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From: pennie
I was just diagnosed yesterday at age 47 with vaso vagal syncope. I've always been a fainter from the time that I was about 10. At that time, they thought that I just had low blood sugar. I'm a nurse in the OR, and I've learned to recognize the prodrome to a fainting episode, and have successfully avoided fainting for many years. Last week I had a very rapid onset of symptoms, and was unable to lie down in time. Fainted dead away, and my color was so bad that the surgeon I was working with pushed me into a cardiac workup. After a tilt table yesterday, the diagnosis was confirmed. After 19 minutes, I passed completely out and my heart stopped for 13 seconds. It was restarted with an external pacemaker. I'm just relieved to know what caused the fainting, and I guess I know now why my color gets so bad when it happens. the cardiologist's advice to me is to drink lots of water and avoid dehydration. He also said "be aware of the symptoms leading up to fainting," so that I don't get hurt falling. He says that there is a good chance that if I have this, others in my family do too, so there is a family tendency.