Syncope while eating?

L

Lady

New member
Hello,

Last night I was out to dinner with a friend. Out of nowhere, I felt as if I would faint. The left side of my chest started hurting and my legs felt tingly. I am in nursing school so I recognize this to be symptomatic of presyncope (since I didn't actually faint). What I do not understand is what caused it and why it started now? I am a healthy 23 year old female with no hx of drinking, smoking, or cardiovascular disease. The episode was so bad that I was afraid to drive home. Of course I did not alert my friend as to what was going on with me and wrote the incident off as a fluke. BUT today, the same thing happened to me again, this time while eating breakfast. I haven't felt right all day and I'm really afraid that if I go to sleep, I may not wake up! PLEASE PLEASE... any medical advice is greatly appreciated.

FYI: I am day one of menses, not sure if that has to do with anything. :dizzy:
 
Sounds like low blood pressure, eating diverts blood flow to digestion, lowering BP even more. The medical term is postprandial hypotension.

It isn't that common in young people, so you'll need to see a doc to rule out anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure or some form of dysautonomia. (I have neurally mediated hypotension - a dysautonomia)

The most common cause in a person your age would be iron deficency anemia and/or chronic dehydration. Eating smaller, more frequent 5-6 a day, low carb meals and staying well hydrated can help till whatever the problem is gets resolved.

If you feel faint - get down! Your only real risk here is from injury if you pass out. (believe me, I know ;)
 
good info. i just wanted to mention one other possibility here? your vagus nerve could have somehow also been stimulated since as you probably already know considering your line of work,it DOES pass thru that area where you stated pain and it also runs thru i believe the back of the throat too, don't quote me on that one tho(i KNOW it does pass thru the throat area just cannot rememeber exactly how off the top of my head?). it just could have triggered the very basic vasovagal response in some way? just another thing to ponder. just look up vagus nerve images and you will see how this very long(also called the wandering nerve) also just innervates soo much from the brain thru the throat and down into the upper GI and some abdominal viscera too? considering that you were actually eating when these episodes took place, well there just could be some type of real connection there that should at least be looked into at this point? i certainly hope you can figure out the real underlying issues here soon. please let us know what you find out. FB
 
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