Need Possible Thoughts/answers for My Sanity

S.,

I'm so sorry you are going through this nightmare. Our story is a little bit different but I recognize your frustration. My son was 4 and perfectly fine, bright, and healthy (except for some allergies) when he started having "headaches" and weird tantrums. He was regressing into autism after a flu shot.

I'm not saying that is happening to your daughter. However, I know NJ has mandatory flu shots and they are FULL of mercury. You'd have to weigh 500 lbs to safely process the amount of mercury in a flu shot. Mercury poisons the brain and no mainstream doctor is going to test for it. (They'll say it isn't showing up on a blood test- that's because it isn't IN the blood anymore but has an affinity to the fatty acids of the brain). You'd need a hair test. Find a Naturopathic Physician (ask at a local healthfood store or look in the phone book) or a DAN! doctor. (Dr. Miller in Landsdale PA is good). They deal with more than just autism - they keep kids healthy by finding the root cause of issues.

My child is now almost recovered.

He also had some post traumatic stress from a surgery as a toddler, that we did not know about.we had to get some therapy for that, too. A good child psychologist (not psychiatrist) may be helpful.

The only reason my child is able to be 85% like any other kid is because I stopped listening to the mainstream doctors tell me they couldn't find anything wrong with the tests they were running. Well, so what? Obviously SOMETHING is going wrong for your daughter. When mainstream doctors can't find an answer, they blame the mother. I suspect they will also try to put your little one on anti-anxiety meds. I really don't think that's the safest route and psychotropic meds especially have serious side effects on a developing brain.

Start asking around for referrals to alternatives in your area.

S.,

What a horrible situation. I am no doctor, but my 72 year old mother has been getting dizzy for years and in helping her find solutions I came across this disease that had to do with inner ear. I can't remember the name but saw a show about a woman who had no problems driving or during movement but eating and still. It was like getting off a boat and still feeling like you were on it. She had every possible test for years and finally came across a specialist in texas. She is in a different time zone but I'll find out the name of the disease and send it to you to research. It was nothing but a inner ear problem that most doctors aren't familiar with. I don't know if it'll help but i'll get it to you as soon as i can.
best wishes and your a great mom, hang in there.

HUGS!!!!! I think these two things were mentioned already, but my vertigo is either from inner ear issues or my neck is out of wack. The two solutions you may want to try are:

Inner ear: sit on couch, fall to one side with eyes closed and count to ten; quickly sit up and wait for dizziness/spots to stop; repeat on each side until you sit up with no dizziness. I would do this once a day for about a week.

Neck: chiropractor adjustment. Which, since I've been getting done on a regular basis, I haven't had any inner ear infections or fluid issues (almost 6yrs).

Hi S.,
Have you looked into Meniere's Disease? Google it and see if you think the symptoms sound similar. Also, I know you took her to an ENT, has her hearing been thoroughly checked? Sometimes a hearing loss, even a slight O., can lead to dizziness/vertigo feelings.
Any inner ear disorder can produce vertigo. Also, has she had her blood sugar checked? I'm not trying to scare you or anything, but those were the things that came to mind when I read your post. This has got to be frustrating and scary. Keep trying til you can identify what this is--once you know--it will be better to deal with it. Good luck.

Hi S.,

WOW! As mothers, there is nothing worse than not having the answers when something is going on with our children!

I am a fan of the 'symptom-checker' websites...such as webmd.com and wrongdiagnosis.com. I put some of the symptoms into one of these, and found a couple of things you could ask the doctor about:

1. Anemia.....they've probably already checked for this with routine bloodwork.

2. Brun's Syndrome....neurologist would be the one to ask about this. It says that it is like a cyst in the head....and that symptoms come and go based on the position of the head (pressing on the cyst)....which could explain the 'randomness' of the episodes.

The only symptoms i put into the symptom-checker were vertigo and rapid heartbeat. You could check further based on your personal experiences with her. It never hurts to do research on your own when something seems wrong; doctors don't know everything.

Best of luck, and please let us all know what happens with your darling daughter.

