In which Jodi spends the day in the emergency room

[Jodi]

So I've totally made a spectacle of myself at my new job yesterday.

There I was sitting in orientation, when my heart started pounding and I started to pass out. Not like "ooh, I'm dizzy," like "I am freaking losing consciousness right here, right now." So I grabbed the arm of the woman sitting next to me and said, loudly, "I need help, I'm passiing out."

Then I passed out.

I came to less than a minute later, but by then I was on the floor with a circle of very alarmed people looking down on me and the ambulance was on its way. I tried to stand up -- no ambulance, thanks! I'm fine! -- almost passed out again, and decided that I'd rather lay on the floor for a while.

So the EMTs came, hooked me up to the EKG machine, stuck my finger to test my blood sugar, loaded me on a stretcher, wheeled me out of the building and into the ambulance and off to the hospital. As some of you might have gathered from my occasionally tart posting style, I pride myself on professionalism and self-control, so I was feeling a very icky combination of embarrassed-to-the-point-of-mortification, and scared to death.

I was poked, prodded, X-rayed and EKG'ed at the hospital and all the tests came out fine. Not anemic; not diabetic; no obvious heart problem; no obvious lung or head problem. Irrationally, I was sort of disappointed in this; though I of course do not want a dread disease, I wish I had a better story to tell people after my dramatic exit from the workplace.

I'm also still pretty freaked out. I took today and worked from home, phone always at my fingertips, but I can't help but worry it will happen again. I doubt the dogs will dial 911 for me if it does.

I have to wear a heart monitor for two weeks. I have to go back to work tomorrow and endure being the 9-day wonder who got rolled out on the stretcher. Bet I really impressed my new bosses. I'd go to my happy place tonight, but I can't remember where it is at the moment.

[MEBuckner]

I hope further testing reveals some cause that's not too scary, but does give you a good excuse for everyone: "It turns out that the perfume of the woman sitting in the next row, the artificial 'creamer' in my coffee, and the laser printer toner in the orientation handout I'd just been given combined in an unusual chemical reaction to form a potent anesthetic, which fortunately has no long-term side effects."

Or, hey! Maybe you have a hitherto unsuspected allergic reaction to meetings! And what with the ADA and all, they'd have no choice but to accomodate you.


(Hope it was nothing serious, and that you're able to live down any resulting notoriety.)

[Snooooopy]

Originally Posted by Jodi

So I've totally made a spectacle of myself at my new job yesterday.

There I was sitting in orientation, when my heart started pounding and I started to pass out. Not like "ooh, I'm dizzy," like "I am freaking losing consciousness right here, right now." So I grabbed the arm of the woman sitting next to me and said, loudly, "I need help, I'm passiing out."

Then I passed out.

You made a promise, then you delivered on that promise. Who wouldn't respect that kind of reliability?

[Askance]

IMO you had a panic attack. You mention your pride in self-conyrol, and here you are in a completely new situation over which you have no control.

This is not a problem, not a failing, and not a criticism. But if I'm right it's something you need to know about yourself. The main problem in panic attacks is not the attacks themselves, but the fear of having one.

You can do it, you have control over your situation and yourself and you do not need to fear. Go out and get'em, tiger!

[Larry Mudd]

Originally Posted by Jodi

Bet I really impressed my new bosses.

Heh. Three months ago I started a new job and went into anaphylaxis during the first week. Antihistamines, rushed to the clinic, lots of drama.

The final word from the allergist was a very professional-sounding version of "Dude, I don't know."

I hope your experience is more-or-less the same. (A freak crisis that's apparently a one-time deal, never to be explained.)

[Alice The Goon]

You know, in the movies, when someone passes out, it's always because they're pregnant. Congratulations?

[Lissa]

Don't be too dissapointed if they never find a reason for it. Both my mother and I are fainters. I, too, have had the lovely experience of waking up on the floor with an ambulance on the way and going to the hospital when I know damn well it's a waste of time and money.

