My DS had vasovagal syncope (fainting) response today at dr

[Ginevra]

He fell off the table and hit his head. I heard him from the waiting area and totally knew that was what happened. I have this, too, and orthostatic low blood pressure. I knew it was a definite possibility and had instructed him to eat heartily today, but I was at work and he did not do this. He also drank almost nothing. 

Then, they were afraid he might have a concussion from the fall. He vomited twice (but I think this was an after effect of the VS). I’m also a tiny bit irritated that I have to take him back twice next week because they would not give him vaxes after that and they want to do two different days. 

I believe he is back to normal now. He perked up considerably after a milkshake. But I think he will have a black eye tomorrow because he hit his forehead and orbital bone. 

[unsinkable]

4 minutes ago, Quill said:

He fell off the table and hit his head. I heard him from the waiting area and totally knew that was what happened. I have this, too, and orthostatic low blood pressure. I knew it was a definite possibility and had instructed him to eat heartily today, but I was at work and he did not do this. He also drank almost nothing. 

Then, they were afraid he might have a concussion from the fall. He vomited twice (but I think this was an after effect of the VS). I’m also a tiny bit irritated that I have to take him back twice next week because they would not give him vaxes after that and they want to do two different days. 

I believe he is back to normal now. He perked up considerably after a milkshake. But I think he will have a black eye tomorrow because he hit his forehead and orbital bone. 

 

Oh me oh mi oh! I hope he is OK! Did you go in when you heard it or did you wait til they called you?

I'm in a bad place today bc I read the one line as this: "He puked up considerably after a milkshake."

Yeesh...

[Toocrazy!!]

I'm so sorry! I hope he is ok from the fall. That's the only scary part of this once you know the reason they faint. My DS had this happen when he was about 5. Now they have him lie down when he gets shots and they prescribe the pain numbing cream. He did better with his shots, but fainted at least 4 times during middle school choir class. 

Water, salt, and more water usually keep him feeling ok. 

I really hope your son doesn't have a concussion! 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, unsinkable said:

 

Oh me oh mi oh! I hope he is OK! Did you go in when you heard it or did you wait til they called you?

I'm in a bad place today bc I read the one line as this: "He puked up considerably after a milkshake."

Yeesh...

I waited, but I saw the nurse and a nurse from a different room scurrying around and I knew it. 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Toocrazy!! said:

I'm so sorry! I hope he is ok from the fall. That's the only scary part of this once you know the reason they faint. My DS had this happen when he was about 5. Now they have him lie down when he gets shots and they prescribe the pain numbing cream. He did better with his shots, but fainted at least 4 times during middle school choir class. 

Water, salt, and more water usually keep him feeling ok. 

I really hope your son doesn't have a concussion! 

Yeah, sadly I have a long, long list of fainting episodes from my own life, including the extra-fun ones where they loaded me in an ambulance. Too much standing in the heat, gross medical things, blood draws, a shocking situation -any can bring me down. I fainted when I was getting a mammogram once, though thankfully, I wasn’t *in* the machine at that moment. 

[BusyMom5]

My DH has this.  Your son needs to stay hydrated and listen to his body.  We think one of our kuds has it bc she passed out in health class when they talked about bleeding.  We try to keep medical talk to a minimum, and I'd you feel faint get in the floor! 

[mumto2]

Hugs!  My son does this too.  He doesn't drink enough water , sigh...... I tried to catch him the last time and almost got hurt.  When it's hot we all tend to question him about his fluid consumption before he leaves the house.    

[Annie G]

Ugh. And I sympathize with your minor irritation. If he had eaten and been hydrated it still might have happened but since he didn’t, I understand your irritation since it is making extra work for you. 

‘Hope his bruising is minimal. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, mumto2 said:

Hugs!  My son does this too.  He doesn't drink enough water , sigh...... I tried to catch him the last time and almost got hurt.  When it's hot we all tend to question him about his fluid consumption before he leaves the house.    

That’s not a bad idea, actually. During the year while he is in sports, I keep electrolyte drinks on hand for him to use at practice, but I tend not to buy them in the summer. But in the wake of this, it really would not hurt to keep them year-round. (I do not like for drinks to have HFCS, so this is one reason I don’t buy them as much while he’s not training. But I know Vitamin Water Zero does not have any; I need to step it up and keep them available for him.).

[Kassia]

That is very scary!  My son does this, too, and has seizures along with the fainting.  Fortunately, he hasn't gotten hurt.  This reminds me to warn him about being hydrated before he gives blood this weekend for the first time. 

