collapsing frequently

[rainy days are back]

it's really difficult to explain and has been bothering me for months. a few months ago i was leaving a room to go to my room. i paused for a second to catch something on tv and i just collapsed. i didn't black out or anything like that but a bit prior to that first episode, whenever i would stand up it was sort of like a head rush. well i don't really know how to describe it. ugh. well anyways, it worried me but since i was ok i shrugged it off. however all that following week whenever i was walking or standing i would sometimes just completely collapse. right before i would i'd just start feeling so weird like i was just going to drop at any second. my arms and my head and legs would feel really heavy and it sometimes happened when i was sitting too. i went to the doctor and they blamed it on allergies and gave me medicine which i took but it didn't help at all. my mom said it was anxiety but all i'd be doing is walking into the room or getting up to get a drink of water. at one point i fell back in my seat during choir practice. for awhile everything sort of cooled down but came back even worse. now when i stand up it's like my vision is going black and i sometimes fall back down. i start to feel really tired and it's like i can't keep my eyes open and i'll just space out and my hand or leg will jerk all of a sudden and i'm alert again. sometimes after i collapse i get really shaky and have to lay down until i can sit still. i occasionally get heart palpitations but i'm assuming it's nothing. not a day goes by with out feeling lightheaded or falling. i need opinions i feel like i'm going crazy has anybody heard of anything like this before?

 

[Peri]

Do you have a fast heartbeat? There is a condition called Supra-ventricular tachycardia that can cause these collapses. I know someone who has been diagnosed with this and she has the same sort of experiences. See if you can get an ECG, that will tell you one way or the other. BTW, it is not life-threatening. Sera.

 

[SwAnToN_bOmB]

no i've never noticed my heart racing whenever i collapse or feel this way but i will definitely look into it. thank you so much because this is really frustrating i feel like my mom isn't really taking this seriously and it's truly bothering me.

 

[LeadaLegacy]

Either that or your blood pressue is dropping so much when you stand up that you are blacking out. As Serap said it's not life theatening, but you should get it checked out just to find out what is going on. If your Mom won't take you-go on your own.

 

[kins_chan]

The way you are describing the collapsing is the same way that I am feeling recently. when I was younger (grade school) I used to faint and actually black out. During high school it happened to me again but did not black out. I went to the doctor and had an EEG, EKG, and pretty much any other test that started with and "E". I also had went to a cardiologist. All the test that were given came back normal. Eventually it faded. It happened about 3 years ago and thought it was just another phase and went to the doctor and still everything was fine, but I did find out I was pregnant. Again it all faded away. Now I am going through my fourth episode of collapsing and I am not pregnant this time. I went to the dr and fell there, so I was sent to the ER. this time I had a cat scan along with an EKG, blood test, and a UA. Everything is still normal. I do not understand it and am annoyed that no one else feels the same way, so if you have any insight on what they did with you that could help me please let me know. This is the only time I have ever heard of anyone having the same symptoms as me.

 

[chelschubz]

hey! I'm really sorry that you are experiencing this as well but I have to admit it's nice to hear that I'm not alone in all of this. Update on my falling problem: well I've had all the tests you said plus MRI, and chest x-ray. All of my tests have come back normal as well. When I went to a neurologist I thought I might actually get an answer but even the Ambulatory EEG came back clean. I started to look into different imbalances in my blood it could possibly be, like maybe hypokalemia (low potassium) or hyperkalemia (high) but the doctor not only acted offended when I mentioned it but basicly insinuated that I was faking it or it was all in my head. And with that I haven't gone back to the doctor since and that was in mid February. I just couldn't keep putting myself through all of those tests and stuff and what he said really upset me. All of this time I felt like I was crazy and had even begun to doubt myself and that last doctor's visit put me in a bit of a depression. Like I've said I'm still experiencing the symptoms but I guess until something else happens that is less vague than what's going on now, I won't be going back to the doctor. I wasn't getting answers anyway and this whole thing has really changed me. The idea of going to the doctor actually worries me now. Plus I'm tired of putting my life on pause for something that truly could be all in my head. All I know is it's worse when I'm tired or sleep deprived and I'm tired ALL the time, and worse when I'm stressed out. For a while I thought it could be an inner ear disorder but the doctor shook that off too. I've never been so dissapointed with doctors in general. I feel like I won't ever get help. Maybe when I'm out of college I'll pursue answers again. I'm sorry if this is terribly disappointing because as I type this I am disappointed too. I've let myself down. Wow this is horribly depressing haha Please keep me updated though on how things work out for you! Maybe that will encourage me to keep going :/ I just don't feel like I have any fight in me left. ugh I sound so old lol

Here are some of the different things the doctors thought it could be:

Seizures (drop attack seizures (I can't remember the official name of them but they can go by this))
Narcolepsy (more specifically attacks of cataplexy)
Heart (they never really were specific on what they thought it could be and it took forever for me to get them to understand that I wasn't actually losing consciousness)
Hypoglycemia (at one point I did go to the ER and they tested my blood, told me my sugar was low and I was dehydrated)
Myasthenia gravis

Overall changes since the symptoms first started:

for a bit I was getting random spells of nausea that would come and go quickly

feeling as though I was dreaming or things weren't really happening which is now more or less always present, but at times intense and that's when I start falling a lot more

sometimes I feel like the floor is bouncing up and down when I'm walking

and you know after you've run a lot and you feel drained and zapped of all energy? at times it's like that.


I know, it's a loooong post but I really want to be as helpful as I can. I pray you get answers and that one day I might too