I've had every test under the sun. (I wore the heart monitor, too.) Nothing. Some doctors have ventured tentative theories but none has ever been able to point to a physical cause.

[bbs2k]

It may not be a panic attack, though def not ruling it out. My brother's girlfriend had this happen to her too. Not so much a "panic attack", but definately related to stress. She was told to try to do more relaxing activities and get plenty of rest.

(The first time this happened to her she was just standing on a subway train, she felt dizzy and the next thing she remembers someone was helping to hold her up. She did not recall anything that would specifically have triggered it.)

[Lynn Bodoni]

Originally Posted by Jodi

There I was sitting in orientation, when my heart started pounding and I started to pass out. Not like "ooh, I'm dizzy," like "I am freaking losing consciousness right here, right now." So I grabbed the arm of the woman sitting next to me and said, loudly, "I need help, I'm passiing out."

Then I passed out.

I came to less than a minute later, but by then I was on the floor with a circle of very alarmed people looking down on me and the ambulance was on its way. I tried to stand up -- no ambulance, thanks! I'm fine! -- almost passed out again, and decided that I'd rather lay on the floor for a while. {snip}I'd go to my happy place tonight, but I can't remember where it is at the moment.

I'd say you actually did pretty well...you recognized your problem, got the attention of someone, and then made the very wise decision to stay on the floor for a bit. You made the best possible choices in your situation.

I hope you find your happy place again soon.

[FairyChatMom]

There's nothing quite like the surreal experience of lying on the floor at work, surrounded by worried coworkers, alternating between hoping it's nothing and hoping it's something to justify all the to-do you just caused.

I got wheeled out of work into an ambulance and off to the ER once - gall bladder attack - great fun, that. Scared the puddin' out of everyone, including me and my poor husband. But today, I don't know if anyone here remembers. Come to think of it, I don't know if anyone who was there is still here. I'm thinking all but 1 or 2 have left or retired.

Anyway, hope you get an answer. And I'm glad this didn't happen while you were driving.

[Mindfield]

I had something a little similar happen -- it was the first, and so far the last time I ever actually passed out for reasons I've never understood, though I suspect it might have been my diet at the time. Years back a friend persuaded me to join a gym with him and take up weightlifting. I'm was a scrawny fellow back then and he felt it was his duty to take me under his wing and pahmp [clap] me ahp. So pump me up he attempted to do. It involved not only lifting weights but eating lots and lots of protein and little to no sugar. Why this was I don't know, but he told me it helped. So I followed his instruction betwixt reps of wrist and arm curls, dead lifts and bench presses. At the time I also had a job as a typesetter, and one day amidst all of this I had to jaunt over to the printers to pick up some stuff to be set. I dashed over on a bike they had lent me to make the trip. On arrival I spoke to someone who went off to get the stuff I was to pick up. As I stood at the counter, I started feeling a little faint. My head started to spin and I felt as though darkness was closing in around me. "I think I'm going to pass out," I thought to myself.

And then I did.

I awoke moments later to several people who were around mem, asking if I was alright. My head hurt, but not from passing out. Apparently I'd topped backwards into the front door, which, in obeying the laws of physics, opened when my head slammed into it.

I didn't go to the hospital or anything, and kept assuring them that I was perfectly fine, that I must have just pushed myself too hard riding over there.

It was bizarre, but so far nothing like that has ever happened again.

[delphica]

I hope you're feeling better!

Try to remember what you would think if one of your colleagues became ill at work -- I'm guessing that you would think "gosh, I hope it's nothing serious and that she is feeling better soon." I'm pretty sure that's what your new bosses and coworkers are thinking about you.

[VunderBob]

A couple of weekends ago, I put my hand down on a wasp, and the little bastige nailed me in the web of my thumb.

I went inside to find some ammonia and couldn't find it (having recently moved), so I ran some cold water over it while I pondered what to do next. I realized I was getting light-headed, and I headed off to the living room to sit down. I never made it...

