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I Past Out This Morning....


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Well, I know how it feels to pass out now.....ugh...

....this morning i got up out of bed, stood up, strapped on my BP cuff (just cuz i like to see what my BP is doing now that i'm on florinef), and i felt fine at first -- BP was like 110/60 and HR 130. the cuff started to deflate and i was just getting ready to take the cuff off when all of a sudden i got nauseous, then i felt my heart rate plummet in my chest, literally felt BIG BOUNDING SLOW BEATS in my chest, then my head went to the sky and I KNEW it was coming, only because i knew that five seconds earlier my HR was 130, and i knew, just from feeling how slow it was in my chest that it was around 30-40. i quickly hit the BP cuff to inflate cuz i knew i was going down and i wanted the reading and the next thing i remember i am on the bed and STILL FEEL LIKE PASSING OUT WHILE SUPINE. i was having cold sweats, was nauseous and i LITERALLY felt like i was going to die. i almost called out to my parents who were in bed at the time, but i just laid there and closed my eyes and prayed for the feeling to go away as i could STILL FEEL the very slow but HARD beating of my heart. i actually put my finger on my carotid and it was so weak and thready and slow i was so scared....i started crying and then looked at the cuff and it must have got a reading before i blacked out -- it read 66/52 BP and HR of 40!! ......... i was so scared to get up after that, but luckily i have been ok since the episode early this am............

how scary.........do any of you get that sensation in your chest, that your HR plummets out, to a very very slow HARD BEATING BEATS/HR? i still cant get over it................................

oops, PASSED OUT is what i meant in the "topic title", not PAST OUT! man, not doing good today!

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thank you all for your concerns/replies....

I did talk to my cardio shortly after it happened.....after i filled him in with the vitals that i got and my symptoms he said it sounded like a vasovagal and that unfortunately it goes along with the POTS and potential progression of the disease (because he knows, after seeing him for 5 years, that i have never had an syncopal episodes). he seemed a bit concerned and said that now that i have had an event, that i need to make sure that i get myself supine if i feel these symptoms i had this morning coming on, no matter where i am or what i'm doing, and no matter how embarrassing it may seem, he doesnt want me to physically get hurt by falling....

he was really nice and compassionate. he said just to take it easy the rest of the day, salt load, fluid load and get some rest......

i did mention to him that i have been having some strange fluttery sensations in my chest/neck constantly for 1-2 minutes and then it breaks....he didnt seem to think that the arrhythmia had anything to do with my passing out episode this morning because i didnt feel the fluttery feeling before passing out ....however, he said, even though i have had these fluttery sensations before in the past and that they are infrequent, he still wants to have me on an event monitor if they become more frequent over the next couple weeks.....he said if it did turn out to be SVT/atrial flutter or something that he would have me come in for an EP study, but that unfortunately it wouldnt fix the rest of the problems -- auto dys/pots/etc......and if it was a trivial type of arrhythmia (like an SVT and not a ventricular tachy) that he might just want to keep tabs on it or up the dose of my beta to try and cut out the rhythm disturbance.....he didnt want to get too deep into discussion on it until or unless they were able to definitely SEE the rhythm.......

nadine, as for "how long have you been on florinef" ....about two months now...........it's wierd, i think it is helped but in a wierd way....it has helped to cut out some of the pre-syncope i had been having (fewer episodes) but the prodrome is more abrupt now, almost going from feeling okay to "you have two seconds to sit down or that is it"..........strange....

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that is classic NCS. What you felt is bradycardia. And he is right, lay down before you collaspe. Bear in min d too that if you pass out they may pull your drivers license. If you abort that by laying down- they won't. Actually I can only say- that is how it happened with me. I've laid down, in the bank- in the grocery store- at the police station, at work, at thanksgiving dinner- you name it. Also happily, I literally only need about 15 seconds supine- then I'm ok.

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Sort of the same as Katherine for me--not actually passed out, but pretty darn close. I have had some really low BP reading just like you had when you passed out, but not the low HR. I have felt like it was fast then slowed like that---but never had a BP cuff to show what was happening----those were the times I felt like I was going to pass out.

