Passing Out?

[jrk1288]

I had a kind of scary episode at work earlier, where I was holding some puppies for tail docking and out of nowhere I almost passed out. It started out with overwhelming fatigue, shakiness, and my limbs feeling like cement, which I thought was no big deal because that happens sometimes, especially if I overdo it the day before. But 2 minutes later I was practically dripping sweat, my heart rate and resp rate were rapid, I felt lightheaded and my forehead felt tingly, and my vision went blurry. My coworkers said i was ghost white too. At that point I asked to leave the room so I could sit down and for the most part it passed in about 10-15 minutes, but I was still a little shaky and queasy for the next couple hours. This has never happened to me before, I wasn't dehydrated or hypoglycemic, my meds haven't been recently changed, I hadn't come in contact with any chemicals that I don't work with regularly, and I wasn't under any significant physical or emotional stress. I googled it and found that there is some link between vasovagal syncope and fibro, but I'm wondering how common this is. Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them?

 

[Siderea]

How do you know you weren't hypoglycemic? It sounds a lot like it to me, because I have moderate to severe hypoglycemia and this has happened to me a few time (fainting suddenly.)

Other than crashing, I don't know what would cause this. Maybe your lunch finally hit your gut and it was too much for your gut to handle? Perhaps you had been running on adrenaline without realizing it and the adrenaline finally ran out? I ran on high adrenaline for years without knowing it because I was so used to how it felt.

 

[nascarmike]

I had a kind of scary episode at work earlier, where I was holding some puppies for tail docking and out of nowhere I almost passed out. It started out with overwhelming fatigue, shakiness, and my limbs feeling like cement, which I thought was no big deal because that happens sometimes, especially if I overdo it the day before. But 2 minutes later I was practically dripping sweat, my heart rate and resp rate were rapid, I felt lightheaded and my forehead felt tingly, and my vision went blurry. My coworkers said i was ghost white too. At that point I asked to leave the room so I could sit down and for the most part it passed in about 10-15 minutes, but I was still a little shaky and queasy for the next couple hours. This has never happened to me before, I wasn't dehydrated or hypoglycemic, my meds haven't been recently changed, I hadn't come in contact with any chemicals that I don't work with regularly, and I wasn't under any significant physical or emotional stress. I googled it and found that there is some link between vasovagal syncope and fibro, but I'm wondering how common this is. Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them?

Please go get checked out asap this could be nothing but why take a chance?

 

[1sweed]

Please do a web search for Meniere's Disease. Last summer I was out in my backyard and suddenly I was so dizzy I could hardly stand up. My heart was racing and my vision was in and out. I staggered into my garage and sat there for two hours to weak to move. Finally I got in the house and fell on my sofa and passed out. When I woke up I called my mom and brother, and they came and took me to the ER. Got check out and not heart attack, or anything else wrong so the doctor decided it was Meniere's, inner ear problems.

But also see your doctor because these same symptoms can be a sign of heart trouble or dehydration, or other problems as listed above. When something new happens it is always best to see your family doctor. Don't just assume it is fibro. please see your doctor.

 

[Trellum]

jrk1288: You should really get checked! Only a doctor can tell what is wrong, I truly hope you have a good GP! You should go see him asap, this could be nothing serious, but I'm the kind of person who thinks that is better to always be safe than to be sorry. So with that in mind, I truly suggest you to go see a doctor soon.

 

[CrystalMarie]

I have never actually passed out but I have come extremely close. At one point it seemed like everything went read around me and I got this high pitch ringing in my ears. Things began to fade out and I knew that if I did not sit down I would faint. I drunk some water and rested for a couple of minutes then took a walk outside. The symptoms then went away. Good luck with everything.

 

[jrk1288]

I know I wasn't hypoglycemic because I had eaten breakfast about an hour and a half before, it's the same thing I usually eat before work (a banana and oatmeal with cocoa powder and canned pumpkin-very low glycemic index) and I'm usually not even hungry for 3 hours, and never anything like this. I had also drank 2 glasses of water and 1 cup of coffee in the 3 hours I was awake so it shouldn't have been dehydration. If it happens again I'm definitely going to go to the doctor, and I'm going to pay more attention to stuff like this in the future.