I woke up on the floor beside the refirgerator with a knot on my head from hitting it on the way down. Ever since I had surgery last year and lost 120 lbs, I've had trouble with low blood pressure, and I'm susceptible to traumatic shock anyway. In short, I got shocky, and my BP crashed. To make the point extremely clear, it was not anaphylactic shock that took me down. No hives, swelling, etc. ever appeared.

A few minutes of laying where I fell straighened me out, and I was on my way to more chores. I now wear thick leather gloves when I'm somewhere a wasp might be.

[Shodan]

You are in my prayers, but I am not sure exactly what to pray for.

How about that it is something not-serious, non-repeating, but non-embarassing?


Anyway, glad you are OK, so far.

Regards,
Shodan

[Khadaji]

wow. Sorry to hear your news. I hope it doesn't turn out to be serious. Sending supporting thoughts your way.

[Jodi]

Originally Posted by Askance

IMO you had a panic attack. . . . This is not a problem, not a failing, and not a criticism.

I didn't take it as a criticism, and I don't have any "complex" that "panic attack = weakness or personal failing," but I honestly don't think this was it. I've never had a panic attack or anxiety attack in my life. The cross-country move I just did was stressful, but it was over eight weeks ago and I didn't have any anxiety then. The job I just started is interesting and challenging (in a very good way), but miles less stressful than the job I left. The specific situation I was in was not in the least stressful -- orientation: talking heads talk, the small audience sits and doodles. I guess it raises the philosophical question of whether you can be said to be "anxious" or "panicked" if you have no conscious awareness at all of anxiety or panic, but I think I would tend to answer that question "no." I'm way more stressed after the event than I was before, because I live alone and I'm afraid it may happen again. That's also in all honesty why I wish they could point to something specific as "wrong" with me; at least then they (and I) could do something about it.

I am feeling more myself today. Thanks for all the good thoughts, and for the "something similar happened to me" stories. They really do help me put my minor situation in perspective.

[JThunder]

So, did you get to meet Maura Tierney?

[ivylass]

I scared the tar out of my co-workers a few years ago. I had what I thought was a UTI, and I stopped on my way to work to pee and...nothing. Ick, I said, I'll have to make an appointment with the doctor when I get to work.

I'm driving, in pain, and I started to go numb. All over. My hands curled in like claws, my mouth puckered in like I had no teeth, even my eyelids were numb. All I could think was get to work get to work get to work and get help.

I stumble in and my co-workers said I was white as a sheet. I could barely talk and they called 911 for me. Everyone thought I was having a stroke.

The ambulance came and I'm hauled out through the building on a gurney.

It turns out I had a kidney stone, and after the blessed IV painkillers took effect, I was sent home to sleep away the afternoon and the night.

After that we made sure there was emergency contact info on our department phone list. They couldn't get ahold of Ivylad for a couple of hours.

[threemae]

Well I'm glad to hear that you're okay, but if it turns out not to be anything serious I highly adivse you to ask the doctor if she could write up something about an allergy to meetings.

[pendgwen]

Originally Posted by Jodi

I guess it raises the philosophical question of whether you can be said to be "anxious" or "panicked" if you have no conscious awareness at all of anxiety or panic, but I think I would tend to answer that question "no."

I would say yes. It all depends on how good you are at repressing your emotions. When I'm stressed I somehow repress it to the point that I'm not even conscious of it. My subconscious knows though and eventually I start having dress dreams or some other manifestation. The most dramatic example was when I went off to college. I never felt stressed or anxious. Thought I had the whole experience under control. The night before orientation I was sitting in the hotel when I was suddenly physically sick: vomiting, lightheaded, and white as a sheet. So I would say it's totally possible to have a panic attack without ever feeling panicked.

[the chicken of exeter]

I once passed out just after a rowing race. It was the Home Countries match (England v Wales v Scotland v Ireland) so people were actually watching us for a change. I had just finished the second race in quick succession and it was pretty hot. So we had just finished the race (my team won, because i traitorously joined the England team.) and were rowing back to our landing stages.

