Fainted but looked like a seizure

[BooRadleyIsFree]

My DS,17 had his second covid vaccine at the same time I had my booster. Afterwards we were sitting down, he then slumped in his chair, his head fell back. The staff rushed over and pulled him up then his body was moving like he was having a seizure. They payed him down with legs up on a chair. The doctor said he fainted but I said it looked like he'd had a seizure. The doctor said it looked like that because his body was fighting against fainting. Is this possible? I can't find any info about it.

I fainted once when sat in a chair (doctors waiting room) and apparently looked like i was having a seizure. It was to do with my body being sat up rather than lying on the floor. Perfectly normal way for the body to react so i was told. Hope your DS is ok

I did this after my first covid vaccine, DP was very freaked out because my arms were jerking around. The doctor is correct, it is just the body trying not to faint.

Yes, it's very much possible that it was 'just' his body's reaction trying to prevent the faint happening.

If you are still concerned then you could contact the doctors and see if there are tests, etc that could be run to check all is well. Has he has episodes of fainting or seizures before it since?

Happens a lot when you faint, this does sound like a very clearly witnessed faint.

It can be very dramatic.

The most important thing with a faint is to do what the staff at the vaccine centre did which is to get the person flat on the floor with their legs up.

The 'pulling him up' you describe might have made the faint worse initially as you need your blood to go to your head - if you sit a fainter up the faint gets worse. I speak as a veteran of many many fainting episodes and helpful people always want to sit me up, it only makes it worse, brings the faint back and prolongs everything. You need to be flat on the floor, feet up and wait. For a long time.

Very common @BooRadleyIsFree - it's called convulsive fainting if you want to look it up

A vasovagal syncope (fainting) is often triggered by something like an injection or having a blood test - when it happens blood pressure drops dramatically, meaning there's a temporary (and harmless) lack of oxygen to the brain. If someone remains sitting up, this can often cause muscle jerks, as ideally the body wants to be lying flat in order to allow blood flow to return to normal.

It's scary the first time it happens as you have no idea what's going on, but your son needs to put his head between his legs if feels light headed again. If he tells HCPs about it they can also do future vaccinations/injections/blood tests with him lying prone which reduces the chances of fainting.

This page has some more info

events that aren't seizures

www.epilepsy.org.au/about-epilepsy/managing-epilepsy/events-that-arent-seizures/

I've seen three people faint in my life and they all looked like they were having a fit due to jerking/ flailing around of body parts.

Thanks everyone, that's reassuring. I thought when people fainted they fell and never knew that could happen other ways. It was very frightening to witness. He's absolutely fine, it ended up with me being in a worse state than he was as I was so upset!

Yes its something that can happen during a faint. It is not in anyway linked to epileptic seizures so tend to call it faint/vasovagal as otherwise gets confused.

When people faint they do fall - the problems happen when you can't eg you are sitting in a chair, or 'helpful' people try to stop you by propping you up.

Once you are on the ground it's OK, but on the ground with legs in the air it's even better.

@leafyygreens

Very common *@BooRadleyIsFree* - it's called convulsive fainting if you want to look it up

A vasovagal syncope (fainting) is often triggered by something like an injection or having a blood test - when it happens blood pressure drops dramatically, meaning there's a temporary (and harmless) lack of oxygen to the brain. If someone remains sitting up, this can often cause muscle jerks, as ideally the body wants to be lying flat in order to allow blood flow to return to normal.

It's scary the first time it happens as you have no idea what's going on, but your son needs to put his head between his legs if feels light headed again. If he tells HCPs about it they can also do future vaccinations/injections/blood tests with him lying prone which reduces the chances of fainting.

Putting your head between your legs is absolutely not recommended as a first aid action. As PPs have said, lie down and elevate legs on a chair or on someone's shoulder when they kneel in front of you.