Vaso-Vagal Discussion

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Re: Episodes during exercise and sex

From: A.O.
Date: 11/3/00
Time: 9:20:56 PM
Remote Name: 63.255.38.49

Comments

The medication you are most likely taking for you asthma is a beta agonist (Proventil, Ventolin, Albuterol). These relax the smooth muscle covering the bronchi and allow you to breathe more easily. They also cause increased heart rate The medications most people are talking about in this forum are beta blockers (atenolol, metoprolol, sotalol). They act in the opposite way as beta agonists. They cause the heart rate to decrease. It would seem that this would be counterproductive in vasovagal syncope because the heart rate tends to become too slow to supply the brain with oxygen which leads to the fainting. For some reason that I don't fully understand beta blockers seem to work in vasvagal syncope. Your doctor telling you to stop exercising is probably a good idea for the time being. At age forty, some men have cardiac events that are very serious. Your doctor needs to make sure that you are not having a more serious problem than vasovagal syncope (i.e cardiac arrhythmia, heart attack etc.) As for the tilt table test, many HMO's won't pay for it and most doctors don't order it because it is expensive. If other cardiac problems are ruled out, vasovagal syncope often becomes a diagnosis by exclusion. Physicians will often treat you with the assumption that you have vasovagal syncope. If the meds work, there's really no need for the tilt table test. Hope this helps.


This web site is not a substitute for a thorough medical evaluation and diagnosis of your vaso-vagal type symptoms.  Medical treatment and diagnosis is the only acceptable initial response to these serious symptoms since they might present from any number of life threatening and treatable illnesses. It is for you and your physician to rule out more serious illnesses; Please don't use this online forum as an alternative to getting responsible medical attention and being under the care of a physician for the duration of any unknown, suspected or dangerous vaso-vagal syndrome symptoms.
Last changed: June 22, 2007