Browse
Health Pages
Categories
This has happened to me twice in the past 6 weeks. It happened last night while my daughter & I were sitting on my bed eating pizza. I took one sip of coke (from a can). I started to swallow & immediately started seeing little spots. I heard my daughter say, "Mom, are you all right?" I shook my head no but couldn't answer. I apparently fainted. Within a few seconds, I came to hearing my daughter yell, "Mom, you're doing it again!" According to my daughter, my eyes rolled back in my head & I started jerking as if having a seizure. Hearing her yell seemed to bring me out of it.

The same thing happened about 6 weeks ago. I was sitting in my recliner & took a drink of fountain coke thru a straw. Same thing happened. Saw spots, passed out for a few seconds & woke up with both my daughters screaming, "Mom, are you ok?" They described the same thing....eyes rolling back in my head & jerking as if having a seizure.

After both instances, I felt completely fine afterwards except for a slight headache. I'm a little concerned as to what is causing this. Not quite sure what to think but it is very scary! I worry that it may happen sometime when I'm alone & no one is there to bring me out of it. It felt like in both instances, hearing my daughter yell at me made me breath again.

The only thing I have found so far on the internet is that fainting is usually caused by a drop in blood pressure & lack of oxygen to the brain.
Reply

The reason for the pain when drinking ANY cold beverages is caused by an upset stomach. Imagine pouring cold water into a deep fryer, what does it do? Now imagine that deep fryer being your stomach. Many women have experienced headaches and migraines, sinisitus, stomach aches, digestive problems, and other neurological effects that the brain permits when the nurves in your body are alerted by the drastic change in temperature in any part of your body. It is extremely unhealthy to drink cold water, especially drinking it fast. You should never drink cold water when eating or when you have a full stomach, as the temperature in your stomach may be warmer than the rest of your body. Cold liquids can also cause bloating due to the digestive system being disrupted.

It's better to drink vegetable or fruit juices, as these contain a lot of water and nutrients your body needs daily.

Reply
This happened to me yesterday at work..someone offered me a can of cold coke out their frig.
I gulped it fast and felt a shocking pain that made my whole body clinch up and clasped on the
closes thing next to me. I felt faint and as my eyes spun around the room I found something to
seat down on. took a bit to regain myself and when I got home my chest still hurts and the pain
comes and goes. I went to sleep thinking it would go away and I still feel pain in my chest  coming
and going. I getting worried on how far do I let this go on before I go to the hospital.
Reply
This has nothing to do with carbonation of sugar, it has everything to do with compression. When you take a large swallow it forces a large amount of fluid down the constricted area that is your throat pushing on a nerve next to your carotid artery. That artery can also be triggered by other severe pain such as kidney stones or uterus contractions. The nerve signals your blood vessels to expand and your blood pressure becomes nearly zero causing you to pass out. Its called syncope. I know it has nothing to do with soda because it just happened to me tonight with a glass of cold water.  
Reply
Fainted from drinking warm carbonated beer.

Took one large gulp, felt the familiar pain in my chest that I have felt many times before, but this time I found myself on the ground with a splitting headache with no recollection of putting myself there. I wasn't immediately aware of what had just happened. My immediate assumption was that I must have gone too long without sleep, fell asleep on my keyboard, slipped, and fell off my chair which would explain the bruises on my face. So I dragged myself onto my bed and sprawled out for a minute or two trying to piece it together. I remembered that I have been sleeping regularly these past few days so it couldn't have been from a lack of sleep. I then remembered what happened just before I found myself on the ground; the big gulp and the accompanying pain. This piqued my curiosity once I realized that I had just fainted. I immediately dragged myself back to my computer to find some clues as to how long I was unconscious. Three things were out of place. My garbage bin had been knocked over, my headset on the ground, and my chair was in a disarrayed state. I quickly pulled my chair back into position, took a seat, and was fortunate to find the answer was right on my screen. I had been watching a movie which was still playing. I took note of the current playback time and rolled it back to find the last scene I remembered seeing. I found the difference to be only about three minutes! I was surprised because I was expecting it to be much longer than that. I did a quick search on the internet and found 'deglutition syncope' is the medical term used. Deglutition is swallowing and syncope is fainting.

Long story short, swallowing can trigger a chain of events that leads to a sudden drop in blood pressure which means less oxygen reaches the brain. In extreme cases, a pacemaker is used. In most cases, it is intermittent and does not require medical attention because the condition itself is not life threatening. The real danger is the trauma that can occur after you faint. I wouldn't want to be driving when it happens.
Reply
THis happened to me last night. I chugged a frozen margarita at the local mexican place and passed out. I had time to get up and walk to the bathroom before hitting the deck. It was very painful, and as i was walking to the bathroom my vision began to tunnel. The last thing I remember seeing was the mens room sign on the door. I was not that drunk, my friends and I couldn't figure out why it had happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasovagal_response

here is a link to wikipedia.

