Fainting, migraines and other stuff – An unusual evening for me

I have only fainted once before in my life. It was when I was playing high-level competitive volleyball and it was at the National Junior Volleyball Championships. Right before the semi-finals, I remember talking to my Mom about a particular strategy I was going to follow. The next thing I remember was my parents holding me in their arms and me lying on the ground.

This evening, I Twittered that I wanted to go for coffee as I was already downtown for the Reachd.com training session. However, since nobody responded, I went home right after to prepare myself for dinner, as I had promised Karen that I’d meet her, Richard and a few other friends of hers for dinner really close to my place.

Admittedly I was going to arrive fashionably late (7.15 pm is decent for a 7.00 pm dinner appointment) but things went awry when I was sending my last tweet, and putting on my jacket to head out for dinner (if my Twitter history is correct, that was around 7.02pm). All I recall is that everything went black, and I woke up lying on my bed, face down. I looked at my wrist-watch and saw that it was 8.25pm. I checked myself in the mirror and noticed I had yet another bruise in my nose, right where my glasses sit.

Wonderful. Dinner with friends and I’m looking awfully bad. Changed band-aids and ran out the door muttering to myself “what the heck just happened“. Managed to get to the restaurant on time to meet Karen, Richard and their friends for dessert (gelato) and a quick trip to Happy Bats Cinema.

Overall, I am kind of worried. This week I’ve been feeling sort of disengaged and not too connected, in a way. Kind of not exactly in the place where I usually am. I had intermittent migraines over the weekend, which made me miss previous commitments with Jonathon, Ianiv and Arieanna, John Biehler, and a few other folks. These things normally do not happen to me, so I really have to look into what happened. I have the theory that I have been pushing myself too hard lately. We’ll see what I can do the rest of this week. I’m planning not to make any big social commitments (sorry, but another week like this past week with seven events in three days will probably just be insane.

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Comments (0)

TeresaMay 28th, 2008 at 11:45 pm

It could be that now that the huge pressure of your thesis defense now being over that your body is reacting adversely. I have had migraines, and associated faintness, described as coming on like having a pressure bandage released. For me it often happens when the barometer changes with the weather but it can also described as “weekend headaches” when you relax enough from the stress of the work week or go on vacation. Hopefully your body will acclimatize to your new stress level and will even itself out soon.

RaulMay 29th, 2008 at 12:16 am

Thanks, Teresa! I am going to go to the doctor anyways, just to be on the safe side.

RobertMay 29th, 2008 at 7:28 am

Thanks for sharing all of this. Fainting due to blood pooling is something most people experience. I remember, as kids, we’d play the game of hyperventilating, and then when holding the breath, and bearing down, we would faint. When I am hiking, and my heart is pounding, I have come close to that when I stop to tie my shoes… and then just stand up. The remedy for this kind of event is to sit and put the head below the knees (so blood can flow to the brain). Your story is more troubling because of the length of time you were unconscious. Also, you have no recall of the onset. I guess your readers will be watching your tweets and the blog for news. Very best wishes.

GusMay 29th, 2008 at 7:39 am

Good idea, get yourself to the doctor and see what they have to say. When I had fainted in the past, I also made an appointment with my doctor and of course they ran tons of test which came back all normal.

Keep healthy!

nomademoderneMay 29th, 2008 at 9:15 am

Go see a doc and take care of yourself.

JennMay 29th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

I hope you’re feeling better Raul. I’ve had that happen to me several times over the past year and understand how super scary it is. They think with me it’s my blood pressure dropping – I hope it’s something simple like that for you as well.

Keep us posted.

PhaedraMay 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

Oh honey I had no idea. I think your body is letting you know something is up, psychosomatic or whatnot. Getting yourself checked out is a smart thing. Hugz.

RaulMay 29th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Thanks all for the concerns and good wishes.

I’ve gone to the doctor, apparently it was a case of over-exhaustion. Just need to slow down. Time to transform from hummingbird to polar bear, I guess.

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