Hey dopers, I had a question that’s been on my mind lately and I’m wondering if anyone has had similar experiences or can explain why this is happening. A warning to some, this thread could become a little bloody (or TMI) as people start responding with their experiences, I think.
I wasn’t a sheltered child by any means growing up. I’ve seen the internet pictures. I’ve had some minor accidents that required trips to the hospital to patch up.
I’ve never been the girl that freaks out when seeing blood or anything. Heck, there was a thanksgiving where I had to see most of my relatives covered in my brother’s blood when he busted his skull open (that’ll teach ya for not listening to mom when she tells you to tie your shoes before going down the stairs) and even though I was rushed to another room so I didn’t have to see any more, it really didn’t bother me. If anything, I was just angry at my brother for ruining another family gathering. :rolleyes:
Anyways, the point is that I’ve seen a lot of gross things in my life. I was never grossed out to the point of vomiting, crying, etc.
Over the years though, it seems that my body is fighting my brain in that, while my brain is fine with seeing things like that, my body chooses to faint (or at least try to).
The first of three instances I can recall this happening was when I was with my mother at the veterinarian. I was holding my cat as an IV dripped into her. I was listening to my mother talk to the doctor, I hadn’t even looked at or thought about the cat’s IV, when all of a sudden the room began spinning around me. It became hard to breathe and I thought I was going to throw up. I ran outside of the building for some fresh air. It took a while for the feeling to go away, but it finally did. I had no idea what had happened and eventually forgot about it for a while.
The second time this happened was when I had to go get my blood drawn (hooray for study abroad requirements!). I last had my blood last drawn in the fourth grade (everything went fine). I was nervous going into the doctor’s office this time, not exactly thrilled to be having my blood drawn. Going into the room, I began to feel woozy and a little ill. I chalked it up to not having eaten much. I sat and had my blood drawn. Still feeling woozy, I made the smart idea of turning my head to see how the whole blood drawing process was going.
Big mistake.
Watching the vial being slowly filled made me feel exponentially sicker. My brain said “Okay, you need to look away now so you don’t feel any worse”, and I obeyed. The nurse told me she was done, and I tried to stand. Only, I couldn’t. I couldn’t see. Everything faded into a white. Everything sounded distant, or as if I had cotton in my ears. My face felt really cold. It felt like I couldn’t breathe right. There was the same panicky feeling of wanting my body to quickly return to normal.
“You don’t look so well, you’re really pale.”
I couldn’t even speak. It felt like my mind was there, just inside a shell that I couldn’t control. I have a fear of fainting and I was doing all I could not to. She had me sit until I regained my vision and I could talk again. It felt like forever. Even then, my friend who was waiting for me remarked on how horribly pale I still was.
Anyway, fast forward to a few weeks ago. While I can kind of understand why the last scenario made me almost faint, this next one just has me puzzled.
I was in my bathroom, brushing my teeth. I had braces some years ago, but my bottom two front teeth have become ever so slightly slanted since then, I’ve noticed.
I did something with my tongue, somehow managed to do just the right motion, and suddenly felt that there was something wrong. There was an immediate pressure between the teeth and I was worried that I had somehow knocked one out of place or something like that.
I look and see something between the two teeth.
A chunk of something pink. It took me two seconds to realize that I had somehow took out a chunk of my tongue and it was now wedged in my teeth.
Ew.
It was about the size of a taste bud. I could taste a little blood, but it didn’t hurt. I couldn’t even figure out where the chunk came from.
My brain was like “Oh, gross. Well, get some floss and let’s throw it out”, which I did. My body, on the other hand, decided to be more along the line of “Ohmigod that’s so gross I’m going to try to faint now”. Everything started to go the usual white, hard to hear, hard to breathe, etc. I had to fight to stay conscious again.
The question I have is, what is it that made me become a wuss over the years? Why is it that while my brain can tolerate these things, my body won’t? It feels like a fight between my brain and my body when this occurs. Is this my body’s natural reaction to something?
