Question from Covina, California, USA:

On Sunday at 10:30 a.m., my 15-year-old, athletic, healthy 148 pound son told me in church that he was was having sharp stomach pains. He hadn’t eaten and he felt he was going to throw up. He was very hot. He then started to hunch over. I helped him out to the lobby when his legs gave out. With help we got him outside and helped him into a standing position. His eyes and mouth were open and he was not responding at all. He was gone for 3 or 4 minutes.

I thought I had recognized what was going on from another friend who has diabetes. I gave him instant lemonade (the only sugar source that was there) and within 30 second he began blinking. He was confused but seemed okay in a couple of minutes. He said he couldn’t see but he could hear and he thought he was answering me. He said before he blacked out he had an urge to BM and throw up at the same time.

I grabbed a piece of bread and ham, which he ate on the way to the hospital. In the ER, he had normal blood sugar levels, normal blood tests, normal X-ray of chest and head, normal CT scan and normal EKG. They said the only abnormality was 20 percent heart rate differential in sitting versus laying down, so they started IG liquids for possible dehydration.

We followed up with our GP and he said no way was it diabetes or hypoglycemia because of his age and health. He continues to not feel well and I am very concerned. Please let me know what you think.