Syncope frightening to deal with

January 8, 2013 By

Q: I am a 73-year-old female in relatively good health but in December 2008 I awoke in the middle of the night with cramping. When I came to, I was on the bathroom floor with a badly bruised arm. My doctor said he thought it was a vasovagal incident so I finally forgot about it. Then in December 2010, the same thing happened but this time I came to face down in a pool of blood on my bedroom carpet with carpet burns on my face and a cracked nose. I have no memory of blacking out. This time my doctor decided to investigate further. I have had all the heart tests including a stress test, EKG, echocardiogram, and an ultrasound of my carotid arteries. They are wide open. I had a CT of my head and face.

I have never heard of vasovagal and since this last episode, I have been really stressing about it happening again. Why has it happened during the night? I’ve taken steps to make sure when I get up during the night (which I do a couple of times to empty my bladder), I make sure I am awake and aware of my surroundings.
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Viral infection leads to syncope

December 27, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My husband (has seizures) throws up and passes out when he has a virus. He gets clammy and feverish, followed by throwing up and passing out on the bathroom floor. He has been doing this for about 20 years. (Of course, it only happens when he has a virus and throws up.)

This has never happened in the car but he is almost 60 years old and is not getting any younger. I’m afraid it will happen when he is driving with me or others in the car and he will hurt us or someone else.

He is very healthy and has high metabolism. He works as a packaging manager for a chicken processing company and then usually works on things around the house when he gets home. [Read more...]

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Childhood joint pain and fainting in the elderly

February 8, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: Regarding your past columns about “growing pains,” I had such severe pain in my knees as a young teen that I could barely walk. I was told it was due to a growth spurt and to just learn to live with it. I had no fevers, redness or swelling, but just a few years later was hit with MCTD, including rheumatoid arthritis. I am happy that you told the child’s granny to look for other symptoms, such as fever, etc., but I think the pediatrician should have looked into doing some blood work to rule out other possibilities.

On another topic: For all those elderly people out there who have “fainting fits,” the “woozies” or the “spins,” drink a couple of glasses of water. My dad used to conk out for no apparent reason, and it usually turned out that he did not consume enough fluids and overused laxatives. [Read more...]

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Did H1N1 vaccine cause fainting, rapid heart rate?

February 25, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My 15-year-old daughter had the H1N1 shot on a Tuesday morning. That afternoon, she passed out walking to one of her classes. Her pediatrician did not find anything wrong. On Wednesday, she broke out with a rash from her armpit to below her hip. Thursday, her heart was racing at 150 beats per minute. Her pediatrician then ordered an EKG for the following day. The EKG on Friday was normal, but my daughter said she was still having palpitations, so I took her to the emergency room. There, she had blood work done and another EKG. Everything was normal, so they sent her home with a 24-hour heart monitor. On the following Tuesday, she passed out again but for a longer period of time. Again, we went back to the emergency room, where nothing was found to be wrong. She was then referred to a cardiologist and a neurologist. The cardiologist said it was vasovagal syncope and recommended she take salt tablets. The neurologist ordered an EEG, but we haven’t heard anything back from him.

I am not convinced that vasovagal syncope is the problem because she is still having racing-heart episodes out of the blue. What other questions should I be asking her doctors?

DEAR READER: First, vasovagal syncope is the most common cause of fainting and occurs when the body reacts in an exaggerated way to certain triggers. These triggers cause a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure, which reduce blood to the brain, leading to a brief loss of consciousness. Because it is generally harmless, it typically does not require treatment.

Treatment may consist of blood-pressure medication (which blocks some signals that can lead to fainting), antidepressants, blood-vessel constrictors, certain exercises, avoiding prolonged standing, drinking plenty of fluids and finally, in severe cases, surgery to implant an electrical pacemaker.

I doubt this is your daughter’s problem because vasovagal syncope decreases the heart rate rather than increases it.

I believe the likely culprit is the H1N1 vaccine. According to the Mayo Clinic, you
should check with your physician immediately if you have chest pain, dizziness, fainting, fast heartbeat, feeling faint, dizzy or lightheaded, get hives, itching, shortness of breath, a skin rash and much more. These side effects are listed as having an unknown incidence rate, but clearly your daughter is having many of these reactions.

I urge you both to return to her pediatrician to discuss the possibility that she is having a reaction to the vaccination injection she received. If they will not consider it a possibility or don’t know how to help, consult another physician.

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Daily Column

November 11, 2008 By

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. [Read more...]

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