I noticed that i couldnt see anything, and realised that i was going to pass out. I mumbled something to my crew that apparently sounded like "potatoes" so they ignored me and didn't stop. I dropped my oar, which stuck in the water and catapulted me out of the boat.

I regained conciousness as soon as i hit the water but before i had resurfaced there were rescue boats, ambulances, people jumping into the water trying to save me etc. My crew were having fits of hysteria with screaming and crying and thinking i was drowning.

Obviously there was nothing serious wrong, just low blood glucose and sunstroke, but they still insisted on taking me to the hospital. That one definitely took a while to live down.

[Wnabtokio]

Originally Posted by Jodi

I guess it raises the philosophical question of whether you can be said to be "anxious" or "panicked" if you have no conscious awareness at all of anxiety or panic, but I think I would tend to answer that question "no."

See, I'd have to disagree with you on that point. I never feel like I'm stressed, and then after a few days I start to wonder why I'm exhausted all the time and snippy with people I usually am kind to. Then I have one of my claustrophobic episodes where I feel like I can't breathe, and then I'm all "Oh! I must be stressed out!" There's certainly no medical cause, and since I learned my dad's cancer has returned, it's been happening with increasing frequency.

Maybe it's not true for everyone, but I for one feel like it's possible. Don't they say moving and starting a new job are one of the most stressful things you can do to yourself?

[Wnabtokio]

Sorry to double post, but I also wanted to say I hope you don't have any lasting ill-effects from this, either of the medical kind or of trying to live it down.

[lieu]

Jodi, as your friend I now think it's vitally important that whenever you're ambulatory and someone is not within reach to catch you should you fall that you at all times have at least three throw pillows off the couch duck taped to your head. If you love us you'll do this for us. Hon, we ask only because we care.

[Asimovian]

About 5 weeks into my new job at a law firm, I found myself experiencing severe chest pain. My doctors took me off work for an entire two weeks while they ran tests because they couldn't find anything right away. Turned out to be a hiatal hernia that was causing severe acid reflux, but that actually made it MORE embarrasing for me at the new job than if I'd had some truly life-threatening issue.

"Oh, you had heartburn that kept you out for two weeks? Great."

However, I've been here 4.5 years now, so I guess I didn't make *too* poor of an impression.

[Gut]

When I was in university a young woman I knew had something similar happen. The passing out look a little longer than you and she puked first. She approached our table in the cafeteria and said rather calmly "I need some help.". We all figured it was some kind of homework or project issue and were all prepared to pitch in. That's when she collapsed in a chair at the table next to us, did a Linda Blair impression, then passed out. We called an ambulance and by the time she was loaded in she was feeling much better. Off to the hospital anyway and she had to sit there getting tests and such for a few hours. I hung out for an hour or so and picked her up after they decided she was ok to leave. She never did figure our what caused it. I don't know what they point of the story is other than sometimes your body decides to fuck with you I suppose.

[Harmonious Discord]

A possile pregency? I can't tell your sex by the name, so if your a guy, oh well.

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by the chicken of exeter

I noticed that i couldnt see anything, and realised that i was going to pass out. I mumbled something to my crew that apparently sounded like "potatoes" so they ignored me and didn't stop.

The last time I passed out (resulting in an ambulance trip) witnesses say I was swatting at the woman who was trying to help me, snapping, "Bean! Get away from me! Leave me alone, Bean!" as I was coming around. (Bean is my dog. I'm sure the woman wasn't very flattered by the mistaken identity.)

Most of the time, I'm able to warn those around me that I'm about to faint and get into a safe position, but on a couple of occasions, it's hit me like a lead fist. I bear a scar on my lip from the time I passed out in the bathroom and hit my face on the cabinet. Another time, I passed out and ran my teeth through my lip when my face hit the floor. (I wasn't even able to put my arms out and catch myself.)

