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Collapsing/Fainting
Edilith
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello H/A, long time lurker here who's hoping to have some advice on a health problem.
For the past 4 or so months I've been regularly collapsing; at the beginning it wasn't so frequent, but now I'm pretty much losing consciousness briefly every 2 days/every day. The only way to describe it would be that before collapsing I can feel my heart pounding, become lightheaded, breathless and shaky, and usually unless lying down I will then lose consciousness for a second or two. If it helps: I'm 18 and female, average weight, don't smoke or take any illegal substances, have cut out caffiene/alcohol, am fit and healthy otherwise and don't have any family history of anything like this. I am however in my last year of high school so I guess stress might be a contributing factor of some sort.
I have been to my doctor, who told me I had a heart murmur (mild systolic) but that it was probably nothing to worry about and did an in-surgery ECG to which he said I had a high heartrate. He sent me to the hospital where I had blood tests, blood pressure readings taken, more ECGs, and a variety of scans to check my heart out; all came back clear according to the hospital, and I've been told I'll be given a Holter monitor as an outpatient near the end of June. There doesn't seem to be any trigger or linking factor at all that I (or any doctor) can see between these collapsing episodes.
Aside from making sure that I don't make a habit of standing at the tops of stairwells or cliffs, is there anything I can do to help myself? Since the tests on my heart and its valves came back clear, is there any other kind of explanation for randomly collapsing? I've tried doing some research but all answers have usually been a heart problem. I will be going back to my doctor on the 9th of May, so any suggestions of questions to ask would be appreciated.
tl;dr: Randomly collapsing/losing consciousness pretty much every day now, but tests on my heart have come back clear so far. Looking for advice and suggestions of a cause or what to do.
For the past 4 or so months I've been regularly collapsing; at the beginning it wasn't so frequent, but now I'm pretty much losing consciousness briefly every 2 days/every day. The only way to describe it would be that before collapsing I can feel my heart pounding, become lightheaded, breathless and shaky, and usually unless lying down I will then lose consciousness for a second or two. If it helps: I'm 18 and female, average weight, don't smoke or take any illegal substances, have cut out caffiene/alcohol, am fit and healthy otherwise and don't have any family history of anything like this. I am however in my last year of high school so I guess stress might be a contributing factor of some sort.
I have been to my doctor, who told me I had a heart murmur (mild systolic) but that it was probably nothing to worry about and did an in-surgery ECG to which he said I had a high heartrate. He sent me to the hospital where I had blood tests, blood pressure readings taken, more ECGs, and a variety of scans to check my heart out; all came back clear according to the hospital, and I've been told I'll be given a Holter monitor as an outpatient near the end of June. There doesn't seem to be any trigger or linking factor at all that I (or any doctor) can see between these collapsing episodes.
Aside from making sure that I don't make a habit of standing at the tops of stairwells or cliffs, is there anything I can do to help myself? Since the tests on my heart and its valves came back clear, is there any other kind of explanation for randomly collapsing? I've tried doing some research but all answers have usually been a heart problem. I will be going back to my doctor on the 9th of May, so any suggestions of questions to ask would be appreciated.
tl;dr: Randomly collapsing/losing consciousness pretty much every day now, but tests on my heart have come back clear so far. Looking for advice and suggestions of a cause or what to do.
Edilith on
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Ive only got the medical science degree that comes with my dental degree, so im not qualified to tell you what to do, but palpitations can be;
A) Heart related
C) Both
Try and isolate the cause, are you generally highly strung? Ambitious, anxious, stressed personality? Do you worry a lot? Have you had sugar/high energy drinks before those episodes? The doc is your best answer though
Good luck
Thanatos: That's a pretty good idea, but really there is no related link.. they happen randomly, whether I'm exercising, sitting/lying down, have/haven't eaten, etc.
Adhoc: I'm a pretty laid back person so not really, but I guess I'm a bit of a worrier! And nope, sugar doesn't seem to affect it and I don't drink energy drinks at all.
CR: Aye, I have put learning to drive on hold for now (as well as doing things like swimming unsupervised). Thanks for being aware though.
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Whats the situation where you pass out?
Does everything kind of fade to white and your hearing go distant?
Its likely vasovagal syncope, essentially its a hyper-correction of blood pressure which results in cutting off circulation to the brain causing the loss of consciousness. it happens to healthy people which would explain why everything is checking out normal.
not much to be done but be aware of the triggers and know what signs you give off before you pass out so you can combat it.
For me it happens in extra stressfull situations. Used to happen when i was getting grilled in presentations, or with dealing with extra nervous energy about something, like the first session of my tattoo. i know when my fingers start to get tingley, the sweats come and my my hearing starts to buzz that i need to try to relax and fight it or make sure i am sitting /laying down.
it can also happen with rapid temperature shifts too. like getting out of a hot shower and running downstairs etc. but i don't get that.
As far as recovering from it. a quick hit of sugar helps to get blood glucose back up, drink some water and don't really move until you are comfortable.
I would also probably seek a second opinion if these episodes are ongoing as not knowing when you are going to faint is not something that you should have to live with. It is good that they have tested your heart function, as blood pressure drops between lying and standing are also often causes, but you probably should discuss the above possibility with your GP.
