# coughing and passing out

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coughing-and-passing-out/347910>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 11, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coughing-and-passing-out/347910 "2006-03-11T04:56:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coughing-and-passing-out/347910/1 "2006-03-11T04:56:06Z")

</div>

I have a bad cold or virus. Last night, I got into a prolonged coughing spell, so much that I think I passed out briefly - I didn’t fall down, but for a second or two I was simply gone - woke up, no longer coughing, but a few seconds had passed without my being there. Am I in trouble, or is this normal?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coughing-and-passing-out/347910/2 "2006-03-11T05:19:03Z")

</div>

IANAD, but this sounds like something to have checked out. I had bronchitis last winter and coughed hard enough to bruise a rib. I didn’t take my own advice and go see a doctor, but probably should’ve. Can’t hurt, anyway.

Hope you’re feeling better soon!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coughing-and-passing-out/347910/3 "2006-03-11T16:06:56Z")

</div>

Syncope, which is pronounced sin-ko-pee, means a transient loss of consciousness; a faint.

Especially in kids and teens, but also in adults, there is a common entity called ‘cough syncope’ or ‘tussive syncope’. This benign form of syncope results from decreased blood flow back to the heart as a result of the high (positive) pressures generated in the chest with severe coughing.