Have you ever gone into shock?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Sure, it’s the cliche of cliches. Somebody goes into shock in every medical drama and half of all sitcoms. How realistic are they?

Not very. I went into shock today during a nuclear stress test. It wasn’t fatal and it wasn’t comic.

Nuclear stress tests are easy stuff. You can do most all of it lying down, plus you have to eat a high-fat sandwich during the process. That’s practically a spa. (Name ten other procedures during which they ask if you want to go to McDonald’s. Name two.)

Until I got to the part where they injected me with Lexiscan.

Regadenoson, sold under the brand name Lexiscan among others, is an A2A adenosine receptor agonist that is a coronary vasodilator that is commonly used in pharmacologic stress testing. It produces hyperemia quickly and maintains it for a duration that is useful for radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging.

The nurse told me that most people feel no symptoms and some feel mild shortness of breath. I was in group three. As soon as the Lexiscan entered the iv, shortness of breath entered the room in a hurry. Then I felt cold and clammy. My fingers tingled. I broke out in heavy sweat. Every single cubic inch of my body started complaining, asking in loud tones, hey, how about death, is that option on the table? Hmm, tempting, I replied. Ask me again if I still feel like this in 30 seconds.

Fortunately, the antidote to Lexiscan shock is a simple injection of caffeine. I’m not much of a coffee drinker. I was disbelieving of the equally all-pervasive tv cliche of people needing their morning jolt of caffeine and being zombies until they partook. I was wrong. Intravenous caffeine is, how can I put this, nice. No, no golden glow like heroin, no sudden rush like cocaine, no touched by a live wire like speed. (Not that I would know personally.) But all my symptoms drifted off to another ward almost immediately. I haven’t felt this pleasantly awake and eager and able to take part in life since well before my heart became as congested as the 405. Instead of crawling home I went shopping.

What a weird day. The nuclear part of a stress test means an injection of Technetium-99m, m for medical grade. Radioactive with a half-life of 6 hours. If I bite you, you will have the proportional strength of someone too weak to take a normal stress test. Your loss.

Has anybody else been through this? How was it handled? Hope it was as fast and good as my experience today.

2

Once when I had a bleeding ulcer and didn’t know it, I got woozy and sweaty, and my field of vision started shrinking, so it was like I was looking down a dark tunnel and could only see a small circular area straight ahead of me. I was having trouble staying upright, so a coworker helped me get to the emergency room. I didn’t quite black out, but I was close. I have had two similar incidents since then when I have been really sick.

3

I’ve been in anaphylactic shock. Turns out I have an allergy to stone fruits combined with exercise (took 20 years to diagnose that!). 30 years ago I was in Seattle for business, had a light lunch of fruit and cheese, and went for a run. I ended up crawling into a bank downtown with eyes, nose and throat swelled shut. Blood pressure was about 90/40. They called an ambulance and the EMTs gave me intravenous Benadryl, which at least kept me alive. At the ER they zapped me with epinephrine, and that was an experience. BP went to 180/120, all the swelling went away, and I DEFINITELY did not need a caffeine IV! I’ve got Epi-pens, of course, but have not needed to use them. Turns out there’s an enzyme in stone fruit that a few people are allergic to, but only if you get aerobic exercise after eating. At least it’s neutralized by cooking, so I can have apple pie…

4

My wife had the same test. She doesn’t know what they injected her with something (not identified) at the end, but she went from feeling like she was dying to feeling fine within 10 seconds.

I did faint from shock once. I had slammed a finger in a car door during driver’s ed in HS (in 1954) and a couple hours later, standing on the el going home, I apparently collapsed. At any rate, I found myself on the floor with others helping me up. There were no consequences

5

No, but thank you for sharing and I’m glad you got through it OK. It was interesting to me because a year or two ago my cardiologist wanted to inflict a nuclear stress test on me, and feeling pressured to be a “good patient”, I agreed. Later I called back and cancelled. Reading your story, I’m glad I did!

