Fever, night terrors, help!

[lionfamily1999]

We've been slinging strep around this week and my older ds just caught it yesterday (or started showing the symptoms). The last time he was sick with a fever he had a night terror. It was the only time I'd been confronted with this situation and I was frantic. Last night at 2, he woke up screaming with his eyes wizzing around and it took me a little while to figure out it was another night terror. Then, at 5 it happened again, only this time dh was there (it was the first time he'd seen it). Dh wanted to rush him a. to the emergency room, b. to the local psychiatric hospital, and c. to a priest.

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one that goes through this and finds themself terrified every.single.time that ds has had a break from reality or might be possessed or something.

 

He'll talk to me, it doesn't make complete sense, but he will talk, he can drink water (for some reason I feel compelled to hydrate him when he's like this), he'll walk around, but you can see in his eyes that he's 'not there' iykwIm. I read up on night terrors after the doc offered me that explanation, but they don't mention interracting. Oh, and when it's over, it's almost like he was hypnotized. His head droops down, he goes to sleep and a few minutes later, wakes up with no idea what has just gone on. The episodes have lasted between ten minutes and forever (it seems that way, I would guess at the very least a half hour, but it feels like days).

 

Help, tell me this happens to other people, please.

 

Should I send him to bed when he 'wakes up' like this? I want to splash water in his face, slap him, make him walk around, anything to make it stop, but rationally (now that it's over I can BE rational) sending him back to bed seems like the best thing...

 

any info will be greatly appreciated.

[Remudamom]

Two of mine did this. I alternated between loving and then using a firm voice to wake them up. Nothing helped but time. They eventually both outgrew it. Hang in there.

[Perry]

Two of mine have night terrors when the are sick. Two years ago they had influenza, and they both had hallucinations when they woke up in the morning. It was terrifying.

 

There really isn't anything you can do about it except stay calm and wait it out. :grouphug:

[samba]

My dd does this when she's sick and sometimes even when she isn't...it's freaky. The only thing that works for us is that my dh will just sit and chat with her as if everything is normal until she seems like she's coming out of it and then we send her back to bed. Trying to hurry her out of it makes it escalate. Strep is a different story...it can cause very abnormal behavior and I would make sure she's being treated properly by a doctor.

 

Carolyn

[jplain]

The aftermath sounds a little like postictal (post seizure) state, but I think that is very common for night terrors too. Given that he had a fever last time, was he feverish this time? And is there any history of febrile seizures in your family? Contrary to popular belief, a child doesn't have to spike a particularly high fever to have one. They're considered harmless, but at 8 he's a bit old for them.

 

Is there a history of sleep walking in your family? Night terrors and sleep walking often coexist in the same families, and both are frequently triggered by illness or other stress.

 

In your shoes I'd have a serious phone conversation with the ped about whether this goes beyond garden-variety night terrors.

 

:grouphug: My daughter had her first (and so far only) febrile seizure at age 4, which is pretty late for a first febrile seizure.

I think it took 10 years off my life, so I can imagine how you are feeling now. Hang in there! :grouphug:

[Jean too]

My ds did this. I think it's more of a boy thing for some reason. My brother and nephew are the only others I know that had NT too. I found that not trying to interact with him was best. Your experience may be different. In my ds's case interaction seemed to make him more frantic. I sat ds on my lap and would ask him periodically in a soft calm (while totally freaking out inside) voice if he wanted some water (me too on feeling the need to hydrate). If he screamed NO!, I knew he was still asleep and in the NT and I went back to silent mode. If he said yes, he was awake and ready to be hydrated and put back to bed. He never remembered any of it the next morning.

 

I should add this never happened when he was feverish. It was usually when he was overtired from a big day.

Edited July 4, 2009 by Jean too

[lionfamily1999]

First, thank you all for your responses. It is comforting to know that ds is not the only one doing this. I'd ran a search, but only came up with the vague idea that other people had experienced night terrors, but nothing mentioning the extent, or the idea that mom and dad might be more scared than the dc.