I can't relate in the same fear because I haven't passed out, but I can relate to those slow thumping heart beats and the low blood pressure. When I had the near syncope I never knew what my BP was doing, I could just feel real fast heart rate -----then a fluttering ---then some thumps. When this happens I get down on the floor quickly so I don't pass out. When I have measured the low BPs I would have a HR in the normal range----so I just felt really sluggish and weak, and found it difficult to move.

Those near syncope and heart episodes always happen when I'm trying to go out and do something---especially in the heat. I have not caught one episide since I had the cardiac loop recorder implanted----and it's been over 18 months---- :ph34r:

Makes me mad----it's only catching tachycardia and single PVCs. So as soon as they take this out---I'll probably have another spell----------- :) Before the loop recorder I was having them about twice a year------the real bad ones where everthing goes grey.

Sorry this happened to you dear. I always have such a hard time explaining how they feel when I have near syncope.

Hang in there-----

HUGS,

Maxine :0)

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hi pat,

what i am feeling is a definite FAST/tachycardic type fluttery rhythm. junctional escape occurs with an inherent rate between 40-60BPM, which wouldnt be classified as a tachycardia/fast rhythm.......so i doubt that is what the problem is with me because this is a fast rhythm (not slow, 40-60) and very fluttery feeling.......

.....it doesnt happen when i'm pre-syncopal or, like with this morning, before i passed out. it usually happens when i am feeling okay actually.......i am almost certain its mechanism is some sort of SVT in origin, maybe an atrial tachycardia of some sort......

thanks for your input though on suggestions of what it could be...

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I am so sorry Cardiactec.

Yes it can be scary sometimes. As you know, I fainted during my tilt table test and it was horrible. I had to stay home for about 1 week, feeling sick.

I hope it is just a one day event. Try to rest and follow the doctor?s suggestions.

I am sure you will feel much better soon,

Take care,

Love,

Tessa

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junctional tachy could be a possibility in my case....but you were referencing a junctional escape rhythm in your first post, and i know it's not that cuz with junctional escape you have a pretty slow rate........

junctional escape rhythms are pretty uncommon and many times stem from an acute inferior MI or in post cardiac surgery patients.....they certainly can be seen though with increased parasympathetic tone via stimulating a sinus arrest (too much parasympathetic tone to the sinus node, which causes either an atrial or junctional escape rhythm to pace the heart)...

it definitely could be a junctional tachycardia though which is different than junctional escape in that a junctional tach is more of an irritable site of cardiac pacing cells more than an arrest/pause that occurs from too much parasympathetic input on the sinus node...

i definitely think it's some sort of irritable ectopic foci ........only a monitor would be able to prove/disprove and sort out morphologically whether a junctional vs atrial tach. thanks for the site though! :blink:

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oh yeah, any of you that have passed out - i think one of the scariest things today going through this was

1. the feeling of my heart beating extremely slow and forceful ...

but also when i passed out and came to, i had really bad chest pain and shortness of breath, along with the continued forceful feeling slow heart rate.....have any of you had this after passing out? i seriously thought i through a clot or something to the lungs because i was so short winded, so bradycardic, along with chest pain....thankfully it went away after 10 mins or so but so so scary...............

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I usually have chest pain & shortness of breath as part of my pre-syncope episodes, after something that triggers my symptomps or because of a low bp, a high hr, etc.

But not after a syncope.

At least you recovered quickly, which is good.

It takes a while after you have a syncope to recover. Furtheremore, you might be feeling worse for a day or two, even a week. If you recover completely in a couple of hours, well, that?s even better

:blink:

It is in fact important to identify the near syncope moment in order to lay down as soon as possible, no matter where you are.

BTW, if I think about it more carefully, I would say that the chest pain is related with my blood pressure and my heart rate...

Try to rest, follow the doctor?s instructions and drink plenty of fluids.

