laughing hard causes me to black out

[cbiggs]

Recently I found that laughing hard in just a matter of seconds everything starts going black and I have to quit laughing or I KNOW that I would hit the floor. I am 100 lbs overweight. Of course I blame everything on THAT.  I was glad to see that I'm not the only one with this occurrence...it's pretty wierd.

[TLC8]

I am currently 32 years old, about 70lbs. overwieght,and a diabetic. I have recently begun to experience the issue of laughing to hard and becoming dizzy and for the first time yesterday fainted when I laughed to hard. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

[caregiver222]

Whoa, Nelly.The most common cause is a sensitive vagus nerve, which is not all that serious. It if often genetic. The blacking out is due to a vasovagal episode. The late Jackie Kennedy had this problem. Did you hear about the blond who called the airline to ask howlong ittook toflyfrom New York to Los Angeles?The operator said"Just aminute..." The blond said"thankyou!" and hung up.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Black outs on laughing hard is due to hypoxia of the brain i.e when the brain does not get proper supply of oxygen.It may be due to cardiovascular causes, neurological causes or vasovagal attacks.
Patients with cerebrovascular disease have partial or complete blockages in the arteries that supply the brain with blood.  These blockages can cause a temporary loss of blood flow (called transient ischemic attack, or TIA for short), or permanent loss of blood flow (called stroke; also called cerebrovascular accident).This can lead to impaired blood flow through these arteries and so dizziness particularly on exaertional activity like laughing.
Moreover, drugs like antihypertensivs, nitroglycerin and diuretics can lead to dizziness as their side effects.Other conditions are diabetes and vertebrobasilar insufficiency.

I advise you to consult a cardiologist and neurologist and discuss these possibilities with them.
Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted in case of any additional queries and how you are doing.

[kavil]

I too have this for years. This is due too the artery to the brain gets squeezed by neck muscles while laughing hard. This is the cause for blackout.

[zitisue]

Wow and here I thought I was the only one who had this problem. I dont black out but I get very weak and fuzzy. I too am overweight about 65lbs I think this is a blood pressure issue.