For the first time in my life, I fainted. It was only a few minutes ago, and I scared the shit out of my poor kids.
Since I got home from work, I’ve been feeling more hungry than usual, and when I have run up our stairs, I have felt abnormally tired. But for the last thirty minutes, I have been sitting on our couch working, before getting up in response to one of the kids calling from upstairs.
My older son tells me that I walked toward him standing at the door, I put my hands on the door frame, said “Oh my gosh”, then fell backward. My eyes were open the entire time, and when I hit the floor, my son tells me that there was a slight tremor in my legs.
The next thing I knew, two of my kids were standing over me with frantic looks on their faces, asking me if I was okay.
What the heck is that all about, then?!?
As I say, I’ve never had such a thing happen in my life before.
Cat aids.
The bad kind.
Figures. Bloody cats.
Dehydration.
I went for a run earlier and it was baking hot again, felt proper drowsy and wobbly for the first 20mins... I have been drinking more coffee than usual though too.. and hardly any water.
Needless to say I've downed 2/3rds of a ltr and feeling much better, oh I've eaten too.
Good opportunity to teach your kids about re-suss and dialling 999...
I'd add lack of salts to the dehydration too. The constant heat will drain both over time and we're not used to it. I keep on top of both (physical job and I actually ride my bikes!) and even I've been caught out these last few days. Mostly in the morning as I'm losing a lot more fluid and salts while I'm sleeping in this warm, humid air.
On a serious note I would see a doctor just to confirm you did faint and it wasn't a seizure of some sort. My money is on on fainting/ heat/dehydration but anything that causes unconciosness should be checked out. Note, I have no medical training.
On a less serious note....yep defo cat aids.
Came to post the obvious reply.
Pleased to see it was there first up!
Good work.
Also check for diabetes...the hunger and tiredness can also be symptoms. Not trying to scare, just to rule it out.
Having a dainty constitution I’m quite susceptible to food poisoning.
I feel like I want to die then spend a while chucking up and then pass out.
As I lie there on the floor it just feels wonderful. All the horribleness gone and the floor is the most comfortable bed in the world. Then my wife shaking me back to life.
I do ask her just to leave me where I am as I feel so good but she hasn’t yet.
I hope dying feels the same .
Menopause?
Attention seeking, drama queen?
Sounds like postural hypotension to me
I get it regularly. Dehydration drops your bp
Huh, weird, I've been getting more headrushes recently standing up quickly etc. Was getting worried but have been sweating gallons on turbo recently, plus the heat of course.
Fainted a while back picking the baby up out of the bath, came too on my arse in the bath with the little man screaming blue murder next to me. Scary stuff but he's well padded and shrugged it off. I think a combo of going from bent over a hot bath and lifting a heavy baby to standing was enough to do it. Lesson learned!
Still thinking about getting general heart health checked out but don't want to become some sort of hypochondriac worrying about every little palpitation...
Likely postural hypotension....
I get it fantastically... If you can get it 'just right', it's like a drug rush... But a step too far and you pass out!!
Probably worth setting your GP to have sitting/standing blood pressure check.
And a finger up the backsie....
Blood pressure check; useful. Anal fingering..less so...
DrP
Figures. sexy Bloody cats
amen to that
I fainted a couple of years ago at work. Hit my head on a step and ended up with concussion.
I was out for about 2 minutes apparently, certainly long enough for a work mate to have called 999 & have an ambulance on the way before I came round.
Had to endure a CT scan & a lumbar puncture as they were concerned it was a bleed on my brain.
Quick post about it on STW.
a lumbar puncture
Evil things. I had one years ago and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
As for the OP - It’s definitely the Cat Aids.
Did you not start a diet thread a wee while back? just sayin'...
Quick post about it on STW.
10 guesses as to why I might have done that...
I had a period of fainting episodes and getting dizzy standing up. Otherwise I was very healthy.
Turned out it was a DVT. Ambulance to hospital, sometime in intensive (or whatever they call it) and a week in the cardiac ward. It was affecting my lungs and luckily not my brain.
Get to the doc asap and get a professional opinion, or you might not be able to.
This especially applies to 13thfloormonk - that just about describes the progress of my symptoms.
When this happened to me in similar circumstances I rang my GP. Receptionist arranged for a call back and he genuinely didn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned and didn't want to see me in person.
Basically it'll happen to half of us at some point and provided you didn't piss yourself or whack your head on the way down it's not an issue if a one-off.
I use electrolyte tablets now after long runs / rides.
To the fainters on here. Young or relatively young people should not be fainting so if it happens to you see your GP ASAP.
Flaperon
...Basically it’ll happen to half of us at some point and provided you didn’t piss yourself or whack your head on the way down it’s not an issue if a one-off....
That's what I thought too.
And why I had an exciting ride in an ambulance. Well my wife was excitable, I wasn't very compos...
Maybe for a one-off, but if it happens more frequently, get it checked out. Don't minimise it to yourself, that's what I foolishly did.
I just had my first faint 10 mins ago whilst having blood taken in A&E. Very odd.
