My 7 year old daughter has recently been telling me her heart has stopped. This first started a few days ago when she came running and screaming down the stairs saying her heart stopped and she felt like she was going to die. She tends to be a little hypocondriac so I wasn't all that concerned. She calmed down and went back to playing. Later that night she came crying to me saying that her heart stopped again. I tried to explain that you can't always feel your heart beat by just putting your hand over your heart. About 1/2 hour later she tells me it stopped again. At this point I was pretty nervous so I took her to the urgent care and they doctor looked her over, performed a little stress test and said that she was fine. We went home, she was exhausted and feel right to sleep. Everything was good for a day but then one night again she said it stopped. I checked her out and then stayed in her room until she fell asleep. Again everything was ok for a day and then last night the same thing happened.
I have noticed that at least two of the times she has complained, she had gotten into trouble right before. She just started a new sport three weeks ago and is very tired...she only is in one sport which is one night a week and is in Brownies but that is all she in involved in. I am beginning to worry that either something is seriously wrong with her or that this is something psycological and I need to have her see a therapist.
Has anyone every had to deal with this and what would you all recommend?
Well I wrote this before, but it vanished, so I will write it again.
Get her a stethoscope and some really good body works books. Spend time explaining and exploring with her the books and her body with her. This could be the beginning of a career as a doctor. It will be fun for both of you.
I'm sorry to hear your daughter is experiencing this! It sounds as though she is genuinely frightened, and that's always stressful for you as the parent, too.
I think you're right on to wonder about both physical and psychological causes. I experienced a panic attack as a teenager, and have also struggled with generalized anxiety, so I think that's certainly a possibility (especially given her tendency to be a bit of a hypochondriac, and the timing right after getting into trouble). Still, I would start with a thorough physical with her regular doctor, and then seek a referral for a psychologist if no physical problems are detected.
In the meantime, you might seek out some resources for dealing with anxiety to help her find some ways to cope when she is feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Hope things improve soon!
Don't assume this attention seeking behavior or merely anxiety (though anxiety can create palpitations). I would take her to a cardiologist and request she have a monitor placed on her for at least 24 hours (maybe longer if she's not experiencing this every day). These monitors will be able to show any abnormal heart rhythms. I wouldn't bother with a family doc as many of them don't have these monitors nor are they experts in reading the results. Children can and do have heart defects that are undetected until something tragic occurs so I don't think this is anything to fool around with. I have heart palpitations and they are scary - I can only imagine how they must feel to a young child. Good luck.
I'd consider that it could be heartburn. My daughter complained of 'chest pain' off and on for a while before we realized that it was heartburn. I thought she just didn't want to eat what I was asking. Turns out that was partially true because more 'interesting' foods are more likely to cause the heartburn. This was a precursor to more significant diet issues for my daughter. She is also 7YO.
It may be anxiety or panic attacks. For me they can cause a similar feeling or make me feel like my heart is jumping out of my chest or even like it is in my throat choking me. And I don't know when I am going to get one and sometimes I don't know why.
Maybe start with her pediatrician and then move on to a psych check up.
Also an urgent care is there to check the >symptom< that brought you to the urgent care not the whole body so they easily could miss something that the pediatrician should not miss.
I have a hypochondriac, too, so I certainly understand your concern...especially when it's about her heart. I'd get her thoroughly checked out and then ponder the possibility that she's asking for attention. (Thankfully mine has never claimed anything about her heart, but she has required (imaginary) amputations for hangnails, trips to the ER for a sore knee, crutches for a sore muscle, etc. She also used to say that her legs wouldn't work anymore and she was paralyzed as a way to manipulate one thing or another.) She's now enrolled in acting lessons. Parenting can be so difficult sometimes. Good luck!!
I think that you are dealing with anxiety attacs. Search the net for more info and you might find the answers. The anxiety attacs can feel very real and yes, you feel like your heart is stopping and you are dieing. Good luck!
hi P.!
i don't have any experience with children with any of these issues, mine are still too young, but i do have some experience with this kind of thing myself. while i was pregnant with my first child my heart would seem to skip a beat. it wasn't really skipping a beat i learned, but having a slow beat. it usually happened while i was laying in bed trying to go to sleep. my husband could lay his head on my chest and hear it do it so it wasn't my imagination. i had an ekg, a cardio ultrasound and some other tests done but they never found anything. after a while (not even the entire pregnancy) it just stopped. nobody ever figured out what it was and i never had any trouble again--even thru my next pregnancy. just a little info. she may not be imagining it, but they also may never find any trouble. good luck! ~m
I wouldn't discount what she says-- I'd get a second opinion- She could have a symptoms that are real orit could be anxiety but I wouldn't want to find out the first the hard way. I'd have her get a cardiac workup and to be sure. If it's an anxiety at least you know and you can show her the proof
I don't know if it would be buying into her fear or not, but why don't you get her a stethoscope so she can hear her own heart better. When my son was 3 or 4 he had a kids doctor kit and he'd want to play doctor. He'd listen to my heart, pretend to give me a shot, pretend to operate on me, then put a pretend bandaid on me ant tell me I was all better.
Is she possibly having anxiety attacks? It is hard to breath when this happens, and can feel like your heart has stopped... trust me! It is even likely to have chest pain with it. And, there would be no lasting signs of it for the Dr. to see when you took her in.
It doesn't hurt anything to have a counselor evaluate her.
Also.. see about getting a blood pressure monitor kit so you can check for a heartbeat... this might make her feel a little better, as well as yourself. And if she is having an attack of some kind her bp should go up.
Sometimes children have a hard time expressing pain or discomfort. Have you asked her if her chest/ heart feels like it hurts?
She may be having issues with acid reflux ( which is related to food intolerances) keep an eye on what she is eating and keep this in mnd when she says her heart has stopped. My daughter started getting ad acid reflux at this age.
Make a note of any other issues that you might feel are brushed off as "hypochondriac" it may e something is going on with her gut and digestive system - iti s not coming across as 'normal' sick; cold, flu, fever, stomach bug, etc but that does not mean something is not going on. My oldest would tell me her stomach felt "glunky" she was not sick and had no other symptoms but she was very upset y the 'glunky' feeling. She knew it was different from upset stomach but did not know why or how to express it. Young children are not usually hypochondriacs unless they have in the past gotten an undue amount of attention for every ittle sniffle.
It may be that there is something going on with her that she cannot connect or express. My first course of action would be to look at her possible food reactions, allergies and intolerances. My oldest was misdiagnosed for 8 years and finally we discovered she had celiac, my youngest struggled with acid reflux and rather than find out the cause the doctors just put her on meds - now she does not take meds but avoids the foods that cause the problem and is just fine.
Kids do not express things in the same way adults do and it is up to us to really listen, think outside the box and connect the dots to find out what they are really trying to say.
Can I suggest that she is having panic attacks. I used to have them all the time. I was classified as being "hyperaware" - I would feel my heart skip a beat, and then zone in entirely into trying to hear my heart and pace it. By doing so I would freak out, and kick off a panic attack. Panic attacks can feel like you're having a heart attack. They are not fun.
So while you can get a cardiologist second opinion, may I suggest a therapist that focuses on panic attacks? Or check and see if there are any kid focused books about panic attacks on Amazon. To me, that is what this sounds like. Her getting in trouble sets her off.
Good luck!
