Fainting in 13 year old girl

[kissmelittleass]

Dd has fainted maybe four times this year the most recent being yesterday.
I was downstairs and heard an awful loud thump and a bang I ran upstairs to find dd on the landing floor very dazed and just coming round.
She said she had been to the bathroom and her eyes started going blurry and everything was going dark then she got ringing in her ears and then she fainted.
The previous times had the same pattern of ears ringing vision going and then fainted, I had her checked by a cardiologist last year as at that point she was feeling faint a lot ( but no fainting at that point) and she had a fast heartbeat but an echo ruled out anything serious and he said to hydrate more with water and to add salt to meals.
So I'm not worried it's her heart but what else could cause this?
She has hurt her back and it's very sore today after having fallen down fainting luckily it was on the landing carpet but everywhere else in the house is tiles or wood floors so I'm worried about it happening and her banging her head.
Any words of advice obviously I will be trying to see a doctor this week with her.

I think it's pretty normal at that age? My DD IS 12 and gets faint pretty easily.

Does she drink enough? That's usually my daughter's issue.

Is she anaemic at all from heavy periods?

This isn’t normal. She needs to be referred to a neurologist for tests/MRI.

My dd had this at around the same age. It was put down to low blood pressure, she was advised not to rush as soon as she got up. My dd got used to the symptoms and managed to lay/sit down, she seems to have stopped this now.

Connected to her periods? Hormonal, or maybe pain?

I used to faint occasionally in my early teens and was told it was pretty common. My dad was a GP and he wasn't at all worried. I seem to remember it's linked to the very low blood pressure girls often have at this age.

@Meltingsocks thanks I do remind her to drink lots of water, she brings a small bottle to school and has a glass of water with dinner and before bed, since yesterday I'm pouring the glasses of water and handing them to her! Trying to get her to drink at least 5 glasses which she did yesterday and today.
She's just said there earlier she had ringing in her ears whilst sitting on her bed but she stayed sat on the bed and it passed.

It is normal at that age. Vasovagal syncope, took us years of tests. Not dangerous unless they hit something when they fall.
I was the same, my daughter now can feel it coming and sits down on the floor.
Better check it just in case but VS is not rare in teenagers; albeit bloody scary for the parents.

My DS is the same. Seen cardiologist and no heart problems. He's bad at drinking enough so think it's a combination of that and naturally low blood pressure.

Before I even read the thread I was thinking probably not drinking enough or eating enough. TMI but get her to check the colour of her urine to conform how hydrated she is. Lots of charts are available online to compare- just search “urine colour chart” Understandably lots of users don’t like to click links so I’ve not included a link

I was the same at that age and right up until my mid twenties. Taking an iron supplement really helped, but mostly I learned the signs like the ringing in your ears and knew to lie down immediately. I just got used to managing it, but you do need to get school to understand.

I only actually fainted once, but I used to get extremely dizzy around that age and up to around 19, if I got up too quickly or had too hot a shower. You should probably speak to her GP to rule out anything sinister, but I think the PPs’ suggestions of (not too worrisome) low blood pressure are the most likely answer.

The main thing is to try to get your DD to notice when this might be coming on, so that she can get herself into a safe position. I used to feel a bit of a butterfly flutter in my heart, and would feel too warm in my core. Sometimes I’d feel shaky or woozy. If I sat down for 5 minutes and drank some juice, it passed.

Thank you for replies x
She started her periods about a year ago at age 12 I'm not sure if they are heavy or not as she doesn't like to discuss it she gets very embarrassed!
She doesn't eat too much meat she prefers vegetarian food but she does still eat meat a few times a week so maybe anaemia is a possibility?
I'm really worried about her hitting her head when she faints, she told me she felt her eyes going funny and ears ringing during a lesson at school but luckily she was seated and it passed.
It was some loud bang yesterday to the floor no wonder her back is hurting.

DD has been a fainter from an early age, first time, unprovoked, was age 4. She has had around 4-5 episodes a year since then and has got much better at knowing when it’s going to happen and getting herself flat before her body does it for her. There doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason for hers (although hair brushing/pulling is deffo a trigger) but the docs have never been worried although they did try to tell me it was common in girls and linked to their hormonal cycle and standing for long periods of time eg at pop concerts at age 4 when it started 😐

Since the early days we’ve not really got it checked out as we assume it’s nothing serious and as I say relatively common in girls of a similar age to your DD. It can be scary though when you’re not expecting it.

I remember when I was at school and they used to make us stand during assembly or to watch science experiments or whatever and girls would be toppling over like nine-pins. In those days we still had nativity plays at secondary school and the performances were punctuated by the sound of angels crashing off benches.

Just a thought, could you tell her the info about what constitutes a heavy period so she knows what’s “normal” and when to be concerned. If she has a mobile phone you could send her a link to look at in her own time without the awkwardness of a talk. It’s not always the case but if you or your mum had heavy periods there’s a good chance she will too.

I suffered from failure ting too between about 11 an15 , my DM gave me iron and vitamins but to be honest I am not sure that made much di6.
I learnt to move around in my chair / bed to get my heart beating a bit quicker/ blood circulation going and stand up slowly.ike your DD my vision would go dark and unfocused a few seconds before hand so I learnt to sit down quickly ( including in puddles when I was caught outside 🙄 )
Docs couldn't find anything wrong with me .

It still affects me from time to time now usually but not always if I haven't eaten for a while .

I fainted reasonably regularly as a teenager (and sometimes still do). Mine would be related to periods - either pain or anaemia or ibs - the pain it would cause. Might be worth checking whether there is anything that precedes the dizzy spells, even though discussing either of these things would have mortified me at that age!

I was a fainter at a similar age and my daughter was too. With us it was always linked to periods, either because of migranes, pain, low iron, tiredness. I gave my dd a women's multi vit and iron medicine. It sounds like her diet needs to include more vegetarian protein, which is really easy to do by including nuts, chick peas, quorn sandwich meat. I also gave my dd Slimming World meal replacement shakes, as she has always been bad at skipping meals. These weren't for dieting purposes, but they seem to be the best for being nutritious whilst tasting quite pleasant.

Blood test for anaemia.
Ask her whether the fainting coincides with her periods. Both DD and I have had period-related fainting- heavy bleeding and pain.

I work in a large secondary school, 1200 students. Occasionally we will have a known fainter on roll. Since covid this has ramped up drastically, we went from the odd one or two to about 25 with risk assessments for repeated fainting with no known course.

I was curious and did a little digging online as it was so odd and noticeable and it seems like it's a pattern seen across the country and is possible linked to B12 deficiency following having covid. The fainting for many people started a couple of months after having C19. Of course it could all be coincidence but after DD and I had C19 I just bought us some Feroglobin to top up our levels, it's a cheap thing to try and see if it improves.

Tried to get an appointment with doctor today told to try again Wednesday morning from 8.30am see if any appointments available so I'll be doing that, will put my mind at rest