I spent the night at my girlfriend’s hospital beside once while she was recovering from encephalitis, when the nurse came in around 6 AM to draw blood. This had never bothered me before or since, but when I saw the blood going into the little test tube thingie, my vision constricted and I literally felt the blood draining from my brain. If it hadn’t sat down right then and placed my head between my knees, I would have passed out right there.
I wasn’t grossed out or anything, it was just that by brain had decided it had had enough.
I passed out during a routine blood draw once. Nothing remarkable about it; I just have a serious vagal reaction to seeing a needle go into me, and I didn’t think to look away.
Yes, I was a medical student at the time. Yes, I got endless shit about it.
How about fainting dead away for absolutely no useful reason whatsoever? In public? On company time?
Well, it’s possible it was diet-related because I was on a low sugar diet during my first and only attempt at weight training. That was probably a bad idea. Just the same…
I was working as a typesetter in Orillia one nice, summer day. I was asked to bring some set type over to the printer’s down the street, so I did. Hopped on the “company bike” (yeah, bike) and made it down to the printer’s in good time. I walked through the outer aluminum windowed door (the inner door – the one that locked – was already open), where three feet in the counter stood. Handed them the sets. I also had to pick up some proofs while I was there, so after I handed them the type, they asked me to wait while they got the proofs for me to take back. So I stood at the counter and waited. And while I waited, I started feeling faint. No problem, I though to myself. It’s just temporary from the exertion of the bike ride. It’ll go away. But it didn’t. It grew stronger. My, but this isn’t boding well. And it grew. And I started having to mentally claw at consciousness, trying to remain upright, thinking that if I fought it hard enough, gripped the edges of the counter firmly enough, I could hold on–
People were in my face. Above me, as it turned out, which seemed odd until enough light returned to my head that I was able to realize that I was flat on my back, having pitched backwards, hitting the aluminum door with my head hard enough that I knocked it open, and landing on the concrete steps, my body an impromptu doorstop. I could feel a knot welling up at the back of my noggin. Once I got up though I was otherwise fine, if a bit dazed. My boss was called to come and pick me up – despite protestations that I could probably bike back just fine. That was kind of an embarrassing thing to have to explain to your boss of all people, especially when you had no idea at the time why you passed out.
I came thisclose to passing out one time at the dermatologist. While we were there, I was going to have a mole shaved down (there’s one hiding next to my nostril), and as the dermatologist was cleaning the area with rubbing alcohol, I turned green and started getting dizzy. If I hadn’t laid back and taken a minute or two to recover, I would have fainted.
I nearly fainted the last time I donated blood. I’m 39 I’ve been donating blood on a regular basis since I was 16. I’ve literally donated blood over a 100 times in the past 23 years. I’ve been stuck by some of the worst in the business with no ill effect.
This May my mind took exception to the procedure. I had a wonderful phlebotomist. She was skilled, fun to talk to and cute. A few minutes after she got the line going I looked at the filling bag and thought “Oh look my life’s blood”. (Don’t ever do that) Without warning the world started shrink and go dim. I knew what was happening told my self to relax. I took deep measured breaths and tried to visualize hiking in mountains. Nothing doing. Very shortly it looked like I was viewing the world through a paper towel tube It was all I could do to raise my arm and say “I’m having a problem here”.
They tipped the chair back gave me smelling salts. Boy do those work. That had to be the worst most shocking smell ever. They literally shock you back to consciousness (just like the movies). They gave me a cold rag and watch carefully as I finished donating my unit of blood. I’m embarrassed just thinking about it.
That happened to my co-worker almost ten years ago. It was first thing in the morning. We were in the break room getting coffee to start our workday. He was washing out a coffee mug, set it in the drying rack, and then slumped to the floor. He hit his head on the counter on the way down, so my other co-worker who also witnessed it drove him to the hospital to get stitches.
He was an athletic 24-year-old, and the doctors thought it was really weird for him to have fainted for no reason, so he had to get all these tests done. As far as I know, they never found anything wrong with him.
Faint at the dentist? No. Vomit on the hygenist? Yes. I warned her I have a bad gag reflex, but she didn’t believe me.
Embarassing fainting story:
Time: Autumn of my sophomore year in high school
Place: Half time, on the field, at our homecoming game
Me: In the marching band, performing our halftime show.
KA-THUNK on the 40 yard line. Unfortunately we were doing the nifty stepping backwards like we know where we’re going thing and two other flag twirlers went down too.
Paramedics took me to the waiting ambulance - I had just started a prescription that day and the dosage was for like a 6’2" 250# person, not the 5’8" 150# person I was.