As an experienced person in these matters, I hereby offer "Lissa's Fainting Tips":

1) Time permitting, lie down and put your feet up. Prop them up on a nearby wall, if need be. It helps push the blood back into your chest and head, where you need it.

2) Sit down before you fall down. I know-- it sounds like it goes without saying but your instinct is to "fight" it. Don't. The faint will usually win. When you feel the sensation coming over you, let your legs go limp and slowly crumple to the ground. Slide down against a wall if one is nearby.

3) Take deep, slow breaths. Sometimes, for some reason, people hold their breath when the sensation comes over them. I suppose it's a reaction that stems from the surprise. Breathe in as deeply as you can and lowly exhale it.

[NurseCarmen]

You may not know it yet, but the day you can peel the monitor stickies off of your body is a beautiful day indeed. That night, the sleep is even better, no wires and box to get in the way of comfort.

Best wishes.

[JillGat]

Once I was interviewing an applicant for an epidemiologist position and I asked him, "if you get this position, are you able to travel?" We have a staff vehicle we provide. He looked a little funny, turned red, hit the floor and had a gran mal seizure. I looked at my co-interviewer and said, "I guess that answers that question." After the seizure, he was disoriented and then fell asleep. It was 5:30 pm by this time and I had to leave. We had no information on him, so I called a contact from his resume, who told me they knew nothing of a diagnosis of epilepsy. I had to call for an ambulance and the poor guy wakes up just as he's being put on a stretcher, wearing his best suit for a job interview. He called later, apologising profusely, but hey, it's not like it's something you can do anything about.

[MoodIndigo1]

Another vote for the panic attack.

I only ever had one, and it was in the middle of a conversation with my doctor. Oddly enough, I had just finished telling him that everything was ok, that this was just a routine visit. I remember adding "things are pretty good for me now". Rapid heartbeat, lightheadedness, a feeling of heat rising to my face, and then oblivion. I don't know what part of that made me panic, but I was told that's what it was. That first attack happened in my early 40s.

Maybe the thought of giving up existential angst for relative happiness was just too much for me to bear.

Good luck with your new job, Jodi!

[Surly Chick]

Originally Posted by Harmonious Discord

A possile pregency? I can't tell your sex by the name, so if your a guy, oh well.

I can see the News of the World headline now: "Woman gives birth to possile!"

[gardentraveler]

Hope it turns out to be nothing, Jodi. Since you live alone, make sure that someone at work knows to go look for you (or contacts someone who can) if you don't show up within X period of time. In my department at work, we give people an hour and then start calling them, and then their emergency contacts. (We have several co-workers who live alone.)

My mother is in her 80s and has periodically fainted for no apparent reason since she was in her 20s. It's happened twice in the past five years and the only commonality was stress/anger. She was talking to people that she vehemently dislikes and they were ticking her off and poof, she keeled over. She's had all kinds of tests, but other than having very slightly elevated blood pressure from time to time, they've found: bupkus.

Glad to hear she's not the only one.

GT

[jsgoddess]

I've had anxiety attacks without being aware that I was anxious, too. Hands and feet go numb, breathing in brings a weird cool sensation, vision narrows, face hot, wham.

Sorry to hear about the faint. Hope everything is hunky dory.

[Harmonious Discord]

Originally Posted by Surly Chick

I can see the News of the World headline now: "Woman gives birth to possile!"

That's a possile of youngins.

[JRDelirious]

Hope all's well in the end, Jodi. Been there, done that, ALSO had the extremely useful professional opinion "Hell if we know what that was" .

[Antigen]

Originally Posted by ivylass

I scared the tar out of my co-workers a few years ago. I had what I thought was a UTI, and I stopped on my way to work to pee and...nothing. Ick, I said, I'll have to make an appointment with the doctor when I get to work.

I'm driving, in pain, and I started to go numb. All over. My hands curled in like claws, my mouth puckered in like I had no teeth, even my eyelids were numb. All I could think was get to work get to work get to work and get help.

