Fainted Last Night

Rich_in_Tampa said:
sit up, then dangle, then stand and get settled, then walk.
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:2funny: Thanks Rich, I must remember to take time and dangle when getting out of bed

Seriously, very interesting thread, thank you all for posting. A 60 yr old friend of mine had a nasty fall when he passed out while having a pee in the middle of the night. He now sits down to pee at all times, and his wife says that also reduces her time cleaning the toilet :D
 
megacorp-firee said:
My DW has low blood pressure. She is prone to slight fainting spells (does not completely black out) when she gets up real quickly. Not all the time and we can't figure out when it will happen. She has been advised to do what Rich said... get up slowly in stages. She forgets so every 6 months or so she has another instance where she gets up quickly and has to knee down momentarily.
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I have had the same problem all of my life. I was told when I was 12 or 13 that it was due to low BP and growing too fast, though the problem has persisted for many years and my BP is about 132/72 now that I am approaching 60. I have done what Rich said for the past 45 years and it works for me very nicely.

Sitting and dangling becomes a habit and I just can't imagine bolting from my bed in the middle of the night like I did in my early teens. If/when I have done that (just a couple of times due to extreme digestive upsets), I faint. Personally I think sitting and dangling for 10-20 seconds might not be a bad idea for most people, even if they don't faint. It gives your body a little time to adjust to the change in position. Springing out of bed from a sound sleep and walking immediately has got to be a big challenge to one's circulatory system.
 
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Want2retire said:
Sitting and dangling becomes a habit and I just can't imagine bolting from my bed in the middle of the night like I did in my early teens. If/when I have done that (just a couple of times due to extreme digestive upsets), I faint. Personally I think sitting and dangling for 10-20 seconds might not be a bad idea for most people, even if they don't faint. It gives your body a little time to adjust to the change in position. Springing out of bed from a sound sleep and walking immediately has got to be a big challenge to one's circulatory system.
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It is also something I was told to do after my lower back surgery 18 years ago, and to do it for the rest of my life. Roll onto your side, swing your legs off the bed and wait a few seconds, may be even a gentle stretch or 3 to warm the muscles.
 
If this happens suddenly and always when you have just stood up, there's a good chance that you have postural hypotension (which happens when blood pools in your veins while lying down, and your autonomic nervous system isn't up to the job of squeezing them to attention when you suddenly assume the vertical position).

However, there might be a few other clues:

First time, you were rolling your head. Could you have inadvertently stretched, or otherwise obstructed, blood flow in the basilar artery Basilar artery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (which is the principal blood supply to the back of your brain)?

A related, but less likely possibility is that you have some atherosclerosis in one of the arteries supplying the brain and that this was a TIA (transient ischemic attack). Transient ischemic attack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I'm glad you are getting your cardiac rhythm evaluated. Meanwhile, all the practical advice is recommended!

Meadbh

(disclaimer: I'm just a pediatrician)
 
I find this thread very useful. There have been a few times when I get up and I am on my way to the bathroom, that I have felt lightheaded and had to stop for a couple of seconds to steady myself. My blood pressure runs low. I will make sure that I sit up for a couple of seconds before I start walking from now on. Boy, the things that you can learn on this site!
 
Dreamer said:
I find this thread very useful. There have been a few times when I get up and I am on my way to the bathroom, that I have felt lightheaded and had to stop for a couple of seconds to steady myself. My blood pressure runs low. I will make sure that I sit up for a couple of seconds before I start walking from now on. Boy, the things that you can learn on this site!
Click to expand...

Good isn't it? Even when it is the same advice - before either leaping out of bed/buying that stock/signing up for insurance .... wait a moment and think about it :cool:
 
Tall and fainting

When younger, I used to faint fairly regularly. I'm 6' 8" and upong getting up from a chair or bed, I'd take a few steps and fall (usually face forward), as my heart couldn't pump enough blood to my brain to prevent it. I had to learn to get upright & moving in stages.

That pretty much meant no sports.

The same pattern got me dismissed from the Aikido Dojo. That martial art requires a lot of falling, rolling, and bounding back up. I could fall, but I'd get back up and instantly black out. Bye-bye martial arts.

Now that I'm an old fart, it nearly never happens. :rant:
 
I find this thread interesting. As a young person I would frequently get dizzy by standing up quickly. It seems to have went away with age. Maybe Im not as spry as I once was and get up alot slower :D
 
Dreamer said:
I find this thread very useful. There have been a few times when I get up and I am on my way to the bathroom, that I have felt lightheaded and had to stop for a couple of seconds to steady myself. My blood pressure runs low. I will make sure that I sit up for a couple of seconds before I start walking from now on. Boy, the things that you can learn on this site!
Click to expand...