My daughter fell off her bike when she was about 6. After that she saw spots everyday. A couple times a day those spots would move around and she would describe flashing lights. It turns out she had epilepsy. It was not your typical seizure. I think it is called partial complex... she has long grown out of it and is off medicine.

It sounds so similar to me, i am confused that your daughter had normal eeg's though. I know that my daughter was very frusterated. This changed her personality :( I pray that you figure this out soon and that your daughter grows out of it. I really know how terrible it can be watching them go through this and all of the testing. Good luck.

S., there could be many causes of these "spells". Low or high blood sugars or even a rapid change in sugar levels. I used to have similiar spells as an adult and it turned out it was occurring after I ate a high carb meal. My sugars were adjusting too quickly for my body to handle it.Could be petit mal epilepsy-EEG wouldn't show changes unless she was having a spell. My sister had these for years until she strated to menstrate and hormones leveled out.The dilating pupils makes me feel it isn't petit mal because pupils normally constrict with this.It can also be cardiacc-have her checked now, do not wait. Many cardiac problems are manageable with meds and/or diet changes. Please let us all know how she makes out.

Did you have birth trauma with your daughter? Did she fall and hit her head before the episodes started? Those things can jam the cranial bones. A practitioner of Craniosacral therapy might be helpful. Go on www.upledger.com. Go to find a practitioner. When you look at the list of practitioners, choose one who has been trained in pediatric craniosacral therapy. Children usually do not require a long session they know when they have had enough treatment. If you live near Philadelphia try Bettina Herbert. She is an MD physiatrist(rehab physician)who is highly trained in multiple manual therapies.

the racing heart and dilated pupils almost sounds like an anxiety attack.

3 year olds will ask questions about anything they see around them. If someone anywhere was talking about death -- a pet, a grandparent, something on TV, she'll ask about it. That part isn't so unusual, except that it feeds into what else is going on, and stresses you out.

The rapid pulse rate may have to do with her own fear about what's going on. She's not in control at those times, and she can't stop it, or block it out, and it's scary. Plus it scares Mom, so that makes it even scarier.

If it is vertigo, why don't you try a wee bit of peroxide on a q-tip and just drip it into the ear canal ? Don't stick the q-tip inside the canal, just enough to push on the side and drip some peroxide gently in. If there's water bubbles in there, ithe peroxide will break the surface tension of the water, and get the ear fluid moving better. Another solution for dizziness, is to buy "sea bands" -- they are little terry bracelets that are about an inch wide, with a bubble on the inside. The bubble goes on the pulse spot, and they help people with seassickness. My mom had a dizziness problem that caused nausea, and that sometimes helped. (What actually solved that problem was to sit sideways on the bed and throw herself back, which jarred the ear fluid and caused it to flow and stopped the problem entirely, but I don't recommend tossing your daughter around given her former head trauma)

Other things that could cause dizziness -- blood sugar. Does she feel at all "shakey" before this happens ? If her blood sugar is low, then she could become dizzy.. . . . This came to me when you said it happens when she gets out of bed, and at mealtimes. Not so much AFTER eating, but if it's BEFORE or during, it could be a blood sugar issue. The food pyramid thing doesn't work well if someone has low blood sugar. They need more protein. Try feeding her eggs for breakfast for a week, and see if it helps. (Protein tends to help your body establish a floor for blood sugar for the day). And be sure she gets some good protein at supper.

Also, when she sees circles, if she puts her head below her knees, does it go away ? If she isn't getting oxygen to the brain, getting her brain lower will help. This would make sense with it happening in the morning -- because she's getting up from a reclining position, and maybe her BP doesn't jump out of bed as quickly as her body does. I would also consider trying to add more iron to her diet. Tuna, steak, eggs. The iron in our blood helps to carry the oxygen around, and blacking out is usually a lack of oxygen to the brain. She isn't quite blacking out, but it sounds like she's recovering after "almost" getting there.

