Fainting during exercise. Doctor or not?

[SunnivaGunne]

My DD is now 16.5 yrs old. Last year She had training sessions with a personal trainer in a private gym during which she fainted 2 or three times over several months. She used to play competitive sport at a high level but stepped down a bit to focus more on schoolwork so the PT was to replace the exercise she was used to. Fainting or feeling faint never happened during previous sports training. She scaled back for exams before summer and has recently joined a regular gym to start exercising again and has fainted on a treadmill, injuring herself quite badly this time. She is mortified and just wants to pretend it never happened but has no memory of falling. She says she was jogging along and next thing was in shreds on the floor.

We have a terrible family doctor, otherwise I would not hesitate to bring her in for a check up. Just looking for a general consensus as to whether teenaged random fainting is a thing I should be worried about or am I being hysterical (as my GP implies)?

Please take your daughter to the GP. It needs to be investigated possibly it's nothing to worry about but you can't dismiss it until checked.

I think she should definitely see the GP.

Could you change GP surgery? It's bad that you're reluctant to seek medical advice so as a wider issue I'd try to resolve this as well.

GP - needs investigating, 24h ECG would be first step I think, but given her age may need to go via paediatrics first

Needs to see a cardiologist and stop exercising until given the all clear by a doctor.

Definitley see a gp. I'd probably not worry as much if it happened once and there was a reason such as being ill or not eaten recently but it's happened a few times which would make me think there could be a problem

Absolutely she needs investigated. And avoid any strenuous exercise until she’s been fully checked out.
At the very least, they need to exclude cardiomyopathy, or her next exercise session could be her last.

I had this as a teen & turned out I was anaemic. Also happened more frequently if I was on my period.

I rarely agree anyone needs a doctor. But this needs investigating. Is your daughter eating properly? Does she have low blood pressure? Or is this something else. Go see the doctor.

Is it fainting though or a blackout/loss of consciousness. It needs investigating ASAP imo it’s not normal is it.

Definitely needs to see a hospital doctor asap and no exertion until she has been cleared

Definitely, there are many reasons this may be occurring which need thorough investigation.

She's definitely eating and drinking enough. She has no recollection of yesterday's fall, has no idea what happened but a guy who helped her up says she fainted.

Yes it's unfortunate about the GP but there is no alternative within 30 miles. I will make an appointment.

I fainted a lot as a teen, strangely it was never investigated, so reading this I now wonder if it was anaemia. I would usually faint in assembly, so always assumed it was simply low blood pressure.
Anyway, it needs to be taken seriously and properly checked. Oh and no driving lessons until you get to the bottom of it.

This happens to me. Was referred to cardiologist, all tests came back fine, I just suffer from very low blood pressure and lie heart rate that will go up very high when exercising.

I've learned to recognise when I reach the point I need to stop as it doesn't take long until even if I stop, everything will go black and I'll be on the ground

Tell the GP you want to be sure it isn't cardiomyopathy. If he hasn't got the sense to think of that himself.

She needs a 12 lead ECG, at the very least.

I'm pretty sure NICE guidelines recommend 12 lead ECG following any "collapse query cause" with loss of consciousness, but I can't find the appropriate guideline at the moment.

Push this with her GP, failing that, if she collapsed again take her to a&e for them to do one.