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‘I am NOT a drunk’: Teenage girl has rare fainting condition which means she collapses after 30 minutes of standing

By EMMA INNES

PUBLISHED: 04:36 EST, 7 May 2014 UPDATED: 07:34 EST, 7 May 2014

  • Paige Bartram, from Leeds, has Postural Tachycardia Syndrome
  • This causes her nervous system to respond abnormally to standing up
  • She says that when she passes out in public people assume she’s drunk
  • On one occasion she was left unconscious in the street for 35 minutes
  • She says she has now learned to manage her condition

A teenager with a rare condition which causes her to faint says she is sick of being accused of drunkenness when she passes out in public.

Paige Bartram, 17, suffers from a rare syndrome known as Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) which causes her to faint if she stands up for longer than 30 minutes at a time.

But, she says people often walk past her when she has fainted and assume she is a drunken teenager. 

Paige Bartram, 17, has a rare condition which causes her to faint if she stands up for more than 30 minutes.

On one occasion, Paige, from Leeds, even had to be rushed to hospital after being left unconscious for more than half an hour before anyone came to her rescue.

She said: ‘My condition has taught me that the public can be very naive.

‘If I faint in public people just ignore me because they think I’m drunk – I was once left in town in the middle of winter for about half an hour.

‘Even paramedics have told me that people are more likely to think I’m wasted because I’m a teenage girl.

‘It makes me very cautious if I go out alone, and sometimes I’ll just have to sit on the floor for a few minutes if I think I’m going to faint.

‘It can be quite annoying – the fact that people jump to the conclusion that I must be some kind of alcoholic.

Paige says that when she faints in public people tend to assume she is drunk. Once she had to be taken to hospital (pictured) after being left unconscious in the street in winter for 35 minutes before anyone helped her

On another occasion (pictured) Paige had to be taken to hospital after fainting and falling down some stairs

‘Sometimes it can be hard, but I always try to remain positive.’

Paige is currently on medication to try and control her condition, but until a suitable treatment is found she has to learn to live with her symptoms.

She said: ‘If I go out and about, I just have to make sure I take time to sit down and have a rest – if I don’t, I’ll just collapse.

‘I’m 6ft tall, so when I do faint I can really hurt myself on the way down, so I have to be really careful.

WHAT IS POSTURAL TACHYCARDIA SYNDROME?

PoTS is an abnormal response by the nervous system to standing up.

It causes an increase in heart rate and altered blood supply to the brain.

This causes dizziness, fainting, tiredness and palpitations.

Other symptoms of PoTS include shakiness, shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches and stomach problems.

Some patients find the condition very disabling while others have mild symptoms and get better without any treatment.

The condition can be triggered by an illness, pregnancy, trauma and immunisations.

It can also occur in teenagers who experience a sudden growth spurt.

In some cases the condition results from another illness such as diabetes, MS or Lyme disease.

‘Sometimes I will just sit on the floor if there isn’t a chair around – although I don’t really like to as I can get pretty funny looks.

‘If I don’t take the time to sit down I’ll just faint and that’s when it can be very difficult.

‘I wear a medical bracelet but people tend to just leave me.’

While Paige is always careful about condition, she has had some serious accidents in the past.

She said: ‘I was once at the top of the stairs and I fainted.

‘I fell all the way down and had to be rushed to hospital as they suspected I’d fractured my neck.

‘Although it was scary it taught me to take the condition seriously and be very careful.

‘Before, I tried to beat it, but it taught me that I need to learn to live with it.’

Paige first began fainting five years ago at school.

She said: ‘It started when I was about 12 years old, and I just kept fainting every time I stood up.

‘It soon became everyday life, but I knew it wasn’t normal so I went to the doctors.

‘At first they had no idea what it was and my symptoms were just dismissed.

‘By the time I was 16 they started to suggest that it was all psychological and I was putting it on and doing it for attention.

‘They were asking me if I got on with my mum, if I was stressed or there were any other problems in my life – it was very frustrating.

‘I didn’t want to see a psychologist so eventually I did some research myself and came across a charity called STARS – they had loads of information about PoTS and I realised that must be what I had.

‘I asked my doctors if they could refer me to a PoTS clinic in Sheffield – that’s where I finally got an official diagnosis last November.

Paige has a condition which means her nervous system responds abnormally to standing up. She is pictured wearing a jacket made for her by her father

‘It was a relief to know that I’d been right along, but quite scary to discover that I had a medical condition.’

PoTS is an abnormal response by the nervous system to standing up.

It causes an increase in the heart rate and altered blood supply to the brain.

This causes dizziness, fainting, tiredness and palpitations.

Other symptoms can include shakiness, shortness of breath, chest pain and headaches.

Paige says that over time she has learned to manage her condition by sitting down regularly

Now, Paige does her best to live her life, despite her unusual condition.

She said: ‘I don’t get really upset about my condition because there’s nothing I can do about it.

‘I try to live my life as normal, I just have to have more breaks than other people.

‘I’m lucky to have an incredible family and boyfriend who always look out for me and keep my spirits up.

‘I just want to tell my story so more people know about this.’

Trudie Lobban MBE, Founder and CEO of STARS, said: ‘This case is a classic example of how hugely debilitating PoTS can be.

‘Common symptoms include a racing heart on standing up, palpitations, fainting, dizziness, chest pain and weakness.

‘There is a significant lack of awareness about PoTS among both the public and the medical profession.

‘We often find the disorder is under-recognised by physicians, which can impact on the patient’s quality of life through misdiagnosis or being informed symptoms are “all in their head”.

‘As a consequence, historically many patients with PoTS have been given a diagnosis of ME, anxiety or panic attacks.

‘Despite the lack of awareness, the disorder is quite common. In young women, some estimates put the number of people with the condition higher than one in 100.

‘At STARS our main aim is to raise awareness of PoTS and other disorders which cause unexplained loss of consciousness.

‘Our Heart Rhythm Week, from 2 – 8 June 2014 is our opportunity to focus on a broad range of disorders, like PoTS, which affect a person’s heart rhythm and can cause debilitating symptoms like Paige’s.’

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