Hi everyone.
I have been going through a crazy difficult experience and I was hoping I could get some insight from some of you.
Not sure I have diabetic issues or not, but it just feels like it could be.
Last year I got really dizzy where I passed out for a few seconds and then I was fine. I went to the ER. Put through tests like chest scan and head scans and ekg but there was nothing.
I have had life long low blood pressure and slow heart rate, but it didn’t feel like that. And my sugar was fine.
So chalked it up to not knowing. Then it happened again 2 months ago at a restaurant. Again to hospital. EKG and everything normal.
So I’m thinking a transient stroke. Because I’m diabetic 36 yers.
So I had. Treadmill test and. Ultrasound of my carotid. And I’ll have a heart ultrasound next week
The tests all showed negative even the carotid which I fully expected to see narrowing. But nothing adds up.
I’m a little worried about passing out while driving next time.
Anyone have insight. I could share my numbers if anyone cares to see them
You may want to consider an AI-enhanced CAC scan. I had one done, and it was an awesome tool for showing where I have growing plaque in my arteries, the type of plaque, and where it is located. Arterial plaque is an ongoing silent killer for diabetics, yet few people take it seriously until an event occurs.
Take a look at https://cleerlyhealth.com/
There is also a competing organization that provides a similar service. https://bostonheartdiagnostics.com/
I had my results analyzed by both of these outfits, and it was worth it for me.
The downside is that the CAC scan is covered by insurance, including Medicare, but the AI-enhanced view is self-pay only. Mine was done at Cleerly and cost about $750 a little less than two years ago.
Timothy, I will pass out if my blood pressure drops. This happened quite a few times during the 11 years when I ate a very low carb diet. Once I switched diets the syncope stopped. I doubt that you are having a stroke since you had so many things checked out. My husband suddenly passed out last year, but he was taking too much blood pressure medicine.
I started to pass out last month but the day before I had been thrown off my treadmill and broke my collarbone. I think my pressure dropped due to shock.
Could your already low blood pressure be dropping for some reason?
Can you feel a pulse in both of your feet? That is a good way to check for PAD in the lower body.
Dx 1959
I have low blood pressure and also very slow heart rate. I know what that feels like and it’s not like what I experienced.
Both times I was fine up and walking around and then I got dizzy the room was spinning and both times I was able to sit before I passed out. Only out for a couple of seconds and then awake. The second time the dizziness persisted for 5 min. Medics checked my pressure and it was fine both times and my sugars were fine. Of course if my pressure was very low and bounced back, I wouldn’t know, but that low blood pressure thing is something I know very well and it feels different.
I also started to feel a weird rushing about 2 years ago. Not regular like a heart beat, but imagine if you are on a water bed and someone poked the corner intermittently, just slightly.
My doctor never heard of it and thinks it’s nothing, but these things occurred at the same time my syncope began. I expect I will have some issues with diabetes and maybe vascular and heart issues, but this is apparently none of the as far as the tests go. My treadmill test went all the way to level 7 and that’s the last level and I had no issue except being tired out I got a Mets score of 15, which doc is really good and I had an ekg going the whole time. My pressure was stable the whole time too. There must be an underlying issue that I don’t know about. Oh yes and I have a good pulse in my feet
I hope that you can find an answer soon. I know that it is disconcerting.
I have vasovagal syncope, but I don’t know if it’s relevant here. It seems to be a very specific trigger, basically any accident that involves getting an extremity pinched. Had a car trunk shut on my hand and dropped like a fly. I passed out in the middle of the mall when my thumb got smooshed in a door. Those rolly scooters we had in gym glad back in the day. Did it once at work when my arm got pinched between a piece of lab equipment I was moving and the door frame.
Now that I’m thinking about it, though, I haven’t had an episode in nearly 20 years. I guess I finally learned to avoid doors. I never considered it might have been a diabetes complication. I’m in drastically better control now than when I was passing out frequently. It actually took a few episodes to finally diagnose the problem, and that it wasn’t my blood sugar. Every time I passed out, someone was forcing glucagon or sugar I didn’t need on me.
You might know about my epilepsy diagnosis. It took a very long time to get that diagnosis because everyone chalked it up to diabetes. Its tough when there are multiple conditions. It doesn’t sound like blood sugar.
