AIBU to think my DS is over egging the illness ?

[creamola]

DS1 .......just turned 18

has a real health issue that has been around for 3 weeks or so .

However , the fainting at the doctor today on a having a blood sample taken was a bit much.

I feel like a bad mum because after I got called through i said 'get up....there is nothing wrong with you'

Three weeks of 'oh i'm dying' ...........is it because his male ?

should I have been more sympathic?

[WhoseGotMyEyebrows]

mousesma My 5yo is like that!

[mousesma]

My 12 y/o neice had something similar recently. She was complaining of really bad headaches and of feeling faint and sick. She was taken to the doctor who advised an ECG and nothing was found and as a precaution she also had an MRI scan.

We suspected from the start that there was nothing physically wrong because if we could get her to distract herself enough she would forget about the symptoms. This is not say that she was putting her symptoms on but we all suffer from anxiety so we thought she was more likely to be suffering from panic attacks which are in themselves very frightening.

Once she got the all clear the panic attacks and other symptoms stopped. She had worked herself up thinking that she ws seriously ill and got frightened and just needed the extra reassurance.

[WhoseGotMyEyebrows]

creamola

That is possibly health anxiety/hypochondria then, which can be a type of OCD and can be triggered by stress or a huge life change.

I've had it. Took years to recover properly (always a chance I will relapse). It's not to be dismissed, telling him to just get over it won't help, all it will do is stop him coming to you for help and make him go into himself.

The first thing he needs to do is stop looking up diseases on the internet. The second is see the dr. The difficult thing is for someone with this to realise they have it. In his head (assuming you are correct about this and he is not actually physically ill) he is convinced 100% that he is ill. To go from that to realising that it is health anxiety/hypochondria is a big BIG step.

CBT and counselling really help as does anti-anxiety medication at the same time.

What is it that he thinks he has?

You may find that if it is proven he doesn't have it a new "illness" will appear.

Be sure about this though before you talk to him about it. No one likes to be told something is in their head (don't put it like that though) even if it is.

[creamola]

@yoshilunk......perhaps

[Kayano]

Dunno but as a needle phobic If you had put my fainting down I would have been hysterical and lamped you lol

[fastweb]

Reflex anoxic seizures

Off to have a google, thanks for taking the time to post the info TheLadyEvenstar

[yoshiLunk]

If an eighteen year old has been fussing for three weeks over an illness he thinks he has then he does need some kind of help.

If you think he's not ill at all then you need to ask yourself why he thinks he is, and if you think he's faking a faint, you need to ask yourself why also, it's a cry for help isn't it?

[creamola]

@ proudfoot because I think he might be over egging it

It's been 3 weeks of doctors/nurses/paramedics ,hospital appointments and deep down I don't think anything is wrong with him

but it's hard to say to your child 'i think your getting yourself in a fangle because you have been on the internet reading up about a million diseases you don't have '

[yoshiLunk]

I need to know what his 'real health issue' is before commenting.

[noddyholder]

Why are you so unsympathetic to your son who has been ill for weeks?

[Ormirian]

And yes, try some sympathy.

[Ormirian]

Why did you think the faint was a feint?

[TheLadyEvenstar]

DS1 suffers from Reflex Anoxic Seizures as does DP and also my brother who is 38.

A reflex anoxic seizure is a type of fit triggered by a temporary cutting off of the supply of blood to the brain.

It is not a form of epilepsy, and is different from breath-holding attacks.

A reflex anoxic seizure can be induced by any unexpected stimuli such as pain, fear or fright, or even by a very hot or cold bath.

The trigger factor causes the heart to stop or slow down dramatically, which in turn reduces the flow of blood to the brain.

The child goes limp, falls down and becomes very pale. The body may stiffen and there may be jerking movements of the arms and legs.

After a short while the blood flow to the brain is restored and the child rapidly returns to normal although they may sleep for some time afterwards.

Reflex anoxic seizures probably occur in about 8 out of every 1000 preschool children.

They are most common between the ages of six months and two years but they can also occur in teenagers and adults.

Although parents often say their child looks as if they have died during an attack, I have never heard of the condition causing death.

Often no treatment is required, but some studies have suggested that the drug atropine is effective in reducing the frequency of the attacks.

Thankfully, reflex anoxic seizures usually get less frequent and eventually stop during childhood. Occasionally the attacks persist into early adult life

[farnywarny]

YABU. I dont think an 18yo man would see fainting as being very 'manly' I would imagine he may have even been embarassed.

[Muckyhighchair]

I faint around 3 times aday, and the stupid docs can't find a cause. I also suffer from margins around x4 a week, and they can't find a cause.

