I finally read the paperwork that St. Francis gave us Saturday night (actually early Sun. am) about Corby's fainting spell. He's done this about 4 or 5 times over the last 20 years, so I really want to learn more about it.
It is called Vasovagal syncope. It can occur in healthy people when a "shock" is experienced - such as the sight of blood, distressing news, or extreme pain. Fainting is caused by not enough blood flow to the brain. The episodes in the past seemed to be caused by pain.
We know this episode wasn't caused by low blood sugar because EMS tested it. It can also be caused by medication. Since he has lost almost 60 pounds in the last year, I am wondering if his blood pressure dose needs to be lowered, or discontinued completely. He also takes high cholesterol medication and his last cholesterol test was great.
The only thing they really found was that his potassium level was a bit low at 3.0. Normal is 3.5. They gave him a prescription for potassium pills for 4 days.
Needless to say, I made him an appointment to see our regular doctor tomorrow. We'll see what he says about lowering the dosages on his meds, or taking him off them for a month or so and then re-testing him.
It is called Vasovagal syncope. It can occur in healthy people when a "shock" is experienced - such as the sight of blood, distressing news, or extreme pain. Fainting is caused by not enough blood flow to the brain. The episodes in the past seemed to be caused by pain.
We know this episode wasn't caused by low blood sugar because EMS tested it. It can also be caused by medication. Since he has lost almost 60 pounds in the last year, I am wondering if his blood pressure dose needs to be lowered, or discontinued completely. He also takes high cholesterol medication and his last cholesterol test was great.
The only thing they really found was that his potassium level was a bit low at 3.0. Normal is 3.5. They gave him a prescription for potassium pills for 4 days.
Needless to say, I made him an appointment to see our regular doctor tomorrow. We'll see what he says about lowering the dosages on his meds, or taking him off them for a month or so and then re-testing him.
Comments