Big Pete 1982

That's what the paramedics told me, but as I said before, I was already standing for 10 minutes and felt fine before I blacked out.

Dad 2 3

This!

I can't stress this enough. Testing by docs is most times annoying, but in this case I would follow orders.

signed, your friendly cardiac RN

Big Pete 1982

Currently following doctors orders and wearing a heart monitor for 24 hours. They did an echocardiogram today too but I won't find out anything until the follow up after I turn the monitor back in tomorrow.

tpy2010

Hoping for the best for you. Don't be surprised if the 24 hour monitor doesn't show anything. Sometimes, things that occur sporadically may not show up in the 24 hour monitored period. This is not an excuse to do more testing. It is frustrating! Keep your sense of humor.

Bethany

Hope they figure out what's wrong or if it's just one of those things your body does. I hate waiting for test results. It's also frustrating when everyone else is running around with their heads cut off in panic at work or in public and you can't calm them down. By law though, offices have to drag everyone over just to check you out. There's nothing more annoying (and expensive) then having the police, fire trucks and an ambulance show up with everyone gawking and staring at you as you get hauled out.

I have epilepsy..been hauled out a few times so I know. Too bad you can't charge your office the bill for your 600 dollar ride and your 600 dollar entrance fee to the ER.

Big Pete 1982

Since it happened at work it is all covered under a L&I claim. No cost to me. The follow up visits are also part of the claim so not even a co pay from me for this entire debacle.

Rudz

Never lock your knees when standing for long periods of time, I did jrotc for three years and they made damn sure that we knew that, had to stand at attention for quite a long time and you could tell who listened and who didnt

brianogilvie 

Could have been a vasovagal syncope. It happened to my wife at a restaurant once; she passed out right in front of the kitchen door. We went to the ER but tests showed everything was normal. It was a long time before we went back to that particular restaurant--the food was good but she was slightly embarrassed to return, since everyone on the staff had seen her faint!

AerobaticDreams

As a recently diagnosed Diabetic- I am told the Normal range is 70-100. The high side two hours after a meal should not exceed 140. From my study, these numbers have been dropped down in the last few years...meaning that many folks who used to be considered Normal are now considered Pre-Diabetic...and some that used to be Pre-Diabetic are now considered Diabetic.

What matters more is your A1C levels, which is the long term blood sugar levels. Its a lab test that they draw blood to do, as opposed to pricking a finger.

mtbikerinpa

There is something to that reg. My Spouse totalled a car flying off the road because that happened. Fortunately air bags worked and it hasn't happened since. No memories prior to the upside down landing 40 ft into a field.

melvinator

bingo!

SeanBlader

I was going to suggest "knees locked" or "dehydration" also. I'm not against the precautionary measures of your doctor, but at the same time being that I'm not a big fan of being in or around hospitals, but with all the info you've posted about the event, at the moment I want to go with "it was nothing" and don't worry about it. All sorts of mechanical/chemical weirdness can happen, and it could've been something as simple as an incorrect few molecules hitting the wrong synapse at the wrong moment.

Here's my analogy: dropped off my mail-in ballot today, amidst the distraction of all the people standing around taking my ballot, handing me stickers, and me making sure *my* envelope ended up *inside* the box, I stalled my car as I was about to pull away, haven't stalled a car in like 15 years. You were probably on the verge of passing out when leaning on the counter due to blood flow or nervous signal restrictions, and then the actual step of transferring your weight back to your feet along with the conversation probably caused a brief overstimulous and your brain stalled.

