Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Brief blackouts, dizziness, headaches, visual disturbance

I hope someone, especially a doctor, could give me some ideas on what might be going on with my 43 year-old husband.  I was just told less then a month ago that for many years, he periodically gets these sudden quick blackouts that last for about a second.  He says there's a very brief moment of missing time, and he almost passes out but it happens so fast that he can catch himself and he feels very dizzy right after.  I had never noticed it, but it's happenning more often now and I have witnessed a few recently.  At first when he told me, I thought they might be absense seizures, but now that I've seen I really don't think they are.  Besides this, he's often fatigued, wakes up with horrible headaches with pain in the back of his head and neck, he's having dizziness and balance problems, there are times when he has "kaleidoscope" vision and sometimes when reading his eyes have a rapid back and forth movement.  He is also having episodes of weakness and numbness in his arms.  I think what he has is more then just a simple migraine, as the headache seems to be every day now.  He's had the pains in the back of his head since he was a child, it has just gotten worse.

Somebody please help!  
55 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
Hi I am a 14 year old guy and I have the exact same thing happening to me. It started about 2 years ago and it would happen randomly and my whole body feels like it's on fire and then I have a blackout where I can only hear but I can't remember what I'm hearing. This happens randomly, usually as I get up from a couch of chair. The shortest I've had it was about 2 seconds but today it had lasted about 10 seconds and all I remember is getting up and wobbling through my living room and kitchen. Then as I gained some level of conscienceness I realized I was holding on to my mom who was telling me something and I had a strong pain in my eyes and my jaw which lasts about 5 seconds after. My mom didn't see anything wrong and thought I was fine. Only recently it's been getting more intense in the burning sensation and the way I move. I've started moving a lot more than before because before I would just sit down because I got so exhausted, but now I keep on walking and then everything goes black until I'm about half way across the room. The only thing I've noticed that might help is to keep on moving rather than stay still too long. I've noticed that this happens most frequently when I've have been sitting or laying down for around 1 1/2 and longer. I hoped that helped but if anyone knows what this is please let me know
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am going to take my 7 year old to my chiropractor that works on the nerves system because I struggled with all sorts of things then found out I have an autoimmune disease then came back pain by chance it put me there and turns out from a fall when I was young my nerves have been pinched off causing all sorts of dizziness confusion...I was shocked to find it can do amazing damage...my son fell when he was three ish on his head and was fine but now this, so I would look into that and think back of any falls from a tree, car,bike accident , ski hill sibling push you off something lol on your head or back ...
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
PS not just any chiropractor...one that specializes in the nerves system
Avatar universal
hi, i am a 12 year old kid, I keep having these bad headaches, I fall to the ground, usually just on my knees, and my vision goes out, then my head hurts. after that I get really sleepy and I feel like I'm going to throw up. I don't know if it's serious or not.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm a 14 year old male and the same thing happens to me a lot. I am just standing and then all of a sudden I:
-instantly get a weird warm like feeling in my head
-feel dizzy
- everything goes black apart from some objects but they are still faint
-legs wobbly and I feel like falling, have fallen some times but get back up and carry on with what I was doing like nothing happened
-sometimes I hear a loud ring