You know how you have those "falling" dreams, and you wake up and you're scared to death ? I suspect that's what it's like, and the problem is that it's happening while she's awake. Very very scary. So I would tend to assume the rapid pulse is the scary factor. Rapid pulse and quick shorter breaths are panic responses. (not sure about the pupils)

I guess, after all this keyboard stream of consciousness stuff, I would say to start going with eggs for breakfast, be sure she gets meat of some kind into her for supper and maybe give her a small snack an hour before supper. See if changing her eating habits solves the problem.

Explain to her that when she gets dizzy, one way to solve it is to get her head lower than her heart. She can lie down, or she can bend over in her chair and put her head between her knees. Come up with a code, for her to use to tell you it's happening, and then she should bend over if in a chair (not enough to fall out -- her feet don't go to the ground yet) or to get down on the floor so she won't fall. And as Mom, you should show up, and rub her back, talk to her and comfort her. See if the circles go away when she gets her head down. If you can come up with a response to the problem that works, and helps to allay the panic, then she will be able to cope, and the rapid pulse stuff and fear will go away. If she doesn't panic, but her pulse is shallow and quick, then there's a more serious issue going on.

I'm really glad you've found a doc who is taking this seriously, and is paying attention to the problem. So many times you can feel as if they blow you off when they aren't sure what is happening. This doc is engaging his mind and his sense of wonder, and is asking you to produce more data, so he can get his scientific mind around the problem, and help. It may not help you deal with it "right now", but he's going in the right direction.

I had a few really wierd incidences, which I attribute to menopause, when I was simply sitting in a chair reading a book and thought I was going to pass out. It was freaky, and the second time, I called my hub who took me to the doc, and that petrified me, so when we got there my BP was way up, and my heart rate was, too. After talking with the doc, he checked my heart rate and BP again, and it was back to normal. So they ran me thru all kinds of tests, and came up with nothing, but a friend of mine later told me the EXACT same thing happened to her, and her doc put her thru all the same tests, then told her it was bodily stress caused by the hormones changing in menopause, and it was OKAY. The only thing we found "wrong" with me, with all the testing, was low blood sugar. So now I try to avoid sugar, I eat protein, I eat Balance Bars because they have protein in them, and the carbs are slow-metabolizing so they don't spike the sugar up and then down, and I am able to avoid any low blood sugar symptoms for 6 months or more at a time. And I haven't had a recurrance. But I also learned that sometimes low blood sugar and a mitral valve problem can go hand in hand -- which makes me wonder if my sugar went down, the vitral valve stopped working correctly, and then when the panic set it, everything got moving again and it passed. . . ??? . . . so, part of what I'm thinking, is that if it is low blood sugar, then it could also be affecting her circulation, and it IS really scary when that happens. Also, if it's "stress" related, that doesnt' mean it's stress due to emotional things -- there could be a stress reaction going on inside her, not necessarily hormonal, but something may not be 'quite right' and it could cause a bodily stress thing to happen. Could be blood chemistry, could be almost anything.

Please be sure to report back when you find anything -- or not. This has got to be tough for you, and I imagine everyone else is feeling a lot like me -- wishing they could solve it for you; she's young to have such scary problems, and finding the cause is hard, also, when children are little. Hang in. Hopefully someone else has been thru this and has some more solid advice than mine, which is really just "ideas". :-)

I would call the dr who wanted to see you back in 6 months tell them it's worse and see if you can get her in sooner. You are your child's best advocate if you think something is wrong keep going to the dr until you find out what is going on.

How scary to see your daughter go through this. The first thing that popped into my head when you were describing her symptoms is ocular migraines. I have a long history of migraines, but only even got the headache part. When I was pregnant I had several episodes where my vision would get blurry and my heart rate and blood pressure would shoot up (probably because of panic more than anything). My vision would be blurry and "spotted" and I felt very very dizzy. The episodes would last anywhere from about a minute to 15 or 20 minutes. I even ended up in the ER once with it. Between the ER and the neurologist, they said it was occular migraines (even though my head never hurt with them). I was never given anything for them since I was pregnant and I don't know if there's any type of treatment (medication or otherwise). My occular migraines went away after I had my daughter and even my regular migraines are not as bad as they used to be. The really tricky thing with migraines is the diagnosis is totally based on symptoms- nothing will show up on MRI or anything like that. And migraines can happen frequently or infrequently- it just depends on the person. For many years I had migraines on a daily basis. Anyway, this may be something to ask the neurologist about. Good luck and I hope your daughter finds relief soon!

