I inexplicably fainted last night

[McSwoon]

DH and I are away in the camper van. Just after midnight last night I needed the loo - the van bathroom is rather claustrophobic and has no air vent, so when I suddenly felt hot I just hurried to finish and get out.

But the heat suddenly washed over me in a wave and I started to sweat profusely. I recognised the feeling that I was going to faint and made it out to one of the seats, but my vision was fuzzy and all my limbs were weak. I was desperate for fresh air but didn't have the strength to open the door, so I was slumped in a chair groaning and trying to take deep breaths when DH woke up.

He opened the door for me and I was leaning out gasping for cold air (and yawning), but still couldn't move. He persuaded me to go back towards the bed so I could lay down, and that bit is hazy - he says I fell heavily just in front of the bed, and I certainly have a bruise on my head and knee. He bodily lifted me and got me onto the bed.

As soon as I lay down it took less than 2 minutes to feel 100% better. DH thinks I had a panic attack, but I know that was a faint. I don't really understand why...but within 30 minutes I was having the most awful diarrhoea (sorry if TMI), about 5 episodes in 2 hours. It eventually stopped and I drifted off to sleep at 3am.

The thing is, other than the fainting and the subsequent shits, at no time did I feel especially "unwell" or ill - I don't have any other symptoms of a stomach bug or food poisoning or anything, I'm fine today (just tired).

So did I faint because my system was preparing for a purge - or was the runs an after effect of fainting? Google suggests the latter...

I'm not really a fainter, this is my 4th and I'm 46. I've only ever fainted when ill before (with tonsillitis as a child, strep throat and norovirus as an adult). Anyone any experience of something similar?

Every time I used to faint (regular basis) I used to spend hours on the loo after so I’d say it was that way round.

I have also done this and like you mainly faint when I’ll but sometimes out of the blue too. The last time I saw my gp and got a check up which concluded it was just one of those things!

I wonder if you might have had a bit of heat stroke - had you been out in the sun? Drank plenty of water?

I have fainted about four times and I think at least three times it was before or after a v runny poo! Sorry if that’s TMI but one of the times I mentioned it to the gp he’d asked if it was before or after emptying my bowels, I said yes and he said it wasn’t unusual 🤷🏻‍♀️

Two of the times were when I was on holiday in India (different times) so not sure if I had Delhi belly or if it was related to something I ate or the heat

No, hadn't been sitting in the sun or been overheated at all. But admittedly I am terrible for not drinking enough, all I had yesterday was half a cup of tea and a small glass of Pepsi max...maybe didn't help!

When I had noro years ago (unilaterally, thank god) I fainted and fell off the bog, that was delightful. So that was definitely fainting AFTER numerous tumultuous bowel movements, but that day I felt absolutely dreadful - last night I was fine?

Bit weird really. DH is going along the panic attack route because one of my biggest worries about camper-vanning is getting ill like that with only a chemical toilet between two of us!

It wasn't the best fun I've had with me kecks around me ankles, I can tell you.

Well I hope it’s just a one off and nothing serious OP

Bodies are funny things. Sometimes I've felt sick suddenly for no reason at all - all hot, sticky and woozy.

I'm sure it's nothing to get worked up about - I suppose I'm just a bit shocked to find myself with bruises, I do recall falling but not where/why exactly (in my mind I missed a step, but it was the bed apparently). DH had to fill in the blanks, and had of course spent today taking the piss mercilessly.

The only time I fainted I had terrible diarrhoea straight away. Maybe your whole body's relaxes?

At least you're not my friend who shat herself as she fainted

*has, not had

Yes, bodies are funny things!

google vaso bagel responses - tis common reaction to a bowel issue - the bowel issue will have been coming....

I don't think it's anything to get worked up. I've fainted like that a few times. The only time it came to ill was when I fell and hit my head on a sink and opened up a big cut and concussed myself.

Really Chicken? Interesting. It felt to me like a result of the fainting rather than the trigger as it came along half an hour afterwards, but then I tend to overthink things. And, I had just been to the loo normally when it happened.

It's important only so I can make sensible food decisions if I have a virus, or carry on as normal because my body just purged the system!

Kingfisher yes I've googled the vasovagel response, definitely bowel related for me.

Something similar happened to my dad, perfectly fine but fainting at night, two nights in a row, he had a urine infection. I'm not sure if he had the runs or not.

We have this funny nerve in our body called the vagus nerve. We can, thanks to that nerve, have what is called a vaso vagan response where it seems our body can be shut down that is to an unusual stimulation of the nerve.

In some people this can include fainting and one of the most common places to see a vaso vagal response was in someone sat on the toilet (though was often seen in older, prone to constipation, adults in the situation I was in!!)

Hope you feel better today xx

Haha, thanks Rememberall...marvellous, 46 and fainting from bowel evacuation.

I once fainted from nowhere...one minute I was fine and the next minute everything was going dark around the edges and I had a desperate need to sit down. Next thing I know I'm heading towards the floor. Embarrassingly I was visiting my grandma in hospital so this happened on the ward. Cue a group if nurses rushing over and doing my obs whilst I sat slumped forward in the middle of 6 bays for about 20 minutes. No explanation and I was right as rain afterwards.

It's such a horrible sensation, I feel for you OP. Hope you dont have any more episodes.

Sorry @McSwoon, not meaning to say that is what happened to you (though it could explain it) and I do hope you feel better today - it’s just something I used to see when I was nursing. Not that I’m much better off at the moment at 47, 25+ weeks with twins and suffering because of my bowels!!

It's horrible when it happens. I went to the loo in the middle of the night and suddenly came over horrifically faint, whistling in my ears, sparkly vision, the lot. I couldn't stand up - ended up having to crawl out of the bathroom and lie on the landing floor for ages before I could get back to bed.

I think it can definitely trigger off your bowels. Dd aged 16 has fainted a few times. Been to the doctors and had blood tests etc and no reason they can find but every time she does she spends a good couple of hours rushing to and from the toilet...! Poor her.

I suppose in my own world of, shall we say "idiosyncrasies", I was keen to establish whether I got the awful diarrhoea as a follow up to fainting (which would not be a surprise, I'm a slave to IBS/sensitive bowels), or whether the faint was a prologue to the horrors that were coming!

Google 'dumping syndrome'. I suffer from this and your symptoms sound very familiar!!

Yes I've def had those symptoms before - but only if I've been absolutely starving and eaten a lot of food too quickly! Plenty of dumping going on then, hawhawhaw 💩