Passed Out At Gig

[TromboneAl]

I must have picked up some intestinal bug, and on Thursday I lost a lot of fluids (I'm trying to avoid using the D word here).

Anyway, I had a gig that I absolutely had to go to. I get there, and the bathroom is out of order (what a nightmare!). I take some Immodium, and I make it through the three hour gig. But on the last song I'm feeling really bad and dizzy. I start to lower my head, and the next thing I know, I wake up with my face on the keyboard. Drummer told me I hit it with a big klunk. DW got me home in bed, and I was much better the next day.

I realize that this sort of thing has happened to me about 5-6 times in my life. Checked it out with a doctor one time, and he told me not to worry.

To prevent this, should I be careful to drink Gatorade in this situation? Any other suggestions?

 

[Mwsinron]

Sounds like dehydration to me. But Im no Doctor

 

[Helen]

I like the Gatorade idea too. I hope you are feeling better. It sounds like your bowels deserve a metal !

 

[Insanity]

. . .
To prevent this, should I be careful to drink Gatorade in this situation? Any other suggestions?

Gatorade would be one possibility. Another would be rehydration salts, which you can get at larger pharmacies and many travel stores.

--P

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

It sounds like your bowels deserve a metal !

Like bismuth, as in Pepto-Bismol? Maybe so.

...avoid using the D word...

Me, too. I can't spell it.

 

[Meadbh]

Sheesh, Al! The show must go on, eh?

The out of order bathroom and the imodium may have prevented any "external manifesations", albeit with some discomfort, but inside your bowel, fluids were leaking like crazy. Result: you were dehydrated and probably suffering from an electrolyte imbalance (e.g abnormal sodium or potassium concentrations in your blood) when you passed out.

Advice from the Mayo Clinic on managing diarrhea:

Your body needs adequate levels of salts and electrolytes — minerals such as sodium and potassium — in order to maintain the electric currents that keep your heart beating. Disruption of your body's fluid and mineral levels creates an electrolyte imbalance. Unless restored by replacing fluids and drinking an electrolyte mixture, this imbalance can be serious. Drink plenty of clear liquids, including water, clear sodas and broths, gelatin, and juices every day. But, avoid apple and pear juices until you feel better because they can make your diarrhea worse. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Add semisolid and low-fiber foods gradually as your bowel movements return to normal. Try soda crackers, toast, eggs, rice or chicken. Avoid certain foods such as dairy products, fatty foods, high-fiber foods or highly seasoned foods for a few days.

Gatorade is designed to replace fluids and electrolytes lost during exercise, i.e. sweat, which contains mostly sodium. However, it may not have been sufficient to cope with the extent and duration of your symptoms, because the nutritional content of Gatorade contains NO Potassium. You may have had hypokalemia (a low potassium level in your blood). If so, your muscles would become extremely weak, you might pass out, and you would be at risk of a cardiac arrest.

The only way to determine whether you have an electrolyte disturbance or not is to have your blood chemistry checked. If you were in this situation and visited an emergency room, the treatment would have included IV fluids and electrolytes.

Next time, consider whether this gig (i.e. J*B) is worth risking your life for!

 

[dex]

Whenever I was hit with bad diarehia in 3rd world countries and nothing was working I would get several bottles of Coke aCola and plain cookies.

Wait a bit untile most of your bowel movements slow down then shake up the Coke to get all the gas out of it - drink Coke and eat the cookies - it works for me

Of course one thing to look for is blood in your stool - if you see it get to a hospital as soon as you can.

 

[Nords]

I hope you're feeling better soon, Al. You could've picked that aloha bug anywhere!

I start to lower my head, and the next thing I know, I wake up with my face on the keyboard. Drummer told me I hit it with a big klunk.

Well, as stagecraft goes it beats setting your instruments on fire or doing a Flying Townshend. Did the crowd ask for an encore? Will the manager still hand out free band beer at the next gig?

 

[retire@40]

To prevent this, should I be careful to drink Gatorade in this situation? Any other suggestions?

Drink pickle juice instead of Gatorade.

Better for you and more electrolytes.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Pickle juice will have the opposite effect.

It is similar to the stuff they use to clean you out before a colonoscopy, except it doesn't take as much.

Trust me on this one.

 

[2B]

I'm sure I'm not spelling it right but you can find it an the larger grocery stores and most pharmacies -- pedilite. It is designed for what you had.

Generally, we get so much salt (mostly sodium) in our diets we don't need to artificially replenish it.

You didn't eat anything Nords gave you did you?

 

[Meadbh]

I'm sure I'm not spelling it right but you can find it an the larger grocery stores and most pharmacies -- pedilite. It is designed for what you had.

It's Pedialyte and it works well provided you don't mind pretending you're a kid.

 

[HFWR]

I've seen a few musicians pass out from the whiskey flu...

Most sounded better...

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I realize that this sort of thing has happened to me about 5-6 times in my life. Checked it out with a doctor one time, and he told me not to worry.

To prevent this, should I be careful to drink Gatorade in this situation? Any other suggestions?