Hi S.,
First of all it is good that you have had her checked ans that every thing is negative. I remember when I was very young I would periodically see little swirling clear things it looked like air molecules and when I concentrated on seeing it I would get dizy.When I told my mother (back in the 1960's) she said that it was nothing and not to worry that nothing is wrong with me.I stopped thinking about it but throughout my life I will see these things whether indoors or outdoors.
This may not be the same thing your daughter is experiencing but if it is you need to let her know it is nothing the DR said it is nothing and that nothing is going to happen to her.
Children tend to take their Que from the way parents react. And the fact that you were so worried that their might be something wrong with her she probably thinks there is and is going to continue to be aware of the circles until you keep making light of it.I did not have allergies but I was a very nervous little kid always thinking that something was wrong with me. I still worry but when ever my son complains of something I try to keep it light just as my mom did when I was a little kid.
If the DRs think she is fine you need to just accept that different things happen to different bodies and that alot of them are not life threatening and often unexplained.
I think she knows you are worried and until you can feel assued she will feel the same.
Isay it is nothing
Good luck in getting back to normalcy

I have no idea what may be wrong with your daughter but I can see this is really a worrying thing for you. While I have never experienced worry from medical issues I do have a son that was emotionally troubled for a long time and it is absolutely heart wrenching.

Something I have done to find peace in this situation is have gratitude. Sometimes its hard to think of our trials this way but it is the only way I have peace and strength to carry on when times get tough.

One way I have done this is to gain perspective by finding someone who has it worse than me. For example I have stumbled recently during a trying time on an article where a mother and her husband were in a helicopter crash. She received 80% burns over her body. I read her blog and she explains how difficult it was for her two year to accept her new face. Every step is a celebration, hugging her child is an achievement because it hurts so much. Making dinner is all she wants to do and she can't because she gets so weak and hurts. Despite it all she keeps a positive attitude. That really bolstered me because I thought, you know what if she can do this with big trials I can do it with my lesser ones!

Just a thought too, do you think after all the testing and attention your daughter has gotten from the testing she may be doing it more now because of that. How do you react when this happens? Is it matter of factly or does she get a big fuss made over her? Even if its not the case she will benefit from feeling some kind of normalcy about this especially if a diagnosis isn't forthcoming.

S.,
Does your or your husbands family have a history of migraines? My daughter had some bizarre symptoms and the doctors diagnosed her all over the place. Turns out she gets horrible migraines. There is such a thing as ocular migraines that would make sense out of what you have written.

I don't know where you live but several places in the country have migraine clinics and some have child migraine or child headache clinics. It might not be this but it might be a place to start.

Fatigue and dehydration are two universal triggers and then migraines start to act like an allergic reaction meaning each person has their own triggers and their own thresholds. My daughter can get a migraine from very bright lights and also from soft serve icecream, crazy huh? We found she would get a migraine 36-48 hours after a long weekend trip so it took us a while to track the connection.
If it helps, every time my daughter gets one we go to her room and sit quietly. I didn't want to "reward" her with TV or anything that would make it a positive and I also didn't want it to seem like punishment but these started at 4 1/2 and she's now 8 - we have almost no false alarms or "convenient" episodes.

