My 17 year old went to take a shower and was later found sprawled on the bathroom floor passed out. He came to quickly and complained of a headache (probably from hitting his head on the floor) We gave him tylenol and he laid down for 30 minutes and was fine.
I have NO IDEA what would cause a healthy kid to faint.
He was not doing anything strenous before the shower. He had eaten breakfast. It is just wierd.
Any ideas?
If it’s just a one time occurrance, I wouldn’t get too worried. My entire family has a history of fainting. For most of us, a cause has never been determined, and there are many reasons why a person can faint.
Had your son eaten recently? (If not, his blood sugar could have dropped.) Was he fatigued? Under a lot of stress? Has he been taking any new medications? Had he stood up quickly?
This could be the only time in his life that he faints. If it never happens again, chalk it up to One of Those Things. If it re-occurs, there are many tests that can be done, and I’ve gone through most of them. If you’d like me to tell you about them, let me know.
If it’s just a one time occurrance, I wouldn’t get too worried.
—My son said it happened one other time not long ago.
Had your son eaten recently?
—I think he had just eaten Rice Krispies for breakfast
I think he was tired yes.
new medications?
—He is on NO medications
Had he stood up quickly?
—I don’t know. I will have to ask. All I know is he was getting naked to take a shower. Maybe he was on the toilet before getting up to get in the shower.
If you’d like me to tell you about them, let me know.
—Any help is appreciated.
I hate to take him to the doctor for a $150 visit only to find out it wa a freak thing.
Ask him to describe exactly how he felt before it happened. Did he have any tingling in his hands? Did he smell anything funny, or see any flashing lights? Most importantly, did he have a headache last time it happened?
In my case, when I fainted, I would usually feel a humming tingle in my head. My hands would tingle, and then darkness would slowly close in, starting from the edge of my vision. Everything felt woozy and dream-like. I usually had about thirty seconds before I lost conciousness, giving me time to sit down before I fell. Once or twice, though, I hit the ground without even realizing it was about to happen.
When I started fainting once a month or so, I decided I had better have it checked out. I had a couple of brain scans, one of which, I think, was called an ECT. (In which sensors were placed on my head, and then I had to fall asleep.) They also performed a CAT scan. They also tested my blood sugar, and tested me for epillepsy. When these showed nothing out of the ordinary, they moved on to my heart.
I had an ECG done, and they hooked me up to a heart monitor which I had to wear for ten days. If I felt faint, I was supposed to hit the “record” button. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an “incident” while hooked to it, so they put me on another one which was a continuous 24-hour record. They found that I had a mitral valve prolapse-- a relatively mild condition, which just requires me to take a pill every day to keep my heart in rythym.
Thank God I have insurance, else these tests probably would have been monstrously expensive. There was a two month period where I had a doctor’s appointment at least once a week.
My sister, grandmother and all of my aunts also faint, but in them, no cause has been determined, and the doctors seem to be unconcerned about it. “Sometimes, people just faint,” one of them told me with a shrug.
I never had headaches when I fainted, so if he is having them every time he does, I might get it checked out, but otherwise, I wouldn’t worry too much yet. (IANAD-- this is only my opinion.) See if it happens again, and try to establish a pattern. Make notes of where it happened, what he was doing, if it was very hot/cold, if he smelled anything or saw any flashes of light, or if he was under any pariicular stress or pain. (The doctors will want to know these things if you decide to take him.)
I see female responses to this so far, so please excuse me for being unrefined or crude (the gentleman will know what I’m saying). There were a few times, uh hum, that I was in the bathroom preparing, uh hum, to take a shower and almost passed out. Perhaps he was, uh hum, conducting strenuous actvities standing up, uh hum, and looked up too quick causing a strong head rush.
On a related note, and similar posture, my wife passed out once after trying to clean out her belly button. don’t tell her I told you.
Oh metroshane! I’m sure he would NEVER admit to that. I can’t even bring myself to ask him.
I’ve had problems fainting ever since I was a baby. No doctor has ever been able to figure out why. It can get dangerous too. I’ve broken my nose, gotten carpet burn on my face and huge bumps on my head from it.
This also happened to my mother when she was a child and her brother too.
my sister would get fainting spells and nosebleeds after a hot shower sometimes. We never got her checked out but she seems to be fine to me!