The Student Room Group

Blacking out

I was stood in Boots this afternoon using one of those machines to print my pictures off my digital camera when suddenly I went very hot, started to feel very sick, then everything went completely black. I managed to get a seat quickly, and didn't pass out. Now I have a permanent headache :frown:

This has never happened before, and I'm sure there's a million reasons why it can happen, but I really don't have a clue about these sort of things. Has anyone got any idea why it might have happened?

Shellx
Reply 1
Had you gone for a while without eating/drinking anything? your energy levels may have been really low if you hadn't anything to eat all day.
Reply 2
Well, I had breakfast and lunch, and some drinks. Although i must admit I had a rubbish lunch, I just grabbed anything on the go, which happened to be 2 chocolate bars :redface: Hmm, that doesn't look so good.
Reply 3
I do this sometimes! Get ringing in my ears too but as soon as i sit down and have water it goes even though I feel a bit light headed, sometimes goes into a full on migraine though!

Have you been having enough sleep, cos that sometimes causes it for me? Or bright lights and heat for me!
Reply 4
No, I've been sleeping fine actually lately, which is something that I always used to have a problem with. The shop was quite bright, Boots tend to have awful lighting! That doesn't always affect me though.

I've been having quite a few other problems lately though, and I'm wondering whether they're all tied together. My hands shake quite a lot, (I did work in a pub and serving pints were a nightmare - they'd go everywhere!) I always feel tired and weak, and people say i look quite pale and ill. I have big bags under my eyes too. And after I have breakfast, i still feel starving! I also keep getting really emotional, crying all the time, getting upset and angry, but that could be because I'm really stressed out, or because I came off the pill. In fact, all of these could be that.

I just don't know anymore. I just feel rubbish. :frown:
Reply 5
Sometimes too much sleep can do it aswell if you aren't used to it! Like I hadn't blacked out kinda thing since July but I was at work yesterday and I had had like 12 hours sleep and I had to take a break cos my head was pounding which normally means fainting of some sort will follow for me!

If you think it may be all tied together, go see your doctor, they might not be all that helpful at first, mine weren't. They might get you to keep a diary if it happens a lot just to make sure there isn't anyhting in particular causing it! But there could be millions of reasons causing it, mine was sinuses getting blocked and causing me to have funny turns so now all I do is take decongestants if I get it all again!
Reply 6
Well my sleep patterns vary, but in general I get 8 hours a night, I thought that was just about right?

I've just read in another post about people feeling ill cause they don't eat meat. I wonder if thats it, as I'm vegetarian. Although I had tests for anaemia a few years ago and they said I was on the borderline, but fine. :confused:
Reply 7
Could be low blood pressure but I would think that if it was that you'd be blacking out a lot more, particularly when you go from sitting to standing. It could also be that you'd overheated or that you were dehydrated. There are loads of possible causes, I'm sure.

This happens to me all the time (think about 10 times a day) and, although I don't know what the cause is, I'd suggest if it happens again to sit down until you can see properly. When you do stand up, do it slowly.
Reply 8
Thanks, I think I'm just gonna have to write it off this time and see if it happens again, and then I'll get worried.

Ten times a day?! Thats pretty bad :eek:

My friend has suggested going for a diabetes test to check that none of this is to do with that, so I might see if that yields any results. Not that I know anything about diabetes, but apparently those are a few of the symptoms. Think I'll try and find my local Lloyds Pharmacy...
Reply 9
ooh ooh ooh.
i had loads of those, still do.. i dunno why because i've never had it checked out, it could just be because you've got very very low sugar or because you've not had enough water/food.

over the years i've had them at really odd times. my mum was cutting my hair once, and i was stood in the bath (yes don't question why i was but i was) and then yeah, i felt really really hot, felt dead dizzy and faint and then knocked myself out.. i hit my head against the fall and somehow fell and hit my head against the tap :-/ ja very dramatic but thats what happened.

haha i had it at my very first induction day for year 7, i've had it when i've woken up in the morning and not had much the night before, but i've not had it for a while.

i really should've had it checked up but yeah, sometimes they just happen. if they carry on though do get them checked.
hannah144
I do this sometimes! Get ringing in my ears too but as soon as i sit down and have water it goes even though I feel a bit light headed, sometimes goes into a full on migraine though!

Have you been having enough sleep, cos that sometimes causes it for me? Or bright lights and heat for me!


I get exactly the same thing , not sure why though.
I used to get that when I was younger and the doctor pointed out that it was often near my period
You might want to get tested for anemia/hemoglobin levels again. These sound like a lot of the symptoms I have when my iron levels get low.
Was you feeling claustrophobic (sp), maybe it could have brang on a sort of mild panic attack?
Reply 14
I used to have these blackouts a few years ago, and the doctors said it was caused by stress, and now everytime i do get stressed i do feel faint n stuff, which isnt good coz am stressed at the mo cos of the uni stuff!! u deffo shd get it checked tho
Reply 15
Wrong link. gimme a minute lol


well i cant find it. but if i rember its a common thing in adolescents and has something to do with blood pressure dropping to due to some side effect of your bodying trying to maintaint blood pressure (some catch 22 situation) . aint no biggie (unless u wack your head)
Reply 16
Oh, well it seems quite common then! Well I did start having panic attacks at the beginning of the year when I was finishing uni (I was really stressed out), so it could be related to that. I'm not stressed as such, as I have nothing to do (still looking for a job!), but then again that is stressing me out and I've become quite moody (my poor boyfriend has to put up with the brunt of it!)

Otherwise, I didn't have a period for a couple of months and then one came on quite bad last week, so perhaps it coud be down to that, and the anaemia thing.

Or, someone mentioned my blood sugar levels, and that sounds like a possibility, although I don't know much about that. I do know that I often get cravings for sugary food though, especially after things like bread and pasta, and I have the sugar, and then I feel a bit ill and weak.

It could be anything really I guess. I've been ignoring it, but if I list all the symptoms it looks like there's something wrong though:

weakness and tiredness

shaky hands (this has been going on a while)

looking tired and pale (again, been a while)

hunger, even straight after eating

Getting really stressed and easily irritable

getting angry often

cravings for sugary food, and feeling ill after it

blacking out (once, yesterday)

feeling low

feeling bloated after certain foods - bread, pasta



Or maybe thats just normal for me. :confused:
Reply 17
It's most likely to be something like Non-Insulin-Dependant Diabetes, but I'd see your GP soon, could be a long list of things:

Pseudo Epileptic Seizures ("Epileptic Auras") - only if they're mostly similar.

Low Blood Sugar.

Anaemia.

General crapness due to body changes or periods.

Allergy.

Overheating.

Panic Attack.

Too much alcohol.

Overactive Thyroid (explains the weight loss).

Migrane.

Random virus.

Body reaction to narcotics.

Lack of sleep.

Dehydration.

Side effects of certain medicines.

Just keep a diary of what happens and record it accurately over a month, then see your GP. If its just a one-off then don't worry about it.

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