Its really weird and I would like a clarification on these occurrences and why they happen
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm 12 years old and today I decided to search what is happening to me because it's happened like 5 times today and it's only 5:00. I walk around for a few seconds then everything just gets dark, then my legs get wobbly and I can barely stand up. If it's really bad I just fall to the ground and it feels like I passed out for about five seconds. And I don't even remember getting on the ground. Although I don't have  headaches . Is this the same thing as you guys are speaking of
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I get the same thing! I remember it, but my vision goes black and i can barely hold myself up and my head feels rly heavy and my vision gets blurry sometimes, I'm 13 and it's getting worse and worse and idk what is happening to me?
Avatar universal
I'm 12 years old and today I decided to search what is happening to me because it's happened like 5 times today and it's only 5:00. I walk around for a few seconds then everything just gets dark, then my legs get wobbly and I can barely stand up. If it's really bad I just fall to the ground and it feels like I passed out for about five seconds. And I don't even remember getting on the ground. Although I don't have  headaches . Is this the same thing as you guys are speaking of
Helpful - 0
13359581 tn?1429611654
I have had episodes during reading! All of a sudden I can't see the words....its seems like its only the right eye that blackout..along with dizzy feeling.....no headaches just vision blackouts.....someone tell me what this could be...it happened before but worse when I was pregnant weigh my first child and doctors said it was from dehydration but that wasd full blackout from store to parking lot I collapsed! I remember hearing voices around me but weak, dizzy and blindness like...it was scary!! I've been wearing corrective lenses sense I was 8 years old...which is 24 years now.....someone help and tell me if u think it could just be dehydration.....
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The exact same thing has been happening to me but I'm a 14 year old male.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My wife has blacked out to several hours while I was at work. She woke up on the floor, she has been having dizzy spells, all she wants to do is sleep when she feels like this, she says that her had hurts, and the other day, she was confused so much as to who our cats were and where she was. Anyone have any clues or advice? I am really worried about her and she refuses to go to the hospital.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello Dr. Deshmukh. I was wondering if you could give me some insight or something with my problem. For the past year or so, i have been having these small blackout moments. One minute I'd be completely fine, going about my day and then the next, I would blackout. It only lasts for but a few seconds. It seems to mainly happen while I am in the middle of a conversation. During those seconds of blacking out I've been told that i stop talking (if I was talking), I would then make a small giggle. I would completely forget what the subject was about or even what I was doing. I am starting to get worried as one of those moments caused me to get into an accident. I had looked into it and my blood work came back fine, i had an EKG and an EEG done and they both came back fine as well. Please let me know what you think.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi

I'm only 14 but I noticed quite a few of you have added in that these symptoms of yours started at a early age, and I have almost all of these symptoms. Like whenever I stand up I suddenly feel like a bunch of blood is rushing to my head then suddenly the edge of my vision starts to slowly black out, and I'm starting to freak out about it because now when it happens I fall down and feel like my head is about to burst.

Can anyone please recommend what I should do? I've already talked with my doctor about it and they said that I shouldn't worry about it because they're just headaches.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Same with me. I don't get headaches, but it only happens when I stand up or start walking after I was sitting.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have some of the same symptoms, but mine just happen without the head pain aswell, I just get dizzy and blackout for a couple of seconds. Recently I was going down the stairs and fell off the last 3 steps, I think it was 3 I really don't remembe, all I know was one minute I was on the steps and the next I was on the floor. I wish someone would help, cause I don't have Insurance or employment right now and I can't see a doctor.
Helpful - 0
6300183 tn?1380155181
            
                  On the night of one episode. I went to bed with swollen eye, body tremors, shaky hands, serve headache, and dizziness.  I had trouble getting to sleep that night. When I finely feel asleep. It was around 12:00 AM. I don't remember dreaming while asleep. After a couple of hours. I remember waking up around 3:15 AM. However, I had trouble getting back to sleep.

                While lying awake in bed. I think that I had some type of black out. Because I didn't remember what happen while I was awake around that time. All I remembered was my eyes rolling to the back of my head and seeing black. When I woke up the next morning. I felt like my eyes had been rolled to the back of me head for a long period of time. I had no memory of what happen that night after I blacked out. On the other hand.

                I was no longer dizzy, my hands and body was no longer shaking, and my headache was almost completely gone. I actually felt like myself again. However, I still couldn't remember what I dreamed or what I did that night. A few days ago. I had another episode. this episode occurred with blurry vision, headache, weakness, chills, body tremors, dizziness, sleeping, slightly swollen eye lids, and memory lost. I do have a history of grand mal seizures from childhood. Had stopped having them before becoming a teenager. Was taken off meds back then.

