Anyone ever faint before?

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

You seem mighty certain. How was the testing process?

Hey, a gentleman never etcetera etcetera etcetera.

BlackSheep wrote:

Was your fading to black almost pixellated-style of fading?

It sort of tunneled while fading.
I also had a similar experience as Fly did. In biology class we were watching some medical video, and there was a story about a woman who got her hair stuck in a machine and it ripped her scalp right off. I didn't faint, but I did have to stop watching the video, luckily it was a goof-off day towards the end of the year, so there were other things to do. At that point I knew that I knew the difference between real gore and fake gore, and that I couldn't handle the former. I can handle my blood fine, but get queasy around other people's blood/wounds. I had no problem when I sliced off a chuck of the side of my finger with a potato peeler, and I can "operate" on my own ingrown toenails (even though I know that I really shouldn't, since it usually makes things worse) and be fine, but I could never be a doctor/surgeon/EMT.

Dr_Awkward wrote:

I fainted once, apparently because of that locked knees thing. While in the Air Force I was standing in formation one warm day and got similar symptoms. Vision tunneling to black, etc. I fought it off once and fell backwards into the guy behind me the second time. I recovered instantly and felt fine, if a little embarrassed.

I did pretty much the same, although I believe it was more due to the hot weather, forced march in full combat gear and dehydration from copious amounts of tequila the weekend before rather than locked knees.

Rat Boy wrote:

I've gotten close a couple times due to being in extreme heat

I just wanted to draw everyone's attention to this, in case anyone missed it the first time. It's only fair to share. Especially when it comes to striking mental images.

Alien Love Gardener wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

I've gotten close a couple times due to being in extreme heat

I just wanted to draw everyone's attention to this, in case anyone missed it the first time. It's only fair to share. Especially when it comes to striking mental images.

What Rat Boy doesn't want you to know is that it was the heat forming between Certis and Elysium, focused into the "Pillow of Heterosexuality."

ColdForged wrote:

Sounds like you came close, man. I'd take it real easy for a while.

I agree, when that feeling comes over you sit or lie down. Try not to be on public transport or carrying anything.

I've fainted once and the warning signs are very like what you describe Sinatar.

Arise!

I hate my body. The frequency of my little episodes have increased over time. Over Christmas break I got pneumonia and passed out twice in 15 minutes on the first day of it. They always happen at night, and now they seem to happen any time I'm sick, and even once with a very high-stress event (my daughter getting sick in the middle of the night and me thinking I needed to get her to the hospital ASAP... that was a great night, especially for my wife).

My doctor had written it off as just ordinary crap, but with the increasing frequency and after once when sick I came to on the floor of the bathroom in the middle of the night laying in vomit, I had to get to the bottom of it. Off we go to the cardiologist.

I had a tilt table test yesterday which is a medieval torture device used to make people with a certain condition pass out. Basically, you are strapped to a table, have BP cuffs and EKG attached, then are hoisted up to about a 70 degree angle which, apparently, is just the right angle to make those susceptible depart consciousness over time. I stood there for 20 minutes with a nurse and doctor watching me and noting readings without too much duress, though toward the end I had a little period of light-headedness that leveled off. Then they got serious: nitroglycerin under the tongue. This is to simulate the effects of stress and the body being compromised since that's the only time I have problems. I passed out before the nitro pill had dissolved fully. Test positive.

So, that apparently means I have neurocardiogenic syncope otherwise known as vasovagal syncope. Officially. Apparently, because I exercise my typical blood pressure is fairly low. Coupled with a vagus nerve that is wired somehow incorrectly, I have very little margin between good low BP and "I'm going to lie down now" bad low BP. The good thing is that, according to the cardiologist, it's not a fatal condition, though my Goddamned heart stopped for 28 seconds. That, admittedly, freaks me out. My wife burst into tears when she heard. The doctor again reiterated that it will always get back going. The f*ck? You say so, it's still freaky.

Take away is that I have to raise my BP. Increase fluid intake to 80 to 100 ounces a day. Increase SALT intake (BACON!) by like 4 or 5 grams a day. This is supposed to help. I guess we'll see. The worst news, to me, is that my genes have been passed on to my daughter who has similar issues (doctor said "thanks, dad"), though there's a possibility that she'll outgrow it. I guess it's bacon for the whole family.

Just had to vent/share.

The fluid part is vital. Pop/Soda doesnt count either.

Sorry to hear about your condition.

f*ck you, about your treatment; from the guy who has high cholesterol and has to eat no bacon, no cheese, no alcohol....