If you have a weird heart rhythm, or some crossed electrical wires inside your heart muscles, I wouldn't call that a disease, I'd call it a defect, and you've lived with it all these years, so again, it's probably nothing to worry about. My mom went 60 years before the doctors realized she has some kind of arrythmia, and when one of them finally noticed he's like, "it's nothing to worry about, it's more neat to cardiologists to listen to since it's so rare."

tony_merlino

I haven't been around for a while, and just happened to see this thread. I've been having that feeling now for a couple of months. It happens when I stand up suddenly. I haven't actually lost consciousness yet, but it feels like all the blood is rushing out of my head, I see the stars and hear kind of a whooshing noise. I have to grab onto something to keep from collapsing, and I've been lucky in that there's always been something to grab onto - so far. I've lost a lot of weight over the last 11 months or so - went from 228 lbs to 143 lbs (42" waist to 31" waist...). I've been on maintenance now, and pretty much holding steady in weight for about a month, so I don't think it's that I'm not eating enough. It's pretty scary.

I guess the message here is to go to the doctor. But, given that this is the C&A forum, and just about everyone has been trying to lose weight ... is this sort of thing common after a dramatic weight loss?

Big Pete 1982

UPDATE: So I had an echocardiogram last week and wore a heart monitor for 24 hours. The echo showed no problems. The moniter showed one episode of a 2 second pause in my heart rate. Doesn't sound too serious to me but my doc is referring me to a cardiologist that I will go see on Wednesday. I'm still convinced this was no big deal. My doctor mentioned that the cardiologist might want me to wear a monitor for a MONTH! Or he may say it's nothing. I'll find out Wednesday.

Big Pete 1982

Well, it was 140 something when the paramedics tested it. Tested again at the ER and it was around 100. The ER doctor and my regular doctor didn't seem at all concerned with my numbers and since there is a history of diabetes in my family I get checked regularly anyways.

melvinator

This could be weird but were you flexing your abdomen or did you have to poop? Could of been you were stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system then causing the "have been a vasovagal syncope"

Big Pete 1982

Haven't heard that theory yet. I did have to go #2 though.....

melvinator

I know this sounds odd but they are medical facts, sometimes older people (i mean old 70-80 y/o) when having to poop and hold it in or sitting on the toilet pooping stimulate there parasympathetic nerve and pass out. Seen dozens of times ... pretend as you are pushing to go while sitting and you will feel your heart rate drop about 10 pts...

breadbin

embarrassing but thank god the holter monitor picked the pause up cos if it didn't you'd be none the wiser! they'd probably put it down to a syncope attack and let you off. at least now there is something to work with. did you notice the pause at all? like what were you doing around the time of it? can be caused by many things like too much caffeine, stress, allergies, panic attacks etc. so might not be too serious but better to be looked into. fingers crossed

Big Pete 1982

I followed up with a cardiologist. He said the pause was nothing. It happened at like 1AM and I was asleep. He said that's pretty normal and nothing to worry about and most likely had nothing to do with fainting. He had me do a treadmill stress test just to be sure, but everything was normal. So I'm officially done "following up" on all this BS. Turns out sometimes people just pass out. I'll just have to do a better job of hydrating in the morning since that was the only credible thing the doctors came up with.

tpy2010

It is frustrating for patients to undergo extensive testing and then no have a final diagnosis. Look at it this way, You had a great workup and things look pretty good. Now, if you have a repeat episode, call the cardiologist. Also, these tests don't absolutely prove that there is no coronary artery disease. I have a friend who is a marathoner. He started to get very tired on his training runs, around the 12 mile mark! He had an excellent treadmill stress test result. The cardiologist went and performed a cardiac cath and coronary angiogram. The guy had 1 vessel coronary artery disease and underwent a stent. He is back to running. Good luck!

Big Pete 1982

Well that may be the case, but I'm gonna go back to being an ostrich with my head in the sand if it is. Almost everyone I know has passed out at some point in there life. I really don't think this was due to a heart condition.

Astrozombie

Maybe it was just a BSOD/restart? They happen to computers at times for no reason and tests come back fine.

breadbin

ah congrats on the good news at least you got a good heart check out of he situation. put your mind at ease for the future!

Big Pete 1982

Yeah it actually was a bit of a confidence boost to have 3 doctors and several nurses comment on how healthy I am. People look at me in shock when I tell them how much weight I've lost. I don't even recognize myself in old pictures. It looks like someone wearing a bad "Pete" Halloween mask or something!