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I almost passed out when looking at x-rays of my elbow which had a miniscule fracture in it. And due to my sinus problems, I've had to get them scoped a couple times - when the scope goes up my nose, I pretty much pass out. Makes me think of how they used a wire to remove the brains during the mummification process in Egypt and...
I'm ok with blood draws. However, my best friend needs to be laying down because she inevitably passes out. Amusingly, she is covered in tattoos and was a veterinarian for many years - needles should not freak her out! LOL
I've been this way for decades (I'm in my 40's). Anything that makes me feel uncomfortable, especially medical things, signals my vagal response and I either faint or have to sit down and hope I don't faint. I doesn't even have to be something happening to myself, I can't even watch things with others or hear about it without feeling the blood leaving my extremities. It's very embarrassing but there's nothing I can do to stop it. I've learned to watch dr's about it if I suspect it to kick in. It begins with me getting very hot, then tunnel vision, then the blood rushing from my arms and legs. I usually faint at that point.
Anyone else like this? Is there anything you can do to make it better? I've heard if you lay down and put your feet up, that it helps. Any advice or at least to hear from others with this would be helpful.
I think I do.
One time, my son had a bloody nose, but he kept telling me he had a STUFFY nose, and I told him (yelling from another room) "Then blow it!"
And he did. He blew his bloody nose all over the bathroom. My oldest son yells to me "Mom, you better get down here (they were in the basement) it looks like the Nichole Simpson murder scene down here!"
Maaannn...I went running down stairs, and sure enough, it DID look like a murder scene, and my son is covered in blood...it was awful.
So, I'm trying to help him get the bloody nose under control, and I feel my knees start to get weak, and then I start getting tunnel vision. I'm trying to talk myself out of fainting...but I've fainted before, and I could tell there wasn't going to be any "talking out of it." I managed to make it to the basement steps, and I yelled for help, and then I was down like a sack of flour. And I wet my pants in the process.
Took my son to the ER. He was fine. Turns out, like lots of little boys, he had picked at his nose to the point of bleeding. What an obedient boy! He blew that blood all over the place. LOL
My sister's daughter can't even see one drop of blood, and she's out for the count.
I only get it while talking about medical procedures. I'm completely fine during the procedures themselves, fine around blood of anyone, can watch surgery on tv. It's only when talking about it. I warn my doctor and he has me put my head between my knees while he talks to me, and I am fine. Luckily it first happened at a hospital. They ran tests and found nothing.
My husband does the fainting thing when around medical procedures. Heck, he passed out once when our cat was having blood drawn.
Aw, that's kinda sweet in a weird way. I'm usually fine when it comes to watching other people's (or animals') procedures, but did get a little queasy at the vet one time... my cat had an abscess on her tail, and when they squeezed it I had to quickly look away. Was NOT expecting it to be that gross!
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What it is now is that he likes the extra attention.
Men, lol.
And to answer the OP, I too have an unusually strong "vagal" response to certain things. Blood draws don't bother me, but cortisone shots (they're suuuper painful) and certain other specific medical things do - or if I become too emotional about something, I'll get dizzy and feel like I'm going to faint afterwards. I've never seen a doctor for it, but the one or two times it happened at the doctor's office, they didn't seem too concerned. So I guess it happens to a lot of people!
Is that connected at all to blood pressure? Because I have naturally low blood pressure, and always suspected the two were connected. My blood sugar also fluctuates abnormally, so that can also cause a person to feel flushed/dizzy. How are your BP and blood sugars?
Took my son to the ER. He was fine. Turns out, like lots of little boys, he had picked at his nose to the point of bleeding. What an obedient boy! He blew that blood all over the place. LOL
I'm sorry for your (and your son's) misfortune, but that is one seriously funny story!! I'm reading this at work, and just had to stifle my laughter.
Aw, that's kinda sweet in a weird way. I'm usually fine when it comes to watching other people's (or animals') procedures, but did get a little queasy at the vet one time... my cat had an abscess on her tail, and when they squeezed it I had to quickly look away. Was NOT expecting it to be that gross!
Men, lol.
And to answer the OP, I too have an unusually strong "vagal" response to certain things. Blood draws don't bother me, but cortisone shots (they're suuuper painful) and certain other specific medical things do - or if I become too emotional about something, I'll get dizzy and feel like I'm going to faint afterwards. I've never seen a doctor for it, but the one or two times it happened at the doctor's office, they didn't seem too concerned. So I guess it happens to a lot of people!
Is that connected at all to blood pressure? Because I have naturally low blood pressure, and always suspected the two were connected. My blood sugar also fluctuates abnormally, so that can also cause a person to feel flushed/dizzy. How are your BP and blood sugars?
I usually have normal to low/normal blood pressure. Not sure about the blood sugar levels though. I remember once that my blood pressure was 95/(can't remember the bottom number).
Only experienced this once and scared me so much as I didn't know what was happening. Only a couple months ago. Went to a thrift store and it was pouring rain. Had my umbrella and when I went to close it(usually gets stuck when pushing it down) a small metal piece went into my wrist, very small metal piece and not that deep. Wow did it hurt!! Bad. It hit a vein and started to swell/bruise immediately.
Pain was intense but I started to look at the clothing. Within minutes I started feeling so strange, lightheaded and dizzy, sick feeling. My husband had wondered off into the store and I started to scramble to find him. Then really scared me as my vision blurred and it was like seeing static, lots of black fuzzy dots. After that my hearing muffled and it sounded like being underwater. Found my husband and he said I wasn't making sense so he sat me down on a chair and I leaned back and closed my eyes. I also felt extremely hot. Within 10 minutes things were starting to return to normal but I felt drained the rest of the day. On our way home the same thing started to happen again but I never fainted thankfully. Nothing sense then.
Researched and found out it was the vagal response, never heard of it. Weird since Iv never been bothered before by it(pain triggers or any other trigger). If it happens again to me best thing is to sit down and rest, also turning the AC on in the car helped a ton the 2nd time.
Only experienced this once and scared me so much as I didn't know what was happening. Only a couple months ago. Went to a thrift store and it was pouring rain. Had my umbrella and when I went to close it(usually gets stuck when pushing it down) a small metal piece went into my wrist, very small metal piece and not that deep. Wow did it hurt!! Bad. It hit a vein and started to swell/bruise immediately.
Pain was intense but I started to look at the clothing. Within minutes I started feeling so strange, lightheaded and dizzy, sick feeling. My husband had wondered off into the store and I started to scramble to find him. Then really scared me as my vision blurred and it was like seeing static, lots of black fuzzy dots. After that my hearing muffled and it sounded like being underwater. Found my husband and he said I wasn't making sense so he sat me down on a chair and I leaned back and closed my eyes. I also felt extremely hot. Within 10 minutes things were starting to return to normal but I felt drained the rest of the day. On our way home the same thing started to happen again but I never fainted thankfully. Nothing sense then.
Researched and found out it was the vagal response, never heard of it. Weird since Iv never been bothered before by it(pain triggers or any other trigger). If it happens again to me best thing is to sit down and rest, also turning the AC on in the car helped a ton the 2nd time.
Yep, you said you felt drained the rest of the day, and that's how it is for me too. If I have an episode, especially if I faint, it can take me a full day to recover and get my energy back.
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