Alcohol, fainting, shock symptoms

[batyah]

I witnessed something strange recently and would like input if anyone here is a medical person. I'm a retired nurse, but something about this doesn't add up for me.

I was at a sit-down dinner where the host thought it was funny to keep filling up everyone's wine glass and then pressuring them to drink up. An obese, middle-aged man sitting across from me politely drank his refilled glasses of wine before the main course had been served. I really do not think he had more than 2 or 3 glasses of wine, but it's hard to say for sure. He got up to go to the bathroom and promptly fainted and took a hard fall to the floor. We did not see him fall so I can't say if he hit his head directly, but he did not complain of any head pain or chest pain. I rushed over and he was just coming to and said he did not remember falling. Classic fainting spell. I assumed it was nothing more than his drinking too much alcohol on an empty stomach. I had him sit up, and he immediately complained of faintness and his skin became dusky, cool and clammy. Had him lay down and elevated his legs. He did not lose consciousness again, just complained of feeling faint every time he tried to sit. Throughout the entire episode, he was completely lucid, clear in speech, and did not appear "drunk" at all. I had him drink water as well as nibble on something to eat, and periodically would try to sit him up, but once again, he would go cool and clammy and feel faint.

This lasted 2 hours! I began to suspect that there was more going on than just a little extra alcohol on an empty stomach. It seemed to me that he should have been able to recover more quickly and I began to wonder if he had some sort of cardiac arrhythmia or vascular problem. Heart rate was on the rapid side but otherwise even. After about 2 hours, he was able to stand without falling down, and we accompanied him back to his hotel room. He looked straight at me to thank me, with good color in his skin and lucid speech, and promptly fell down! He insisted he was fine and stood up, and we stayed with him for about a half an hour until I felt reasonably sure that he was okay. He was planning to go straight to bed. I told his companion to have him call the hotel medical service immediately if he experienced any chest pain, odd sensations, or any episode of loss of consciousness again, and urged him to see his doctor when he got home. I never heard what became of him.

Is this just a case of having too much to drink on an empty stomach, or is there more going on? Two hours seems like a long time to pass before being able to simply stand up, particularly when he did not exhibit any CNS symptoms of alcohol intoxication. I think my husband thought I was being a bit of an alarmist, but something didn't seem right about this picture. Any thoughts?

[ner22]

Exact scenario happened to me few week ego . I was out drinking ( had 4 glass of wine ) with friends and collapsed for five minutes . I ended up going to ER anyways and was told it was dehydration ....I week after that I developed Palpitions and shortness of breath ....and diziness at times ...
I have gone a series of test and I am still scheduled for some more : stress test , echo and so forth and my cardiologist keeps telling me that my heart rate is perfect ( low except my usual murmur , which I have had since bearth) and I shouldn't worry too much for now ...
I must say I am sceptical because it seems like there is more to it than what he is telling me ...I tend to have these shorthness of breath at night when sleeping and I have this cough that won't go away ....also do get numbness on my left leg at times
I think drinking might have triggled something that was already there for both this individual and myself ..it is just a matter of figuring out what that something is ..........I wish him the best and hope he gets the care he needs

[Unregistered]

I found this post rather interesting as it is actually a common symptom for me to faint after alcohol, even after a good meal. I am Chinese of origin and I used to put it down to lack of alcohol dehydrogenase. I used to get full-blown rash all over my body for a couple of days and they pass quickly. In more recent years, I no longer get rashes. Nowadays, depending on how fast I finish the drink (which can be as little as half a glass of wine), I would start feeling dizzy when I try to stand up and when I lie down for a while, my body would shut down completely and I'd "fall asleep" for 5-10min and wake up completely sober. The effects of the alcohol would also be gone by then.

Last night something else happened. I felt faint as usual but the next thing I knew my body went completely rigid and I could feel my body muscles tighten and my fingers clenched so tight, I had no control of my body whatsoever. I also started having difficulty breathing. This went on for about 10-15min (I think). My husband said that my hands were completely ice-cold. The scary part was the fact that I was consciously well aware that something was happening but I didn't know what. I've always known that I probably can't really drink but so far, I don't read much of these symptoms as commonly known for alcohol and yet it's happening to people.

[Unregistered12]

Just thought I would mention that this also happened to me only with wine not any other alcohols. I found out that I can not drink wine or wine coolers because of the sulfites in these particular types of alcohol. I knew I was allergic to sulfa drugs but now know that I am also allergic to sulfites which by the way also are ingredients in foods listed differently such as bisulfate and a lot of other different names. The sulfites and the alcohol can also trigger reactions if you are on prescription medicines. Research sulfites and learn about the other names it is listed under.

