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Original poster

I passed out this morning and I haven't got a clue why ...

33 replies

imaginaryfriend · 23/01/2008 21:08

I had a restless night, sweating a lot and tossing and turning. I got up at 7.30 to make a coffee and within 3 minutes of being up my head started to feel very fuzzy, I started sweating a lot and thought I was going to throw up. I grabbed hold of the side of the sink aiming to ease myself into one of the kitchen chairs but the next thing I knew I was waking up on the kitchen floor, struggling to wake up actually. I managed to sit but felt very much like I could go off again at any moment. Sweat was literally streaming off my face and torso. I called to dp who got up and tried to give me a glass of water but I was so confused I couldn't even speak to him. He got me onto the sofa and made me a very sweet black coffee and within a couple of minutes I started to feel a bit more normal. All day though I've felt spaced out and not with it.

I did go along to A&E to check myself out as I walloped the back of my head when I fell and I wanted to check it wasn't anything horrible that caused it. They did an ECG, blood sugar test, blood pressure, neurological assessment, urine test, basic blood tests for infection / anaemia and a chest x-ray. All of these were totally normal except for my low blood pressure (it's always low but it was lower than normal).

They couldn't give me any reason as to why this happened and I wondered if anybody else had experienced anything at all similar or had any ideas. I don't know whether to worry or not, this has never happened to me before. Is passing out always due to something serious? Is an ECG enough to rule out any underlying heart condition?

OP posts:
luckylady74 · 23/01/2008 21:11

i have fainted due to a virus that also gave me a high temp and also once with a dv bug-
i have low pressure too andoften feel dizzy when i stand up.
lots of neg tests sound good

dinny · 23/01/2008 21:13

Hi, IF, we meet again

sorry you aren't feeling too good - just wanted to reaasure you that when my dad had sickness and fainting episodes for AGES and eventually went to a doctor who did an ECG, the results were so alarming and obvious from the ECG (his HR was 240bpm) the GP had him taken to coronary care by ambulance.

I know that doesn't sound reassuring but wanted to show that his problem is often very hidden but showed straight away on and ECG....it is an excellent tool.

did they discount anything like a mini stroke?

Eviewin · 23/01/2008 21:23

Hi, I have passed out a couple of times due to low blood pressure and it wasn't anything more serious. But it's not a nice experience, and I still get a bit wary if the sensation of dizziness starts.

Hope that's the end of it for you!

Millarkie · 23/01/2008 21:37

Have you taken any painkillers recently? Both my dh and my nephew had similar episodes after taking cocodamol for back pain.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 23/01/2008 22:27

Hi again dinny

I don't know if they discounted a mini stroke.

I don't seem to be unwell, that's the strange thing. No bugs or colds or anything. I just felt very sweaty. No fever, just tons of sweat!

I haven't taken any painkillers.

OP posts:
EffiePerine · 23/01/2008 22:30

Can you have a snack by the bed in case you're feeling bad again? Could it be low blood pressure combined with low blood sugar? Do you have complex carbs etc in the evenings?

discoverlife · 23/01/2008 22:30

Myself, DS1 and DD all have low blood pressure. DD is always passing out. DS and myself are both overweight and don't seem to have the passing out episodes anymore.

brimfull · 23/01/2008 22:42

I am having test done after recently having a ?TIA or mini stroke.
My symptoms were tingling down one side ,all test like you were normal but ,and my reason for telling you this,I am having a 24 hr ECG tracing done next month. This is something your GP could arrange to rule out a funny cardiac episode that wasn't evident after your recovery.

On a different note very low blood pressure does make you feel sick and sweaty as well as confused so it may well be only this albeit a frightening experience for you.

Had you eaten anything unusual the night before?

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 23/01/2008 23:11

NO I hadn't eaten anything unusual or different. Thinking about it I often feel a bit light-headed first thing in the morning, but nothing as bad as this.

I'm worried it might be something more scary but I don't really want to go back to the hospital as there seems no point if it doesn't happen again.

This evening my head and neck are so stiff and achy from the fall, and the base of my spine. I feel like I've got whiplash!