Not serious up there (hope it's worth a chuckle).

A serious condition is what it is. I guess you take common illnesses with a little more caution.
Best of luck, and stay in such good shape that your doctor tells you to do the things the rest of us love. Nice work.

ranalin wrote:

The fluid part is vital. Pop/Soda doesnt count either.

I've already upped the bourbon intake, so I think I'm doing it right.

Ghostship wrote:

Sorry to hear about your condition.

f*ck you, about your treatment; from the guy who has high cholesterol and has to eat no bacon, no cheese, no alcohol....

Not serious up there (hope it's worth a chuckle).

A serious condition is what it is. I guess you take common illnesses with a little more caution.
Best of luck, and stay in such good shape that your doctor tells you to do the things the rest of us love. Nice work.

Yes, definitely good for a chuckle. Thanks bud.

Ouch, that sucks. Yellek suffers from a mild form of that, or something very similar to it. Every time she flies on a plane she has to worry about passing out.

Edit: Oh, haha, she already mentioned it on page 1.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Ouch, that sucks. Yellek suffers from a mild form of that, or something very similar to it. Every time she flies on a plane she has to worry about passing out.

Edit: Oh, haha, she already mentioned it on page 1.

You are indeed the filthiest of skimmers.

Hey, not my fault he necroed a thousand year-old thread.

I've only fainted once, after I impaled my foot pretty badly. I could feel it coming, and I knew what it was, from hearing my wife tell me her fainting stories, so I was able to get onto a soft surface under my own power, before I collapsed.

Still, pretty frightening, and the weird nausea/stomach anxiety from the sudden blood pressure drop is something I've never felt under other circumstances.

Tanglebones wrote:

I've only fainted once, after I impaled my foot pretty badly. I could feel it coming, and I knew what it was, from hearing my wife tell me her fainting stories, so I was able to get onto a soft surface under my own power, before I collapsed.

Still, pretty frightening, and the weird nausea/stomach anxiety from the sudden blood pressure drop is something I've never felt under other circumstances.

When I was a kid, I knew a farmer boy that had a pitchfork head pop up off the pole and sail down to impale his foot. Was that you?

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

I've only fainted once, after I impaled my foot pretty badly. I could feel it coming, and I knew what it was, from hearing my wife tell me her fainting stories, so I was able to get onto a soft surface under my own power, before I collapsed.

Still, pretty frightening, and the weird nausea/stomach anxiety from the sudden blood pressure drop is something I've never felt under other circumstances.

When I was a kid, I knew a farmer boy that had a pitchfork head pop up off the pole and sail down to impale his foot. Was that you?

Nope. I slipped across the floor and crashed into a wire mesh shoerack; the skid ceased when the shoerack and I both hit the wall, with one of its ends tearing loose and impaling my big toe.

So, that apparently means I have neurocardiogenic syncope otherwise known as vasovagal syncope

Vasovagal Syncope? I love that song mang!

But seriously, your medicine is f*cking BACON? Sounds like you've made it, to me u_u

Hey, just curious, but what kind of exercise do you do/how long/how frequent? What's your average heartbeat resting rate ? (Is that the right translation?)

Mex wrote:

But seriously, your medicine is f*cking BACON? Sounds like you've made it, to me u_u

Can't argue.

Hey, just curious, but what kind of exercise do you do/how long/how frequent? What's your average heartbeat resting rate ? (Is that the right translation?)

Nothing extreme. Run 3/week (anywhere from 3 to 13 miles these days), weights/body weight workouts 3/week. Resting HR around 50. I don't think it's so much that I'm in awesome shape, it's the combination of being in not terrible shape and having a screwed up vagus nerve response that's the problem. The two together work against me.

ColdForged wrote:

Run 3/week (anywhere from 3 to 13 miles these days), weights/body weight workouts 3/week. Resting HR around 50. I don't think it's so much that I'm in awesome shape, it's the combination of being in not terrible shape and having a screwed up vagus nerve response that's the problem. The two together work against me.

My resting heart rate is around there as well, even when I'm not exercising. It's just a quirk of biology I suppose. I did pass out once when I was a kid shortly before being run over by a toboggan, so I'm inclined a similar direction though not nearly to the same degree. As an adult I've gotten close a number of times but generally from heat/dehydration. Then again, I love bacon so maybe I'm self-medicating

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Ouch, that sucks. Yellek suffers from a mild form of that, or something very similar to it. Every time she flies on a plane she has to worry about passing out.

Edit: Oh, haha, she already mentioned it on page 1.

