Severe Stomach Pain Then Fainting After Drinking Cold Soda

This happened to me today. I felt silly to tell anyone what happened, but it was very scary. I took a few fast sips of a very cold Dr. Pepper. Immediately I had the worst pain I have ever felt shoot from my throat to my stomach. I got very cold, and was sweating very bad. I felt nauseated and thought I was going to pass out. I have had a pain in my chest all day. It hurts to breath deep, burp, or hiccup. It worries me, and not sure what I should do.

Wow. Just happened to me at work today; I took a couple of pretty large quick gulps of diet soda (not cold) and felt this burning bubbling sensation in my chest. Have you ever seen that experiment where they drop Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke? That's what it felt like was happening in my esophagus. I grabbed the table I was standing in front of and bent over a bit to try to let the pain pass, but as I stood there I saw the blackness creeping in at the corners of my visual field. I closed my eyes, and next thing you know I'm hearing voices, like when you first wake up in the morning. My first thought was, "What are these people doing in my bedroom?" I opened my eyes and I was on the floor with my co-workers kneeling next to me, looking very concerned. I was able to sit up immediately; they told me I'd been out only about 5 seconds or so. At first I chalked it up to stress and not eating well - I've had a rough couple of months after the October storm we had here on the east coast. But on further thought I knew it had to have something to do with the drinking of the soda.

So I came home and did a search and found my way here. The links have been very helpful. It certainly does sound like some sort of vasovagal response, although what caused the soda to seemingly expand like that is the real mystery. I've had all kinds of drinks, both carbonated and not, warm and cold, sipped and chugged, and I don't recall this kind of thing ever happening. Maybe a combination of certain things all coming together at once?

There is some comfort in knowing I'm not alone, but it's still a little scary. I'm 46 and have never had an episode where I lost consciousness.

The only after-effect has been from the bump I got on the back of my head from when I went down (just a bump, no concussion thankfully), but I think I will be making an appointment to see a physician to make sure nothing else is amiss. Right now I feel fine. Lots of luck to the rest of you.

 

I woke up very thirsty after not having eaten dinner last night. I went to the kitchen and quite quickly had a cold glass of water.

I remember feeling very warm sensation from my toes to the top of my head after which I fainted

After waking up I slowly walked to the bathroom where I fainted again

Luckily I only have a few bruises and a sore neck

Just five minutes ago I drank a gulp of coca cola and it felt like my insides were going to explode.. is this basically the same thing that you guys are experiencing or is this something else? It really hurt and I'd like it to not happen again!

I just had the exact same experience. I took a drink out of a can and seen spots. I passed out for under a minute my wife said. She also yelled my name and said when she shook my head, my eyes rolled back into my head as my head was shaking. I went to the ER and had an ekg, ultrasound, chest x-ray, and a ct scan. Everything came back normal. I now am going to get an eeg scan. This will tell them if I had a seizure. What did you do?

it just happened to me. it has happened to me multiple times in the past all different variations of severity. i lost convoousness after drinking some cordial too quickly for a few seconds. my vision blurred my chest clenched and was incredibly painful. i feel completely fine now. in the past i have been unconcious for half a minute or more. there was even one instance where i fell forward and started having s fit. my sister saw me spasaming and rushed over. i felt like she woke me up from a deep sleep and was not happy but after a second or two itecalled the pain in my chest that lead to this. i went to the doctors and they found nothing wrong with me didnt give me any explanations. i think it has happened to me about 8-10 times anx about 60% of the time i have passed out. and twice i have physically had a fit from it. the liquids i've consumed when it has happened are wster, cordial and juice. its a scary painful feeling. i wasnt even drinking very quickly. but i should slow down in the future. i dont want to fall and hit my head while in that state. glad im not the only one who has experienced this

It's the first time something like this has happened to me. I woke up this morning first thing I did  was crack open a cheap 7-up knockoff. When I took that first step I immediately felt some incredible burning pain just below my sternum, about the actual stomach area (above the belly). I opened my eyes wide and was shocked and stunned for a second by the sheer pain, it felt like my stomach was ripping open, even the cold sensation felt like blood for an instant. After that second the only thing I could think of was to let out a burp, since my stomach felt like it was ripping I figured that it would help. It did, I let out a measly tiny burp and could not believe that small amount of gas could cause that much pain.

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm one of those 'tough guys' who refuses to see a doctor, walks it off, etc. I've got a pretty good pain tolerance, hell, one time after I split my kneecap during a fall while hiking, (Worst pain of my life) I still had to hike the remaining 1-2 km back to Silver Islet so that I could get a ride to a hospital in a nearby city. No drugs, just got patched up, didn't really take it easy for 4-6 weeks or anything, I was walking on it the next day.

But I'll admit, I would never want to experience the pain I felt for that 1 second this morning ever again.

I think you're right. This happened to me as a child after drinking a glass of cold water on an empty stomach. I think it has to do with stimulation of the vegas nerve.

dont think ive ever come close to fainting, what usually happens to me is some pains in my stomach, followed by gas followed by a visit to the bathroom, my stomach does not like cold beverages some times >.<

It's called vasovagal syncope. There is a nerve that runs from the brain to the heart. When the nervous system is overloaded, this nerve reacts and slows the heart rate to a point where you pass out. The nerve can slow the heart rate when pressure is applied to certain parts of the body. When the soda expands in your chest it puts pressure on the nerve. It is the most common cause  of passing out.

I'm glad I found this board.  Same thing happened to me.  After a long day at work with little to drink I cam home and cracked open a can of ice cold soda.  I took an extremely large gulp and quickly felt an intense pain in my chest just below my sternum.  Within 10 seconds I had passed out.  I woke up on the kitchen floor and my wife had said I was out for only a few seconds.  The pain was completely gone aside from a sore head.  I visited the Doc the next day....he had no idea what happened.  He suggested a spasm in my esophagus triggered the pain...and I passed out from the pain.  That didn't make sense to me since I have been in severe pain before and never fainted. 

i just drank soda, looked this up first sip got me a bit light headed

Just had this pain when i took one drink of pepsi an immense sharp pain ran down to my abdomen area. Felt as if a hole was punctured through me yet i didnt faint just stood in shock for 5 seconds a walked to take a little break.burping was immpossible til 3 mins later.

This happened to me today after about three weeks of not touching anything but water, i chugged a cup of coke, i did not actually faint but i did lay down really quick, immediately after i checked my blood pressure which was way low and my sugar was way high, also my stomach felt like it was going to explode from the carbonated gas built up in my esophagus.

Holy c**p!!!!!! This happed to me today. I was initially dehydrated; I took a big gulp of cold soda water. I thought my aorta ruptured. Seriously!!! I am a 40 year old male and in good health, an avid mountain biker and hiker. I have a high tolerance for pain, have broke bones and tore ligaments; I would rank this with the worst pain! The pain occurred immediately after I took a drink. It was sharp/acute pain to the sternum/stomach region. I almost lost consciousness and began to sweat. It was 2 minutes of utter agony. I will take baby sips from now on!