Black out, faint, and woozy

[yerfren7]

When I exercise, I feel very light headed. I am not working out very hard, sometimes only a half hour of light exercise, walking on the treadmill and maybe some "machines". One day when I got of the leg press machine, I blacked out. Fortunately I did not fall and my sight came back within a few seconds but I felt off balance and woozy. The other day, I swam, not pushing it, and I felt woozy and off balance afterwards. I drove home and my breathing was not normal, it was kind of more labored and when I got out of the car and walked towards the door, I felt like I was going to pass out so I leaned on the trunk of my car till the feeling passed. In a few seconds, I felt like I could go on in. I feel like I have had several drinks of alcohol and I have NOT, only been exercising very moderately.

I went to the Dr. who checked blood pressure (I am in the lower end of "normal"), chest x-ray, and cardiogram. All were clear/normal. But something must be amiss or I wouldn't be experiencing these problems.

I am not very motivated to go exercise anymore (and I NEED to exercise) because I'm afraid one of these times I WILL pass out and that would be very embarrassing!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the forum!
If you suffer from episodes of blackouts then those could be due to postural hypotension (blood pressure falling with change of position), internal ear problems, anemia, GERD, hypoglycemia or low sugar and some endocrine problems. This can also happen due to compression of the spinal nerves in the cervical spine region due to overuse of computers, work involving straining of neck, canal stenosis, bone disease, spondylosis, poor posture etc. Seizures and transient ischemic attacks should be ruled out. In women polycystic disease of the ovary causing insulin resistance and hence hypoglycemia is common. Get your blood pressure checked in different positions—sitting, lying down, standing. The blood pressure falls when you stand and can cause all the symptoms that you are suffering. Dehydration, certain medications, heart problems, untreated diabetes, and nervous system disorders can all cause this. Blood pressure monitoring, tilt table test, EKG, heart echo, ambulatory blood pressure recording are all required for a confirmed diagnosis of postural hypotension. . Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Addisons’ disease, VitB12 and folate deficiency can all cause hypotension.So one would need to rule these out too.
I think you should discuss these possibilities with your doctor. It is difficult to comment beyond this without examining. A comprehensive investigation is required keeping all the points in mind. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[MizzMcQueen]

i'm only 17 and i kind of have the same problem. i have had 2 episodes where i blacked out and couldn't see anything at all. i felt really dizzy and light headed. i couldn't see anything at all. the 1st time it happened i tried holding myself up against a wall but i was too dizzy and i just fell. the second time my friend caught me. a few months after that i started feeling light headed and dizzy again. then my ears got numb and i completely passed out for about 2 minutes. my friend was there and woke me up, she helped me walk out and asked me if i was ok but i didn't remember anything at all that  happened. i wasn't doing anything illegal, just standing at mcdonalds and i got light headed and collasped. i often feel like its going to happen again but usually i'lll sitt down and the feeling will eventually pass. i thought i wasnt eating enough but a few times it happened about a hour after i ate. i went to a doctor and they ran some tests and couldn't find anything wrong. they drew blood, took a urine sample, had me on the ekg and they still said everything looked normal. but i've still been having this problem. any idea's on what may be wrong?

[walke30]

Other things that may be a result of this condition if your blood work is going well is: Lack of sleep, stress, empty stomach, dehydration these are other contributors.

[yerfren7]

Thanks for your comments. The EKG (I think that's what I had) was normal but I have not done a treadmill test yet. I will see if my dr will prescribe that for me. I have had several fasting blood sugar tests and they have all been normal. Interesting about the sweating because I have never been much of a "sweater." I could be in a sauna and only sweat under my breasts. What is weird is that sometimes I can exercise more fully and experience no symptoms. There are more times that I am fatigued and woosy but sometimes I don't have those symptoms.

So I think I will try and pursue the treadmill test. At least if I pass out, someone will be there!

I will go back to exercising and try taking it even easier than I already do.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
If you easily getting tired while exercising, there are a few possibilities you should look at. First is a heart issue that can be taken care of by an EKG, treadmill test and echo. The next is anemia. The third cause could be low blood sugar or even a case of high sugar as in diabetes. Another cause is poor sweating as in Sjogren’s syndrome.
Ofcourse if the exercise level is not systematically increased, one would get tired soon and it may cause dizziness and fainting as the blood vessels do not dilate as fast as required to increase the blood flow. Hence it is always wise to start exercising slowly and not push your limits to start with.
Hope this helps. Do discuss this with your doctor and get yourself examined. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!