On a personal note: I've been there and you are doing the right thing. You are paying attention and listening and also fighting for her. Keep up the good work. She is lucky to have you. I only know what worked for me but... allow yourself time to have a short pity party for what YOU have been through and also allow yourself the suck it up I have it good pep talk.
I regretted all the tests we did before we knew what was going on but I also know we did the best we could with the info we had and that I didn't give up until we found out the correct diagnosis.
Your daughter will be OK and she will be OK b/c she does have a mom who is paying attention. I once had a doctor answer my question by saying "I'm NOT worried because YOU are", meaning he knew I was paying attention and that is half the battle.
Make time for you and your husband as this kind of nebulous stress can strain things. Remember you are both pulling on the same side of the rope even if you are handling it or looking at it in different ways. There were times my husband seemed overly concerned and others where he downplayed my concerns.(I would do the same thing but it wasn't at the same time)
One mom told me it was like being stalked b/c even when nothing was wrong you were looking over your should in anticipation - I found help in Echart Tolle's A New Earth when he talks about being in the moment which helped me not worry so much.
Good luck, I can look back on those 3 years as a tough time with a happy ending. My daughter is flourishing now and yours will too.

I just want to give you a big hug. When my daughter was an infant we had an unexplainable health issue, and it was maddening, getting someone to agree that it was serious, and also finding someone to help. I felt like i was losing my mind. i was obsessed with the show Mystery Diagnosis, because i wanted to know what was going on so bad. Finally we got some answers but there are still things that come up.
You have done an excellent job exploring all the options. I think charting it is an excellent coping mechanism for you and your daughter and also a very valuable tool for the drs. I know you said you don't see a correlation but i would write down what pre-cedes the episode and also keep a food journal to see if caffine in chocolate or salt orsome other food in her diet might be causing this.
Mini seizures where what i was thinking as i read your post, but the MRI's and other tests would have caught that i would think. Is is possible to find a Pediatric Opthamologist to do a more thorough eye exam. Are you working with a Children's Hospital?? Ask older relatives if anyone in the family had any symptoms like this.

I'll keep thinking about this and if i think of anything you haven't, i'll be sure to let you know. I hope you get some answers soon.

Hi there, I can definitely relate to your situation although your daughter's symptoms seem to be more severe than what I experienced with my daughter. Have you heard about a condition called Arrhythmia. In most children they only experience a rapid or irregular heart beat and eventually they may out grow it but in some cases it has been known to cause dizzyness and dialation of the pupils. In my daughter's case she experienced the rapid heart rate along with infrequent episodes of dizzyness where she would see circles and then would lose her vision for a minute. Then it would come right back.

I believe that the doctor is correct in recommending that you go see a cardiologist.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. I know it is difficult when we don't have the answers but you are on the right path and you are doing what is in the best interest of your daughter. So keep the faith.

S., I'm so sorry your daughter is going through this. I've had episodes of vertigo for 25 years (since my teens) and can't imagine what it would be like for a 4 year old. There aren't many docs who know a lot about it. Find an ENT who specializes in dizziness and vertigo if yours doesn't. The very first things to clear are her heart and brain. Is hers positional in nature? In other words, does it happen when she moves her head a certain way? If so, there's a specialized physical therapy for this. I'd also keep a food log to see if she's reacting to something. Look online for typical Migraine triggers; cheese can be a big culprit. I think Bryn Mawr hospital has a Vestibular Rehab program. Have you talked to anyone there? Once you've exhausted your local resources, there's a doc in Minneapolis that people go to from all over the country; Michael Papparella. He's been studying dizziness, vertigo and Meiniere's Syndrome for decades. I get a ton of relief fron having my upper cervical spine adjusted by a chiropractor, but I'd be wary of doing that to a 4 year old. I mention this because a lot of people take their kids to chiropractors even though I wouldn't. Email me if you want to talk about anything further.

S.,
Wish I had information on your daughter's episodes; sounds like the kind of medical puzzler one would see on an episode of "House". If they are increasing in frequency that means something is changing; depending on how much time has passed between the first MRI and now, it might be time for another to show something that might not have shown up earlier.

On another issue: 3-yr.-olds have the same things to be stressed about as 30-yr. olds: relationships, responsibilities, anxiety due to lack of control over life, etc. I'd NEVER want to go through childhood again! So much happening that you don't understand, or that you've made a faulty reality for (like monsters under the bed or thinking you "caused" a sibling to be sick or your parents to have marital problems), etc.

