Both of my children have had sleepless nights from the dreaded croup. The first time, my daughter scared me half to death. I immediately googled this condition and, in a state of sheer panic, followed its advice to my closest er. She received a shot, got a nebulizer treatment in the dr's office the next day, and life continued with no major changes. As the years passed, I became an expert at humidifiers, hot steamy bathrooms, and stargazing in the chilly night air to help subside the relentless barking cough. A few times were worse than others, and we would go to the dr in the morning for Prednisolone that would just make her eat nonstop for a week. Prednesolone is a steroid used to treat many illnesses including croup in small children. My daughter used it many times, with no ill effects. Anytime the temperature changed more than 20 degrees in a 24 hour time period, croup would come back. I don't have any idea how she always came in contact with the virus that leads to it, but it happened until she turned 8. For one blissful year, we were a croup free home. Nothing I learned from my daughter could prepare me for what little man had in store.......
Last week, the dreadful noise returned to interrupt our quiet spring evening. Immediately, and confidently, I entered his room with another pillow. I turned up his humidifier, and took him into a steamy bathroom. This time nothing seemed to help. I spent hours that night watching him get worse. Cold sweats, chills, rasping and whistling with every labored intake of air, his tiny body seemed to literally cave in with every breath. I lost my confidence. First thing in the morning, I took him to the dr. We left with the familiar prescription, and I stocked up on his favorite foods. That night, he woke up every 20 minutes. We went through the treatment routine throughout the night and were exhausted, grumpy, but functioning somewhat ok the next day. That night, he went to bed early, and appeared to pass out almost instantly. When he woke up four hours later, he had turned into a complete stranger. Even his high pitched scream sounded foreign. His eyes looked crazed like he wasn't sure who I was or where he was. He literally screamed at this earth shattering pitch from 10 pm until 3:30 am. In the moments he paused, his entire body would stiffen and he would become violent, grabbing everything and anything he could and throw it, hit it, or pull it as hard as he could. Looking back, I can equate it to the difference between Gizmo and his Gremlin counterparts. I considered taking him to the er, and still don't fully know why I didn't except to say I was simply trying to calm him and handle this latest turn of events. I tried everything I could think of, and nothing could comfort him. At 3:30, he simply collapsed, and slept for an hour. He woke up at 4:30 and we went through a 30 minute rage. At 5, I was a wreck. I woke up hubby and tried to fill him in to the latest turn of events. I am amazed and can't understand how he and my daughter slept through all of the night's chaos. I think it would have woken me up a mile away. Hubby stayed home and little man seemed to improve. He was tired, a little grumpy, and seemed to lose most of his appetite, but overall his demeanor made me doubt my recollection of the previous night's nightmare. My doubt went away when he woke up after a brief nap. Now hubby could see a brief reenactment of the rage and utter terror that seemed to overtake our poor toddler. We called the dr, and went in for a reevaluation. By this point, I began to question if this was a side effect of the medication. I was told to look for hyperactivity, increased appetite, and perhaps insomnia. After a lengthy visit, it was decided that Prednisolone could be to blame. Steroids have been known to infamously cause rage in adults, depression to many, as well as other troubling side effects. Usually, lengthy use is needed to cause these bad side effects. We only used it for two days. After going through this, I did some research and found numerous other reports describing this toddler "roid rage." The dr we saw told me that many have told her about experiencing horrible vivid nightmares. Perhaps this is what terrorized my son so badly. I just know that it was heart wrenching and terrifying to watch these unknown demons take him over. After stopping the medication, he seems to sleep better with each passing day. It has now been a week, and last night he only woke up four times. He managed to calm himself within a few minutes for three of those four. I am grateful beyond words to see him returning to his normal, mischievous, lovable self...and hope that I never experience the flip side again!
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