Joke's on me

You'd think that in my being a huge fan of Scrubs I'd be delighted to share a trait with the main character "J.D." (Zach Braff), right? Well, not this particular trait! In the last season or two, J.D. has fainted while he pooped (a word I dislike). No, I do not do this, but what he suffers from is called "Vasovagal Syncope". After my fainting spell yesterday, it appears I, too, have this disorder.

From Mayo Clinic online: Vasovagal syncope is triggered by a stimulus that results in an exaggerated and inappropriate response in the part of your nervous system that regulates involuntary body functions, including heart rate and blood flow (autonomic nervous system). When some sort of stimulus triggers this exaggerated response, both your heart rate and blood pressure drop, quickly reducing blood flow to your brain and leading to loss of consciousness. A person who has fainted due to vasovagal syncope recovers quickly, usually within seconds or a few minutes.

Yes, I am like those fainting goats after all. Before a faint due to vasovagal syncope, you may have warning signs and symptoms, such as:

* Pale appearance to your skin
* Feeling of warmth
* Weakness
* Lightheadedness
* Nausea
* Yawning
* Sweating
* Rapid breathing (hyperventilation)
* Blurred vision
* Field of vision "blacking out" or "whiting out"
* Difficulty hearing or ringing in your ears

The signs and symptoms above may precede either a near faint (pre-syncope) or total loss of consciousness (syncope). But in either situation, you recover or regain consciousness on your own. Adults who faint often have a history of fainting during childhood.

It pretty much states that I can feel a faint coming on with those warning signs, almost like migraines. This is relatively common, and all I must do is try to avoid the trigger (try not to fall down?) and to immediately get as close to the ground as possible, to avoid further injury from fainting. The condition usually corrects itself once the person is on the ground, which allows the blood to rush back into their head.

So yeah, I faint when I get hurt. Now I'm pretty afraid of labor/pregnancy.