When you lose fluid from your blood stream, sooner or later there isn't enough volume in the vessels to keep your blood pressure up sufficient to circulate well to your noggin. The heart tries to compensate by beating faster and harder, but sooner or later you need more fluid in the hydraulics. This earliest sign of this is called orthostatic syncope which causes symptoms when you get upright after sitting or lying down. Think the poor soul rescued after 3 day with little water who faints upon being helped to stand up. Think the aging musician with the stomach flu who tries to take one for the gipper .

Similarly, there are some people whose heart rate suddenly slows down due to emotional stress, prolonged standing around without moving, heat (which tends to pool blood in the skin) - they drop their blood pressure even with plenty of hydration. This is called vasovagal syncope. Think the southern belle who, upon learning her loved one has been with another, swoons.

Then there are some who under stress or anxiety have such a rapid heart beat that they outpace the ability of the heart to refill the chambers between beats. This is called neurocardiogenic syncope. Think the big audition where the nerves and stage fright fire harder and harder waiting for the big moment which, turns out to be passing out.

Some faint when they do a "valsalva" maneuver, which is bearing down against resistance such as when (improperly) lifting weights, or in men with prostate blockage who intensely bear down to pee, then faint.

Add to that a long list of more serious illness such as heart rhythm problems, internal hemorrhage blood poisoning, unrecognized seizure and a host of others which can cause seizures.

For orthostatic syncope due to fluid loss (vomiting, diarrhea), the key is hydration. While pedialyte, gatorade, and other expensive replacement fluids will work just fine, for the short term what really matters is getting water in. True, if the underlying condition persists there may be need for specific potassium, magnesium, and other replacement, but these are guided by the results of blood test, etc. If you can't keep up the intake, IV fluids will be needed. Medicines like diuretics make it worse.

Well-intended bystanders often try to help the person up to a chair or even standing, with predictable results like repeat fainting and seizures.

Fainting is bad. Good to hear your doc reassured you that it is one of the "benign" types. But even then, smashing something on the way down is unpleasant. Tends to scare the daylights out of onlookers, who have been known to try to defibrillate fainting victims. Glad to hear you're none the worse for wear.

Early warning signs: lightheadedness, vision closing in from the outside in; sudden clammy sweating, hypersalivation, marked wooziness only when you stand up.

 

[JohnEyles]

Desert hikers consider Gookinaid better than Gatorade.

You can also make your own by adding Morton's Lite Salt (which is
KCl plus NaCl) to lemonade mix (sugar allows your body to absorb the
electrolytes more efficiently).

 

[Caroline]

I had this happen to me a couple of years back and I repeat it as a cautionary tale.

What happened: I felt all clammy one night, and a little sick to my stomach. I tried to get to the bathroom but passed out in the doorway. I "came to" almost immediately but found I had twisted my ankle on the way down.

Fast forward to the Dr.'s office, where I had gone about the ANKLE, fergawdsake, since I planned to climb Kilimanjaro exactly six weeks later. (Made it, btw). Herein I made the CARDINAL ERROR of telling the Doc that I'd hurt the ankle because I'd passed out.

All hell immediately broke loose.

Doc: "This could be very serious, people simply don't pass out for no reason, and you can't go to Africa. You need tests."

Me: "The hell you say, do you know what I PAID for this trip?"

Doc: "I strongly advise against it, and I'm setting you up for a 24-hour heart monitor, a brain electrical sensor thingee, and a little run through the MRI."

Me: "The hell you say, do you know what I PAID for this trip?

Doc: "I'm required to report any loss of consciousness to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which is going to put your license on "probation" and if you don't get me to sign off on your health they'll take it away altogether.

Me: "#$@@!#$"

A period of intense negotiation followed. (Think Paris Peace talks.) I agreed to the heart monitor and the brain sensor thingee (lots of fun getting your scalp sanded down so the electrodes stick), which both turned out negative. I agreed to have the MRI when I got back, which actually turned out to be interesting. I got to view a bunch of slices of my brain and find out that I have a lot of gray matter left in my skull ... for my age...

The DMV made me take a driving test (with some snotty pipsqueak whose PARENTS weren't even alive when I got my first license), and demanded that I complete a huge form, in triplicate, reporting on my health since I was a zygote. I also had a phone interview ON TAPE AND UNDER OATH to go over the form later.

None of this should disuade anyone from taking a serious condition to the Dr., but if you can blame a brief moment of unconsciousness on any other factor (like poor TromboneAl's "D" problem), consider your response.

If you do go to the Dr., at least in California, block out some solid free time and a couple-dozen co-payments to take care of the fallout.

 

[Nords]

Then there are some who under stress or anxiety have such a rapid heart beat that they outpace the ability of the heart to refill the chambers between beats. This is called neurocardiogenic syncope. Think the big audition where the nerves and stage fright fire harder and harder waiting for the big moment which, turns out to be passing out.

We used to see this at the Navy's Instructor Training School. (Hey, those instructors have to get trained somewhere!) It turns out that one or two out of every 100 will have this problem... unless you warn the class about the syndrome, and then it's more like 10 or 20.

 

[Insanity]

(I'm trying to avoid using the D word here)

Me, too. I can't spell it.

Oh, that's easy. You just have to understand the rules of English. Based on the ancient Greek word "διαρροή" (for "unpleasant leak") and pronounced di-ya-REE-ya, you simply translate each of the Greek syllables into their modern English equals to get the spelling "the runs."

--Peter (a PROFESSIONAL writer)