My Kids Are Having Sudden Cardiac Symptoms!!??

[k&ajsmom]

So among the crisis I have had the last week with zoloft and everything my kids are scaring me to death. My son has been complaining of chest pain and his eyes going black. He is 9 and this terrifies me. He got sent home from school today with chest pain, so my fiance took him to the er immediatly. I was already at my doctors and not walking well so I didnt want him to wait for me. They did an ekg and xray which was clean. They refused labs, which infuriates me. but what can ya do?!

Now my daughter ( who is 12) has complained several times of strong fast heartbeats out of nowhere, but ususally after exercise so I havent worried. Until yesterday...she was in class and said a really strong series of heartbeats started and took her breath away. Again, terrifies me.....no pain though so waiting on doctors appointments fro them I guess to see where to go from here.

I dont talk specifically about what I feel to my kids, just that my hearts "acting up" or I feel yucky and have to lay down so I dont think they are mimicking me and dont think they would anyways. Although it just seems ironic all at once. I am needless to say scared to death for them and the fact that I am not well enough to be on tiop of this like I would like to be.

anyone have children with cardiac symptoms...Im really scared that I have cursed them with this????????

[Ashelton80]

It is my biggest fear k&ajsmom. My daughter is only 5 and has night terrors. She will wake up drenched in sweat, panicky with her heart racing and she is clearly not awake or lucid. I helped her with one the other night and I just prayed over her that this was nothing to do with POTs or my genetics, etc.

My mother has the same symptoms as I do, so I do know that it can run in families. If I were you I would try not to worry and hope this is an isolated event. I think your instinct will tell you if and when it might be Pots related especially if it becomes more frequent. Hoping for the best for your family.

[bebe127]

I do feel for you k&ajsmom and hope that you get some answers soon. My daughter (16) has a VSD and a PFO (from what I understand, they are murmurs). She too as of late has been complaining about not feeling well and that her chest feels "fluttery". Sometimes I think she could be dehydrated which of course exaserbates the issue. She has regular visits to her cardio, but they are every three years now, they were every two since she was three years old. She is scheduled to go in soon and I will definately ask about POTS running in families. She might even need to see a new cardio (that I just learned about in our area) that specializes in Dysautonomia. I'm not going to get my hopes up too high as I've been to doctors that claim to be specialists and then they just let me down with the all too familiar "eat more salt, drink more water". I do hope and pray that you find the answers that you are searching for. How scary for you, I'm so sorry

Ashelton80, my son had night terrors for the longest time when he was small, he is now a teen and it rarely happens. The doctors told me he'd grow out of them and sure enough he did, for the most part a few years ago. On a bad night, my husband and I would be up some 20 times with him trying to calm him down. A good night was about 10 to 12 times getting up. Then he took to sleepwalking and we had to put locks up top of the exterior doors. He is doing much better now. Still gets up occassionally, but not all crazy-like. I always thought that it might have something to do with a traumatic experience when he was born. He was born with club feet and had casting done at the age of six days old that lasted for the first nine months of his life. Every other week I'd have to take him to the Children's Hospital and have the casts removed, his feet manipulated and then the casts went back on. He would cry and cry. It was horrible. Once I asked the doctor if he was in a lot of pain and the doctor told me that since nothing has touched his legs during the months of casting; every time the casts came off and his feet would have to be manipulated it was like being stung by thousands of bees! He had surgery on one foot to correct his tendons at age nine months. Now he is perfectly fine, although his feet do get tired easily. I still think that his terrors might have had something to do with that.

Back to the original post. k&ajsmom, I do hope you find answers for your gems and relief for yourself Stay strong!!

[Joann]

I don't have any answers for you. I am a mom too and I know you feel worse when your child isn't feeling well, than when you yourself are ill. My daughter is twelve and she came home from school telling me she hadn't felt good. Said she was fine when she was in class but when she got up in between classes her head and stomach hurt and she was really tired. My first thought was oh, not don't let it be POTs. But I think she has a virus. She is sleeping right now and has a fever.

Can your kids see your doctors? Could you try your blood pressure cuff on them?

Hopefully, it is not anything serious.

Wishing all is ok.

I

[k&ajsmom]

Ashelton,

My daughter around the same age as yours, had night terrors. I never noticed tachy though I never would have know to check at that point. Its so unnerving when they are in that have lucid state. I feel for you and hope it passes soon. My daughter outgrew it and like bebes son I associated it to trauma, although my daughters was emotional in nature.

Like you I feel my pots is somehow genetic, my mom has hypotension all the time and mpv. She has tachycardia but has never been treated for it. Shes been on atenolol for 20 years for the mvp. Her mother used to faint on a daily basis but never went to doctors and her mothers mother died in her 40s from addisons. I cant seem to connect to dots with us all but there is something there I fear dreadfully, that I have passed on. My sister passed away when she was two from hemolytic eurymic (sp) syndrome, so I have always been a paranoid for my kids but never with there hearts till now. My son was born with a heart defect but remedied easily with meds, he was a preemie, actually they both were very early. I went into labor at 25 weeks with my daughter and held off for 4 weeks in the hospital and my son was born at 32 weeks. I suspect this was related to my autonaumic dysfunction.

I hope your baby outgrows it soon and honestly I really hope to believe the night terrors are outgrown and unrelated. Take care and hugs to your little one.