There is some dubious information in this thread. Whilst 95+% of "fainting" (we'd call it syncope) is benign, there are some very serious conditions that present with syncope. Things that cause Eg sudden cardiac death.
It's slightly unusual for the benign conditions to present for the first time in middle age. However, from the OP's description of getting up from rest, then passing out, then coming round quickly, thats likely to be benign (postural hypotension/ dehydration as mentioned) although without knowing his medical history I would never comment definitively, and I wouldn't want other people reading this to be falsely reassured.
I would probably suggest to at least see your GP for a first time faint at your age so they can take a history, measure your blood pressure, check your medical record, make sure you're not anaemic and think about an ECG.
Source: I am a doctor.
I often faint when I hear uncouth language.
But you better go and get the good doc to finger your jacksie just to be sure.
🙂
And a finger up the backsie….
Blood pressure check; useful. Anal fingering..less so…
Thats how the cat aids aids is spread.
I find it happens less often now I don't fasten the corset so tightly.
I fainted a couple of years ago in hospital visiting a friend who had a punctured lung. I woke up with nurses laughing at me and on my friends gas and air! I also woke up drenched in sweat, like I'd been for a swim.
Got rushed straight to A and E, front of the queue. Their reasoning being I was a fit healthy young person and it really shouldn't happen that kind of thing. Got all sorts of tests done. Only thing wrong was low iron levels.
Best book an appointment just to see if any underlying causes. Better safe than sorry. Hope you're feeling better OP. Took me a day or two to feel totally right after passing out.
Probably best to check it out. The danger of fainting can be smacking your head on something.
I've fainted twice in my life - once at 10 years of age during sex education (molto embarrassing) and then at 15 when I had the mumps (the dr made a home visit, and I fainted and fell back and cracked my head against the radiator - lucky he was there to put the stiches in!)
Do your kids know how to dial 999? Would they go and get help?
My 80 year old dad is recovering from having three shattered vertebrae fused following a similar faint when his blood sugar went a bit wobbly. He landed backwards across wooden chair.
I'd get a GP appointment, not wait for a recurrence but as per DrP I get similar symptoms if I crouch down and then suddenly stand up (never to the point of fainting, just a bit of a buzz).
In the meantime, if you get similar symptoms, just sit down *right here and right now* - do not try and get somewhere 'safe', my dad did and he didn't make it.
Sorry to read about this episode OP, I know how distressing this will seem to you.
Just to say, I’m not medically trained (apart from various First Aid courses over the years) but have an interest in such things.
From a layman’s standpoint it sounds like a crash in blood sugar/pressure as has been mentioned... but regardless, I’d see your GP and get your bloods checked (usually a fine way of keeping a check on your general health). Mind you, dehydration can be a factor.
As I suffered a full on seizure a few months back which has far reaching effects on day to day living even a simple faint needs investigation.
And a finger up the backsie….
One of my greatest fears is that the Arundel surgery will tell me I must register elsewhere as I no longer live in their catchment area and I walk into my new doctor's to be greeted by DrP and a rubber glove 🙁
I was drawn into this thread because I have been suffering from the weirdest fatigue, just wanted to sleep all the time and got a little dizzy when getting up from a squat. I went to the Dr and got checked out, I think that would be a prudent thing for anyone to do.
I get it fantastically… If you can get it ‘just right’, it’s like a drug rush… But a step too far and you pass out!!
Auto-erotic asphyxiation? Just sayin'.
Anyway, you took the right action according to my STW first responder handbook.
1. Check for breathing.
2. Post on STW.
3. er ... that's it.
I’ve fainted twice in my life – once at 10 years of age during sex education
Sounds like the sort of experience you need counseling for in adult life!
I'm a fainter, usually I just go light headed and need to lay on the floor but have fully gone a few times. As a child my parents often found me on the hall floor after I had fainted on the way to the loo!
Usually causes for me is getting up quickly (my mum had this too and broke her foot when she went down once), and being squeamish. I went at work once when a colleague was talking about is daughter's epi pen!
Well atleast you managed to tell the internet about asap,thats the main thing.
Well atleast you managed to tell the internet about asap,thats the main thing.
I know you're taking the mick, but after it happened and I regained my sense, I felt almost (not quite) as if it had not happened at all. So my older son and I both took to the internet to see what sort of advice was available before we did anything unnecessary, seeing as: A) Mrs SR is currently out of town, so it is just me and the kids, and B) I'm really not interested in taking up the resources of the NHS when they have a perfectly helpful website and other information available that could tell me what I need to know.
In the meantime, I have a GP appointment for tomorrow afternoon. So yeah, poke fun all you want, but I wasn't being a complete millennial by coming on here. Besides, two GPs have responded on the thread already - so some sound advice came of it.
Besides, two GPs have responded on the thread already – so some sound advice came of it.
It's almost impossible to diagnose where a creak on a bike is coming from remotely (as seen on here) but thank the gods the human body is much simpler than a bike. You did the right thing coming to a bike forum 😛
“but after it happened and I regained my sense, I felt almost (not quite) as if it had not happened at all.”
