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Child Has Increased Heart Beat, Pain In Chest, Stomach Sickness, Pale. Should I Be Concerned?
Question: My 8 year old son came out half an hour after going to bed saying his heart was beating extremly hard and was hurting. I could feel it pounding by gently touching his chest. He said he felt sick in the stomach and was very pale. It lasted about 10 minutes and then went off to sleep. Should i be concerned as he had not been running around for at least a couple of hours.
Dear friend, thanks for posting your query.
Sudden pounding heartbeat in sleep could be due to sudden sympathetic over activity and is common in children such as during dreams.
Did you ask or feel he had a dream / scary scene in sleep?
Is his tummy distended? Gassy?
Bowel upsets also can be disturbing and they get racing heart if they get some colicky pain.
I do not think it immediately worrisome, if he was alright soon.
Reading about his food habits, I think you should look for any tummy upsets etc first. Dreams come next.
Any fever?
Just be watchful and do not worry.
Last thing to cause it would be cardiac arrhythmia (rhythm disorder with fast rates).
Please revert if he gets another/ repeated episodes.
Try regularising his food fads with the help of a clinical nutritionist and a child psychologist, if you yourself cannot.
I would be glad to answer any more queries.
If you have no follow up questions (or after I have answered them), may I request you to rate this answer and write a review here before you log out satisfied.
Thanks for visiting HCM!
Good Luck!
Sudden pounding heartbeat in sleep could be due to sudden sympathetic over activity and is common in children such as during dreams.
Did you ask or feel he had a dream / scary scene in sleep?
Is his tummy distended? Gassy?
Bowel upsets also can be disturbing and they get racing heart if they get some colicky pain.
I do not think it immediately worrisome, if he was alright soon.
Reading about his food habits, I think you should look for any tummy upsets etc first. Dreams come next.
Any fever?
Just be watchful and do not worry.
Last thing to cause it would be cardiac arrhythmia (rhythm disorder with fast rates).
Please revert if he gets another/ repeated episodes.
Try regularising his food fads with the help of a clinical nutritionist and a child psychologist, if you yourself cannot.
I would be glad to answer any more queries.
If you have no follow up questions (or after I have answered them), may I request you to rate this answer and write a review here before you log out satisfied.
Thanks for visiting HCM!
Good Luck!
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
Answered by
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