Question: My 15 year old son, who is generally a healthy teen, has occasional bouts of faintness, accompanied by shivery kind of feelings. He has these at different times of the day, and it has happened today and yesterday. The faintness is accompanied by a feeling of light headedness or dizziness although he says it's not really 'physical' in that he doesn't feel like he's going to fall over but more that his 'head feels like it's detached from my body'. He also experiences a sensation of not being able to concentrate on more than one thing at the same time, like his 'brain can't compute all the data' from different sources. He's a bright intelligent boy and is quite active. He seems to be having these episodes, which can last for up to a couple of hours or more, more frequently in the last month or so. Could this be stress related, anxiety, or is there a physical reason for his feeling like this? I should add that when he feels like this he looks paler and almost feels clammy, I checked his BP today and it was 124/74, pulse 80. He had eaten throughout the day and still felt this way even after his evening dinner. He also says he can't get his eyes to focus well (especially when he's looking at different views right after each other, like his brain can't process the changing images quickly enough) and he can't swing his head around too quickly or else he feels it will start off a headache.

Thank you for your reply. Two or three points you mentioned had crossed my mind as possibilities as well (the low hemoglobin, the hypothyroidism or hormonal disturbances). Since my first writing to you he has tried to sleep (night time) but woke up with a bad headache; he was planning to join a week-long youth activity but has decided to stay home as he's not feeling so sure of what's going on with himself now. I will arrange to have him seen by his GP in the coming week and ask for a full check-up of his physical health parameters. Your answer has been very helpful to give me some reassurance as well as thoughts on what could be possibly the source of his recurring physical ailments. Thank you.