This feels like low BP. Why? Because that’s a common reason people pass out. Maybe you were a little dehydrated. The very act of laying down on the ground can elevate that BP, but then when people stand up again, they will pass out again. Start with the easy, obvious stuff like low blood pressure and work your way up to more complex conditions. What was your BP and pulse when the medics checked it in the ambulance?
Usually syncope (fainting) happens when a Doc puts someone on new blood pressure meds that might need an adjustment. But your not on BP meds, correct? Normal BP = 120/80. A thorough Doc will check your BP when you are sitting, standing, and laying down and evaluate how blood pressure changes under those different conditions. This is called an “orthostatic” blood pressure check. Any good paramedic will do this. Orthostatic hypotension (postural hypotension) - Diagnosis & treatment - Mayo Clinic
Also, I want it checked using a traditional, manual cuff - NOT a digital one because those things are often not calibrated and are not reliable enough for this situation. My Doc checked using a manual cuff last time. Tell them to do that.
@Timothy I agree with the other respondents. My wife several years ago passing out and falling. Our cardiologist put her on a 4 wire remote ECG unit. The first night the monitors called telling us there were episodes and that the on-call cardiologist was waiting for her at the ER.
They did, I forget what it’s called, BP and pulse lying down, sitting and standing- about 3 times. It was intermittent bradycardia (sudden drop of HR) with intermittent dropping BP.
They were going to do a pacemaker, but sent her to the cath lab for (whoops, senior moment) anyway they found her aortic valve was nearly clogged and two coronary arteries. This meant open heart surgery. The new TAVR procedure was in its infancy. So they surgically replaced the valve and did 2 bypasses.
Oh she still had the intermittent bradycardia so she got the pacemaker as well.
Not suggesting your issue could be cardiac related, but it would be prudent to get a cardiologist to take a look. I too have historically low BP and HR. That fine, but if they take a nose dive that wouldn’t be.
If that’s all good then to a neurologist for possible seizure disorder.
You know if we weren’t so good at managing diabetes we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves about this kind stuff because, we ….
If you have time, you ought to lay down on the floor. Symptoms sound like low BP. If I am alone, I sometimes try to make it outside into a more public/visible space so I am not alone in a house.
I want you to be careful about taking a bath and swimming, in addition to driving. If I feel ‘off’ sometimes I mitigate risk by laying down in the shower (to try to prevent falling and/or drowning). Power tools might not be a great hobby in the near term. Cooking on a hot stove can be dangerous. We had a kid in town accidentally put his hand into a deep fryer when he passed out working at McDonalds. Ladders = bad. Sometimes people pass out on chairlifts while skiing. That’s not optimal. You DO want to be careful until they figure something out.
There’s a long list of bad things that happen to people when they pass out randomly. It can get a little overwhelming. It’s good just to be aware and mitigate risk how you can. As someone who lived a long time with an undiagnosed seizure disorder, odds are that you’ll be OK. But, given some of the potential negative repercussions, it warrants further investigation.
It’s hard to collect data when an event is rare. It’s also hard to collect data while unconscious.
In some ways, you are just depending on the people around you when you loose consciousness. I think that’s a major driver for why patient populations produce more collaborative, pro-social cultures. You want decent folk around you when you are more dependent on others. Being surrounded by dirt bags is more of an existential threat for me than it is for others. You will see me choose people to work for whom I trust to exercise good judgement and good moral compass, above and beyond any other characteristic.
I just read about Vasovagal syncope and there are some similarities but doesn’t really seem to fit. Although I get hiccups when ever I clear my throat a lot. So it suggests vagal nerve sensitivity.
I wore a heart monitor for 2 weeks and the only found Brady cardia which I have had my whole life. At rest I will have a heart rate of 40 bpm. That’s actually higher lately in the 50s.
I also did that orthostatic test and yes I have that but it’s mild and I know what hypotension feels like.
My normal bp in the drs office is 90/50 SOMETIMES LOWER AT HOME. again that’s a life long thing. It’s not new in any way, but it explains why I have this mild orthostatic hypotension, which I’ve had since I was 40.
My doctors surmised that I have large arteries and there is nothing I can do about it. I was also an athlete when I was young and that can come back to haunt you with atrial fibrillation when you get older, but I don’t have that.
The symptoms I have are not low pressure and the world goes black. It starts feeling dizzy then the room spins until I lose my balance. Lucky I can sit. Then these 2 times I passed out for maybe 5 seconds. Second time dizziness persisted for 5-10 min and paramedics checked my bp which was normal and I was still dizzy laying down. Then like magic, I’m fine again.
