and unsafe. I was so scared going home. What helped me get over it - and you WILL - is doing a first aid course. Also, whenever she had a slight temperature I would give calpol and alternate with nurofen - just as they did in hospital.

I felt much better a month later.

My dd had 6 between 2 and 4. She is 5 now and appears to have outgrown them. They are terribly frightening, but thankfully the hospital and ambulance were always fab. To help we had paracetamol suppositories from the Gp. they bring temp down q fast and we had diazepam to stop convulsions if long or happened twice. Used once. I have always been a regular thermometer user and when a child has fc I don't think you can help it.

Just searched MN for 'Febrile Convulsions' as DC2 is prone to them, temperature suddenly rockets...most recent one was Christmas Eve, and almost again on Christmas Night, though just avoided a fit by putting wet (tepid) towel on, then tepid bath before going to hospital. Was alone on Christmas Eve, DH works away, and although due home he was late...he arrived shortly after the ambulance, what a sight to be greeted with

DC2 had one at 6 months...horrifying, then again at 18 months, one at nursery aged two, one in early hours of Boxing Day LAST year, then on the 24th this year...it's indescribably awful.

The wonderful nurses at local hospital were fantastic, one was the same nurse as last year! Poor woman being on Christmas two years in a row (rural location and I know she has a small DC). THIS year they tested DC2's urine, there was an infection, and reason for high temperature.

I KNOW they do not cause any lasting damage, and that children do grow out of them, but they are terrifying to witness. Calpol, Ibuprofen, and a good thermometer are essential. If in any doubt go to the Hospital.

I hope your little boy feels better soon. xXx

I do first aid courses for the NCT - if it happens again then loosen your ds's babygro, put him somewhere safe - eg on floor - till seizure has stopped then fan him with newspaper or similar - and take his nappy off. Cool him down. Then ring ambulance. If it happens once it can often happen again BUT is rarely serious. Good luck.

Our DS has now had 3 seizures. He is now 22 months old. First one was several small seizures overnight at about 13 months old. We didn't even really know what was happening at the time.

Then about 3 months ago at 19 months was a 'complex' one when he was getting chicken pox. We called 999 and thankfully the ambulance was there in literally 3 minutes and the paramedics and then emergency doctors had to go through various levels of sedatives / anti-convulsants until after about 45 minutes of seizing they managed to anesthetize him and make them stop. What them followed was a few days in ICU and tests to rule out Meningitis and Encephalitis, thankfully all clear, and then revive him from life support. I cant tell you how traumatic that all was. In life support in ICU on a Sunday to home and fine on a Wednesday.

Then 10 days ago he had another seizure and we administered Buccal Midazolam after a few minutes when he started turning blue. That stopped the seizure but who knows how long it may have lasted without it. So the good thing is it seemed to work. The bad thing is that we are now going to be reliant on that for any future seizures. Thankfully it is covered by NHS here in the UK. In Australia (where we were for the last seizure) they wouldn't have prescribed Buccal Midazolam, even after his last complex seizure.

So I guess my advice to this thread is see if you can get some Buccal Midazolam as it is giving us some piece of mind that we can at least do something if/when he seizes again ...

They look scary but are actually harmless. They are quite normal in babies and young children and not anything to worry about. NHS direct say you only need to call for an ambulance if the convulsion lasts more than 5 minutes which is very rare. They are not caused by how high the temperature is, but by how fast it spikes. I know children that have had them at a temperature as low as 37.7 if their temperature has risen quickly from say 36.5.

On my first aid course I was told not to intervene only to place them on their side, on a soft surface, with their head to one side.

Hi I know this has been a while since your awful experience but it’s sounds exactly the same as we went through with our ds 8months ago and I’m struggling to get over it and it happening again .... is everything ok now no more febrile convulsions? Thanks a worried mummy x