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From: Trish
Date: 5/10/00
Time: 7:22:19 PM
Remote Name: 208.134.223.114
I'm on atenolol 25mg but still get several dizzy spells daily. They're becoming more frequent (11 spells today). Blood work is fine, MRI fine too. I'm scheduled for a tilt table test in 1 1/2 weeks. I'm leary about the test since I'm already on atenolol for migraine prevention. I'm 32, 5'1" and 108lbs. My blood pressure is on the low side. I'm wondering how necessary this tilt table test is...it sounds awful!
From: Rog I.
I just had a vaso vegal episode. This has been with me from the time I was 12 years old. The episode had been very infrequent when I was young. I am 55 now and from my early forties the episode has been more on the order of once a year. I have been to the emergency center umpteen number of times and the doctors did every thing possible to find out what was bothering me from ecg, halter, cardiologist, neuro specialist and finally could come to the agreement it was due to vaso vegal syndrome. They have given an ammonia vial to my wife to revive me when I faint. I usually can sense when the episode starts and I lie down wherever I am, and try to raise my legs using the nearest object. I have had one episode once when I was driving in a commuter traffic and luckily nothing happened except for the totalling the car on the side wall of the median. I walked out with no injury and did not even go to the emergency room.
The episode almost l always starts with an abdominal distress of some kind and I can sense an onset of diarrhea which usually relieves itself if I lie down and elevate my legs.
I am of the opinion, that the onset of vasovegal episode is due to loss of blood volume due to the flooding of lower intestine with electrolyte. It immediately reduces the blood pressure and the body goes on a safe mode where only vital heart muscles are supplied with minimum blood other parts are starved leading to reduction of blood flow to the head. The fainting follows. Since the blood volume goes down but the total sugar remains the blood glucose level jumps.
I had an interesting verification today. I was monitoring my blood pressure and sugar level like I always do every Saturday morning. I entered the values and decided to follow my blood sugar throughout the day since I wanted to start my exercise program on the tread mill that I had given up a year ago another start. I did 300 cal worth of exercise and checked my blood sugar level and it was 103. I decided to go to the driving range. It was pretty warm day (85 in the shade) and I started off with 75 ball bucket. I was feeling light headed when I was to 70th ball and I could sense abdominal distress and I decided to lie down on the range itself. Luckily there was an observation chair behind the hitting area and I laid on the ground and was hoping for the feeling to go away. After little grumbling on my stomach the diarrhea feeling gradually receded and I got up and started walking towards the car. I was going to pass out near my car and so I just laid down on the parking lot with leg raised on the bumper of the car. After a few minutes I got up and got inside my car, tilted the chair as horizontally as possible with my legs on the dashboard and rested for ten minutes with full blast of A/C inside the car. I was feeling refreshed and drove home safely and I decided to measure all my vitals. My pulse had come back to normal but my blood pressure had dropped down 20mm both sys and dia and the killer was my blood sugar had jumped to 153!. I knew I did not have anything during the time and was sure due to the blood volume reduction. I started rehydrating myself and after a liter of water my sugar level dropped to 130. Even though II did not have actual lower bowel flooding was enough to drop the blood volume and increase my blood sugar and decrease my blood pressure drastically.
The question I am wrestling with is how to prevent the abdominal distress before it starts. I'll let you all know if I am successful.
Rog