passing out for no reason

[mamma2b]

Orthostatic hypotension sounds like a possible culprit. Occasionally, when I've stood up from sitting or lying down, I temporarily feel dizzy/lightheaded and can't see for a moment. It's not often, but has been going on as long as I can remember. My sister experiences the same thing from time to time. I've basically written it off as it doesn't happen very often and only lasts a few seconds, but perhaps it is related.

The wiki - pedia article says that it is associated with a number of diseases. Is it possible to have orthostatic hypotension on its own, or is it likely I have one of the diseases it is associated with? Also, it says that this condition rarely leads to syncope unless the patient has an unrelated cardiac problem. The doctors found no problems with my heart. The article also says it can be a side-effect of anti-depressants. Is St. John's Wort considered an anti-depressant?

My blood pressure was completely normal when they took it in the ambulance. I suppose it could have been much lower then went back to normal.

To feelbad, when you found your son, was he pale and non-responsive? My parents said I lost all the color out of my face and that I didn't respond to their questions right away. Maybe it's the same situation. I didn't actually go straight to the bathroom. First, I walked to the kitchen, got a cup, poured some salt in it, went to the bathroom, ran the water at the sink, then I kind of pressed on my neck to feel if my glands were swollen since my throat hurt so much. Then I felt dizzy and sat down on the floor, then I passed out. I didn't really realize what happened, so I stood up and went to the bathroom, then when I stood up again, I passed out and fell down. So I'm not sure if the "just got out of bed" thing applies. It would sure make me feel better if that's the answer though. It must have been scary to find your son like that. I know it scared the hell out of my parents, scared the hell out of me too.

The doctor did a vertigo test on me at the hospital by sitting me up in bed, then pushing me down, turning my head from side to side. Probably not the same thing as a tilt test. I will see if they can do one of those on me next time I see a doctor. One thing that does concern me is that nobody at the hospital mentioned orthostatic hypotension as a possibility even though you all seemed to pick up on it right away. What does that say? Anyway, thanks to everyone for helping me get to the bottom of this.

 

[icrashalot]

St John's Wort is not considered an antidepressant, though it's often advertised as such, the possible side effects include sensitivity to sunlight, anxiety, dry mouth, dizziness, stomach ache, fatigue and headache. As far as I know, it would not cause a drop in blood pressure.


Fainting from a drop in blood pressure when sick and tired is not that uncommon. It isn't considered a disease or disorder, it just happens. ER personnel aren't going to spook you with some big scary sounding name if they think it's just a one-off thing. Orthostatic hypotension is a broad term, a symptom of many different disorders, including simple physical reasons for fainting.

"Parade faint" is another type of OH, where folks who've stood in one place too long, like a parade, suddenly get a drop in BP and pass out. There's nothing wrong with them, it's actually gravity. Your heart and blood pressure pump and push against gravity, getting your blood where it needs to go, especially to your brain, despite gravity pulling your blood downward. Get too hot, dehydrated, tired, sick, stand up too fast, stand still too long, get too anemic, iron deficency or blood loss from menstrual cycle - lots of stuff can contribute - and suddenly your BP dips and gravity wins.

If the dizzy/can't-see-for-a-sec spells continue or worsen you may need further testing. Definitely talk to your regular doctor about all the episodes, even the "mini" ones.

 

[grmike29]

just how hard did you actually press into your neck are before you fainted? you could have very very easily compressed the arterial bloodflow to your brain which believe me can make you VERY dizzy and cause you to pass out. also stimulating whats called the vaso/vagal response with that vages nerve that just runs thru that very same area, can do the same exact thing that happened to you. i personally was sitting in my docs office trying to palpate my glands one day and nearly passed out right there. that is when my doc happened to mention what i just told you. it IS a very real possibility that this is what you just did and the faint was the result. believe me, it can happen when certain areas within our necks or certain other places are just stimulated or nerve flow disruption occurs at some level expescially with the cranial nerves.

i just think you found your 'reason" or culprit right there in your last post actually. just dont do that again, K, lol? FB

 

[Nichole ♥]

"ER personnel aren't going to spook you with some big scary sounding name if they think it's just a one-off thing."

You'd think so, but they mentioned "brain tumor" more than once, and said if the CT scan came back clean, that the next step would be to see a cardiologist and if that was normal then the next step would be to see a neurologist. Clearly, they weren't trying very hard not to scare me. It makes no sense to me that the causes seem so obvious to you guys, but the EMTs, doctors and nurses all said there is no reason for a healthy 23-year old to pass out. I mean, I'm glad that this appears to be a one time thing and that I know the cause, thank you all, but why when medical professionals had all the same information and more w/ me being right there in front of them, could they not come to the same conclusions?

To feelbad, I didn't press on my neck very hard at all. As I was doing it, I thought to myself "what is the point of this, I don't even know what I'm feeling for." I only did it because when I'm sick, my mom would always check if my glands were swollen. I mentioned it right away to the EMTs and to my father, they all seemed to agree it would be rather difficult to make yourself pass out that way, you'd have to press down hard in the exact right spot, which is not what I did. We ruled that out pretty quickly, but now I'm beginning to believe it did have something to do with it.

Thanks to both of you. I'm going to tell my parents everything I learned here so we can all stop worrying.

 

[Jonathan18]

Holy smokes! Nice, real professionals. They sent you for a brain scan? First!??? Did they think you had an injury from falling?


Here's an overview from a goverment site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fainting.html