 

[TechWife]

My son does this on tube #5 of a 5 tube blood draw. He can do 1,2,3 or 4 but 5 is the limit. I've been fetched from waiting rooms several times. We also don't talk about blood in our house - he can't take it. We've all seen enough blood to last a lifetime, though (he had a GI hemorrhage several years ago).

[goldberry]

I'm so sorry.  As a fellow fainter, I now just tell them every.single.time. that I will need to lie down for a few minutes after.  It is so embarrassing, but not as bad as bashing my head.

((sympathy))

[LMD]

My sister had this too. One famous episode she fainted while changing her earrings. She faints at paps.

Then she got breast cancer and all the treatment kind of desensitized her a bit.

Hope your son is okay today Quill!

Edited August 10, 2018 by LMD

[MomsintheGarden]

I'm so sorry, and I hope your ds does not have a concussion!

We have three fainters in our family. Two have fainted after pre-college shots, among other times. Apparently the meningitis shot (the regular one; I don't know about the new one) causes fainting in a fairly large percentage of teens and young adults.

Dd fainted at the dr checkout desk after her shots when she was 17. I caught her, and four nurses, one for each limb, carried her to a back room where it took over half an hour for her to recover enough to walk to the car with assistance. Ds fainted  at 18 in the waiting room after his shots. Dh was in the exam room with his brother, who was fine with his shots. Ds18 really scared a little boy in the waiting room!

I wish they would ask about fainting before giving shots.

[marbel]

That is scary.  My daughter had that happen a few times.  The first time it started with her vision going all sparkly and then dark. She was screaming "I can't see!" and when I got to her she was falling. Once she was down, it was all OK.  We did go to the doc and that's how we learned what it was. I'd never heard of it.  It's happened a few times since, generally related to blood draws and otherwise being dehydrated.  

[strawberries]

I hope he's ok! DD fainted last year at her well checkup. Luckily I was standing next to her filling out a form and was able to catch her. It's scary. 

[iamonlyone]

6 hours ago, Quill said:

That’s not a bad idea, actually. During the year while he is in sports, I keep electrolyte drinks on hand for him to use at practice, but I tend not to buy them in the summer. But in the wake of this, it really would not hurt to keep them year-round. (I do not like for drinks to have HFCS, so this is one reason I don’t buy them as much while he’s not training. But I know Vitamin Water Zero does not have any; I need to step it up and keep them available for him.).

We buy coconut water instead to replenish electrolytes. You might see if he is OK with the taste. My daughter doesn't love the taste of coconut water, but she figured out that the Zico chocolate masks the coconut water taste. (It almost tastes like chocolate milk.)

[Bluegoat]

I had to learn the hard way that I need to eat in the morning, even if it seems gross.  I had my head bounce off the concrete floor at the vets office, right in front of about 10 people.

My dh reacts to needles this way too, he always tells them he needs to sit in a chair with arms.  Once, he stabbed himself at home with the Ivomec needle he was giving to a goat, and he was out like a light.

[mumto2]

9 hours ago, Quill said:

That’s not a bad idea, actually. During the year while he is in sports, I keep electrolyte drinks on hand for him to use at practice, but I tend not to buy them in the summer. But in the wake of this, it really would not hurt to keep them year-round. (I do not like for drinks to have HFCS, so this is one reason I don’t buy them as much while he’s not training. But I know Vitamin Water Zero does not have any; I need to step it up and keep them available for him.).

We actually keep sports drinks and water in the trunk of our car for him to use and share.  I just want him to drink!   DS is finally using these....I was totally thrilled the other day when we were out with our home ed buddies and he got the keys off me and went and got drinks for everyone who wanted one so that he could drink.  He had carried water on his hike but recognized he needed more.   I think it scared him when I tried to catch him last time because I ended up with bruises from hitting some exercise equipment.....thanks to me he landed on a bench. 

[Megs]

My daughter has this. She fainted after having her ears pierced. She faints while throwing up sometimes. She has to lie down to have blood drawn or shots and stay down for a few minutes afterwards. She fainted after having blood work and after telling the nurses she would faint! They didn't believe her! Now they do. 

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, Megs said:

My daughter has this. She fainted after having her ears pierced. She faints while throwing up sometimes. She has to lie down to have blood drawn or shots and stay down for a few minutes afterwards. She fainted after having blood work and after telling the nurses she would faint! They didn't believe her! Now they do. 

WHY would they not believe her?! That’s nuts! 

[Selkie]

I've only ever fainted once, when I was a little kid and got overheated running around outside, but I still remember what a weird, woozy feeling it was. I feel bad for those of you who deal with fainting on a regular basis!

[unsinkable]

How is he doing today, Quill?

