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My niece is 12. On about three or four occasions over the last year or two, she has passed out or fainted. Once was on the softball field; once was at school; once or twice was at home. In each time she was later found to
be either dehydrated or very fatigued; the most recent time she was also suffering from strep throat.
My sister, of course, is horribly concerned, and has taken her to a couple of doctors who have checked her daughter out. However, the consensus seems to be that "some kids do this" -- basically, that some children's bodies have this reaction to getting sick, overly fatigued or dehydrated.
Has anyone heard of this or had this experience? Will a child grow out of it? Is there a specialist we should be taking her to? What is actually going on in her body when she loses consciousness this way?
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MY 10 year old son keeps passing out at first it was every 3 months now its happening more often hes been in the hospital 3 times they did eegs ekgs mris cat scans hes been to a neurologist and a cardiologist hes also had the 24 hour heart monitor and a sleep deprived eeg and a 24 hour eeg and all show nothing i dont know what to do this is very scary any thoughts would help.
January 16, 2013 - 9:00pmThis Comment
please feel free to email me, [email protected] my daughter is 10 and we go through this... it's a rough road and you never know what will trigger it...i'm on the internet as we speak as we just had another episode.
November 27, 2012 - 10:19amThis Comment
My son is five and passed out Sunday morning after waking up.his doctor said kids pass out and didn't seem to be worried. All he did was draw a cbc at my request. He has never passed out before. Should I take him to a cardiologist? Need advice please.
November 13, 2012 - 3:40pmThis Comment
My niece had episodes of fainting periodically from age 6 to age 17. No one could ever explain it. Finally on her last eposide at age 17, she was referred to Hershey Medical Center where she was evaluated completely. It was found that she suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyapathy with A-fib. This is a very serious disease. The passing our was triggered by the heart issues. She now has a pacemaker. The pacemaker has interrupted over 300 episodes in just three years.
October 31, 2012 - 5:55pmI think you should have her evaluated for this condition or something along those lines.
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My 8 yr old son has Asperger's and along with that comes the occaisional sensitivity to sounds and sometimes lights but it's never been extreme or too much of a problem - Until last month. He had his first fainting episode when were at local fair and were listening to the live band. We walked past the speakers and he suddenly passed out. The following night it happened during the grand finale of the fireworks. He has always loved the fireworks and never had a problem before. For 3 days prior to those 2 incidents he had been taking Claritin as a precautionary measure recommended by his Ped. because he has such a swelling reaction to mosquito bites and we were on vacation. We looked it up and apparently Claritin can cause a rare side effect of syncope. We thought we had found our answer but it happened several more times recently with NO Claritin in his system or any other meds for that matter. Two weeks ago we walked across a busy street and the traffic cop blew his whistle! Then again it happened at a friends house while the boys were listening to music on the portable stero - the volume got turned up too loud for a second. Our condo does monthly testing of the fire alarms - they have done this for 4 years and it was never a problem but last week - he passed out. We had an EKG done and it didn't show anything. The Ped isn't worried saying that it must just be sensory overload but this isn't reassuring enough. I keep hearing on these posts that several teens or pre teens are experiencing this and Drs say it's normal for them to faint - maybe having something to do with hormones.... I wonder if my 8 year old is starting pre puberty, though is so early! Has anyone else fainted just due to sounds?
October 10, 2012 - 12:14pmThis Comment
my 12 year old son was just released after 3 days in the hospital because of a blacking out episode. He is otherwise healty and active and this has happend since 2008, where he was hospitalized 3 times for 5 seperate episodes of this blacking out. His EEG, EKG and CT scans come back negative. No one can find out what is wrong with my son! This has been going on since he was 8 years old! Monday, we are headed to yet another cardiologist, and on March 27th we will be seeing a neurologist. I'm hoping for some answers. I hope your niece gets answers too!
March 15, 2012 - 8:00pmThis Comment
My son is 9 and has had 3 episodes since August. They are all about a month and half apart. CBC, EEG, EKG, CT Scan...Everything comes back normal. Neurologist said it is behavioral and he is doing this on purpose. I have seen the paramedics working on him in the back of the ambulance at school. There is no way he is doing these blackout spells on purpose. I am at a loss as to cause. His doctor is putting him on a heart monitor next. I'm curious as to what you find out with your child.
January 7, 2013 - 1:19pmThis Comment
My son also faints, or comes very close to fainting. He has even fainted and then wet his pants. I'm trying to research this problem and find out what I can do to prevent it from happening. I can't believe a doctor would tell you he's doing it on purpose? That's just awful. I know my son has something that triggers it. He faints when he gets hurt, or if he hears a story about someone getting hurt. Today he fainted at school because a little boy next to him was telling him he cut his finger over the weekend and his finger was swollen. About 10 min. later my son felt the fainting spell coming on and he knows to sit down quickly or lay down. I'm always scared he will fall and hit his head. The first time he fainted he was only 3 and I called the ambulance and they life-flighted him to Texas Childrens hospital in Houston. It scared me to death! I'm also someone who faints and I have fainted maybe 10 - 15 times over my life time. I'm 45 years old. After his first time to faint, I started looking for signs and triggers. We have learned things that trigger his fainting. He doesn't have to see anyone bleeding to faint, he will faint at just hearing about a story when someone gets hurt. Do you think something similar could be triggering your sons fainting spells. My son also loses color. He turns white or Gray. That's very scary to watch. Since I have fainted throughout my life I never thought it was a big deal. I would just tell who was with me I'm about to faint. I would lay down and faint and then rest and get back up. When it's your child it's scary. I'm right now trying to research if I can desensitize my child, so he doesn't faint so often. In the past month he has fainted or come real close to completely passing out 3 times in 4 weeks, all due to things that triggered it. He cut his hand on a stick, Fell down on a side walk scraped his knew and elbow and was bleeding, also just hearing a story of someone else getting hurt. I've also had his heart checked out and nothing shows up. I hope this info will help you. By reading this blog, it sounds like it's pretty common, but I don't know anyone who faints except me, my son and daughter. But, my son is the most sensitive. He is now 7 and he has fainted about 14 times. My biggest fear is, he will fall and hit his head. Although today he sat down and the teachers went up to him and asked what was wrong. He told them. Good luck with your son.
February 4, 2013 - 3:20pmThis Comment
what about your daughter?
May 31, 2019 - 3:26amThis Comment
Hi JoQ,
February 14, 2014 - 8:06amThis is classic hyperventilation. What happens is that when your son gets emotional over over a tragedy (even if it's just a story or it's not too big of a deal), he is either holding his breath or shallow breathing. It's BC he's very empathetic and imaginative as he tunes into any given story or situation! The exact thing happens to me (since I was 4 and I am now 40)! Many blessings with being empathetic along with many curses BC we tend to be very anxious people. So the best way to help him out is to be aware when he sees or hears anything tragic and remind him to breath slowly and thoroughly and to not feel embarrassed or afraid to say he needs a moment to lie down and relax. I hope this helps! ;)
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