LewieP's Mummy: I definitely agree, I guess you just have to be aware of the dangers of simple situations like locking the door when showering. The best of luck to your daughter, I hope everything goes well for her and it gets sorted out.
mts: It happens in pretty much any situation (in solitude or with big crowds, sitting/standing/lying down or exercising, etc.) but what you describe sounds like it hit the nail on the head; my vision blanks out and my hearing isn't normal for a short period of time. Thank you very much indeed, I'll be looking into that.
purplebubbles: I do have some sort of warning signs but none which you describe, just the heart pounding and breathlessness/shakiness. Though now you mention it, my cousin does have a form of mild epilepsy, so I will make sure to bring this up when I visit my GP.
Thank you for all your replies, you guys have no idea what comforts you have given. And such speedy delivery of advice you folks give!
The reason I share this is because maybe there is some sort of 'trigger' for you. Have you tried totally changing your surroundings? Something like going to a friends house in another town and taking nothing but a few changes of clothes. If it doesn't work, at least you had a fun weekend with your friend and a break from school.
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thats vasovagal syncope. i have that same trigger. my suggestion is try not to personalize it. my problem comes when i think about it happening to me or someone i care about it. i mean i do microsurgury on mice and never havea problem, yet hear some gross accident stories think about it happening to me and on it comes
to the OP, there is likely some trigger in the events that caused it to happen, hell it cold be a crowd thing too. my wife gets freaked out in large crowds, something that easily could cause BP to rise. If the more you read up on it sounds like what you are going though, it is managable. I have become much better in dealing with the episodes. the last big one i had, i was giving a talk , passed out and slammed my head on a big conference table, that one sucked. i also passed out on my tattooist as he was putting the stencil on my back, ended up sitting in his lap. if its a anxiety thing you could also try a therapist, i tried that thought the whole concept was stupid and tried fixing it some other way that would work for me.
These episodes sound very similar to the panic attacks I had before I got on anti-anxiety medication. I never passed out from a panic attack, but I felt like I was going to on several occasions. You describe yourself as a bit of a worrier, which is another thing we have in common. Before I got in therapy and on medication I didn't realize just how much time I spent worrying.
You should definitely ask your doctor if this could be related to anxiety or panic attacks, especially if he can't find anything physically wrong with you.
I suffer from this. I also tend to have low-ish blood pressure.
Basically, if I'm exhausted, haven't been eating right, or have overstressed my body, out of nowhere I'll get this warm feeling in my legs and this cold clammy feeling in my face and if I don't go lay down I'll pass out. I'll also get the pounding heart and dizzy feeling immediately beforehand. (Fun story: it once happened to me while driving down Highway 101 in San Jose. I woke up with my passenger trying to maneuver the car into the shoulder in a panic. Yeah, good times.)
Doing "illegal substances" will often trigger them, but I've been getting them long before I started experimenting with that sort of thing. Mine started during my junior year of high school... it often expresses in young healthy males (it's a little less common in females) around late teens or early 20s. Some people think it's a genetic evolutionary throwback to the "play dead" response that some animals have when faced by a predator, but nobody knows for sure.
The only thing you can do is go through all the diagnostics, follow through with the EKGs/EEGs/etc; get your blood work done, get your blood sugar tested, if the docs want you to get an MRI (and your insurance will pay for it), get that done, too. Since you're female, anemia shouldn't be ruled out, especially if your periods are particularly heavy. Chances are, though, everything will turn out normal and it will just be vasovagal syncope, and there's nothing you can do about it except take care of yourself and avoid the triggers.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I had that problem once and it sucked balls. I had to kill my neighbor to get the doll back. This was hard because he was holding the crotch of the doll over a candle....
Have you tried a second opinion?
I know that prospect sucks because after being in the hospital the bills can add up. (i was there also for heart issues)
I would also check into the repuitation of the hospital. I live across the street from a hospital (literally, i park in their lot) and if i were popping a heart attack or some other emergency i would find a way to drive 20 min to providence...cause going to this hospital is a death wish.
I agree with Thanatos; my father did something similar with the headaches he was getting and it helped his diagnosis.
The thing is, there may be a connection that you haven't seen yet. If you keep track, over time your doc might be able to figure something out that you're not noticing. Of course, they could be completely random, and that would suck.
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My brother had a few of these spells, and it turns he had mild brain swelling, some sort of infection. He didn't get headaches or migraines either, which is typically associated with this.
How do you feel after? Nausea? Dry-mouth? Are you lucid right away, or are things kind of hazy and woozy?
Again, this is not to scare you, but definitely know what tests they are doing, and demand them if they haven't done certain tests.
I have the same thing. For me it is usually triggered by injury. Considering how many times I hurt myself as a kind I'm amazed it didn't happen more. The first time it did was when I skinned my elbow lightly while playing basketball in the 6th grade. I've had it happen after giving blood, breaking my wrists, and once, after getting a cast removed. Everything sounds far away, I get cold, and need to lie down.
Dalboz: I don't recall exactly, but I'm pretty sure the blood tests included counts, liver and kidney function, proteins and some other things which elude my memory. A couple months ago I had some other blood tests done for a different reason, and those were all clear too, so I trust that I'm fine in that area.
Sarcastro: No nausea or dry-mouth, nope, and at times I am lucid right after collapsing, while at other times I'll continue to be a bit dizzy after falling. Hopefully the EEG will rule things out though.
I honestly didn't expect so many replies while making this thread, let alone did I expect so many people with similar problems o.o It's very much appreciated guys!
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