Sometimes when I stand up and stretch while holding my breath, I become very lightheaded when I exhale. I have a tingling sensation everywhere especially my forearms and hands. Once I couldn’t see and I fell over onto a table and ended up on the floor laughing and it only lasts for 15 seconds(fades away,done at 15). I also hear my pulse in my ears with kind of a shhh…shhh(how else do I describe it?) effect.
My question is, what is and what causes this?
I only do this whenever I try to, so I don’t think its a problem. Some of my friends can do this too.
All the blood rushes away from your brain. you can pass out from this–happens all the time in casinos, when blackjack players that’ve been sitting down for hours stand up to quickly.
Yeah, that’s a blood pressure problem. What’s happening is this: You stand up, accelerating against gravity. Blood, having mass, does not want to go up quite so fast as the rest of you is. Therefore, less blood is reaching your brain and eyes, causing blackouts and goofy/dizzy spells. Tingling means the nerves aren’t getting enough blood. And the rushing sound in your ears is your heart racing to keep you from starving your own brain, you numnuts! If you get this often, or at times when you don’t stand up that fast, see a doctor. If you get a heart problem diagnosed when the symptoms are this benign count yourself insanely lucky. If you blackout and fall over too often, or on the wrong surface, you can hurt yourself in a serious way. Be careful.
Yup, I have low blood pressure in general and have passed out a few times. Once I was at a party very relaxed when I felt the need to pee. I got up and took the 10 steps to the toilet but fainted as soon as I started peeing. I came to a while later (it seemed like an eternity) having bumped my head against something hard and peed all over myself. It was the strangest feeling to wake up and see my face on the floor and inches from the toilet and wondering how the heck I got there…
Low blood pressure. Better than high blood pressure for sure. Most drug stores have an inexpensive blood pressure machine to check it. But if you have sailor’s problem, run to the doctor to get it checked.
You have exceptionally low blood pressure. You will live forever, but you won’t remember most of it. Start your morning with a pot of coffee, 8 tablespoons of sugar per cup and a black coffee enema.
Smoke a little crack in the afternoon and shoot up some crystal meth at night.
Disclaimer: These recommendations may result in death.
This has happened to me plenty of times, but only if I stand up fast after lying down for a while. Most times my vision just gets dark and grainy and sounds seem far away for a few seconds, and then the blood reaches my brain and I come back. Once, though, I passed out right in the middle of the living room, and woke up about 30 seconds later on the floor, holding my glasses which had been knocked off. I landed on a carpet, so I guess I was lucky.
The second time I passed out just for about 5 seconds. I felt myself falling sideways, and came to sitting on the floor leaning against the couch. I find that this only happens if I am holding my breath when I stand up fast, so if I exhale if I start to feel dizzy, it goes away.
You’ve executed what is called a Valsalva Manouvre, which is well documented in medical literature, and is often responsible for faints (usually described as vaso-vagal syncope).
What happens is this:
When you stand up and stretch while holding your breath, you increase the intrathoracic pressure, ie the pressure within your chest cavity.
This causes the vagus nerve to be stimulated, which slows your heart rate. The vagus nerve is the parasympathetic connection to control of your heart.
The drop in heart rate is immediately reflected as a drop in blood pressure. Blood pressure is the product of cardiac output and peripheral resistance (blood vessel diameter).
The reduced blood pressure causes the brain to dip in conscious state briefly. This can range from dizziness to complete unconscious collapse, depending on the physiology of the person.
Stretch receptors in the aorta and the carotid arteries react to the dip in blood pressure, prompting the sympathetic nervous system to stimulate the heart to beat faster and stronger, boosting cardiac output.
The other part of sympathetic response is the constrict peripheral blood vessels to increase blood pressure. Hence you go pale. The airways in the lungs are widened to allow better oxygen uptake, and blood is diverted away from the digestive track. Your pupils also dilate. This is all part of the “fight or flight” response of the autonomic nervous system.
In a young fit person it all happens fairly quickly, so that recovery is swift. However, in a person who has a measure of cardiovascular impairment, like the typical elderly person with heart disease, recovery is often greatly prolonged.