I stumble in and my co-workers said I was white as a sheet. I could barely talk and they called 911 for me. Everyone thought I was having a stroke.

The ambulance came and I'm hauled out through the building on a gurney.

It turns out I had a kidney stone, and after the blessed IV painkillers took effect, I was sent home to sleep away the afternoon and the night.

Kidney stones had me passing out all over the place, too. I'm not sure why, but there's this one spot in my lower abdomen, that if a wave of pain passes through it, has me slumping to the floor within seconds. Happens with period cramps, too, and I don't even have to be in all that much pain for it to affect me. Just has to hit that fainty spot, and down I go.

Hope you're feeling better soon, Jodi, and that it's nothing to worry about.

[Mindfield]

Originally Posted by Lissa

your instinct is to "fight" it. Don't. The faint will usually win.

Y'know, this was my exact reaction the one time I did pass out. I stood there at the counter and gripped the edge as it started coming on. I kept telling myself that maybe if I just breathe heavier, deeper, get more oxygen into my system, and keep my eyes wide open and firmly fixed on something then I won't black out and it will pass. Being my first fainting episode I suppose I can be forgiven for being very wrong indeed. I mean, it did pass -- once I was horizontal with a good knot on my head.

It still amazes me that I didn't feel a thing. I fell backwards hard and smacked my head right into the glass door, yet it was a complete non-event for me. The knot might as well have spontaneously appeared.

Originally Posted by Surly Chick

I can see the News of the World headline now: "Woman gives birth to possile!"

Possile? Is that, like, a fissile possum?

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by Mindfield

It still amazes me that I didn't feel a thing. I fell backwards hard and smacked my head right into the glass door, yet it was a complete non-event for me. The knot might as well have spontaneously appeared.

The time I busted my teeth through my lip, I was actually still concious when my face slammed into the floor. You're right-- it didn't hurt a bit.

[Scylla]

Jodi:

Vasal Vagal syndrome might be a candidate for you. There's a relatively simple tilt table test they can give.

[bundykala]

Originally Posted by Lissa

The time I busted my teeth through my lip, I was actually still concious when my face slammed into the floor. You're right-- it didn't hurt a bit.

Oww. That sounds hurt-y enough.

I've fainted once in my life. It was in 4th grade, in Bangkok. Kind of ironic, actually. We had an ambulance visiting our school so all the kids could go out in groups and have a little tour of it. They showed us this little bag of red stuff which they assured us wasn't blood (I don't remember what it actually was) and then they showed us the stretcher thing. I started feeling lightheaded and then I fainted, so they got a chance to show everyone how the cushiony thingy on the stretcher worked.
There was this one girl who was convinced I fainted because I was scared of the "blood" they showed us. That annoyed me. I don't know what caused it, but put it down to the heat. This was in BKK, after all.

[Harmonious Discord]

Possile? Is that, like, a fissile possum?

The poison’s in the vessel with the pissile of a possum?
No . The poisons in the vessel with the fissle of a possum.
Got it?
No.
Pay attention.

[Harmonious Discord]

During the eigth grade end of year school trip to the Milwaukee zoo, I blackout sort of. Our group was in the money house and the urine smell was very bad. I felt bad for about ten minutes. I was looking at the Gorillias and and I went blind. It scoped from the outside inwards. I had seen the teacher about ten feet in front of me, before I couldn't see. I walked forward and grab the teacher some how and told him I couldn't see, take me out. After a few minutes outside my sight came back. I could go in any buildings for the rest of the day, without my sight dimming in any of the animal houses. The teacher must have had a real shock when I told him I couldn't see.

[Harmonious Discord]

Originally Posted by bundykala

Oww. That sounds hurt-y enough.

I've fainted once in my life. It was in 4th grade, in Bangkok. Kind of ironic, actually. We had an ambulance visiting our school so all the kids could go out in groups and have a little tour of it. They showed us this little bag of red stuff which they assured us wasn't blood (I don't remember what it actually was) and then they showed us the stretcher thing. I started feeling lightheaded and then I fainted, so they got a chance to show everyone how the cushiony thingy on the stretcher worked.
There was this one girl who was convinced I fainted because I was scared of the "blood" they showed us. That annoyed me. I don't know what caused it, but put it down to the heat. This was in BKK, after all.