 

The aftermath sounds a little like postictal (post seizure) state, but I think that is very common for night terrors too. Given that he had a fever last time, was he feverish this time?

Yes

And is there any history of febrile seizures in your family?

Not that I know of, dh does not know his father and his mother had little to do with him (his grandparents are both dead now), so I don't have much info. on him.

Contrary to popular belief, a child doesn't have to spike a particularly high fever to have one. They're considered harmless, but at 8 he's a bit old for them.

 

Is there a history of sleep walking in your family?

Again, not that I know of.

Night terrors and sleep walking often coexist in the same families, and both are frequently triggered by illness or other stress.

 

In your shoes I'd have a serious phone conversation with the ped about whether this goes beyond garden-variety night terrors.

The last time they were very sympathetic, said it was one of those things that was horrible for the parent, but had very little effect of the kids. They did not seem concerned with him talking to/responding to me or his walking around.

:grouphug: My daughter had her first (and so far only) febrile seizure at age 4, which is pretty late for a first febrile seizure.

I think it took 10 years off my life, so I can imagine how you are feeling now. Hang in there! :grouphug:

 

My dd does this when she's sick and sometimes even when she isn't...it's freaky. The only thing that works for us is that my dh will just sit and chat with her as if everything is normal until she seems like she's coming out of it and then we send her back to bed. Trying to hurry her out of it makes it escalate. Strep is a different story...it can cause very abnormal behavior and I would make sure she's being treated properly by a doctor.

 

Carolyn

He's gotten the medication, but I think the night terrors are more related to the fever than the strep, since he's had it once before with a fever.

 

 

 

Now I know, stay calm, at least outwardly, and try to just let it pass. I think that is going to be the hardest part, just letting it pass.

[Colleen in NS]

My son went through this for a few years, too, esp. when he had fevers. He still will get up sometimes and wander around aimlessly if he has a fever, but it's nowhere NEAR the terrifying screaming and running that it was back when he started!!!! I had NO CLUE what was going on the first time it happened and I was petrified. Until a friend told me about her kid who did it. You just have to try to stay calm and keep your facial expression peaceful so he doesn't freak out any more than he already is. Hold him if he'll let you, until he stops and goes back to a deeper sleep.

[KidsHappen]

I had one child that had NTs when she was younger. She outgrew them but strangly married my sil who still has NTs not infrequently. She said it is very terrifying.

[mikeandlisa1995]

You are not alone!

 

Hi,

 

My son (7) also experiences night terrors. I have found that they are not uncommon. The only time he really gets them is when he is ill (primarily a fever). He just had an episode in the last week. If you don't know anything about them, they can be very scary at first. To the person having them, they get up out of nowhere and have the looks of extreme fright on their face. They may scream as if something is after them. They may think someone is right next to them ready to hurt them. They may look at you and get upset but they don't have any idea what is truly happening. Then they lay back down and go right back to sleep. You can ask them in the morning if they remember anything getting up in the middle of the night. They don't remember (at least not my son and I'm not about to try to remind him). While he is in the middle of his episode, I usually call out to him with a smile on my face. I continue to tell him Mommy's here. I call to him until I can see he calms down and then tell him to lay back down and when he does, he goes directly back to sleep.

I'm finding that, although this may last through some years, the children generally grow out of it.

 

Because he is not aware of anything, I cannot have him ask God to take them away. It is up to my husband, daughter, and me to rely on God for deliverance. For adults who have these episodes, God is the deliverer!

 

Lisa

[Saille]

My son had this after an illness when he was two. It was terrifying. Ultimately, the pediatrician said he was so sleep deprived from being sick that we needed to reset his clock. We gave him Benadryl and Tylenol and it knocked him right out for twelve hours. We've never had it happen again, but it was awful. I had a newborn to tend, and while trying to look up night terrors online, I came across a website where the parents said night terrors were a form of manipulation, and that they just put their little girl in the garage until she stopped. :crying:

 

That was a baaaad week.