[Unregistered 2]

Hello. Hopefully I can get the answers I'm looking for. After a night of drinking, the next day i would feel faint, sick and just not right. I thought it was just a coincidence but it has happened everytime, the next day or 2 after a night of having a few drinks. Even just from sipping about 2 shots of a rum runner. Since then, I have refrained from any alcohol use and still experience feeling faint (but don't actually faint).
It all started when i fainted from watching a blood test. Normally I am pretty good with this. I watch discovery health channel all the time and nothing bothers me. Then i realized that I had had a drink the night before, thinking that had something to do with it. Thats when this feeling faint all started. That was the first and only time i ever fainted in my life. Since then it has been happening (feeling faint) the day after having a few drinks and now at random times. I'm starting to think that i really have a problem.If anyone has had any experiences like this or has any information on what they think it is please reply. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
Also, is it common to vomit immediately after fainting?

[hogndog]

What did your doctor say?

[Unregistered 2]

I didn't go to a doctor

[hogndog]

Can you afford one, is transportation a problem, can you get to one?

hogndog

[Unregistered 2]

Yes, I can. I just haven't gotten to one yet. I have been doing better. I haven't felt like I was going to faint in a while, even after having a few drinks. I have a feeling that it was all in my head from the one time when I did actually faint.

[rustygringo]

I witnessed something strange recently and would like input if anyone here is a medical person. I'm a retired nurse, but something about this doesn't add up for me.

I was at a sit-down dinner where the host thought it was funny to keep filling up everyone's wine glass and then pressuring them to drink up. An obese, middle-aged man sitting across from me politely drank his refilled glasses of wine before the main course had been served. I really do not think he had more than 2 or 3 glasses of wine, but it's hard to say for sure. He got up to go to the bathroom and promptly fainted and took a hard fall to the floor. We did not see him fall so I can't say if he hit his head directly, but he did not complain of any head pain or chest pain. I rushed over and he was just coming to and said he did not remember falling. Classic fainting spell. I assumed it was nothing more than his drinking too much alcohol on an empty stomach. I had him sit up, and he immediately complained of faintness and his skin became dusky, cool and clammy. Had him lay down and elevated his legs. He did not lose consciousness again, just complained of feeling faint every time he tried to sit. Throughout the entire episode, he was completely lucid, clear in speech, and did not appear "drunk" at all. I had him drink water as well as nibble on something to eat, and periodically would try to sit him up, but once again, he would go cool and clammy and feel faint.

This lasted 2 hours! I began to suspect that there was more going on than just a little extra alcohol on an empty stomach. It seemed to me that he should have been able to recover more quickly and I began to wonder if he had some sort of cardiac arrhythmia or vascular problem. Heart rate was on the rapid side but otherwise even. After about 2 hours, he was able to stand without falling down, and we accompanied him back to his hotel room. He looked straight at me to thank me, with good color in his skin and lucid speech, and promptly fell down! He insisted he was fine and stood up, and we stayed with him for about a half an hour until I felt reasonably sure that he was okay. He was planning to go straight to bed. I told his companion to have him call the hotel medical service immediately if he experienced any chest pain, odd sensations, or any episode of loss of consciousness again, and urged him to see his doctor when he got home. I never heard what became of him.

Is this just a case of having too much to drink on an empty stomach, or is there more going on? Two hours seems like a long time to pass before being able to simply stand up, particularly when he did not exhibit any CNS symptoms of alcohol intoxication. I think my husband thought I was being a bit of an alarmist, but something didn't seem right about this picture. Any thoughts?

I can't shed any light on what was going on with the gentleman, but certainly have experienced something similar. First was last Christmas when I had guests over and had 3 glasses of wine during the afternoon. As I was cleaning up I suddenly felt weak, dizzy and broke out in a sweat. I grabbed hold of the kitchen sink and held on for dear life. Fortunately the episode passed and I put it down to too much wine and the stresses of company.

A couple of days ago I had company in and again had 3 or 4 glasses of wine between 3 in the afternoon and 7 that evening. I got out of bed about 11:00 and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. I had a recurrence of the same symptoms, but this time I did faint. I came to on the kitchen floor with a large goose egg on the back of my head where I had fallen. I tried to get up but again experienced extreme vertigo, so I finally slowly crawled back to my bedroom and into bed. When I looked at the clock it was after midnight so I must have been out for quite awhile. I tried a couple of times to get up, but had the same experience so just stayed in bed until I felt sure the symptoms had passed.

I am sure this must be alcohol related, but I have always drank wine and only had the two episodes, so I don't know for sure.