Psychologists are beginning to understand the stressors for children, some of which are similar to adults' and some very different. And your stress over it all is probably having an impact on her, too: she may feel that she is the cause of your stress, she may feel your treating her differently; when you say that you want her "back the way she was", both of you may be feeling that she's "someone else"--and she doesn't know who, or why it's this way!

To help her, you might see if she can start to identify when an episode is coming on--for example, I can feel when a migraine hasn't yet happened but will, so I take a Maxalt to head it off, and this has been working for about 2 years--and this might help her to feel more in-control of it. Also identify what she needs when the episode comes on: why leave the room, is it to lie down, or be away from light and sound, or...? It's not a migraine if it only lasts 30 seconds, but could be some other kind of brain activity.

You might also keep a log of what precedes an episode, what she ate that day, activity, sleep patterns, EVERYTHING, because just about anything could be a trigger.
Best of luck; I hope you find out what it is!
L.

I had migraines as a child and unfortunately two of my three children suffer from them now. They are different in each child for me I would get dizzy, feel like the room was spinning and then vomit and pass out for a few hours. My daughter wakes up throwing up violently I give her motrin she sleeps and wakes up like nothing ever happened or she will all of a sudden say the lights hurt and if we get her calm enough to let the medicine work it ends otherwise we have to go through the throwing up. My son gets unbelievably cranky and throws fits then ends with a bloody nose that takes the pressure away. For me they started out of the blue and ended when I turned 5 then returned when I was in high school. My daughter was at her worst from 3-4 and now at 5 1/2 only has a few a year. My son is 4 and in the bad zone with them. Good luck.

Hi S.,

Have you thought about taking the baby to James Stein,
a Chiropractor in Jeffersonville (Norristown) PA.

His number is ###-###-####.

Hope this helps. D.

sounds like vertigo to me i woudl keep doing the excercises but she might need to be put in a tunnel and be spun.
good luck T.

S.,
So sorry you are going through this. Helplessness with our children is very disconcerting. Sorry this is a late response. I highly doubt this is migraine since your daughter is not describing pain, the feeling is very short and passes quickly. I would absolute continue to acknowledge her feelings and comfort her through the episode. A little TLC always goes along way. Also, honor her curious questions with questions first such as when she asks about death, ask her where or what she has heard. This will better prepare you to answer and give you a frame of reference for her understanding. Children see and hear so many things in the course of a day. Nothing is unusual or taboo to them since their only frame of reference is family and their own little world. Once my 5 year-old son asked me about sex. I was surprised, but before I went into any explanation asked him where he heard the word. He saw it on an employment application my husband left on the table. Simple. Sex refers to whether you are a boy or a girl. My point is children are very simple, clean slates. They know what we teach them and always have curiosity about the world they live in. Short and sweet answers, rather than long explanations usually suffice. Take it slow, stay focused and calm, and continue your investigation. Be patient with your daughter. This may just be something she outgrows. As she gets older, more will be revealed and you will cope with each phase as the thoughtful, conscientious mom you are. Best of luck!
K.

Hi S. -

A few thoughts/ideas to help you gather more information. Have you gone to a pediatric psychologist? Have they done a CT scan? Not sure if that would reveal more than an MRI. What about contacting the American Medical Association and asking for a pediatrician who focuses on rare cases- try to get his/her opinion. Try a different opthamalogist. Try a different neurologist. Also, I would keep trying to help her cope w/ her episodes and asking her to describe other symptoms, triggers, body aches/pains, etc...

My 3.5 year old asks about death as well. Yes...it makes for some interesting convo.

I will keep you and your daughter in my prayers. Sounds like you're doing all the right things...keep at it and please let me know how things turn out.

Warmly,
Rachel

I have migraines where I see spots and it makes me feel really dizzy. They called it the aura effect when I first went to the hospital for them.They cause me to have panic attacks when I get them. I never get a headache just the blurry vision. I have to remember to drink a lot of water. I also have to make sure my blood sugar doesn't go too low. Especially If I have something that spikes the sugar way up then it drops way down. (Like a dounut or soda) Caffeine and too much cheese also cause them to come on. Lights really bother me when i get them too. Stress does make me get more of them and I also get more during my time of the month.I didn't start getting them untill I was in high school though.