Bebe,

oh your poor tough little guy. Breaks my heart he had to go through that, but Im sure he is one tough little cookie now. As far as your daughter, I hate hearing of children at any age dealing with anything like that as a mother. Just wish I had a magic wand. Ive been pushing all the kids with water hoping its just dehydration but I think I know better considering how many times we have all heard "drink more" ugh I hope to get my daughter checked out soon. SHe had an episode again last night while she was in her room watching her favorite band (one direction...swooon lol) I told her all the boy bands are just making her heart flutter, but I did check her pulse and bp and went into nursy mode. All normal, thankfully...but we know how that goes. Thx for the encouragement and best of luck to your babies

Joann,

I actually did just start checking there vitals during these times. All normal <snicker> mother like daughter/son........but better than the alternative. However my sons arms are so small the cuff doesnt work so his nurse at school and then again at the er checked him and he was normal. He got up yesterday off the couch and his eyes he said went black again but no chest pains. He may be my low bp culprit I think. I hate your daughter had a bug but happy it is something that will pass...so that is great. It does make me feel physically ill worying about thsi with them. I used to be tough as nails and could handle anything. When my son was 6 months he sudden became very ill, took him to the er and he had meningitis....while I was there I got a call my daughter was on her way by transport. She was having fibril seizures from sudden fever...also meningitis...I was terrified but handled it....now I can barely handle to the stress of running out of waffles in the am lol Cant wait to be well again..for them.

Anyways thx for the feedback and well wishes to you and your family. This poor kids are about to get run through the wringer so I have peace of mind lol They hate going to the doctors lol

Take care =))

[anna]

All 3 of my children have had heart issues put down to POTS, that said my kids POTS DR. is sending my daughter for further cardiac and pulmonary work up as daughter keeps getting bad breathlessness that comes on from nowhere.

[issie]

I was born with a club foot too. When I was a child they made you wear high top boots and put you in a brace that made you turn your feet completely outward to sleep in. What it did was caused my tibias to bow and it didn't help my club foot. Thankfully, it is not bad. But . . . . .this is a sign of EDS. Please have him checked for this. I do have EDS and didn't get DX'd until I was older. With EDS - there is a lot of pain. I can't stand for anyone to touch my feet or ankles. It could also contribute towards POTS. Also, my eyes got bad really fast because of the EDS. I was put into hard contacts at a young age to try to stop the progression of my nearsightedness. That holds the eye ---like a girdle-----and helped to stop the progression. They were afraid I was going to go blind. Drops did not stop the progression. It is worse when a child is growing.

Issie

[anna]

Oh my the eye thing is of concern too as one of my boys has just been to the optician eyes were fine in February now he has very bad short sightedness in one eye!

[k&ajsmom]

I dont have many signs of eds, I bruise alot and have areas of thin skin and some very slight hypermobility, only localized, however my son does have to crazy things e can do with his joints but that is it with him. Im so glad this was posted so maybe it can help your son atleast rule eds out. The vision issues my daughter is having she cant see things close up very well so this is maybe something Ill have her doctor look into. SHe was recently diagnosed with mederate to severe scholiasis and is in a boston brace.....does anyone have scholiosis in relation to eds??

[bebe127]

Issie: My son was born with both feet clubbed. When I went for the first sonogram, they discovered this, so at least we knew what was going on, but we didn't know why. He has no other issues at all. The doctors had informed me of my "options" upon learning that he had this deformity. I made the doctor actually say "abortion". I am not mentioning this to provoke any personal decisions on anyone's part, suffice it to say it was NOT an option for us. My hubs and I firmly believe that God does not make mistakes. The doctors gave me all kinds of reasons why this might have happened, none of which I believed. Bit of background...After my daughter was born, 18 months earlier, I had developed scar tissue which (I think) caused my uterus to become U-shaped (instead of a big open space for which a baby to grow). I also seem to remember having a weird uterus before having children, although I had no complications with the birth of my daughter. The doctors told me that my son could be born retarted as he also had a high average of brain fluid and told me to have my Pediatrician to make sure and check his brain ventricles at birth. Again, the "option" was not an option for us as my husband and I would accept any precious gift the Lord decided to bestow on us with pleasure and joy. The dr.s told me it could be hereditary, although no one on either side had evidence of clubbed feet. They also told me it could be neurological, that didn't pan out as well, because big heads run on my hubby's side and thus the extra brain fluid (these were the pediatrician's words upon seeing my husband). My son had a perfect apgar and was perfectly healthy except the clubbed feet. My explanation, although never coorborated by a dr. was that since my uterus was oddly shaped, my poor peanut of a son (or monkey as we affectionately called him because the soles of his feet were so turned that they faced him) didn't have enough room to fully form during the first three months. Many times this is seen in multiple births (normal uterus I suppose), just not enough room to grow. As I said, he was casted at six days old for the first nine months and then he had surgery on his right foot where they extended his achilles tendon and the tendon of his big toe. His only issue now is that his feet get tired if he walks too much. He's a trooper! Thankfully, we chose to not use our "option" as the world would've missed out on one of the most kind, intelligent (leaning toward a degree in Nuclear Physics or Engineering when he enters college in a few years), empathetic, sympathetic, sensitive, loving young man I have ever known. We are truly blessed.

k&ajsmom: I too bruise like a banana. I am also very flexible with some double jointedness. Never been tested for EDS, nor has any dr. even suggested it. I don't really have any issues with anything accept the POTS. I am going to go see a new EP hopefully in the spring and take my daughter to her cardiologist to see if there is any connection with her heart deformities and my POTS. Maybe we'll get some answers.

Hope you all are well and have a symptom free holiday!!

[issie]

I'm glad you have your son. What a tragedy it would have been for him to not have been born. But, I still suggest you looking into EDS

Issie

[bebe127]

Thanks issie, I'll check into it!