Yep, vasovagal response or syncope. Had it all my life, officially found out at 19. Not fun at all. I wouldn't say mine is mild per se, but is worse the better shape I'm in. So, yeah, self-medicated by being overweight.

I've had a few loss-of-conciousness episodes. I can remember one was just getting up off the couch to change the channel on the TV... fade-to-black, and I'pushed the VCR off the top of the TV (1988?-ish, mid teens).

Before that, I nearly collapsed after getting the tetanus booster shot in grade 7... I don't like needles, big whoop, wanna fightaboutit?

More recently, on a sleigh-ride, one of the runners collapsed pinning an older woman's leg between the sleigh and a tree. The horses just kept on pulling, tearing her leg up really bad (from the knee down). I remember pulling my scarf off and tying it off just above her knee. Man there was a lot of blood. Luckily there was an ex-army field medic on the ride with us. So I got to get up, walk 5m away, and had a nice long sit-down in the snow-bank while we waited for the med-evac. Didn't quite make to full-on blackout, but pretty close.

And very recently, while in the hospital for my vasectomy (yeah, I went to the hospital for it, the Dr wouldn't appreciate me collapsing on top of him while he worked), did I mention that I really don't like needles...? The nurse got the IV in, but just couldn't get the flow into the vein, TALKING ABOUT IT THE WHOLE TIME SHE'S JIGGLING IT AROUND IN MY HAND. (Insert Quantum Leap "Oh boy") And it's fade to black, I still hear them, and feel my wife's hand over my face, feeling for my breathing. When I "came to" I had unbelievable cramping in my hands and feet; seriously contorted, and painful. I had her laughing pretty hard as I was goofing around with my twisted, useless hands. 30 minutes later, the new nurse jabbed in the IV nice and fast, no time to think about it... perfect.

Biology class in high school (circulatory system).....
First Aid course, setting broken bones..........

Donkey - "Is that blood?", thump....

I've also had a few:

The first time, I had finished practicing soccer (about 3 hours) and was dehydrated. At the time, I was 17 and I grabbed a diet coke and started drinking. I went down hard.

The second time, I was 18 and stuck my hand into a paper shredder at putt-putt while trying to shred tickets and not paying attention. The rollers that preceeded the shredder caught my fingers and knocked me out cold.

The last time was the weirdest, but a doorknob struck the fleshy part of my hand between my thumb and index finger -- hard. I sat down, saw black spots and inexplicably got up to go to the restroom. I made it to the door and woke up with a large wall mounted sink lying next to me on the floor and the water pumping out of the wall. I apparently head butted the sink on the way down to the ground.

Basically, the blood pressure drops and too much blood pools into the lower extremities and your body resets itself. Pretty neat trick. I too, have low blood pressure and a low pulse rate. My usual resting pulse rate falls anywhere between 50-60, which is slightly bradycardic with a blood pressure, that on a good day, will top out at the norm.

ColdForged wrote:

Take away is that I have to raise my BP. Increase fluid intake to 80 to 100 ounces a day. Increase SALT intake (BACON!) by like 4 or 5 grams a day. This is supposed to help. I guess we'll see. The worst news, to me, is that my genes have been passed on to my daughter who has similar issues (doctor said "thanks, dad"), though there's a possibility that she'll outgrow it. I guess it's bacon for the whole family.

I recommend developing a taste for ammonium chloride, better known as salty liquorice! Tastes great (once you get used to it) and raises your blood pressure.

I think I have fainted on 9 occasions in my life. And by fainting, I don't mean passing out. Then I'd have to include the two times I have drowned and the numerous times I have been choked out.

On three different occasions, I fainted after over exhaustion. Once was at a high school football practice in which I forgot to eat lunch and forgot to bring a tee shirt to wear under my pads. That was more passing out due to hypothermia, but I guess it counts. Another was passing out after hitting the squats too hard. And a third was after a 5 hour mountain bike ride in the middle of August. Needless to say, I think I am mostly over that kind of stupidity.

Four times were due to pain. I broke my ankle badly on a 30 foot whipper in Western Washington. It took 2 hours to hike back to the car on it and another half hour of driving to get to the hospital (I was the only one who could drive stick). I managed to pass out twice on that trip. The other two times had to do with appendicitis in a foreign country. Fun times..

And twice had to do with dehydration. Once was at the air show at Andrews. It was like 110 degrees on the tarmac and I managed to forget I was supposed to stay hydrated. The other was training for a marathon in which we just couldn't find the water stops.

Hasn't happened in a little while though, so I guess I must have grown out of it.