Micturition Syncope...

I had a somewhat distressing experience last night that naturally I feel I should share with the world. A little background first.

I'm on a diet. It's a special diet that I'll go into once I've finished it with exclusive before and after pictures. Now on this diet you have to drink AT LEAST 4 litres of water a day.

This is great on one hand because it makes you feel fantastic. However - what goes in - must come out.

Now for me - this mostly comes out at night. I feel somewhat like an 80 year old who has to visit the toilet at least 4 times a night. This is where the distressing experience comes in.

I woke up at approximately 3:30am with a cramp in my right foot big toe. Basically it felt like my body wanted to snap the big toe right off the foot. Very painful. When I get a cramp I usually try and stand up and walk around a bit to loosen up the muscle. So I slid out of bed and started to stretch the foot. All the time with a face like constipated camel.

It was about this time that my body told me it'd like to get rid of some of the excess fluid swishing around in my bladder. So off I hopped to the bathroom. Camel face sustained.

As I'm sure you all know, men stand to pee.

So there I am - half asleep, a toe that is committing suicide, swaying from my semi-comatose state, and peeing for England. The stream stops and suddenly I feel VERY VERY weird. I grab on to the wall. That's the last thing I remember.

I wake up thinking, “the bed's really uncomfortable”. “Why is the bed really uncomfortable?”

Hmmmm.... the bed is really flat - and erm... the bed is carpeted???

Oh shit - my head!

I don't know how long I was out - but I had fainted and bashed my head on the doorframe of the bathroom. I also grazed a knee on the carpet and bruised my arm.

I slowly clambered back into the bed.

What the fuck had just happened?? I began to get very cold - and started to sweat. I'm dieing - was me natural conclusion.

After a few minutes I decided to get up, get some water, try not to throw up, and take an aspirin just in case I was having a stroke or was about to have a heart attack. (erm... both are pretty unlikely given my age - weight - and current fitness level but what can I say... you do these things when you're as psycho as me).

I've never fainted before and to be honest, the whole situation freaked me out. I live alone and suddenly thoughts of - what if I had had a heart attack! crossed my mind. It made me feel pretty scared - and alone. (yes - I want a hug)

So what exactly had happened? I went to the doctors to find out.

The medical definition is Micturition Syncope... in crude English - Piss Fainting :P

Here's a definition:

Micturition syncope: The temporary loss of consciousness upon urinating. (Syncope is the temporary loss of consciousness or, in plain English, fainting). The situations that trigger this reaction are diverse and include having blood drawn, straining while urinating (micturition syncope) or defecating or coughing or swallowing). The reaction also can be due to the emotional stress of fear or pain.

Under these conditions, people often become pale and feel nauseated, sweaty, and weak just before they lose consciousness.

Situational syncope is caused by a reflex of the involuntary nervous system called the vasovagal reaction. The vasovagal reaction leads the heart to slow down (bradycardia) and, at the same time, it leads the nerves to the blood vessels in the legs to permit those vessels to dilate (widen).
The result is that the heart puts out less blood, the blood pressure drops, and what blood is circulating tends to go into the legs rather than to the head. The brain is then deprived of oxygen, and the fainting episode occurs.

The vasovagal reaction is also called a vasovagal attack. And situational syncope is also called vasovagal syncope, vasodepressor syncope, and Gower syndrome after Sir William Richard Gower (1845-1915), a famous English neurologist whose name is also associated with a sign, a solution, another syndrome, and a tract in the central nervous system.

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So basically - because I was in great agony from the cramp while peeing - I passed out. This mainly happens in men because they pee standing up I should point out.

Now, I just feel like someone hit me with a golf club around the head. I'm planning on resting up for a few days.

There you have it. Another medical mystery exposed on Medullacorp. Next time something weird happens to my body - I'll be sure to let you know.

Nic.

posted by Nic @ 7:14 PM 6 comments