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Had a bit of a funny turn last night
eznfrank - 27/6/10 at 08:10 AM

About 03:20 this morning I managed to knock over the bedside table while I was asleep. It came crashing to the ground and I woke up with a start. I jumped up, thinking someone was in the house but immediately felt dizzy and faint, went to bathroom and opened up the big window for some fresh air, that seemed to make it worse and I was certain I was going to fall out of the window (it's got quite a low sill) so I backed away from the window and next thing I know the missus is asking if I'm ok, I'd passed out on the landing. I got up and my pulse was almost non-existent, I couldn't hear anything and could hardly stand up.

The missus ended up calling an ambulance who did all the usual tests and told me I'd had a vasovagal syncope which I think just means I fainted.

Sounds like nothing in the cold light of day but at the time it scared the crap out of me!!!

[Edited on 27/6/10 by eznfrank]

ditchlewis - 27/6/10 at 08:29 AM

keep yourself safe and have a few days rest.

ditch

Steve Hignett - 27/6/10 at 08:31 AM

You probably should have stopped after you finished off the second bottle of whisky hey?



Just kidding obv! Hope it turns out to be nothing!

Richard Quinn - 27/6/10 at 08:33 AM

I've had it happen twice now but quite some time apart. The first time it happened I ended up face down on the landing and the carpet burn on my face caused some amusement amongst my mates.

stevebubs - 27/6/10 at 08:56 AM

Do you suffer with bloodpressure problems?

I've had similar, and each time it's because my BP has plummeted from high to normal in a short period of time.

StevieB - 27/6/10 at 09:04 AM

Probably nothing to worry about - you've obviously given yourself a hell of a startle in knocking over the bedside table and then reacting so quickly.

Easy to see how someone could faint due to the instant adrenaline burst - 0 to 60,000,000 in a heart beat.

A good excuse to put your feet up and be waited on hand and foot for the day - cold beers on tap while you watch the F1 then footy

BenB - 27/6/10 at 09:27 AM

It's not uncommon. When you're asleep your heart doesn't bother working very hard (cos generally you're not doing anything) so your BP is very low. If you suddenly jump into the air all your blood is going to flow down (due to gravity) to your uber relaxed blood vessels in your legs depriving your brain of any blood.

It's a horrible feeling but corrects itself when you lie down again (usually pretty rapidly and without any choice in the matter).

The vasovagal name is given just because "a faint" makes one think of corsetted ladies in crinoline, lace fans and smelling salts IE having a collapse is bad enough, being compared to someone from Pride + Predujice would rub salt in the wound rather!

The really bizarre one is micturition syncope where people faint when they go for a wizz at night (all to do the nerves allowing micturition effecting the blood pressure)....

Hope you feel better soon.

chrsgrain - 27/6/10 at 09:34 AM

^^^^ what he said!

Best one I know of was when I was at medical school, my flatmate skipped breakfast, went to theatres and was holding the femoral artery shut after it had been opened to have a graft put in.... then fainted.... patients blood volume on the cieling, surgeon trying to grab the vessel with one hand and Josie with the other to stop her falling into lots of sharp surgical equipment... how we laughed (afterwards!)

As Ben said, don't worry about it, and don't let anyone 'investigate' it with clever tests....

Chris

AndyW - 27/6/10 at 09:47 AM

Dont want to worry you but may I ask how old you are? I had a similar experience a few years back and luckily I had loads of tests done (mainly ECG) and they discovered a rare heart condition which normally hits people late 20's to early and mid 30's. If you want anymore info without it being on a public forum u2u me and I will tell you all about it!! Thats if you want to know!!!

P.S Dont take any one's advise about ignoring it. If I had ignored mine I probably wouldn't be here now. And thats the opinion of a top cardiac specialist at Papworth. Always worth getting checked.

[Edited on 27/6/10 by AndyW]

chrsgrain - 27/6/10 at 09:57 AM

quote:
Dont take any one's advise about ignoring it.