 

[katydid]

Please see your primary care physician and have them refer you to a cardiologist!

I found out I have 'neurocardiogenic syncope' several years ago after passing out while driving. You could have any number of conditions or you could be completely fine, but only your primary Dr and cardiologist can tell you that. A cardiologist can do an ekg and something called a 'tilt-table test' to determine if you have what I do, NCS, or something called POTS. These conditions can be treated and managed.

Advice for everyone - don't just assume whatever is happening is related to fibro because it may not be and you may be playing a game of chance with your health! When I was diagnosed, like I said, it was because of passing out while driving! I could have killed myself or someone else! Thank god I didn't (I hit a utility pole instead and wasn't hurt because I was unconscious and my body was limp) but it was so scary! I had never passed out before, only gotten light headed once in a while when standing up too fast... I saw a cardiologist who did an ekg and the tilt-table test and I passed out during the tilt test, my heart actually stopped for a period of seconds during the test and they diagnosed me with neurocardiogenic syncope. The Dr told me I had to drink double-tripple what a normal person drinks, salt, salt, and more salt on most of my food, and take a medication to help my kidneys store the salt better because even though I was drinking tons of water my body was dehydrating itself without me knowing! He told me that if I didn't listen to him, I'd have a pace maker by the age of 25, I was diagnosed when I was 19. I will be 26 in a couple months and no pacemaker as of yet thanks to my wonderful Dr and my determination!
I'm not telling you this to scare you, just to inform you and beg you to see your Dr please!

I recommend you Google both neurocardiogenic syncope and pots (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and read up...

Please, please, please see your primary, or if you don't need referrals, go straight to a cardiologist. But please see a Dr ASAP! .

 

[Siderea]

Well, I personally can't go more than 2 hours without eating, and any coffee can make my hypoglycemia worse, in that it makes me more unstable. Sometime food causes my crashing, and I'm word after eating. Also, if you drink water with your food or to soon afterwords it can wash the food through you to quickly. It causes our digestion. I have to wait an hour after eating to drink anything. Hypoglycemia may not be your issue, but I would monitor your blood sugar anyway.

 

[Andrei]

From my experiences, passing out is very rare. Never have I had such a big crisis to pass out. However, it did happen once. I hadn't eaten the entire day, I was on the way to a country house and I passed out in the car because of the pain and lack of glucose.

 

[tahashaukat]

I don't know if I have fibro I don't have the tender points but do have unbearable fatigue and palpitations literally all the time.I also feel a very heavy head as if blood has pooled in there and weird nerve pains all over.My left leg is extremely cold and has this weird numb type pain I think its sciatica but now my hands have also started getting numb and I feel electric zaps.I feel really dizzy and a pounding in my head and heartburn and even have TMJ and knees and ankles that pop with evrery move.P.s I'm a 20 year old male

 

[terbaer]

I would see a doctor as soon as you can get in. I pass out a lot unfortunately. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason. When that happens, I'm wiped out for most of the day or at least several hours. I also suffer from colitis and IBS so get really bad stomach pains after several days of severe diarrhea (sorry one of those TMI things). Anyway, when the stomach pains hit, I get woozy and have passed out a number of times. The doctors (multiple have seen me) say it's my body shutting down temporarily. I too break out in a sweat and am drenched. I had a mild heart attack in October (average weight 49 year old woman) and have not had the random pass-out events much since. I've checked out why it happens to me, but you need to find out why it's happening to you. It could be nothing, but it could be very serious. Don't wait until the next time. I've been very lucky because I can feel them come on, in fact several times while driving. I pull over and wait for it to pass. I attribute my non-colits ones to severe fatigue.....

Good luck and get on it!....

 

[dorann]

That is really scary and to be honest it could be some kind of a seizure that you had. I would recommend that you call your doctor as soon as possible and let them know about this happening to you. They will probably want to get you in to be soon pretty soon.