No speech for 30mins

[lattegirl]

Hi all,

I have Vasovagal presyncope, 

Went to gym today,  had tremors working out which were controlled with jelly shots.As I was leaving the gym became confused and had an episode - shaking, cold, dizzy light headed, unable to speak or lie down etc.Gym instructor took over,

Usually a small coke brings me out of it but it didn't and had to have another jelly shot , possibly meaning the trigger was more low blood sugar than exercise fatigue.

I was not able to speak for 30 mins and wondered is this normal as usually  I  can speak in about 10 minutes.It felt a bit scary as I didn't have a clue how to speak  I knew what I wanted to say. 

Any thoughts would be great, also any ideas on how you cope with the exercise without triggering vvs.

Many thanks 😊

 

[MTRJ75]

I haven't been diagnosed with VVS, but have had the lack of speech thing a few times. For me, it's like my mind wants to say words and sounds come out of my mouth, just not in the form of words or at least not the words in my brain. Unfortunately, this was one of the symptoms that my family believed I may have been "selectively enhancing" and it felt so surreal that afterward I even questioned myself if it was real. 

I get the shakiness too. Internal tremors are one of my worst symptoms as a matter of fact and caused me to have to give up working out around a year and a half ago because the post-workout shakes got so bad. Now I can sometimes get the full effects of a workout (sweating, shaking) from a frustrating phone call. 

I'm wondering if you might want to experiment with some more friendly sugars (fruit?). The Coke especially probably isn't doing good things to your body. 

[yogini]

Seems from your post you may have previously lost the ability to speak for about 10 minutes.  If so this is just a prolonged version of what you were already having.   This isn't a typical POTS symptom, so I would definitely check with your doctor.  You could also try to measure your HR and blood pressure while this is happening, and maybe that would help you figure out whether it is related to POTS.

Also have you figured out what causes the tremors when you exercise?     I switched to yoga and I tolerate that much better than when I used to do cardio - there isn't much of an after effect for me - and it definitely led to a more rapid improvement in my POTS.

[Pistol]

@lattegirl - I have VVS and hyperadrenergic POTS. When my BP drops I pass out and when it goes too high I take seizures ( all caused by inadequate circulation to the brain ). In either scenario I can experience periods of confusion, loss of speech or very fast speech after becoming conscious again. Sometimes this lasts a few minutes and sometimes as long as a few hours, in my case it depends on how severe  and how long the loss of cerebral circulation was. I also have reactive hypoglycemia (also caused by dysautonomia) and when that happens ( I can absolutely tell the difference between being presyncope from POTS or from hypoglycemia) I normally return to normal as soon as my blood sugar goes back up. I agree that coke is not the best option for low sugar - I usually have to take a fast-acting sugar (such as grapes or orange juice) and a carb or protein to keep the sugar up once it is normal again. 

IMO it appears that you may have been pre-syncopal and your body was not able to adjust as fast as you wanted it to. Normally - in my case - I have to lie down and recouperate for a while after an episode. 

[lattegirl]

21 hours ago, MTRJ75 said:

I haven't been diagnosed with VVS, but have had the lack of speech thing a few times. For me, it's like my mind wants to say words and sounds come out of my mouth, just not in the form of words or at least not the words in my brain. Unfortunately, this was one of the symptoms that my family believed I may have been "selectively enhancing" and it felt so surreal that afterward I even questioned myself if it was real. 

I get the shakiness too. Internal tremors are one of my worst symptoms as a matter of fact and caused me to have to give up working out around a year and a half ago because the post-workout shakes got so bad. Now I can sometimes get the full effects of a workout (sweating, shaking) from a frustrating phone call. 

I'm wondering if you might want to experiment with some more friendly sugars (fruit?). The Coke especially probably isn't doing good things to your body. 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, 

Sorry to hear you had to give up work outs.

Vagus triggers do include emmotional situations and I wonder if you are experiencing this with the phone call?

I will give fruit juice a go although my 150ml coke had worked for the last 4 years. 

All the best

[MTRJ75]

I guess frustration is an emotion, but really anything my body perceives as stressful (and it now perceives so many things as such). I don't know that there's often any sort of emotion attached. For instance, I had to lean over to write some stuff down while on the phone the other day and realized that the paper was wet because I was drenched in sweat just from the act of leaning forward and writing. 

[lattegirl]

On 12/11/2019 at 1:52 AM, Pistol said:

@lattegirl - I have VVS and hyperadrenergic POTS. When my BP drops I pass out and when it goes too high I take seizures ( all caused by inadequate circulation to the brain ). In either scenario I can experience periods of confusion, loss of speech or very fast speech after becoming conscious again. Sometimes this lasts a few minutes and sometimes as long as a few hours, in my case it depends on how severe  and how long the loss of cerebral circulation was. I also have reactive hypoglycemia (also caused by dysautonomia) and when that happens ( I can absolutely tell the difference between being presyncope from POTS or from hypoglycemia) I normally return to normal as soon as my blood sugar goes back up. I agree that coke is not the best option for low sugar - I usually have to take a fast-acting sugar (such as grapes or orange juice) and a carb or protein to keep the sugar up once it is normal again. 

IMO it appears that you may have been pre-syncopal and your body was not able to adjust as fast as you wanted it to. Normally - in my case - I have to lie down and recouperate for a while after an episode. 

Hi Pistol

Thanks for all the info , now I know loss of speech  can last alot longer.

I'm very interested in how you know  the differences between hypoglycemia and presyncope as I struggle to know which is which.

I will add protein - had not thought of that.

Thank you !

[Pistol]

50 minutes ago, lattegirl said:

I'm very interested in how you know  the differences between hypoglycemia and presyncope as I struggle to know which is which.

Hi @lattegirl - prior tp passing out my heart starts beating hard and fast, I hear and see differently, I get cold hands and feet, people tell me I turn white and get a blank stare right before I go out. 

When my sugar is low it starts slow with feeling hungry, becoming increasingly weak, shaky and - most noticeable symptom - I start sweating. If I let it go I end up so weak that I cannot move but I don't let it get that bad anymore. I immediately drink juice, eat grapes or a spoonful of honey followed by cheese and crackers. I always keep these items on hand. 

[lattegirl]

Hi Pistol,

I recognise alot of the same symptoms thanks for helping clarify which is which !

[Lynnemily]

I have this same symptom. It can come up from a non- pre-syncopal episode, too. Like if I was recently stressed or had a busy week. I sound like I have had a seizure. With can’t speak at all, or it’s slow and slurred or it’s gibberish. I have had these episodes checked out by a neurologist and cardiologist to see if if it’s the heart not pumping blood up to my brain or if it’s my brain having seizures and short circuiting. Nothing came of the results from MRI’s, CT scans, tilt table, and seizure brain wave tests. I just chalk it up to one of my funky quirks I have now and am glad it’s not something dangerously wrong.

[lattegirl]

1 hour ago, Lynnemily said:

I have this same symptom. It can come up from a non- pre-syncopal episode, too. Like if I was recently stressed or had a busy week. I sound like I have had a seizure. With can’t speak at all, or it’s slow and slurred or it’s gibberish. I have had these episodes checked out by a neurologist and cardiologist to see if if it’s the heart not pumping blood up to my brain or if it’s my brain having seizures and short circuiting. Nothing came of the results from MRI’s, CT scans, tilt table, and seizure brain wave tests. I just chalk it up to one of my funky quirks I have now and am glad it’s not something dangerously wrong.

Hi,

That must be very frustrating for you, I suppose it is not related to changes in your sugar level? I know I  get hypoglycemic and then the symptoms start for that too.