Fainting/sweating

[gjensen]

I do not have a lot of experience with fainting, though I have. I am just not a fainter.

Anyways, I have been catching the devil with evening and morning chest pain. Not discomfort, or moderate pain. This is pain high on the pain scale. Centered directly over my heart. It has been thought that I am getting coronary vasospasms. I get them as I relax to sleep, but then I cannot get to sleep. Obviously. Then I get them if I wake abruptly. Particularly, if I wake up too soon.

I am in a bad flare of symptoms, but I am not sure that this is getting progressively worse.

This morning it was bad. I am on a low dose CCB. I took some nitro. I have to take it little by little. It subsided some, and I laid back down from a sitting position. When I did, I felt an intense fluttering in my chest and suddenly began to sweat rather profusely. Not as if I had run a marathon, but for me, a lot. I sat up, a bit startled. It felt as if it required some holding on to retain conciseness.

I am trying to decide if this was an arrhythmia of sorts, or pre syncope. I have never sweated like this before. However, I do not have a lot of experience with fainting.

I want to note that afterwards, I walked around, and had no problems with maintaining blood pressure.

I am not looking for medical advice. I am looing for any like experiences or insights from practical experience.

[Libby]

I don't faint much either, but I do come close to it far more often than I would like. If I start sweating (and feeling overheated), that's usually my sign to sit down RIGHT NOW before the choice is out of my hands.

That said, I personally don't get pre-syncopal while I'm sitting. I know that there are some people who do, but the combination of the sitting and the intense fluttering makes me think you might want to make an appt with your cardiologist. Cardiac causes of syncope (as opposed to vasovagal syncope) don't sound like anything to mess around with. (I know you're not looking for medical advice - I just had to say it.)

[angelloz]

I have had periods of chest pain that seemed to occur evening or morning..I have gotten clammy with this as well. Better safe than sorry...but I know it is always difficult to know if you need an ER visit. You mentioned one thing that I have been through several times..the feeling that I have to really hang on to remain conscious. At times I have stared at a small item and just kept telling myself to breathe. Never fun . Sorry to hear you are dealing with this.

[dkd]

I wonder if the nitro caused the weird feeling?

I found this online at drugs.com:

When you begin to feel an attack of angina starting (chest pains, tightness or squeezing in the chest), sit down. Then place a sublingual tablet in your mouth or under your tongue. If you use the oral spray, you should spray it on or under the tongue. You may become dizzy, lightheaded, or faint soon after using a tablet or spray, so it is safer to sit rather than stand while the medicine is working. If you become dizzy or faint while sitting, take several deep breaths and bend forward with your head between your knees. Remain calm and you should feel better in a few minutes.

http://www.drugs.com/cons/nitroglycerin-oral-sublingual.html

[Katybug]

When they gave me nitro toward the end of my ttt, it made my heart feel like it was fluttering, made me sweat even worse than I already was, caused chest pain, and made my whole body feel like I was vibrating (like when your touching a machine with a powerful vibration. )

I also have to different kinds of sweating from dysautonomia. One type is annoying but benign and occurs when the ambient temp or the humidity is even a degree too high for my body. Then, I sweat profusely but tend not to have other symptoms with it other than the urge to get to a cooler environment. The second type does involve presyncopal episodes. I will break out in a sweat instantly, it almost burns/stings when it first starts, and comes with a wave of that surreal feeling that happens before actual dizziness. The sweating usually starts immediately with the onset of the presyncopal episode and once the nausea and/or dizziness passes I usually become instantly chilled from having damp skin/clothes. The other, more generalized sweating has a gradual onset and I'm usually not chilled after but find a "comfortable" range for temperature.

I used to have chest pains but have not in a while and I really don't know what made them stop although I am on a CCB instead of BB so maybe I lucked out on the meds accidentally treating that symptom.

[gjensen]

I should have been more clear. Some time had passed before I laid back down, but the nitro could still of had some effect. What troubled me was it was the laying down that brought the arrhythmia and fainting feeling on. It continued through the sitting up when I began to sweat. That is what I thought was odd. That it would happen upon laying down. Then the sweating which would be new to me.

Libby, I thought about calling the cardiologist today. I did not do it though. You are right to suggest caution. My gut tells me that it was not good.

angelloz, it is interesting to hear that you have chest pain that follows an evening/morning cycle. Mine does religiously. Every night, and every morning upon waking. Mayo called it coronary vasospasms. They do tend to follow a pattern. They can be problematic. They are hard to catch though. I have not had this caught, so I am reluctant to assume that is what this is. I can say that the pain is severe, much of the time. I do get spells where the pain is not as intense.

dkd, it very well have been the nitro. It is hard to say. It has not done this to me before, but that does not mean it did not do it to me this time.

Katybug, nitro will do that to me to if I do the whole tablet at once. If I am supine, and take it in pieces it does not hit me that hard. There is very little change in blood pressure which surprised me. I have even seen my BP go up.

The only sweating abnormality that I have is reduced sweating.

This chest pain is giving me a lot of grief. My sleep schedule has reversed. This stuff will not let me sleep.

Thank you all for the input.

[Raisin]

I just wanted to say I am sorry you are experiencing this GJenson. Would a 30 day holter monitor catch a his or not? It would be nice to get an episode on paper somehow. God Bless.

[Katybug]

Early on in my acute dysautonomia, I actually had reduced sweating. Then, there was a sudden switch to hyperhydrosis....to the extreme. People who knew me well noticed the excessive sweating. I don't know what caused the switch from too little to too much, but I wanted to let you know it can happen...I'm living proof! Lol! I hope you get this figured out. I do agree with the earlier post that if the heart symptoms are new (the fluttering), it's worth at least a call to the doc if not a visit. It's so hard to tell what is dysautonomia and what could be something more insidious especially when you add our crazy meds into the mix.

Take care,

Katie