Overall a very interesting phenomena.
Reply
Does vagovagal reflex hurt after, my daughter fainted last night from it she just finished eating and she complained it was hurting when she was swallowing the food. Please some one reply. I know if it gets bad all go back to hospital.
Reply
My girlfriend drinks way too much diet come for instance 16 cans in 2 days last week!!! I found her this morning Passed out after taking a sip of diet coke. I am aware of the addictive ingredient t to diet come a d wonder if it may. Ebe causing this too
Reply
It's called vasavegal distress my doughter fainted after drinking soda it can happen to any one my doughter lost her breath after drinking and fainted your body reboots if your girlfriend fills like she's going to faint lay her down and lift her legs so blood can go down to her hart and tell her to drink smaller sips of drinks.. I hope this can help
Reply
This happened to me today.  I had been dong some physical things - a little yard work - and had not eaten or drunk anything yet today. It was warm and I got a coke out, opened the can, tilted my head back and barely got any coke into my mouth at all with a small amount swallowed and I was overcome with intense intense pain in my stomach (really higher up I think).  I thought I might pass out and went to a chair where the pain started to subside and I broke out in sweat.  After a few minutes I was better.  Did drink the coke within 15 min of the occurrence with no ill affects after that...but that was a very scary episode to go through. 
Reply
just now, i took a small sip of room temperature coca cola and i had sharp pains. I can still feel the pain but it is not as intense. I was also laying down, but i did not faint... i would appreciate and insight.
Reply
Just happened to me again.  I was chugging some cold fiber drink on an empty stomach.  It was annoying because I was in the break room talking to a co-worker.  I did one swallow and the intense pain and light-headedness started. 

I don't believe this is what actually happens, but the sensation to me feels like somehow my esophagus area has somehow gotten closed up on itself.. almost like the esophagus wall got too sticky or something or dried out or something and closed up.  Then when I take a big gulp/swallow, it gets forced open.  It feels like the swallow could be ripping the lining or something.. and continues to hurt really bad for maybe 20 seconds and then eases a little.. and I'm left getting more and more light-headed until I can finally move again.  I haven't passed out, but felt like I was very close.

This time, I had a 2nd mouthful ready to go and had a co-worker standing there, so I made the 2nd swallow which intensified the pain like crazy.  After the feeling passed, I was able to swallow things normally again.. albeit more light-headed than before.

This has previously happened to me, about 4-5 years ago.. I was sitting down to lunch and took a really big bite of taco salad (the first thing I'd eaten that day).. swallowed.. severe pain and light-headed.  I was told I went super pale.. and it took about 20 minutes to recover.

It seems like in between I've had a lot of small episodes, where when I swallow it hurts intensely for a second.. but then I would normally recover pretty quickly.  But then, it seems like today's swallow was a pretty big one in comparison.

Seems like it matches Swallow Syncope pretty good.  Although it seems like there isn't a solution.. I read on a website about the lady fainting from eating a sandwich that she got a pacemaker and no longer faints.  But it hardly seems worth getting a pacemaker over if it really only happens ever 4-5 years for me.


Reply
OK, same thing here, and I'm trying to find out some answers. I drank cold milk from the carton, the about 30 seconds later, I felt really dizzy, started experiencing some vision loss, and I woke up on the floor (unfortunately I hit the chair on my way down). I'm not sure what causes this!
Reply
This happened to me today and your description closely matches my experience. I was working hard and moving quickly, grabbed a swallow of cherry dr pepper and had immediate chest area pain. Didn't make it as far as my stomach as others have mentioned. I started feeling that I was going to pass out and was breaking out in a sweat everywhere, I felt tingling all over but managed to not pass out. I decided later that the dizziness and sweats were probably due to not being able to handle the sudden and intense pain. It did pass in about 15-20 minutes and no symptoms stall later. Scary stuff. Still not sure what it was.
Reply
My dad passes out after a drink of cola sometimes. According to his doctor it isn't that rare. There's no real info on the cause but he was told it could be a sensitivity to the gas they use to make the carbonation. When you get ready to drink, people will sometimes take a breath, then a drink. It doesn't cause him stomach pain, but he has fainted. It seems to have no rhyme or reason as to when it happens, and isn't often. It is enough that he makes sure he's sitting down if he does drink cola. He is usually fine afterwards and laughs about it. The Dr. doesn't seem to think it's something that needs more testing and my mom just tries to keep him away from cola of any kind. Some say it has to do with sugar or caffieine, but he drinks diet, caffiene free, so that doesn't seem to be the trouble. I have googled this and there seems to be many people who have experienced this. Hope this helps
Reply