My father-in-law "suffered from" defecation vasovagal syncope for more than 30 years, beginning around age 50. His trigger was a lower abdominal cramp, associated with urgency to defecate. If he were home, near the bathroom, he might get to the toilet, only to faint when another cramp, or wave of cramps would occur. He may or may not have have had an actual bowel movement. He would often "awake" and find himself slumped over; but on occasions, as he progressed in age, he would hit his head against the lavatory counter and fall off the toilet, onto the floor. He had bumps and bruises, but no other injuries. Paramedics were called to the home, but all vital signs had returned to normal levels. His doctors were informed, but they never found any other cause(s). If he were shopping or visiting the library and the trigger occurred, he would faint, and the store owners or librarian would call the paramedics, with the same result. Since we lived in a small town and were quite well known by the store owners and city employees, they began to call me directly, informing me he had had another "episode." When he was in his 70s, I often left work to go get him, clean him IF he had defecated in his pants, return him to his house, and then I would return to work. Even after he was 83 and had entered a nursing home, he would have the cramps and faint. The nursing home staff were obliged to call for an ambulance, and at this age, he certainly soiled his pajamas or pants each occasion.
Now to my husband, who had NEVER had any sign of vasovagal syncope. When he was 64 years old, he was driving our 14 month old grandson to the beach, and he had a lower abdominal cramp. He sensed an urgency for a bowel movement and was turning right at a stop sign. Another cramp occurred, my husband fainted while driving, crossing over into oncoming drivers' lane (no traffic! but he did clip the side mirror of a parked car), running off the beach road, hitting a stand of palm trees, flipping the small car over into a shallow ditch. Police and fire rescue were called immediately. THANK GOD our grandson was perfect, not even a red mark on him. He was giggling, seemed to be entertained by what we now call "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." On the other hand, my husband was hanging upside down by the locked seat belt, had to be cut out of the car, finally exiting through the front windshield. Although he didn't realize it then, he suffered a broken sternum from the force of the seat belt. He was transported to the hospital and remained there 3 days while doctors / specialists performed all kinds of tests. He was referred to his gastroenterologist, who had performed colonoscopies on my husband on two prior occasions. This visit, the specialist also performed an endoscopy. Within 10 days, my husband was called in for consultation, told he had a stomach ulcer, and B-cell lymphoma was found in the ulcer. He went for PET scan and then to an oncologist, who eventually consulted with doctors at M D Anderson clinic in Texas. My husband had approximately five months of chemotherapy and then 20 radiation treatments, which took an additional two months. He has had regular check-ups and repeat endoscopy / colonoscopy for two years, and has been told there are no cancer cells present. BUT, yesterday, August 10, 2016, my husband was home (and we had our now 3-1/2 year old grandson with us), and lower abdominal cramps occurred He went straight to bed, lay there for at least 45 minutes, and finally, had a bowel movement. He told me he is fine, but I am so thankful that his regularly scheduled appointment with the oncologist is August 23, less than two weeks away.
Hi,
That's great! You can try health drinks or fruit shakes or make your own drink also if you want to experiment. Take care and hope to hear from you soon about your progress. Stay healthy always.
Thank you both. I have only had 2 diet cokes in the past 2 days :) I have at least started a reduction there! Hope this helps, if not, at least I'll be a little healthier.
Hi Barbara,
How are you? This could indeed be due to reflex syncope and needs further evaluation by your doctor. A referral to a gastroenterologist, may also be warranted. Always hydrate yourself by drinking plenty of fluids when you have diarrhea. There are not enough studies showing the full effects of a diet coke. It would help if you lessen or drink in moderation. Heiferfly has listed the other forums here in Medhelp that may help. Take care and do keep us posted.
There are several things that need to be considered and ruled in/out here. Defecation syncope as you are experiencing may be a case of simple reflex syncope (see here:)
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9312
as occurs in people who faint from the sight of blood, etc. However, there can be more serious causes at play here, such as a serious gastrointestinal disease or a cardiovascular disorder (see here:)
http://archinte.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/146/12/2377
In order to rule out more serious medical problems, you will likely need a referral to both a GI specialist to evaluate the cause for your diarrhea and a referral to an EP-cardiologist (electrophysiologist) to evaluate the cause of your repeated syncopal episodes. There are forums here on medhelp for gastrointestinal disorders, for dysautonomia (which includes neurocardiogenic--i.e. reflex--syncope, as well as some other causes of syncope and has extensive information about the testing to evaluate the cause of syncope), and for heart rhythm disorders which may apply if that turns out to be the cause of your syncope upon the results of further testing.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Gastroenterology/show/68http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Dysautonomia-Autonomic-Dysfunction/show/266http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Heart-Rhythm/show/92The Expert (Ask A Doctor) GI Forum is here:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Gastroenterology/show/107And the Expert Neurology Forum (which is staffed by docs at the Cleveland Clinic, which does have a full autonomic clinic--very few and far between in the US so this is exceptional--for diagnosing syncope/dysautonomia) is here:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Neurology/show/135Because there is a small but real possibility that there may be something very serious causing your defecation syncope, you need to have this evaluated as soon as possible. If your current physician is not taking this seriously, I would strongly encourage you to get a second opinion (and third, if necessary) and find a doctor that will refer you to the appropriate specialists. I'm one of the community leaders in the dysautonomia forum, and we'd be happy to discuss with you there any questions you may have about the type of testing needed to diagnose the cause of syncope; you will likely need to consult with people with expertise in the GI forum to get information on the GI testing you will need (though some of us in the dysauto forum have been through extensive GI testing as well).
Best,
-heiferly.