Suzanne’s Story

I’d never had fainting problems as a child, but during my first pregnancy (at 8 months pregnant) I stood up and felt like I was going to pass out. I didn't know what was wrong and just put it down to late pregnancy and stress

As time went on, I started to enter some 5K race walks. I used to love doing them but sometimes towards the end I’d again feel like I was going to pass out. Finally, my husband and I were just watching a movie one evening when all at once I just slumped over unconscious ...Read more

Carole’s story

I am 43 years old and worked as a Nursery Nurse in Special schools for almost 25 years.  I am now an Aromatherapist.

I have had a pretty healthy life without any major illnesses, etc. But I had two febrile convulsions at 18 months, and also fainted once at college in a hot lecture theatre and again standing in church as a bridesmaid when I was 18. During my last pregnancy (1194/95), I passed out and cracked my head on the floor... Read More

Jennifer's Story

I am the youngest of six children, none of whom has syncope. My first attacks happened both at school and at air training corps camps. At first it was thought that I was having a bad asthma attack or an epileptic fit. I was taken to my local hospital where I recovered and was sent home. My mum then took me to my family doctor.

 I was told at first that it was just teenage hormones and nothing to worry about. The attacks carried on happening and became more regular and my mum started to worry and doubt the doctors decision. She then made another appointment with a different doctor. The doctor then decided to send away a series of blood tests. At this time my school refused to have me in the school as I was at risk of falling down the many flights of stairs, I was absent from school for two months. The doctor found the tests inconclusive and decided to send me to a paediatrician for more specialist tests... Read more..

Claire's Story

Our daughter Claire was five years old when she fainted for the first time. One evening two years ago, Claire fell into my arms during dinner. She simply stared and fell over. I didn't understand what was happening, but she recovered quickly and wanted to finish her dinner. My husband and I were alarmed, but she recovered quickly and even wanted to finish eating. As she seemed to be perfectly normal we attributed the incident to just being a kid. The next day things grew more serious. During lunch, Claire was eating when again she stared off into space and then fell over. This time she wasn't so lucky, and she hit her head on the ceramic tile floor. Fortunately, all she suffered was a bump on the head but this time, I knew something was very wrong so I took her to our local children's hospital.. Read more..

Siobhan's Story

I knew something was not right back in 1996 when I had my first episode, but I did not know what was wrong with me to start with. My episodes (as I called them) were infrequent to start with and they were small episodes compare to the last year of having them, undiagnosed. I felt dizzy and disorientated; it was like having a blackout but being aware of it, to begin with. During 2003, my episodes got very bad and very frequent, the first bad one that frightened me happened when I was in the house on my own. I was laid up in bed with my damaged spine (this is my disability) and my husband had just made me a sandwich and a cup of tea. He left the house to visit his father in hospital, I ate the first half of my sandwich and I felt as if some of it was stuck down my throat, I didn’t cough and I wasn’t gasping for air, but thought I would reach for my cup of tea off my bedside locker to help dislodge the sandwich from my throat. The next thing I realised was I was lying front down on the floor with my pillows on top of me. My head was throbbing and the bridge of my nose was painful, I had smashed on the locker when I fell unconscious. Read more..