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[britmom]

I hope you're feeling better soon, historygrrrl.

I passed out at work when I was pregnant. My work colleague called an ambulance - full lights and sirens going, which I found somewhat embarrassing. Apparently being pregnant had caused a heart arrhythmia, hence the fainting.

[biomancer]

As those of you who frequent the Venting Thread are probably already aware, Mr. Mancer passed out in public yesterday for no discernible medical reason and was taken to the ER.  He's still in the hospital 1500 miles away awaiting test results.

[theritas]

Well, I don't 'donate blood' at the workplace anymore, and only when I have a ride from someone I really trust, as a rule.  I hope your solution arrives quickly and with little complication. 

[atlchemist]

I passed out in church one time. (And no, I don't go to one of those churches where people pass out regularly.) I had eaten breakfast, but as I stood up to sing a hymn in church I felt really woozy as if my blood sugar and/or blood pressure was low. My vision started blacking out, so I excused myself from the sanctuary to splash some water on my face. On my way to the restroom, I passed out in the hallway, hitting my head on a concrete pillar.

Luckily the church's facilities manager saw me go down and quickly came to my aid. Also luckily, I woke up in just a few seconds before she had a chance to call 911. I was fine, other than the nasty scrapes on my face. She ran into the worship service to get a nurse to check me out, and the nurse determined that I didn't seem to have a serious medical issue. Once the worship service adjourned, a cardiologist who attends our church checked me out (to the extent this can be done in a Sunday school classroom). He also determined that I didn't need to go to the ER, but should get checked out by my PCP soon.

I went to my PCP a couple days later, and after running some neurological and cardiac tests, he had no explanation other than "sometimes young women pass out." Um, thanks. I used to feel lightheaded pretty frequently, but this was the only time I had passed out.

I have been able to manage it by drastically cutting back on my consumption of sugars and other carbohydrates. But it doesn't sound like this is your issue at all, hg, given your cardiac issue. Have you been able to see your cardiologist yet? I hope that things turn out ok.

[bama_belle]

Bless your heart, history_grrrl! I know exactly how you feel.

I have passed out several times in the past 6-7 years, but 2 times stick out in my mind:

1) It was the summer before my sophomore year in college and I had been taking a dance class when I started feeling woozy. I decided to walk to the restaurant next door to get a cup of water. Apparently, I walked up to the counter, started to say "Could I please have...", slumped over sideways and fell to the floor (hitting my face on the counter and bouncing my head on the linoleum in the process). Of course everyone in the restaurant was in a panic and they called an ambulance, but I was dying of embarrassment and convinced myself that I could drive myself home. My mother took me to the ER once I got home and despite an EKG, an Echo-cardiogram, and several tests (including a fairly involved glucose test), the doctor said that it was probably just migraines.

2) Fast forward a few years to last October: My husband and I were moving apartments, and were in the process of unloading stuff from the U-haul into our new apartment. Well, one second I am walking down the stairs behind my husband, and the next thing I know, I'm strapped to a back-board with a neck-brace on and a paramedic is telling me that I've fainted and that I'm being rushed to the hospital. (Note: this was a fairly busy apartment complex and there were a ton of people outside, hence me including it as passing out in public.) Apparently, I walked down the stairs, got to the sidewalk, slumped over sideways and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, this time I was on concrete, so I busted my chin open (requiring stitches), scraped my face and hands to pieces, chipped a tooth, and I hit the ground so hard that it (a) knocked the diamond out of my engagement ring (oddly enough, my husband found it on the sidewalk the next day) (b) caused me to have a seizure. At the hospital, I had all of the prior tests plus an MRI, but the doctors were clueless.

The current diagnosis is in line with those of biomancer and klaradeb (low blood pressure), gennimom (heat), and atlchemist ("sometimes women just pass out)."

[history_grrrl]

Yikes, what stories! Sympathies to all. Biomancer, I hope the Mr. is okay.

Strangely, others' stories are making me feel better about this. 'Sometimes women just pass out.' Hah!

I saw my cardiologist and nothing seems off (he had the records from the ER visit). And -- miracle of miracles -- the cardiac mass has disappeared. Hopefully this means it was a clot and the anticoagulant worked. (We agreed that if it broke away and traveled to my lungs, I would be experiencing pretty significant distress, which is not the case.) Once I finish my current batch of anticoagulant, I'm done; yay!

But just now I was sitting at a table at home, working, and felt the wave of dizziness again. This came on the heels of something quasi-migraine-ish, so I wonder if this could be migraine- or hormone-related. I also might have double-dosed myself with one or two meds this morning because I was reading and not paying attention -- something stupid I won`t do again.

Sleeping for an hour seems like a good idea right now.

[euro_ir_nerd]

The blood clot disappearing is good news, but the continuing dizziness isn't. It could well be a side effect of the meds, but dizziness, headaches and tiredness could be symptoms of all kinds of things. To add from my experience: I once ended up in the ER when I felt continually dizzy, had a headache and could hardly move. Turns out I was dehydrated. But as I said, it could be other things which have been mentioned already (hormonal imbalance, low blood pressure, malnutrition, anemia...).

Anyway, good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[glowdart]

Yikes, what stories! Sympathies to all. Biomancer, I hope the Mr. is okay.

Strangely, others' stories are making me feel better about this. 'Sometimes women just pass out.' Hah!

I saw my cardiologist and nothing seems off (he had the records from the ER visit). And -- miracle of miracles -- the cardiac mass has disappeared. Hopefully this means it was a clot and the anticoagulant worked. (We agreed that if it broke away and traveled to my lungs, I would be experiencing pretty significant distress, which is not the case.) Once I finish my current batch of anticoagulant, I'm done; yay!

That's great news! 

(The continued dizziness isn't, of course, but there are so many things that can cause it, most of which aren't nearly as scary as clots and tumors!)

[history_grrrl]

<waking up after three hours of sleep instead of one>

Thanks, everybody, for the good wishes. Migraine is still with me; just took another pill for that. I feel like a walking Big Pharma factory. Ugh. Now, where is that "f***ing migraine" thread?