To make them go away I have to drink a lot of water. I also take tylenol and lay down for a few minutes. A doctor told me to snack on Almonds throughout the day to keep the blood sugar stable. I'm not sure if it's the same for a 4 yr old? It does sound like it could be a migraine.She might be getting stressed out because she's affraid to have another one. That happened to me when I started getting them. I would get my self so worked up that I would cause another one. Now that I know how to controll them a little better it's not so bad, but I still do get them once in a while.

i hope you find some good answers and things to try to make her feel better. Good Luck.

I have migraines and this does not sound like migraines. I would ask for dye to be put into her blood stream and a MRI to look at how her blood stream is flowing. Also in the brain, I would ask for this. As these are getting worse as she gets older. That way we can truly see if there is anything missed. And to be honest be patient and keep trying different doctors. Look up doctor's in your area that specialize in certain behaviors that sound like what your child is going through. It's always better to get more doctors to look at her then one. As some doctors will due regular things and some doctors will put all they can think into what is going on. Good luck

It sounds like you are a good mom who is trying very hard to do what is best for your daughter. I think you've gotten a lot of good suggestions here. I think that you should take your daughter to a child psychologist & have her evaluated. If this is stress related the psychologist can teach your daughter coping strategies. If its something else he/she can help your daughter work through that. I think you should do this now, while you are also trying the other strategies given here.
Good luck.

while i'm pregnant with my first... and dont yet have children to speak of experiences... but your post makes me wonder. i've had problems all my life similar to what you describe in your daughter. leading from 2 problems, first of all i was born border lined iron anemic, and that has always given me problems with dizziness. it's random and doesnt matter if i'm standing or sitting, outside or in. i'm sure your doctors have probably already done those blood tests, but i would get a 2nd or 3rd because my anemia being border lined, means it sometimes shows in blood tests as normal and sometimes as barely below the level, but it effects me.

the other thing i might suggest, is anxiety disorder. i dont have the disorder, but i have anxiety problems, and an anxiety attack feels just like that to a lot of people. with me it's about stress, but with a lot of people they dont necessarily have stress to cause anxiety disorder. it's hard because it can be brought on for no reason, you may feel dizzy, overwhelmed, angry and or scared... and all you want to do is get away from where you are at the moment, and get somewhere that's comforting to you. i dont think that can be really diagnosed through many tests... but i'm not sure.

you might consider one option, if all else fails to give you a diagnosis. there's a heart monitor they can put on her for a 24 hour period and see how her heart beats throughout the day. that can give a good clue as to what's wrong. doctors often times dont want to do much in the way of tests for children, both for thinking the parent is over reacting, and for thinking the child is over stating it... but be persistant and emphasize how many tests to each doctor you go to.

both of what i suggested are slightly difficult to diagnose, more so anxiety disorder... so if nothing else fits, try that. if it's iron anemia, (i hate supplements cuz they slow down your body's natural abililty to process the mineral) but highten her intake of brocolli and red meats, it helps a lot. (if she was born with it or developed it younger, she may battle it all her life, as i do.. but it's nothing really bad either) if it's anxiety disorder then the best thing to do is teach her good ways to relax (though anxiety doesnt have to be brought on by stress... the attack is what you need to relax through. you need to learn, when you feel an attack coming, to take a breath, calm down, not panic... it's hard to learn that but with patient teaching you learn) there are medicines to help combat anxiety disorder too. though not all people need it if they learn to deal with it on their own.

what you mentioned about the mosquittos, sounds ackward that the allergist would deny it being an allergy... and i dont know if anti histimines (sp) are ok for children of her age, but look into it... because i have a friend in england, every time he comes here (i live in central america right now) for some reason the mosquittos here make him swell up like a balloon. my husband has a milder but similar problem with flees, and anti histimine aaaalways does the trick.