Any advice  
Helpful - 0
6300183 tn?1380155181
I have been having some of those symptoms myself. I have been having those symptoms for almost a year now. It was even a time within the year that my eyes rolled to the back of my head and I blacked out. Don't really know what's wrong with me any advice.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My daughter is 20 and is experiencing headaches, blurriness then loss of vision and blackouts, occasionally she has vomitting prior.  I have a her to the emergency room three times and they find nothing.  This time (which was just tonight) they referred her to a neurologist and cardiologist.  Her hair is also falling out when she washes or brushes it, not just a little but big handfuls.  She had seizures as a child and I am wondering if she is not having them now.  Last night she got a pain in her head, blurred vision and then passed out, she fell into the street and now has cuts and bruises on her legs and arms.  Anyone that has any ideas or suggestions please let me know.  Thank you so much and God bless you all.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Well I have similar episodes. I am a 20 year old female. When I was 13 the neurologist diagnosed me when absence seizures. He told me that I was suppose to grow out of them but I still have similar events and now he is unsure of what these "EVENTS" are. Can somebody please help me?When I am under a lot of pressure, stressed or when I don't get enough rest or just randomly I have these brief moments usually just a couple of seconds maybe 3-15 seconds were I will black out. Most of the times I can't hear anything, can't feel anything, nor can I see anything. I have mild headaches that can last for hours and sometimes I get sharp pains on the side of my head and on the front of my head but they don't last that long maybe between 15-30 seconds. I do get dizzy from time to time but rarely it gets to the point were I'm about to fall or faint. My speech sometimes get jumbled up but when I read I have a hard time concentrating and understanding what I read. It seems as if my eyes jump sometimes but my vision is good.  I don't have high/low blood pressure so what could the problem be?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have a 17 year old daughter who has been sick for two years.  She lost 20 lbs within 4 weeks we have been to every doctor, they have examined the inside and outside of every inch of her body and still come back and tell me that they don't know what it is.  She misses work and school sometimes because she doesn't feel good.  She says that her vision gets blurry, she knows that she is there but feels like she is somewhere else (hope that makes since), she fells dizzy, gets sick to her stomach and sometimes completely blacks out.  Her friends are aware that it might happen so they watch her quite well.  Her eys roll to the back of her head and she goes completly limp.  Please tell me if anyone has every experienced this and might know where I can start.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hey please feel me up on this because i have those type of problem too ... it started about two years ago and i cant just figure what is wrong with me . at first i thought it might go away but now it gotten to the point where i cant control them so please shoot me a e mail at ***@**** thanx !!!
Helpful - 0
4846266 tn?1359953000
Alright(:
Thank you!
Helpful - 0
306259 tn?1204769475
My daughter's issues started at 13. She is now 21.  Check to see if your state has a medical program for low income families.  Louisiana has Kidmed that covers 100% for children in low income families. Try to get a Tilt Table Test done first or ask the doctor to do the "poor man's test".  Take blood pressure and heart rate while lying down, then take again when standing.  It may be an autonomic nervous system disorder.  The tilt table test will help determine that.  My daughter started with temporary blindness 15-20 times a day.  Within minutes of standing, she would lose her vision because her blood pressure would plummet and her heart rate would dramatically increase upon upright movement.  When someone stands up their blood goes to their feet due to gravity but it is supposed to immediately be pushed back up to the heart and other parts of the body.  With an autonomic disorder, the blood remains in the feet for longer than it should which deprives the rest of the body (temporarily) of blood causing the pre-faint episodes.  Also a problem is standing still for a few minutes or extended walking.  Search dynakids or dinet for lots of info on this.
Helpful - 0
4846266 tn?1359953000
I have been having the EXACT same thing, except I'm only 14.
I stand up, everything goes blurry or black, and I lose feeling in my legs.
Sometimes I pass out for about 5 minutes, other times I just sit down and it goes away shortly.
My mom is unemployed, and doesn't have insurance to get me checked, but neither of us know what it could be.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Also with my last comment, my memory is already getting bad. I get confused, lose concentration easily and cannot remember things that had just happened or may have happened awhile back. My husband and my whole family is very worried.but i cannot go to a doctor unless absolutely necessary.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I also want to know if someone may be able to help me with letting me know if my symptoms are serious enough to see a doctor bc i have no health insurance. I am a tall woman, 6'1, and all my life i would sometimes get a "head rush" if i stood up too fast or got up from a low area. Well over the past few years the "head rushes" have happened more often. over this last year i basically blackout for a few seconds when standing up, feel very dizzy as i stand and after the blackout, and very rapid breathing and i have to hold something so i do not fall and i also have to bend over some to be able to catch my breath. It also happens if i just have to talk very loud. I have also had headache issues my whole life and over the past 3 years i have numbness/tingling in my fingers and toes and my toes also stay a bluish color most of the time. Im worried bc im a stay at home mom with two young children and its to the point where i cant stand very long or even play with them much. I am only 26 and never really had any health issues until having children. I was only diagnosed with exercise induced asthma at age 11 and sometimes my iron gets low but not very often. Can someone please help or point me into sometype of direction. I am also a CMA and i dont know what could be wrong with my combination of symptoms. Thank you in advance.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Neurology Community

Top Neurology Answerers
620923 tn?1452915648
Allentown, PA
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease