Is 7 too old for a febrile convulsion?

[kirinm]

DD had a febrile convulsion when she was 2. She had a raging temp and I had her in bed with me and woke up to her convulsing. Doctors were confident it was fever related.

Shes now 7 and slept in my bed last night as she’s not been feeling great (plus she’s a terrible sleeper). At about 2am I woke up and thought she was choking. We couldn’t rouse her and she wet herself. She came round but was not at all lucid. Took her temp and she has a high fever. For about 20 mins she was basically just crying but she then woke up and was obviously properly awake and back to ‘normal’.

I’m sure she’s had a seizure and I may have missed the convulsing part of it. We’ve given her calpol and her temp has come down a bit and she’s now sleeping.

I’ll speak to a doctor in the morning but everything I’m reading suggests febrile convulsions usually stop at a much younger age. Does anyone have experience of febrile convulsions at this age?

They can still happen, but it becomes less common. As a teen I used to faint instead. I hope she feels better soon and you get some sleep op.

Hi, sorry to hear this. I have not experienced a febrile seizure before however, seizures don’t always cause convulsions but convulsions are always caused by a seizure. Febrile seizures tend to occur from
6 months - 6 years. How long was the seizure? Is she drinking same or less? Hope she feels better soon x

Read up on the NHS advice on possible seizures and febrile convulsions.

If it hasn't happened for many years, treat it like the first occurence and get new advice.

Ring 111 now as a minimum.

Thanks. We’ve come to A&E. She was being seen by another hospital for a possible genetic heart condition and they’d advised to come to hospital for an ECG which she’s just had done. She’s not been seen for 4 years but it all came rushing back to me. Fortunately we’ve been seen quickly.

I'm glad you've gone to A&E and she's being seen quickly. Especially with your update.

When I was about 6, my toddler brother had febrile convulsions. The first one was terrifying, I remember the ambulance coming and the 'ambulance men' thundering up the stairs in their very formal uniforms (as they w were in the 70's) running a cold bath & putting him in it (not how they deal with it nuw!) I was terrified MY. baby was going to die. It's been 59 years & when I think about it I still go cold, so I'm not surprised it's all coming back to you!

j hope they can get to the bottom of it quickly!!

if it were me, next time she needs to sleep with you I'd get DH (or you) to sleep in her bed & have her on top of your duvet with a separate duvet or blanket. She might have over heated between you & been unable to ikick the covers off in hers sleep to cool down.

Let us know as you find out more
🤗

Yeah I definitely think being under my duvet contributed. I didn’t even realise she had a temp - she’d complained of a headache but she’s so rarely unwell that I didn’t think to check.

Definitely won’t make that same mistake again!

I once taught a year 3 class (age 7-8) and one of the children still had febrile convulsions when she overheated. It happened twice when she had a high temperature and once on a very hot, stuffy day. So it can still happen for some children at that age. That said, you’ve definitely done the right thing by taking her to A&E. I hope they can work out what’s going on with her.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/febrile-seizures/

Information for general use.

@kirinm Please do not think that having her under your duvet made a difference - it is very unlikely to have had any impact. Her temperature rise is internal not external and is due to being unwell.

@kirinm no. Eleven year old had one and hasn't before or since.

Perfectly fine, no harm caused but it was terrifying.

Didn’t really get any answers other than it is quite unusual to have febrile convulsions at aged 7 but not completely unheard of.

We have an appointment with paediatric cardiology in a couple of weeks.

It would be very unusual to have a first febrile convulsion at 7, but only unusual to have a repeat febrile convulsion at 7. But having said that, after such a long gap I think it was sensible to get checked out.