I have two types of faints one I just go down on to anything, be it fire, cooker etc and pass out for a minute or two

The other I feel it coming on, still go down and pass out for a minute but I have a second notice to fall out of the way of something. My eye slight goes blurry first then down I go.

Thankfully I have the second more of fen.

[fastweb]

I only fainted the twice, on the same road, within a 20 min time frame. Turned out I was pregnant.

DS had a petit mal at just under 2 years old after a puke virus. He had no temp but when they did the wee test it went the strongest colour pink (the one you do on the all protein, no carb diet) mainly cos he'd eaten almost nothing for 36 hours. He was tested for epilepsy and because there was no fever he was admitted for a week for obs. Since then if he gets really stressed out or scared and\or skimps on a meal or forgets a snack and runs around like a mad thing he has these sudden half faints.

Doesn't happen often, maybe once or twice a year, but I'd really like to know what the hell it is all about.

I'm thinking about asking MILs diabetic doc to look him over. Everybody told me he would grow out of it, but he is 11 in a few days and it is still going on. I can't help feeling it's some kind of blood sugar thing, even though his ped says I'm barking up the wrong tree.

We manage it fine, but ...I just don't like not knowing why this happens to him.

[WhoseGotMyEyebrows]

fastweb So you and your son both faint and he was suspected of petite mal? . . . My DH and his mother both faint and her sister was diagnosed with petite mal!

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

has he had any other feeling faints recently? If it is something that reoccurs and the bloods don't show anything then I'd ask (out of his ear shot!) for an ecg to be done as a ruling out stuff test.

[biddysmama]

i fant sometimes when i have blood tests, especially if its early morning and i stupidly havent eaten.. ive fainted a few times, usually while pregnant and never wet myself i do always wet my self when im sick tho

[Poweredbypepsi]

oh and i do think you should be more sympathetic it scary fainting or even feeling like you are going to faint.

[Poweredbypepsi]

poor thing, could be related to the illness or just having blood taken.
My dad faints everytime he has blood taken he is a heamatologist! so he spends everyday messing with other peoples blood - but the sight of a tiny needle full of his own sets him off.

[Mitmoo]

It's not as if he fainted on purpose, and he's been ill for three weeks.

Yes more sympathy would have been nice.

[fastweb]

The dr thinks his blood pressure drops suddenly, particularly when he is hungry

That sounds like something my son has going on. He passes out if I don't keep him regularly topped up with a snack.

We have no answers at this point, he has even been tested for epilepsy because back when he was very small it manifested as a petite mal one time.

He feels like he is going to be sick, but doesn't actually throw up. Doesn't completely faint or lose total consciousness either, but still goes down like a stone.

Poor kid is a bit paranoid about going anyway without some kind of food or drink in easy reach, just in case.

Stress seems to be tightly connected to the sudden blood sugar depletion\blood pressure drop

He went down like a ton of bricks in church cos the stress of being there so soon after his grandfather's funeral had a massive impact, and he had skimped at lunchtime. So double whammy.

And he wet himself (like mother, like son) in front of all his friends. So we have a bit of a vicious cycle of being stressed out because he is afraid of the half faints, which makes one more likely.

[WhoseGotMyEyebrows]

fastweb My DH has fainted in the road before but that was in Shepherds Bush.

The fainting and vomiting seem to be linked but not sure which causes the other. The dr thinks his blood pressure drops suddenly, particularly when he is hungry. So if he doesn't eat for a while and then does, all the blood (they think) rushes from his head to his stomach. He then starts sweating and feeling sick and dizzy. Unless he can cool off VERY quickly (usually can't) then he will pass out and often be sick too but not always. He also has stomach problems which don't help. He's seen a Neurologist and Dr etc but they say that it's a bit weird but just the way he is.

Once in a posh restaurant (the only one we ever went to) he landed on the table next to ours sending food flying up the walls! People were screaming, it was horrendous.

Not surprised that you are a bit phobic about it! My DH had an incident about 2 months ago which really scared him and he really had to fight the feeling of not wanting to go out again because of it.

[fastweb]

Weeing must be embarrassing though!

It was.

My friend was more concerned that the first faint was at the side of the road, but I went down again halfway across. Which you don't want to do in Bangkok, the driving being what it is at the best of time WITHOUT people flopping around in the middle of the road.

Obviously me with my priorities a little skewed at the time I was much more upset about wetting myself in public.

Been phobic about ever fainting again, and run to the loo if I get a bit dizzy, but (touch wood) I've never keeled over since.

Is the exertion of the vomiting causing the faint, or is the vomiting caused by the fainting ?