OP posts:
jezzemx · 23/01/2008 23:23

Could be low blood pressure (which I also have) or possibly something like vertigo/labrythitus[?]
I have a funny ear (inner ear canal) and sometimes changes in pressure in the ear canal make me very dizzy. I then tend to lose my balance completely, it doesn't matter if i'm standing or sitting down and have been known to end up with a full cup of coffe all over me!!
I end up falling or lurching to one side and can't physically get up for a while, this then tends to make me feel sick afterwards.
If it is a problem with your inner ear canal they can teast you and treat it with pills.

jezzemx · 23/01/2008 23:25

test not teast

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 23/01/2008 23:32

jezze does the labrynthitis make you actually black out though? I've got used to being a bit light-headed and dizzy with the low blood pressure but this was a total blackout of consciousness, quite out of the blue. Do you think low blood pressure could cause that?

OP posts:
ladylush · 23/01/2008 23:37

Maybe you could ask for an EEG and or an MRI. How is your thyroid function?

VVVQV · 23/01/2008 23:47

Low blood pressure could do it.

I'm not sure labyrinthitis would make you black out. But it can make you very dizzy and fall over

I suffered black-outs as a teenager, at the start of puberty, and very occasionally get dizzy spells as an adult where I almost black out but not quite. Well, my body goes, but I'm still sort of there but everything goes dark and then I realise I'm on the floor, but, remember it happening iyswim?

They are usually when I get up from sitting for a while.

VVVQV · 23/01/2008 23:50

Ummm. You definitely arent pg, are you?

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 24/01/2008 00:06

Definitely not pregnant! I just finished my period and in any case the chances of it happening are 1000000 to 1!

Would the low blood pressure have led to the sweating etc. do you think?

Am off to bed now. Hoping I don't do a repeat performance tomorrow morning!!

OP posts:
ladylush · 24/01/2008 11:48

Sweating can indicate a thermoregulation problem so that's why I asked if your thyroid function was ok. Have you had palpitations at all or sudden weight loss?

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 24/01/2008 21:55

ladylush, I don't know about my thyroid, should I get it checked? I haven't lost weight that I know of. What else should I look out for in that case?

OP posts:
ladylush · 25/01/2008 09:16

Worth getting thyroid function test from your gp as it's a simple blood test. I don't know if it would've caused it, but since you've had ECG and blood sugar tests it seems reasonable to check it out.

Just a thought..........you don't consume too much caffeine do you? Remember that woman who drank loads of espresso and had palpitations and excessive sweating (in the news) - she had drunk too much caffeine.

Oenophile · 25/01/2008 09:21

Hi IF, just wanted to leave you my best wishes - don't like to hear of your experience, but hopefully all those tests mean there's nothing serious wrong. My best wishes and try not to worry (haha, easier said than done isn't it.) Sometimes scary bodily things happen as a one-off - in my 20s I had two incidents of wild heart arrythmia and worried myself sick for ten years that it was going to happen again, but it never did (so far) - all that wasted worry-time though!

Really hope you feel ok now and it doesn't happen again.

tasjaSAmuminUK · 25/01/2008 09:31

Just wanted to add my - or rather my mother's story.

Fit, healthy lady in early 50's. Got up one morning to go to work. She was on the highway when she just passed out behind the wheel. The car skidded right then left, when over the barrier, flipped back over front and skidded on his side to a halt. Luckily there was a gentleman riding behind my mother who saw what happened. He stopped and helped my mother. He phoned the ambulance and my dad (got numbers in her purse).
Took her to hospital, did al kinds of tests. EVERYTHING was normal, no high or low BP, ECG normal! Luckily she didn't have a bump or a bruse!

The doctor told her it is quite normal to pass out once during your lifetime like that. (coming form a SA doctor, so he knows what he is talking about, and you can believe him!)

Hope in your case it is the same.

ladylush · 25/01/2008 09:46

Worked with one SA doctor and she was shit hot

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 25/01/2008 10:27

Thanks for reassurances. What's an SA doctor by the way? Sorry if it's obvious.

i will get the GP to check my thyroid.

I don't know about caffeine as it was first thing in the morning so I hadn't consumed anything at all yet. And I'd been sweating on and off all night I felt.

And hello oenophile! How are you?

OP posts:
ladylush · 25/01/2008 11:30

SA = South Africa (I think that's what she meant).

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 25/01/2008 11:49

Ah ... are they particularly good then, SA doctors?

OP posts:
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