I thought about this recently, but decided against it.
Since I seem to have worn my back teeth a bit thin, the dentist wants to install crowns. This work will involve big machinery.
No iPod in the world is going to cover up the sound of some scary four-fluted quarter-inch carbide tipped burr that is grinding great chunks of tooth away, causing the skull and jawbone to resonate. Besides, I like to be aware of things so I can grip the armrests of the chair tighter at appropriate times.
I very nearly passed out at the Blood Center once. I wasn’t donating, mind you, I was just taking a tour of the facility. I had to lie down and I got a cup of juice. I was very embarrassed about the whole thing.
Oh, yeah, at the time I was a Medical Technology student training to work in the Blood Bank. (Which I have successfully done for 16 years.)
This happened to me once, except I made it to the trash can. I was having impressions made for some reason or other, and she kept shoving the tray of goo toward the back of my throat.
When I was a kid I’d get so scared at the dentist I’d barf (though not on anyone, fortunately). It’s safer than fainting, but much more gross. I don’t recommend it.
Same goes for me. When I got my wisdom teeth taken out, they gave me nitrous oxide before putting me under general anesthesia. Having to breathe something not air and then feeling all funny was not what I needed, since I was already stressed out. My heart started pounding and I was getting ready to start a full-blown panic attack when the general anesthesia kicked in (thankfully!).
The very first time I had to have blood work done, I went in, sat down in the nifty chair, then watched them pull out two vials of blood with no problem. About half-way through the third vial, however, I distinctly remember looking up at the nice lady, then saying “Oh. Here I go.” in a lovely tone of voice. Next thing I know, I’m staring up at the ceiling with a huge headache. Apparently, it isn’t easy for a 5-foot tall phlebotomist to catch a 6’4" 200-pound person.
With me, I didn’t go and get checked out. I was in my late teens, so naturally, I didn’t need no steenkeeng doctor. But it was the one and only time I’ve ever fainted, and I gave up that silly diet thing right after, so whether nor not that was the root cause I don’t know, but it works for me.
That reminds me of a slightly related tale of my high school years – not a fainting tale, but probably even more embarrassing for its unintentional comic timing:
We were running track, doing circuits around the football field. I think we’d done something like 10-12 laps, so we were all just dogging it by that point. It is halfway through what would be my last lap when the following sequence of events approximately occurred:
Coach: “Hey, Mindfield!”
Me: [Turns to look at coach] “What?”
Goalpost: “Hi there!”
I’m told the gong noise could be heard across the field. I don’t know because I was knocked out cold. Broke a tooth in half (which they concluded that I swallowed because they couldn’t find it) and had a massive goose egg on my forehead. Damn near fainted several times after that too, so I stayed inside and just sat down.
Three years?! I once spent **15 years ** avoiding any dental work. :smack:
When toothache finally drove me into the chair, I needed 17 fillings. :eek: It took two days … but it didn’t hurt!
Since then I have regular checkups. My tip is to take in a walkman (for younger dopers, that’s what we used to have!) and play loud rock music until the dentist taps you on the shoulder and tells you to rinse.
When I was about 14, we had a school injection for something. The pupils lined up outside the room, which had a glass door. So I could see all the injections before mine.
When I got in the room, I promptly passed out. (They injected me, woke me up and gave me the next lesson off. )
Heh, when I was 17 or 18, I was at the dentist for a regular cleaning. The hygenist did her thing, and then, as she was walking away, the world started fading to black. Next thing I know, my body jerks and I’m awake, alone in the room. At first, I thought I’d fallen asleep, but realized that I’d passed out. The dentist walked in about a minute later and repeatedly asked me if I was okay. Apparently, my face was extremely flushed and I had beads of sweat on my skin. I managed to stay conscious for the rest of the visit, thankfully, so no one ever found out (for sure, anyway) what had happened.
However there was one time where I had to have blood drawn during which I wasn’t quite so lucky.
Oh, god, the vibration was the worst. It’s not painful but it’s a sensation that just shouldn’t be.
Tales of other’s humiliation are helping. And once again I find myself questioning how in the world humanity evolved to this point. “Oh dear, here is something I find extremely stressful and frightening, a response generally reserved for life-threatening situations. Clearly, the best thing to do would be to fall over unconscious.”
As I posted earlier, I listen to rock music so loud I can’t hear my dentist. (I like The Who, but to each his own!)
I also try to relax, breathing slowly and deeply.
This happened to me once, except I made it to the trash can. I was having impressions made for some reason or other, and she kept shoving the tray of goo toward the back of my throat.
