Child with low blood pressure

[PH5121]

I was looking for a little advice if possible.

For the last couple of years my eldest son has had episodes where he faints (goes drip white, grey lips, falls over). This has happened on at least 5 or 6 occasions.
We have taken him to the GP several times, he has been to hospital and had blood tests done. His blood tests were fine and the previous faints were attributed to him having a virus and an elevated temperature on one occasion and him being dehydrated on another.

His latest faint was on stage at his school Christmas concert last night, so he was back to see the GP this morning who has suggested the cause is low blood pressure. A couple of his faints have been first thing on a morning as soon as he got out of bed, and another was on Easter Sunday having consumed too much chocolate egg so this fits in with what the GP said.

The GP didn't offer much advice other than to lay off the sweets. Is there anything else we can do to help counter the effects of low blood pressure or will he grow out of it?

He is an average size kid, not scrawny, not chubby, not the tallest kid in his class but not short. He plays football on a weekend, does Aikedo, plays cricket in summer, goes on cycle rides. So whilst not super fit he is not a couch potato.

(I know I could google the question but in my experience asking on here usually gets an informed and helpful response often based upon first hand experience).

Thanks

[J4CKO]

I had that happen as a kid but it was usually when I went without breakfast, grew out of it and now maintain a decent bit of extra boost

Perhaps he needs to eat a bit more salt ? but would ensure a medical professional tells you that, not me, kind of the reverse of the advice for those with high BP.

[FlyingMeeces]

There's something called POTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome - all the medicalese means 'changes in posture (e.g. standing up suddenly) makes your system overcompensate, your heart rate speeds up and you conk out' - where, of course, conking out immediately fixes everything by returning you to horizontal!

This is a lot like low blood pressure in terms of the mechanics of it all, but either way, it probably warrants a bit of sussing out if it keeps happening. Is your lad very flexible? Being bendy and low BP seems to go together. Making very sure not to be dehydrated is a definite good first step, drink of water first thing in the morning, 5 minutes before standing up out of bed might be worth a go.

[TurboHatchback]

I used to faint as a kid when I had to stand still for too long (on stage or on parade with cadets). We never found out why and I grew out of it, I wouldn't worry too much.