...this. You remember the buildup and the coming around, but not the distress of the event both to you and the witnesses - it’s hard to put into perspective. But it does need investigating, as unpalatable as it may seem.
Check your wallet, kids may have just been picking your pockets when you came round.
Shakes fist at youths while muttering.
the gods the human body is much simpler than a bike
Sometimes, I think this may be true. Watching GCN certainly seems to suggest so.
Fair play James - I`ve seen some posts you have put on STW that has made me question why you would even consider doing so ... but a post about fainting!!
I think a self imposed 6 month break from STW is required .. or at least get one of your children to monitor what you putting on here.
I think a self imposed 6 month break from STW is required
Steady on, I almost fainted just reading that 🙂
I've had similar but never actually fainted, usually when tired and/or hungry and standing up after sitting for a while.
I think my dad gets similar, he has low blood pressure (he did end up fainting once or twice I think). My BP's been normal whenever checked, as have my blood levels, as there's a pattern to it (when I'm worn out, it happens) and it's always happened since adulthood, I don't worry too much.
I've never got it checked out specifically as it's just always happened and if I kind of tense everything up it stops me blacking out, but if you never normally have it I'd be tempted to. Try eating and drinking more next time too.
We used to make each other faint at school, by squeezing all the air out of our lungs and getting bearhugged. It was a cool feeling, like drugs.
(looks like it was self-inflicted postural hypotension! 🙂 )
(bumped for avdave)
I congratulate the OP's attitude re: not wanting to be a drain on the precious NHS resources
More of us should take up this perspective and stick our own fingers up our arses.
Same as Dez 👍🏼
Best course - see GP and get an ECG. As mentioned above, possible cause could have been an arrhythmia which would be best known about.
Hope it's just a good ol' "parade ground" faint.
Same as Dez
Do you still remember the feeling? It was over 40 years ago, but I can remember it really clearly. Waking up with my mates looking down at me, me thinking "why aren't I in bed?" 😆
Leaky mitral valve in your heart?
Was the cause for my brother - all fixed up now.
being squeamish. I went at work once when a colleague was talking about is daughter’s epi pen!
A few years ago we were talking at work and we were talking about something to do with blood / bleeding (I forget exactly now) and one lad said he fainted at the sight of blood.
He got up and left the room we were in, and as he walked past the window we discovered that he also fainted from talking about it. He fainted mid-stride and went down like a dropped plank, he just kinda cantilevered over from vertical to horizontal like Del Boy going through the bar counter only face-on. We thought he was messing about at first, when he didn't get up we went out to check and he was lying face down into the carpet. Bust his nose in the process. Weirdest thing, I always kind of expected that people would just 'crumple.'
Have a google of NICE transient loss of consciousness guidelines. I’d be interested in how you felt in the lead up to the collapse- dizzy, hot, ‘need for air’ etc. Collapse without warning (known as prodromal sysmptoms) raises concerns. Any chest pain or palpitations? Normal day eat/drink/exercise otherwise? Would certainly be interested in ecg, lying/standing bp and some bloods.
Tom (A&E ACP)
we discovered that he also fainted from talking about it
yeah, I had a mate like that. We worked together and as an office started to regularly donate blood. He hadn't been before, but came along to do the right thing despite his known dislike to seeing blood. Anyway he got there, and then fainted whilst filling out the forms.
We used to make each other faint at school, by squeezing all the air out of our lungs and getting bearhugged. It was a cool feeling, like drugs.
Crashouts - yay !
(A guy I know became a bit of a local celebrity in his town when he was a kid - called an ambulance and waited with a collapsed lad. May even have done some CPR though if he did it presumably wasn't warranted. Turns out they'd been doing crashouts and he'd done the crushing !)
Didn't spot this yesterday/
I used to get postural hypotension as a youngster a lot, only fainted once though. Not so much as an adult. But it has been happening slightly more lately. Seems to be that the more riding I do, the more it happens - perhaps my BP is generally lower.
Something else to consider though - if you've been keeping the carbs really low, that could have an effect. I did notice you were significantly slower than I expected you to be on Saturday!
. I did notice you were significantly slower than I expected you to be on Saturday!
Ooh matron! 😀
Saxon
My first thought was that it could be a side effect of Time Travel.
Has anything changed? 😉
Sounds like you could have deja vu to me.
I believe farting helps take your mind off it.
I congratulate the OP’s attitude re: not wanting to be a drain on the precious NHS resources
...fair enough were it something truly trivial e.g. going to a+e for a splinter in a finger, but an unexplained loss of consciousness is hardly trivial - especially whilst, say, driving. It needs checking out.
Other people's blood does not bother me even in bucketfuls. Two drops of my own and I pass out
I congratulate the OP’s attitude re: not wanting to be a drain on the precious NHS resources
…fair enough were it something truly trivial e.g. going to a+e for a splinter in a finger, but an unexplained loss of consciousness is hardly trivial – especially whilst, say, driving. It needs checking out.
You must have missed the bit where that ^ was the set-up for an anal-fingering joke.
Never mind...