You will soon feel better,

Love,

Tessa

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Hmmm...passing out...how do I begin? It's happened to me more than 1,000 times. I actually take it in stride most of the time now; but that was a long process coming. Cardiatec, you obviously have the technical side of the event down pat...and more so. Here's a bit on the psychological/phenomenological side of it:

-remember that when you are about to faint, fainted, or recovering from complete unconsciousness, you cannot be totally aware. you will be somewhat disoriented and unaware of some of the events your body experienced. it helps to have a witness, who is observant and cool headed, to tell you, like "oh, your head hurts? that's because it banged the bedpost on your way out." this dysorientation can cause you to do strange/unwise things, such as take the stairs, continue standing, etc. just before the faint. it can last up to an hour after the faint (so let yourself rest, don't do any important mental work just afterwards, drive a car, etc.).

-also, it's scary, in the beginning. but the more you calm yourself, generally the faster it will pass. try to think of something funny, to laugh, etc. it's almost impossible to think straight, but it helps to laugh it off. the panic aggrevates the disregulation of the hr. the "dieing" feeling is a result of the HR, Jamesian emotion theory: the physical sensation precedes the cognitive explanation...but you can help your ANS through top-down processing, by logicizing yourself out of the Jamesian effect. So, you know the HR is not going to kill you, so you know you are not dying, and that should help calm you down.

You must learn to get up more slowly, in a process of sitting first (for a few minutes), then standing (if necessary, with the back of your legs touching the seat for reassurance), then walking. Give your body more time to adjust to the change in posture.

As for the associated pain...I felt that a lot the first year or so...during that period, I was very frustrated by the faints, and I was constantly struggling against the faint during an episode, trying hard to come back, testing myself to move, etc...I believe that these efforts caused much of the pain (bc at points, some parts of my body worked and others didn't, and it was a strain on the working parts to complete the functions alone). I learnt to relax, totally give myself over the faint, and that helped to reduce pain and also to shorten the length of the semi-consciousness between blackout and total recovery. Maybe my body itself also adapted to the faints....the tachy ones, at least. Chemically, your body goes into shock, there is too much adrenalin, and it primes your nerves for sensation (so a touch might feel uncomfortably electric, a sound might cause a headache, motions might send your brain aspin and even feel like a seizure, lights flash, etc). Good to give yourself some release time, in a dark, quiet place after the faint.

One question, you said your doctor explained this development to you by the "progressive" nature of POTS? I was under the impression that POTS itself is not progressive (although some of the underlying causes are). I contracted POTS from a virus (about 5 years ago now), and it got better, actually, over time....went from bedridden to wheelchair bound to semi-functional, now almost fully functional. So, maybe you and your doctor should look for a different explanation if you are regressing....maybe it is a side-effect of your medication...or maybe your meds are masking your previous warning signs, so you are not taking the measures you used to (drinking water, sitting down, resting, etc)? ??

Well....in any case, I know it's a major stress to regress in any form....it's one of the most frustrating things...so I hope it's a brief and temporary stage for you....

Feel better fast! ;)

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Guest tearose

When in a relapse or higher period of symptoms, I keep water next to my bed and a packet of electrolytes. We do get dehydrated during sleep and so drinking before getting out of bed is very helpful. I also keep a walker in my closet and when in that rough spell, keep it next to my bed. There are times I get up to use the bathroom during the night and don't want to fall. I sometimes get so dizzy my vision goes from white snow to black and I will quickly lay on the floor to avoid the faint. It is all about preparing for the need to manage the symptoms.

I hope you do find what works for you very soon.

tearose

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Sorry that happened. It is so hard to have our bodies not behave!! I suggest you rest and give your body time to recover from this. I only had one experience like it but it was traumatic. Sounds like you need to wear a 24 monitor for a day or two and see what is going on. Take care!

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Guest dionna

hugs to you! i know that passing out is scary and i don't blame you for anything!!! i wish i could give you a hug or say something that would make you feel so much better! take care!

dionna ;)

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Guest Eliza

Cardiactec,

I am sorry for replying so late, but I just want to give some support. I know how tough this has been for you and I am sorry you had to experience it, it can be very frightening huh? I hope that with time you will be less traumatized by this event and I do hope you don't have to experience these episodes constantly. Hang in there!

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thank you to those that have been supportive in regards to my scary experience of passing out. i appreciate your understanding and care........it meas a lot as this has been tough on/for me.

thankfully there has been no further episodes of passing out since last week....and let's hope things stay that way! ;)

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