Generally I would agree with you, but Ben and I know what we are talking about, this has all the hallmarks (as the Paramedics said) of a typical faint..... long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and a host of other things all can present as faints, but a single one off event needs to be laughed off and life enjoyed..... in order for tests to be any good you need to have a high pre test probability of finding anything wrong, otherwise the chances of a false positive (unnecessarily worrying and needing lots of other, often potentially harmful and certainly unpleasant tests) becomes very high.... ignore it and enjoy yourself..... if it happens again, then go and see your GP.

Chris

Dusty - 27/6/10 at 12:56 PM

Fainting. The body makes the decision to get horizontal which allows it to recover. So why do people hold up/sit up/prop up fainting people? This prolongs/worsens the faint. If you find a fainty/semi concious person lie them down right there. They won't recover till you do.
If you feel faint lie down! Even in the street. Better to feel a twat than crash down and injure yourself.

Litemoth - 27/6/10 at 01:36 PM

Just a thought....had a bit of experience of the medical runaround that diagnosing the source of these things can be...

Did you knock the bedside table over turning over or did you have a bit of a thrash (seizure)? - witness needed for this because you won't be aware of it.

I'd disagree with some above and recon you should let your GP know....even if he/she/it just does the basics; optic disc, blood pressure and blood sugar (both dip during the night and this 'episode' could be a flag as to an underlying condition). If it repeats, then get some more thorough testing done (Bloods, EEG, ECG etc), if it doesn't, happy days.

Scary bloody stuff when it happens to you for sure.

AndyW - 27/6/10 at 06:06 PM

quote:
Originally posted by chrsgrain
quote:
Dont take any one's advise about ignoring it.


Generally I would agree with you, but Ben and I know what we are talking about, this has all the hallmarks (as the Paramedics said) of a typical faint..... long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and a host of other things all can present as faints, but a single one off event needs to be laughed off and life enjoyed..... in order for tests to be any good you need to have a high pre test probability of finding anything wrong, otherwise the chances of a false positive (unnecessarily worrying and needing lots of other, often potentially harmful and certainly unpleasant tests) becomes very high.... ignore it and enjoy yourself..... if it happens again, then go and see your GP.

Chris


Ok I agree to a point BUT and a very big BUT, I "fainted" as you put it three years ago, almost exactly the same situation, now Im diagnosed with Brugada, a syndrome that very few people have heard about. Now have an ICD so Im safe. No unpleasant tests needed, just one simple ecg, show it to the right cardiac specialist (look up Dr Andrew Grace) and bingo problem sorted. Fainting should not just be laughed off and as there are people on here who appear to have medical training, such suggestions from them is in my opinion disgraceful. If I had laughed it off them maybe that would have been the last time I laughed. Funny for my family, not.......

David Jenkins - 27/6/10 at 07:12 PM

I think I'm with the docs here - you got up in a hurry due to being startled, 'surprised' your body and fainted.

Don't panic - just remember that it has happened - if it should happen again THEN go to see your GP. If you want some reassurance then ask your GP about it the next time you visit... but if you have no call to visit in the near future, you're probably not that ill anyway!

AndyW - 27/6/10 at 08:39 PM

quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
I think I'm with the docs here - you got up in a hurry due to being startled, 'surprised' your body and fainted.

Don't panic - just remember that it has happened - if it should happen again THEN go to see your GP. If you want some reassurance then ask your GP about it the next time you visit... but if you have no call to visit in the near future, you're probably not that ill anyway!


And if there is a problem and he doesnt get up again, you gonna feel real good about yourself about giving advise on something that perhaps you should not have. Maybee medical questions should be kept of this forum, and asked to those who really know what they are talking about.

JoelP - 27/6/10 at 08:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AndyW
Maybee medical questions should be kept of this forum, and asked to those who really know what they are talking about.


like a GP maybe?! If only we had one here...

[Edited on 27/6/10 by JoelP]

Staple balls - 27/6/10 at 08:51 PM

quote:
Originally posted by AndyW
And if there is a problem and he doesnt get up again, you gonna feel real good about yourself about giving advise on something that perhaps you should not have. Maybee medical questions should be kept of this forum, and asked to those who really know what they are talking about.


Isn't BenB a GP? I'd guess he'd be qualified in this case.

Personally, in my experience of being someone slightly broken and prone to things going a bit wrong, I rarely worry when something happens once. If it happens twice, I consider doing something about it, but once is merely a curiosity.