I hope he is OK, with no lingering issues.

[Garga]

Dh fainted hours and hours after having a stent put into an artery.  It was horrible.  He didn’t faint gently and lie still—he thrashed around and made weird noises with his breathing.  I was 100% sure that I was watching him die.  The nurses on the cardiac floor came bursting in and were giving him heart compressions....

...and then he woke up and was like, “What are you guys all doing here?”  He was completely fine and had complete mental clarity.

Turns out that in a few patients it’s a normal, albeit delayed, vasovagal response.  He was fine, but it took me about a week to recover from the horror of thinking I was watching him die right before my eyes.  

[Kassia]

4 minutes ago, Garga said:

Dh fainted hours and hours after having a stent put into an artery.  It was horrible.  He didn’t faint gently and lie still—he thrashed around and made weird noises with his breathing.  I was 100% sure that I was watching him die.  The nurses on the cardiac floor came bursting in and were giving him heart compressions....

...and then he woke up and was like, “What are you guys all doing here?”  He was completely fine and had complete mental clarity.

Turns out that in a few patients it’s a normal, albeit delayed, vasovagal response.  He was fine, but it took me about a week to recover from the horror of thinking I was watching him die right before my eyes.  

 

My ds doesn't have a delayed response but he has seizures when he faints and it is very scary.  When he wakes up he's always a little out of it.  He did it at the dentist's office a couple of years ago and she freaked out even though we warned her it could happen.

[alisoncooks]

This is a timely thread. Oldest DD fainted for the first time a few weeks ago. We're pretty sure that it was because she was dehydrated and overheated. She also thinks she locked her knees. DH was with her (I wasn't) and it freaked him out. He couldn't tell if she was having a seizure afterwards or just fumbling/disoriented. (They did visit the dr.)

[catz]

What the heck!  They always have my son lay down for shots after he fainted super briefly.  You'd think a doctor's office would be set up not to have kids falling.  Seriously - DUH! 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, unsinkable said:

How is he doing today, Quill?

I hope he is OK, with no lingering issues.

He is fine today, except for bruising on his face, a bitten tongue and a sore lip where he hit his face. 

I was so extremely impressed with the doctor, who called me from his personal number or home number to ask how he was, and also called my DH. (He called dh first, but he was at work and had not seen ds yet today, so doctor called me.) He just wanted to follow up to be sure he was not having symptoms of a concussion. I’m sooooo sad that ds has to pick a new (adult) doctor and cannot continue to have this doctor. He’s a wonderul man. 

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said:

What the heck!  They always have my son lay down for shots after he fainted super briefly.  You'd think a doctor's office would be set up not to have kids falling.  Seriously - DUH! 

I have wondered before why it isn’t simply standard protocol. I tell people I need this. 

[Megs]

23 hours ago, Quill said:

WHY would they not believe her?! That’s nuts! 

I guess they thought she was just nervous! My mom took her to the doctor that day as I was taking my younger son to the dentist at the same time... She tried to explain it to the nurses, and they said "Oh, honey, you will be just fine!" Now, when we go they know to have her lie down for any needlework. 

[J-rap]

I'm glad your son's okay!

We're a family of fainters, but not because things bother us so much.  It's more a weird blood pressure thing, like if we stand up too fast.  We can generally handle blood and gross things.  But the number of times we've stood up too fast and almost fainted is almost funny...  We constantly hear "Whoa, I stood up way too fast!" throughout the day at our house.  I also faint if my arms are straight up in the air in a certain position.  It must block some important artery or something.  A couple of times, I've fainted when standing up and hugging my husband (he's quite a bit taller so my arms are in that straight up position).

Sometimes standing for a long time in a hot and stuffy room has the same effect.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, J-rap said:

I'm glad your son's okay!

We're a family of fainters, but not because things bother us so much.  It's more a weird blood pressure thing, like if we stand up too fast.  We can generally handle blood and gross things.  But the number of times we've stood up too fast and almost fainted is almost funny...  We constantly hear "Whoa, I stood up way too fast!" throughout the day at our house.  I also faint if my arms are straight up in the air in a certain position.  It must block some important artery or something.  A couple of times, I've fainted when standing up and hugging my husband (he's quite a bit taller so my arms are in that straight up position).

Sometimes standing for a long time in a hot and stuffy room has the same effect.

Yeah, my blood pressure is low and so is DS’s. It is a contributing factor. I have fainted from the heat and many times nearly fainted from standing up too fast or from standing too long. Once, I got thrown in an ambulance as well because I was standing a long time in unbearable heat at an air show and fainted. My son gets dizzy from standing quickly, too.