DEAR DR. GOTT:
For the past two to three years I have had a problem with fainting. It has no apparent reason.
When it first started I was 69 or 70 years old. Sometimes I could feel it coming and was able to brace myself. Other times it would just happen and I would wake up on the floor.
I was sent to three different hospitals and had practically every test imaginable. Everything was normal. The black-outs then stopped in November 2007. I didn’t have another one for almost a year. In October 2008 I had three in one day. Two happened in my garage and other one in my bathroom. I got bruised up pretty good during one of them.
I have been reading your column for years and respect your opinion. I have also seen you pull many rabbits out of your hat and hope you can do the same for me.
DEAR READER:
Because you don’t say what testing you have had or what kinds of specialists you have seen I may repeat some what you have already had.
First, I would recommend you keep a journal of every episode you experience. You should write down the time it happened, what you were doing immediately prior and approximately how long you were out. This simple step may reveal a pattern that was previously unnoticed. You should also include whether you had eaten and any medications you had taken that day, prescription, over-the-counter, herbal or otherwise.
Next you should undergo heart testing such as an EKG, heart ultrasound, a stress test and an event monitor to ensure that your heart is functioning properly. A slow pulse, rapid heartbeat or extended pauses in the heart rate can cause black-outs and fainting. If your heart checks out okay, a neurologist is the next step.
This type of specialist can order sophisticated testing of your brain such as MRIs, brain wave testing and more. Perhaps your black-outs are in fact a type of seizure.
You need to determine the cause of your black-out episodes as soon as possible before you fall and get seriously injured.
