Dd (11) almost fainted twice, shall I be worried ?

[Myfoofneedspruning]

The first time it happened in Lush, I was booking her birthday party..it was taking a while and the smell was really overpowering. She had to seat down. It happened again this morning at the vet. She went with my dad to take the dog for his check up and she said the smell was quite strong. Shall I be worried ?

Bump

My younger sister was very prone to fainting and must have been about that age as I remember it happening at guides. Even as an adult she has fainted a couple of times. She is perfectly healthy.

Go to the doctors and get her checked out.
Could do something as simple as having low blood pressure or anaemia (especially if she's started her periods etc). Low blood sugar if she hasn't eaten for a while etc.

Make sure she knows that when she feels like this to sit on the floor leaning against something as if she does faint it will minimise head injury. If she sits on a chair etc it's easy for her to fall/slip off.

If doc checks out okay it could just be her age and hormones triggering it. I am a fainter and it started in my early teens. think it's hormones, having to stand up for long periods seems to be a trigger too. My son is aged 12 and in his class last year he'd come home a lot saying this girl or that girl fainted at school. What's great are those Lucozade tablets you can get from the chemist just helps give a bit of a glucose boost without the calories of a chocolate bar.

Has she started her periods?

Around 12 my friend fainted on me at an amusemant park (scared me rigid). Turns out it can be a sign that your periods are imminent.

As a teenager I used to faint when I was on my period, it could be a sign she is about to start.

I would get her to the doctors and have her checked out but it's unlikely to be anything serious.

Definitely get her checked out at the Doctors, it may be something & nothing, but needs to be checked out none the less.

My daughter has POTS (Postural Orthastatic Tachycardia) as a symptom of Ehlers Danlos Hypermobility, I have it too - it can be a condition in its own right & gets worse with puberty/hormones. It can also be linked to sensory processing problems & smell & sound can be very overwhelming & trigger attacks that can cause fainting.

An active stand test can be done in your GPs surgery, but needs to be done properly & they often get it wrong (took 3 goes with mine) - see a POTs Uk for a print out on how the test should be done

It's not life threatening, things can be done to help such as upping fluid intake, small frequent meals & adding salt to the diet, sometime in worse case scenarios, medication can help too. & the good news is that if it starts in teens, they usually grow out of it

Good luck

Thank you for all your posts ! She hasn't started her periods yet, her body is not even changing yet. I just hope the gp will accept to check her out properly.

My DD1 started fainting at that age. Her periods started quite late ..about 15 as she was very light weight for her age. Fainting continued...much to her embarrassment as she was a medical student and has been caught mid faint by just about every surgeon and consultant in her hospital

Turns out she has Ehlers Danlos syndrome and very low blood pressure... warm rooms and standing still are doom to her! She's just become a doctor and sadly has given up her dream of working in neonatal as the heat means she drops like a stone.

Push for a POTS test but I wouldn't be unduly worried: some people are just fainters!

Good to see your DD made it through med school & it's now a Doctor Medusa mine has EDS too & its her dream to be a doctor/surgeon, Bright as they are,mthey have such a hard time through puberty, so it's really reassuring to see your daughter succeed

I used to keel over quite a bit as a teenager/young adult. Never quite fainted, just blacked out for a second or two. I was told it was because I was growing too quickly! Later discovered I had low blood pressure and a tendency to become hypoglycemic if I didn't watch for not eating for a while. Oh and I am quite sensitive to smells too - I have to leave the house if dh wants to use polish for example, makes me feel very sick.

So keeping a bit of a diary may help (my dd does this for migraines), just to see if there are common triggers. For me eating snacks helped (I used to have a small wholemeal roll with honey at break time) and like sadie carrying glucose tablets just in case.

I haven't had an episode for many years now, so I think it is something you can grow out of (assuming no more significant causes).

I would get her checked out for sure but be aware it could be nothing...my little sister is really prone to fainting. Started when she was 4/5 and obviously everyone is really worried but nothing is wrong with her. It's persisted on and off throughout her life...she can't stand still for too long or she feels faint.

Did they check her properly for POTs & maybe EDSH too maybe ??

It's massively under diagnosed & a lot of surgeries get it wrong - took me 12 years to get a diagnosis & that's with me knowing about it for at least 5, my zoned up to having never heard of it, but then went on to diagnose another patient with it too because of the POTsUK info I gave her - I was told I didn't have it several times - but I do & when done correctly I tested positive & am now under a a POTs aware cardio specialist - it's very often the true cause of CFS/ME too

My "GP owned up to never having heard of it"

Damn you autocorrect

yes, we were told it wasn't debillitating enough for it to be either of those things...she is 22 now.

it doesn't interfere with her daily life in any way...only if she has to stand up for ages on the hot tube really.

Good that she isn't too badly affected by it now, though that's quite an odd thing for a Doctor to think/, sounds a bit of a rubbish GP to me - you either have POTs - which would be the bit that caused fainting/dizziness - or you don't, it's a mechanical problem, it doesn't have to be debilitating, though it can be & that can change according to life style factors or more, so it's always with having the diagnosis as you are then aware & look after yourself accordingly