Dreamer, I had this same experience a month or so before I fell the first time. I have come to the conclusion that I was on the ragged edge and other added factors (hot electric blanket, dehydration) put me in danger when I stood up quickly.
 
Notmuchlonger said:
I find this thread interesting. As a young person I would frequently get dizzy by standing up quickly. It seems to have went away with age. Maybe Im not as spry as I once was and get up alot slower :D
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It has become a lot less frequent for me, but it will still happen if I jump out of bed and run towards the bathroom in the middle of the night (which is why it only happens with extreme digestive upsets for me, now).

Overall, it's not even an inconvenience, normally. I like sitting on the bed anyway for a few seconds before standing, because it allows my dreams to recede so that I don't find myself borderline sleepwalking and running into things (ouch!).
 
ScooterGuy said:
When younger, I used to faint fairly regularly. I'm 6' 8" and upong getting up from a chair or bed, I'd take a few steps and fall (usually face forward), as my heart couldn't pump enough blood to my brain to prevent it. I had to learn to get upright & moving in stages.

That pretty much meant no sports.

The same pattern got me dismissed from the Aikido Dojo. That martial art requires a lot of falling, rolling, and bounding back up. I could fall, but I'd get back up and instantly black out. Bye-bye martial arts.

Now that I'm an old fart, it nearly never happens. :rant:
Click to expand...

Q: Why do giraffes not have this problem?
After all, its a long way up for the blood to go!
A: Because they develop hypertension instead!
 
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Fainting at night

The same thing had happened to my Mother a few years back. Gets up to use the restroom during the night and passes out. They found nothing, however in the next two years had the same thing happen twice but only to the dizzy stage before she knew to get medical help. It was then found that she was going though kidney failure which caused the fainting and dizzy spells. She always seemed to be dehydrated. Whats weird about the whole thing is that when she goes to the hospital they give her saline solution IV and do some tests then send her home. I noticed that this would happen every November and I figured that there had to be some connection since it happened once a year every November. Then it hit me. SHE USES AN ELECTRIC BLANKET.

But to your question, make sure they check your kidney function if this dizziness or fainting accurs again.
 
Interesting to read all the posts. It seems like tons of people have had fainting spells in the middle of the night going to the bathroom, so like many said, sitting up for a while before going to the bathroom would be good advice.

I fainted once when I was a teenager. I was sick for a couple of days. I fell asleep on the living room floor watching TV with my grandmother (my grandmother fell asleep too) and I woke up to go to the bathroom. Some time later (I don't know how long), I woke up in the hallway right outside the living room. What was odd was my grandmother was still asleep (didn't she hear me crash on the hardwood floor?)

tmm
 
Then there's micturition syncope, which is when you faint while bearing down to pee in the face of blockage, such as an enlarged prostate.

These situational episodes fall under the category of "Situational Syncope" and result from various excessive reflexes firing in the involuntary nervous system controlling blood flow.

Any adult who faints should get at least one careful evaluation to exclude life-threatening causes.
 
I fainted frequently as a teenager - usually during athletic events or while in church. My blood pressure is very low 90/60 and due to my height, I have to be aware of sudden changes ie. inactivity or lying down....easy does it, for me.
 
Heh - remember being on a WW2 tin can during our asian adventure - made my way to the can one night(?-maybe - doing 6 on 6 off and the berthing spaces were always dim and red lit). Remem-ber looking down to pee and then seeing bulkhead and a bit of overhead as i went straight back on my heels and out.
 
A common error in tending to someone who may be fainting is to help them remain upright or seated. This only prolongs recovery, since almost all simple fainting cases recover rapidly once they are lying down (blood can "rush" back to the brain).

When held upright, many patients have brief seizures which greatly complicates both their well being and also the complexity and cost of their subsequent diagnostic evaluation.

Ease them down to a lying-down position and raise their feet higher than the heart.

Nerves, dehydration in this case, it appears.
 
I notice that it has been a whole year since I initially posted this. You'll all be glad to know that I've had absolutely no feinting problems since I ditched the electric blanket. I've been using Rich's foot dangle routine any time I get up in the night and allowing myself to fully awaken.

Knock on wood.
 
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