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364382 tn?1300242299

Could this be angina? Need opinion, please!

I've had some episodes in the past few years that I don't know the cause of...I didn't realize it was recurring until recently.
I start out feeling just generally unwell for a day or so, then all of sudden I get very dizzy and nauseated, feeling like my head is spinning a hundred miles an hour and get hot and cold.
The first time I was walking when it started, and I kept running into walls until I finally laid down, and the dizziness lasted about 15 minutes.
The last time, it was much worse, couldn't get up off the floor for half an hour, and I kept vomiting, and every few minutes I would pass out briefly for about a minute or so. I was also trying to talk to a friend of mine who was trying to help, and I couldn't seem to talk.
After it's over, I feel tired but completely fine.
I'm just unsure of what this is, and now that I realize it's happened several times, I'm thinking it might be more serious.  I'm 28, pretty healthy. Could these be some type of seizure, or maybe a heart or brain problem?  
I've read a little about angina, but I don't know enough about it.
Someone suggested vertigo, but this isn't an everyday thing, only once a year or so...does it sound serious enough I should go get tests now, or wait til it happens again?
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
I would say that you have all of the symptoms of vaso-vagal syncope, especially the vomiting.

I know that well as I had several distressing episodes when I was on the beta blocker Atenolol.  There were some triggers.  One was sitting down in a car.  Another was suddenly coming from air conditioning into heat.

One time I opened the window of my car in 95 degree heat at a McDonalds parking lot and ended up pulling over and vomiting in the parking lot.  And that's before I got my Big Mac;)  I was sick for 2 days after that.  I had all of your symptoms.

This can be confirmed with a tilt table test.  

Are you on any medications?
Helpful - 0
242509 tn?1196922598
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I agree that this does not sound like a cardiac problem, It most likely is vertigo, relted to either a peripheral or central cause. On the differential diagnosis is Benign postional paroxysmal vertigo, Meniere's disease, vestibular neuronitis; this also can be seen with tumors of the cerebellar-pontine angle, multiple sclerosis, etc. I am not a neurologist and this list is by no means exhaustive, but you may ask it in the Neurology forum.
This is not angina in any way shape or form. In your age group atherosclerosis severe enough to cause these symptoms is exceptionally rare, and very unlikely to resemble this presentation. Neurocardiogenic syncope, which another response alluded to is usually positional, and preceded by similar symptoms such as yours. However, if tends to resolve with resolution of positional changes, and usually does not persist while someone is supine on the ground.
Helpful - 0
271194 tn?1350503363
It could well be inner-ear related - either benign positional vertigo, which can be sporadic, or Menieres syndrome.  It would be worth seeing your doctor so you can have something by you to take at the onset of an attack - e.g. prochlorperazine, possibly in suppository form.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Classic Vaso-Vagal Syncope - Google it!
Helpful - 0

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