unresponsive, poor breathing, yet normal vital signs

[hopsie87]

There is something that happened in the hospital that they can't explain. I don't know I think maybe about 9pm. The last thing I had remembered was going to the bathroom, then the next thing I knew I was in the icu. I asked what had happened and they told me I was completely unresponsive for 45 minutes, my breathing was very shallow to the point where they thought I wasn't breathing at all.  They said my breath sounds were 97% diminished.  They used an Ambu bag to help me breath, but ended up not having to intubate once I came out of it. The part they can't figure is why all of my vital signs were normal, they have no idea what happened during that time.  Has anyone ever heard or seen anything like that happen? They said they have ruled out a heart problem and seizures after doing 2 EEGs. But they are almost 100% sure it's all neurological.  I'm a 23 yr old female and I am going to my neurologist very soon, but I still would like opinions from others.  I was in the hospital for a severe stomach flu and sinus infection that made me very weak.  I was in the ICU for 2 days after this happened.  They did a head ct scan, it had shown a small area with what they called " build up " which they are not sure if it's a mass or not until they are able to do an MRI.  They also said it could've been a tiny brain hemmorhage that I didn't know about.  They can't do an MRI until the neurostimulator for my bladder is removed, which will be on March 4th.  Thank you for listening and all opinions are appreciated.

[zerokiryu504]

im not sure if you still read this post anymore but, almost a week ago my boyfriend had an Appendectomy and he had the same breathing episodes twice at the hospital. they had no idea what was causing it. the exact same thing happened tonight but he was home.. luckily i was on the phone with him when the episode started. any information you have would be greatly appreciated. if you remember what your neurologist said that would be amazing.. i really hope you get back to me. please and thank you.

[zerokiryu504]

im not sure if you still read this post anymore but, almost a week ago my boyfriend had an Appendectomy and he had the same breathing episodes twice at the hospital. they had no idea what was causing it. the exact same thing happened tonight but he was home.. luckily i was on the phone with him when the episode started. any information you have would be greatly appreciated. if you remember what your neurologist said that would be amazing.. i really hope you get back to me. please and thank you.

[hopsie87]

Thaank you. That makes a lot of sense and gives me something to bring up when speaking with my neurologist.  Would either of those also explain the breathing trouble?

[Dr Sharma]

Hi there. These symptoms are suggestive of a transient ischemic attack. This is an episode when a person has stroke like symptoms for up to 2 hours, and signals that a true stroke may happen in future if adequate steps are not taken.  This is caused by temporary disturbance of blood supply to an area of the brain which results in brief decrease in brain function called neurological deficit. This can be secondary to a blood clot in an artery of the brain, emboli from heart, irregular heart rhythm etc. this will not be seen on brain CT/ MRI. The other possibility is of vasovagal attack caused due to vagal overdrive, triggered by skin suturing, urination and defecation  etc. this again would not be detected in the usual tests for neurological and cardiac function. Take care.