This is of course not medical advice. These tests can be very important to some. In my case I have already been subjected to a lot of cardiac diagnostics, had three stents, am on medications and am being regularly checked out. I felt the nuclear stress test was redundant in the sense that I would not be inclined to agree to any serious interventions like bypass surgery, so what was the point? The cardiologist did ask if I’d settle for a halter monitor to record heart rate and BP for 24 hours, and I said sure.

I do recall one time having a broken rib and not knowing it. For some reason the pain did not set in until the next day at work. I don’t remember much of it except one co-worker telling me later that I had turned white as a sheet and almost passed out. They had someone drive me home in my car as I was in no condition to drive. I ended up on Demerol just to be able to sleep at night.

6

I can’t complain. I’ve been asking for testing because I still have way too much shortness of breath a year after my triple bypass. Something is wrong, and I desperately want to find out what. Unfortunately or fortunately, my results appear to be all in the normal range.

I empathize with the other stories here. My reactions have all been to medications rather than injuries. I was given too much epinephrine once and went into a much slighter case of shock, and another drug caused me to cough so hard that I kept passing out, although that cause never occurred to me until I talked to my doctor.

When I get vaccines my arm doesn’t even get red, while my wife is laid up for two days. The individuality of reactions to medications must drive doctors berserk.

7

Anaphylactic shock 3 times, twice from bee stings, once from unknown trigger although it appeared to be exercise related.

8

Anaphylactic shock 2 times, both from traces of tomato in food. Not fun at all.

9

IANAD but I think I did.

I went into the doctor’s office and asked them to clean my ears. I get a lot of wax and I’ve tried the DIY kits from Walgreens etc. From reading up on it on line, I know you’re supposed to use WARM water. Well, the doctor’s nurse, who is usually on the ball, must have forgotten that little detail.

The water hit my eardrum and I was going to puke, shit myself, pass out, or all of the above. So I think it was shock. She stopped and after a few minutes the symptoms wore off.

10

Not sure, but I did almost bleed to death once. It’s very peaceful, but you get real thirsty. Luckily it was in an ICU, where they are prepared to stop people from doing that.

I’ve also fainted a couple times. That was super unpleasant, coming to. Like crawling out of a grave.

11

I went into shock while having a bowel movement and came very close to dying. I was 45 years old and in good health at the time. Never happened again.

12

A couple of months ago I tripped and dove head first onto the rough cement in the driveway. After I hit, I laid there for a bit thinking I’d just get up and go back in the house. But. I couldn’t move and realized I was bleeding and going into shock. I got out my cell phone and called my wife. She is an invalid, but I had to let her know what happened and to call 911. I told her not to try to come outside.

I tried to lay still and remain calm to keep from passing out. The bleeding was profuse - head wound and I take a blood thinner. By the time the fire truck arrived I was in a large pool of coagulating blood and still couldn’t move. It seemed like I heard the siren for a long time before they got to me. And then suddenly there was a crowd. The big red truck, an ambulance, the Sheriff and a public safety or something car.

Unknown to me, my wife had come out of the house and, predictably, had fallen on the steps. I could hear the guys talking on their radios:

“Is this the right place…You said one injury…I got two people down”.

Half the rescue folks went to my wife and the other half came to me. They got me into a sitting position and began the usual quiz about name, what day is it, stuff like that. I could hear the same thing going on with my wife and her predictable answers:

“Don’t worry about me young man. The front door is open and I’m sure the cat got out. Leave me alone and find my cat”.

So, they turned the wife over to my grand kids (adults) who live next door and loaded me into the ambulance. My oldest daughter is an ER nurse, she helped the doctor stitch me up, and drove me home around three the next morning.

Oh yeah, they found the cat. That animal won’t get twenty feet from her food dish.

13

In the aftermath of getting hepatitus non-A non-B in 1989, I did dozens of of blood tests. About 18 months after all that I was living in Japan, and had a blood draw in a doctors office. Hoowee baby. Tunnel vision, the spins, and the nurse noticed and had me lie back on the exam table, with a blanket and rest for about 30 minutes before they let me go. Very wierd. Something simply misfired and I was on the verge of passing out.

14

Three bee stings, anaphylactic shock isn’t nearly as much fun as it could be.

15

Septic shock twice last year.

The first time in January 2021 my bp dropped and I became confused. Stones had blocked my ureters. I was put on a ventilator while they got the infection under control. Spent over 2 weeks in the hospital.

2nd time was Aug 2021. Three days after my fifth Lithotripsy another kidney infection overwhelmed me. This time my low BP alerted my family and I rushed to the ER. I didn’t get as sick and went home 5 days later.

I’m going in for another Lithotripsy in May. I hope to avoid another bad infection. Breaking up the stone releases bacteria.

16

Yeah, a blood draw was involved in one of my “shocky” episodes, too. It was a hot summer day and I was in for routine lab work for my annual physical. However, the phlebotomist informed me it was her first week on the job and proceeded to unsuccessfully stick me over and over again. I got woozy, everything felt very heavy, and the room went all sepia-toned. She asked me if I was okay and I said I thought I was starting to black out. They put a cool damp cloth on my forehead and had me drink some water. An older vampir… er… phelobomist came in and said that if I was willing, she would do the blood draw instead. She got it on the first try. They had me hang around for a bit to make sure I was okay to drive, and then they let me go.

17

Fainting a few times.

I posted this recently on the thread about smelling salts, but I passed out in a doctor’s office after having broken a bone in my hand 18 hours before before it was finally getting set, and the doctor was having problems. Eventually, my body said enough was enough.

Another was when my daughter was small and we had to take her to the ER. Tough old dad wasn’t as tough as he needed to be. I never had any problems with my son needed stitches, four or five times, IIRC, but Beta-chan was different.

A doctor changed some meds but didn’t tell me I needed to discontinue one before starting the other. The both have low blood pressure as possible side effects and combined they did a number on me.

I was driving the car with my family in it, and couldn’t drive anymore so I pulled over. I had my wife take over, but the bickering kids were bothering me so much I asked her to let me off and she could finish taking them to school while I waited. Got out of the car and that was the end. Fortunately, didn’t get injured on the way down.

18

Apples have pips, they are not a stone fruit. But I am glad you like apple pie.

Vasovagal response, the vagus nerve can get tweaked by the muscle pressure of bearing down.
I hit anaphylaxis twice, once for penicillin when in hospital [know it all brand new baby doc decided mom being told that I was allergic to Penicillin by some crusty old town doc wasn’t important] and once when an exfriend decided to prove I wasn’t allergic to mushrooms by pureeing a jar of those slimy mushrooms and putting it in the spaghetti sauce deliberately. Took me both epipens and a huge dose of oral benedryl while waiting for the ambulance to get there, then IV benedryl and more epi on the way to the hospital.

Died on the operating table for a squidge over 5 minutes, no light at the end of the tunnel, meeting dead friends or family, I honestly don’t remember a thing, just count backwards from 100 and then waking up in post op.

Toxic shock from a really bad ending for a pregnancy at 5 months, was browning out as I walked into the ER - roaring sound in the ears, wonky sideways feeling [you know, feeling like I was standing a foot to the left and about 6 inches up and watching myself] and again around 15 or so years later a UTI that was finally hitting my kidneys and affecting the cysts that have resided there for around 30 years - when I showed up at the ER they thought I was in heroin withdrawl - white to the point of ghost, sunken dark eye pits, shaking, sweating. Not fun, I was told that effectively the cysts were getting ready to explode.

19

Note that fainting and shock are generally two very different things.

Shock involves lowered blood pressure threatening blood supply to organs and tissues throughout the body (caused by a number of serious conditions), while fainting is caused by temporarily lowered flow to the brain, usually in people without underlying medical problems and typically lasting a very short time (seconds to a few minutes)

20

Apples must have a little of the same enzyme (kiwi definitely does). I get the pre-anaphlaxis itchy throat if I eat raw apple. Penicillin and any derivative is a sure thing, too.