The only time I have actually fainted was while reading an account of someone having a heart attack (I was in my teens at the time). He described feeling pain in the chest, at which point I started to feel a pressure in mine. I felt a strange sleepy sensation and gradually lost consciousness altogether. I suppose I wasn't unconscious for very long. When I came to, I felt weak and confused, and also, if I remember, sweaty. I was also very embarrassed. I wonder if my experience may be too unusual to be useful to other people.

I was being prepared for cataract surgery. The IV had just been inserted when I began to feel faint and feel hot around the face. My pulse dropped to between 40 and 45. My normal resting pulse is 56. (At age 82 I'm still doing aerobic exercises every other day.) The cataract surgery was scrapped and I was shipped off the the emergency room at a local hospital.

I have fainted three times that I can recall. The first time, I was in the shower, getting ready for school. The day before I hadn't gone because I had the flu, but today I was feeling better. All of a sudden, I felt dizzy. I yelled to my mom and told her I was sick. The next thing I know I'm covered in a towel, being carried by my dad to my room. My parents put my feet on a pillow and made me lie down. I felt very tired for about an hour, and later that day, I went to the doctor to see what had caused the episode. The doctors didn't know why I had fainted, so they decided to take some tests. I was beside myself when we did the blood drawing, and afterwards, I looked around, and felt dizzy. I lost my balance (I was sitting) and held on tight to my mom as she caught me. When I woke up, the nurse was completely freaked out. Apparently I had been shaking and I got very pale. The doctors were very alarmed and performed more tests, but they still couldn't figure out what had happened. The most recent episode was about a week ago. I hadn't had much of a breakfast, and I was at the allergist to figure out why I had been having hives, and to see if I was allergic to anything. They did the usual tests: blood and urine, and everything went well. After the appointment, however, my mother remembered I was late for my booster. The nurse administered the shot, and right after she took out the needle, it felt like every strand of muscle in my shoulder was being pinched very hard. I started groaning and complaining about the pain. I asked the nurse how long it would last. She started telling me but I interrupted her because I started seeing spots and her face was going black and I was feeling dizzy. I told her I was feeling woozy, and all of a sudden I was driving on a road surrounded by a forest, and I was talking to someone with an outfit very similar to one I had... and then I opened my eyes and I was facing the ceiling of the hospital room and I heard the word seizure. Apparently, my face had gone completely pale, and I sort of laid back and closed my eyes and started shaking for about three seconds, and then woke up. And I had had a dream. My ears were ringing afterwards, and I felt out of balance and tired. And we still don't know why it happens. We're just assuming it's a shock reaction to pain or loss of blood.

I fainted in the shower 4 days ago. I had gotten out of bed, went to the bathroom as usual and got into the shower. I was shampooing my hair when I felt that aura and the feeling that it was about to happen. I was so annoyed - I knew I should get out and sit down but I wanted to finish my hair and use the conditioner so I thought to myself that I just needed to hurry and rinse it out and wash and be done but next thing I knew I was sitting on the floor of the shower leaning back against the wall with water running over me. Luckily I was not hurt. I have fainted about 7 times in my life, 4 in the last 10 years. Another episode happened last year when I woke up thirsty and went downstairs to get some orange juice. I got it out of the refrigerator and started toward the counter. Next thing I knew I was on the floor with orange juice everywhere. Another time was at a crowded museum looking at a painting, and another at a winery waiting for tastings at the bar. I mentioned the juice episode to my doctor last year but he brushed it off. I have been advised by a friend who is also a Dr. to insist on tests this time, so I am calling tomorrow. I suspect dehydration which is a chronic state for me but hope it is not a heart problem or something worse.

About 5 weeks ago I was getting ready to go to a doctor appointment with a 2 year old I take care of every day. I went to warm up my car and returned to my house, opened the door and bent over slightly to pick up the child to carry him to the car. As soon as I took one step backward I knew I was going down. I felt the feeling of numbness come over me and felt my legs giving out. I went down but did not black out. I couldn't move and my speech was slurred a little. I kept telling a 5 year old who was also with me to go get my 24 year old son from his bedroom. I kept trying to tell my son to call 911 because I thought I was having a stroke. I was able to pull myself into the house and stayed on the floor until First Responders came and helped me onto a chair. They checked me out really well and said it wasn't a stroke but said I should go to the ER. My husband took me. Doctors did EKG, monitored my heart, ultra sound on my heart, X-rays, and CAT scan. Nothing wrong was found. They decided maybe high blood pressure medicine might have caused it. I felt perfectly fine till the fainting. The 2 year old was not injured in the fall.