It has a lot of carryover with a lot of conditions and it’s really difficult to pinpoint. Also I have lifelong tinnitus which my doctor says could be from large arteries, but tinnitus is a risk factor of syncope.
I was checked for epilepsy, I did an eeg there was nothing going on in my brain.
Nothing
If syncope only occurs with change in body position (moving to standing or sitting position), it might be orthostatic hypotension. I take an ACE inhibitor (lisinopril) and have to balance dosage to control high blood pressure without too many episodes of orthostatic hypotension.
When I was still a misdiagnosed T2, I took Actos. Syncope wasn’t listed as a side effect, but Actos was known to effect fluid balances. Actos greatly increased the frequency and severity of orthostatic hypotension episodes.
Maybe have your sodium checked - I had low sodium cause I was on a blood pressure pill that had a diuretic in it. Was causing me to have really low sodium levels - convulsions too. Hope it all gets better, so sorry you’re going through this.
I know it may sound silly, but have you checked your BG from your CGM readings when you recover for the time of the event? How was your blood glucose at that moment? And when you say passed out, did you faint? fell down? Did anyone else observe these? It might be simply a severe hypoglycemia? Hopefully you can find out what the cause is and resolve it. Take care
Addison’s Disease also causes low BP, unto passing out, along with salt cravings and a decrease in total daily dose of insulin required. If you take thyroid meds, blood tests would show high TSH, meaning you need to up your daily dose. That’s what I had. Treated with hydrocortisone pills.
Why are we discounting low BP as a cause? I feel like this is almost diagnosable.
You know you run a low pressure. You know why. You know you run a slow heart rate. If your BP gets a little low, then the result might be that you pass out. That might just be you. Some people are just that way.
You see 100 pound teenage girls for whom, if they haven’t eaten or had anything to drink, they just faint. There’s nothing to diagnose. They are just petite and that’s enough to take 'em down. The nature of your body, with the condition of your underlying arteries, might just be that way - you have to stay hydrated in order to maintain a BP that is adequate enough to keep you on your feet.
I think you almost have to prove that this is NOT related to blood pressure, given the data that you have collected and your knowledge of your body. Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension): Causes & Symptoms
There might be an impulse to say, “I have occasional seizures, but I don’t have epilepsy.” It feels like you are saying, “I have a brittle pressure that always runs low, but its not possible that low BP and low pulse and orthostatic changes cause me to pass out.” Everyone has a low pressure and a high pressure at which they will faint. I get lightheaded at 180/90. You faint from an inadequate number on top (systolic pressure), an inadequate number on the bottom (diastolic pressure), or having very little difference in between those two numbers.
Have you had a Holter Monitor on you? This would trace your hear rhythm during your daily routine. Good luck. Nancy50
I have had one instance of this happening to me. The cause was blood pressure meds being over prescribed. Certain meds cause a cough and I passed out and fell. Hit my head and had bleeding on the brain that required surgery. MD was cause of this. I was good on current meds but he read an article and decided to change them. No sign of clots or other issues. MDs are the greatest threat to my health and wellbeing. Electro-cardiologist excepted. If MD changes ANY med they should discuss what side effects to watch for. Also wiki any new med for list of side effects. Beware of the well meaning and seemingly helpful MD who is really a threat. If it ain’t broke don’t change it. Don’t be afraid to no to an MD.
Dehydration. Do you feel like you can’t move just before passing out? Need more fluids perhaps?
Thanks all for your replies.
I take no meds other than insulin. I tried metformin to see if it would bring down my daily dose and it did at first but then went back to the same deal, and it didn’t help my sugar beyond maybe flattening out my highs a bit.
The reason I think it is not my pressure is because it doesn’t feel the same as low blood pressure feels.
Also my thyroid is good, my electrolytes are normal.
It’s impossible to check bp while this is happening, but I had my bp taken while I was still experiencing extreme dizziness and it was in normal range. Also checked both arms.
The treadmill testing should have picked up on blood flow issues anyway.
After I get my heart sonogram, I will have checked the arteries that run up the back of my neck only because I have nothing else to check.
And yes I wore a halter monster for 2 weeks and it showed a slow heart rate when I’m resting and really nothing else