I have been fainting three or four times a year since I was 10 or so. It is really annoying. I have mild Reynauds in addition to low blood pressure and borderline anemia. If I get emotional, I can go down pretty fast. I was visiting a friend in the hospital, who was totally okay, just being kept for observation for a concussion, and we were all laughing and joking and I started feeling funny..so I went into the hall, asked where the bathroom was, and proceeded to collapse. Because I was in the hospital at the time (peds ward because my friend was 17), I was taken down a couple of flights into emerg, had an EKG and a blood sugar test - normal.
I can never predict what will bring on a faint either - my friend, totally okay, and I faint. My dad unscrewing a deck screw from the arch of his foot (LOTS OF BLOOD) totally fine. A movie showing a druggie injecting into a vein in her groin - came so close but got it under control. The problem isn't the blood or whatever, but either I forget to breathe (stupid, right?) or I get too worked up because I feel helpless. I can also faint from being in a hot tub or spinning around too fast!
My advice, from someone who has had to deal with this and will again in the future:
1) tell the doctor you are shadowing in advance - in my case, I would let them know that I can faint sometimes but that I can recognize the symptoms and know when I need to leave the room/sit down
2) learn to recognize the symptoms - for me, getting really hot all over (waves of heat), brownout, tinnitis, feeling like I am receeding into my body, loss of muscle control and losing my sense of body orientation (up/down, left/right)
3) although I don't think eating or drinking are really what determines whether I go down or not, it probably doesn't help, so keep on top of this
4) expose yourself to things that are likely to make you upset or uneasy in a controlled setting, like watching a video, and desensitize yourself to it, and also practice learning how to bring it back (very hard to do, but I have done it a couple of times). ME: limbs that are completely turned the wrong way freaks me out, as does anything to do with nails/nail beds - they are just such a sensitive area! eek! I am dreading the time I will have to learn how to remove a nail!
5) learning not to beat yourself up about it...if I am in a situation where I feel like I am going to faint but it will be embarrassing for me, I find it even harder to bring it back - this always seems to make the faint happen faster.
I will hopefully be going to a Vipassanna meditation retreat to learn some techniques to control the helpless/emotional feelings and to be able to focus.
On a side note, does anyone else getting irrationally emotional when they wake up? I can have gone down for no reason, feel silly and wake up sobbing hysterically. That bothers me more than the fainting because it isn't my real feelings!
🙄
