Fainting before an upset tummy

[mummy-to-mini-bees]

Hi people, I have not yet been officially diagnosed with celiac disease, biopsy awaited, but all blood results are pointing in that direction. I have been avoiding gluten foods for a week now.

For nearly 20 years I was led to believe I had IBS and now I am worried that this misdiagnosis has damaged my organs. 

The reason I went for tests was down to fainting when a diarrhoea episode was coming on. Today it happened again straight after eating a lemon drizzle naked bar (gluten free).

Does anyone else suffer with fainting? I have all horrible thoughts going through my head that it may be more serious than celiac disease. 

[kareng]

11 minutes ago, mummy-to-mini-bees said:

Hi people, I have not yet been officially diagnosed with celiac disease, biopsy awaited, but all blood results are pointing in that direction. I have been avoiding gluten foods for a week now.

For nearly 20 years I was led to believe I had IBS and now I am worried that this misdiagnosis has damaged my organs. 

The reason I went for tests was down to fainting when a diarrhoea episode was coming on. Today it happened again straight after eating a lemon drizzle naked bar (gluten free).

Does anyone else suffer with fainting? I have all horrible thoughts going through my head that it may be more serious than celiac disease. 

Look up vasovagal reaction or response.  Its not too serious,  but you will want to try to manage it.  Sometimes just recognizing that it will happen and sitting down, taking a deep breath, etc can help.  Getting scared can make it worse.  

[mummy-to-mini-bees]

Thank you, this is something I had read about so will mention it to my doctor.

[Wheatwacked]

I had an episode last night. I was feeling unusually good, both physically and mentally and watching a movie. I am anorexic so don't usually have an appetite, but there I was feeling good and hungry. So I ate. I had a coke, some prosciutto, cooked salami, and provolone. Not the best choice but I have been eating this occasionally and enjoying it with no reaction, for a while. In fact I had it for lunch earlier. About 1/2 hour later, I start losing consciousness, like low blood pressure, tuck my head down and take deep breathes, eventually it eases and blood pressure feels like it is rising, start sweating profusely and shaky, then throw up. The whole episode ends a while later, when I have a bowel movement and its like it never happened.  I do believe it is a vasovagal reaction, unrelated to any particular food because it has happened other times, sometimes without even having eaten.

[mummy-to-mini-bees]

That' reassuring to know that it isn't just me having these episodes.  This time was slightly different as I was at work, sat in my office, and suddenly my head felt pressurised so I looked in the mirror and I was all res and my eyes bloodshot then I came over feeling sick  and faint so I quickly laid on the bathroom floor. This went on for about an hour, with diarrhoea inbetween. I knew the signs this time so avoided fainting. I felt awful all day and washed out for the next day too. I am wondering if it is stress related as we are buying and selling our house at the moment and things have been dragging. I thought I was keeping calm when friends have asked why I am not stressed through it all. 

Would be interested to hear from any other fainters.

[cyclinglady]

I am the Queen of fainting.  I have been experiencing it since I was a little kid.  I have had a few evaluations, but nothing has come up.  

Buying a house?  That is SO stressful on top of a new celiac disease diagnosis.  Things will improve!  I promise.  ?

[Posterboy]

Mummy,

I don't have your symptom's but it sounds like you have POTS.  But I had a friend who had it and researched it for them.

Open Original Shared Link

It is most common when you get up too quickly but can be associated with sitting/lying down to.

quoting webmd

"Postural orthostatic Open Original Shared Link syndrome (POTS) is a disorder that has orthostatic intolerance or (OI) as its most common symptom. When you have POTS, most of your Open Original Shared Link stays in the lower part of your body when you stand up. This makes your Open Original Shared Link beat faster to try to get blood to your Open Original Shared Link. Your Open Original Shared Link can go up by 30 beats or more a minute after you stand up. As that happens, your Open Original Shared Link is likely to drop.

Scientists aren’t sure exactly why, but women between 15 and 50 years old are more likely to have POTS."

It is most commonly associated with Sjogrens disease and is often considered any early sign of SD.

Here is a list of other diseases' POTS can occur in.

Open Original Shared Link

Celiac is on that list.

Underlying Vitamin deficiencies can also contribute to some of the symptom's one experiences with POTS.

The Dysautonomia International page lists the below vitamins as possibly playing a role in POTS.

quoting

Vitamin Deficiencies
"Vitamins are organic substances made by plants or animals that are required for human health. Many of these vitamins, including Vitamins E, B1 (thiamine), B3 (niacin) B6 (pyridoxine), and B12 are essential to healthy nerve function. Thiamine deficiency, in particular, is common among people with alcoholism. People who have digestive problems, which are very common in people who have autonomic disorders, are often deficient in B12. Vitamin deficiencies can usually be corrected with a proper diet, and if that is not sufficient, supplementation with oral, intravenous, or injectable vitamins may be necessary."

I would suggest a good B-complex might help to address some of the Vitamin deficiencies.

I hope this is helpful.

****this is not medical advice just my own personal research for a friend.

2 Tim 2:7 “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” this included.

Posterboy by the grace of God,

[Wheatwacked]

In my case, not POTS. I did have years ago, it was called Postural Orthopedic Hypotension and I probably was vitamin deficient then. Situp or standup brain blood pressure drops and you faint. I do not know why it stopped. The closest thing I can compare this to is when I was put under with nitrous oxide by the dentist. Going down down down. And it happened while perfectly relaxed, sitting still in a chair. Another time, standing still at the kitchen counter.

I think it may be that the combination of very little dietary fiber recently, while combined with the nitrates and maybe the coke without anything else to move it along,  I basically anaesthetized myself. The cheese just sped up the nausea. Once I throw up and poop, which can be minutes or hours later, all is back to normal. Based on my eating patterns and vague memories of previous occurrences, this actually makes sense. It was not low blood sugar because I drank the coke first. 

I hope this helps someone because it has certainly helped me.