I find it amazing that a bag of platlets looks like a bag of yellow brown puss, being sent by IV into a patient.

[Ruby]

I passed out once and only once in my 47 years. I was at a local bar and had drank one beer (yeah yeah, I know, but it's true). I woke up on the bathroom floor with several women hovering over me asking if I was OK. Then I got the patronizing, "Oh honey, it's happened to all of us at one time or another." I hadn't had enough to drink to make a fly drunk so it just pissed me off at the time.

I've also had two panic attacks in my life. Both times I wasn't under immediate stress and the feeling was diffferent fo rme. I didn't pass out either time but I thought I was going to.

Jodi, may you a faint-free life.

[TVeblen]

I'm sorry it happened to you, Jodi, but mostly I'm glad you're feeling better. Don't beat yourself up over something you didn't want and couldn't have prevented. Losing consciousness isn't 'unprofessional' or a moral failure. It sounds like you were mortified but look at it as a chance to give your new colleagues credit for decent human concern.

If it's any consolation, I'm about as delicate as sheet iron but for reason fainted dead away--first time in my life--in my side yard last year. It wasn't particularly hot, no obvious cause but suddenly I felt lousy and tried to head indoors, then BOOM, right out. I don't know how long it lasted because nobody noticed. (Yo, folks? Body stretched out like road kill over there...?) I finally just woke up, shaky and aching from falling backwards at full length on the porch floor.

FWIW, the doctor checked me out eight ways for Sunday but never found a cause. And it's never happened again. Go figure. Obviously the bod had a reason to flop over like a marionette with cut strings but at least all the obvious (scary) causes were ruled out. ::shrugs:: I finally chalked it up as Random Weird Shit.

You'd probably feel a bit more reassured if the docs had found a clear cause but it really isn't bad news that they didn't. And even if they had, how much would you have wanted to share with your colleagues anyway? They know you didn't faint just for yuks and attention. It's human nature to want to say, "I just got into some bad scallops, it was a fluke, not my fault!" but they already know random weird shit can happen to anybody. It was just Jodi Day on the random weird shit calendar.

Of course all this elevated advice comes from someone who, when insomniac, can still obsess over the time I barfed all over the teacher's shoes in the third grade. Sigh. Damned bodies just don't understand dignity.

[Una Persson]

I had a low blood sugar episode in front of a client where I ended up sort of passing out. I could walk and do things under direction but I was not conscious. There were several of my clients in the office then, and they saw. I took measures to correct my blood sugar but they didn't work in time. They started working just as I was being walked out to a car to go to the hospital (they thought since I could walk I didn't need an ambulance...which wasn't the best decision on their part, but turned out to be true).

For years after that time it was a big joke, and not in a good way. I lost the respect of some clients who would make comments to the effect of not being sure whether or not I could fly/drive/inspect power plants, because I might pass out at any given time. One client used it against me, when I gave him a report on his power plants emissions performance, asking me openly in front of others if maybe I "passed out while writing it". Another didn't like the performance my team gave him on a study, and asked me in front of his corporate officers in a restaurant if I'd had "brain damage" from "passing out" while working him the report.

It also got talked about a bit by co-workers, and years after the fact I found out that there had been a high-level dicussion of "should Una be allowed to continue in her present position, given that she's subject to having diabetic episodes, or would she be better off in a lower-stress job".

All that from one, single incident in an engineering management career or 15 years or so.

In short, work hard with your doctor to find out what's happening, and make sure it doesn't happen in front of clients. It can stain your reputation for a long time.

[Rysdad]

Originally Posted by Scylla

Vasal Vagal syndrome might be a candidate for you. There's a relatively simple tilt table test they can give.

Here's some info on vasovagal syncope.