quick thought... since she seems to use her problems as a good drama to get out of things... kids sometimes are really good at acting and you cant always tell when they are. you may want to give her some sugar pills (with a doctors concent of course) and tell her they will help her get all better, that way you can see when she's getting real eppisodes, which will help in diagnosing her with more accuracy.

good luck

It sounds like your daughter may be having migraines. I'm a Chiropractor and I've treated many adults for migraines by doing trigger point therapy on the muscles of the neck and adjusting the upper back and neck. Please email if you want the name of a DC in your area, I would be glad to recommend someone, if I can. Also, keep doing the vertigo exercises with your daughter. Falling may have caused the joints in her neck to become misaligned (which is why the adjustments will help) but it can also damage her balance mechanisms. The exercises will help her brain recover the ability to control her balance again. There's no rule that says it is either migraines or vertigo- both may be occurring so two types of treatment may be what she needs. Best of luck, this sounds very stressful for you and your family.

Don't let the doctors tell you you are crazy i pushed for 3 yrs to find out why my daughter couldn't run or jump and her teeth were full of cavities.Finally we found out she has a parathyroid condition,not helping you any but i wished i had pushed hareder earlier for more tests.You are her mother and know her best you have every right to demand testshas she been examined by a pschologist and has her blood pressure been monitored she also should befittedwith a heart monitor to see what happens right before and right after it happens she would only have to wear it for a couple days.GOOD LUCK

Two of my 3 sisters have developed symptoms like these as teenagers (starting around age 12-14). Both were cardiactic issues. One is on medication and the other actually had to increase her sodium intake (i.e. eat more salty foods and load on the table salt). The issue of the second 'salty' sister was her blood pressure being too low. She is very active and athletic and eats very healthfully. This seems like it could easily happen to a little one who is very active by nature and who may eat very healthfully (fresh veggies, fruits, etc.) because as mother's we generally try to do feed them that way. I don't know if this will help but good luck and my prayers are with you to find an answer.

P.S. Please don't fear your child is regressing into autism as another mommy shared with her case. Autism is not something a child can grow out of. I'm not doubting that mommies troubles but am positive it was not autism effecting her son if he's 'getting better.' Good luck to all. Also, get second opinions...always. If you don't like or understand or trust what one doctor says...ask another. My old doctor was always VERY vague and never could seem to give me straight answers = switch or see another and maybe another point of view will be more clear.

S.,

I wish I had a diagnosis for you, but I don't. I do say keep pushing the doctors. Go for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th opinions. Aside from the "fake" episodes, this isn't normal. The fact that she seems to be melting down when they happen says to me that something real is going on - three year olds aren't that great of actors.

I know there is something called Muniere's Disease (sp?) that affects balance, but I don't know at what age it usually manifests.

An inner ear infection would cause those symptoms, but an ENT should have caught that.

Keep trolling the internet - tell your story to anyone and everyone who will listen. Someone out there can help her, it just might take some time to find that person.

Will keep you all in my prayers!

C.

I didn't read the other responses because I don't have time, but I wanted to give you a couple of options that are less 'scary'. She could possibly be dehydrated or have low blood sugar. Both of those can make you dizzy or even faint. This has been the case in my family. This sometimes causes dizziness, and other times causes full faints. With both of my older boys it was when they reached puberty age. My niece did have to see a cardiologist and she does have something wrong that requires her to take in twice the normal volume of fluids. So she has to take a medication to help her retain the water / fluids. Basically she was chronically dehydrated. She passed out for the first time when she was about 7ish.

In the case of vertigo, did the neurologist show you how to do the Epley Maneuver? It is a way to correct vertigo, at least for the short term. It is sometimes thought that vertigo is caused by crystals in the ear. They do this maneuver to dislodge the crystals. My sister and sister-in-law have both struggled with recurrent vertigo in the recent past (continuing to this day). My sister-in-law even had to stop working because her vertigo got so bad at one point. They both can do the Epley Maneuver on themselves, and even doing a somersault can sometimes help. :)

I know this is scary for you, and I hope you can figure out what it is soon. Chances are it is nothing too serious. You are doing all the right things by taking her to the appropriate specialists. Good luck with everything!