The Carew Curse - passing out

After a discussion this weekend about funny passing out stories, I decided to look up a little information to pass along to those who have a similar problem. The current thought is that the Carew side is made up primarily of people who cannot stand the sight of gruesome pictures, have their blood drawn, or anything remotely painful looking (i.e. my dad turning green when I had to get stitches in my leg). While these are common stimuli for passing out, there is more to add:)

Another thought is that we have a chronic problem with low blood sugar. This is also a known trigger, however, I have passed out 2 or 3 times after just eating a whole meal so it doesn't always hold true. So there has to be something else.

This something else is called a heightened "vasovagal response" or neurocardiogenic syncope. Syncope is another word for passing out. This is a problem that can be common and is non-life threatening. The nerves seem to be the problem. It tends to follow a "classic" history with a certain trigger. Common triggers include: prolonged standing, blood drawing, a hot environment, something painful, fear of pain or overworking. After one of these events people begin to feel nauseated, really warm, lightheaded, get sweaty, and pale. Yes, I know it's hard to judge if one of us Carew's can get pale:).

In general terms, there are two nerve circuits in our body. One serves us during periods of relaxation: slows our heart rate down, lowers our blood pressure, slows our breathing, and actually allows our guts to move (this is important for later). The other serves us during periods of exertion or stress: brings our heart rate up, our blood pressure gets elevated, dilates our airways so we can breath deeper better, and slows our guts down. So the problem with vasovagal response is that there is too much activity of the relaxation nerve circuit and this decreases the blood flow to our brain by slowing the heart rate and lowering our blood pressure. The body then responds by wanting to bring the blood back to the brain by gravity i.e. pull the body down to get the head filled with blood. So this why people pass out.

What do we do if we have this problem? A couple of suggestions I've read about if you start to feel this way:
1. First of all, if you feel like you're going down- lay on the ground. No just crouching and hoping the feeling passes. You've got to get blood to your brain. It's better to look silly lying on the ground and awake, then to be on the ground out cold to the world:)
2. Flex your arms and squeeze your hands together- this increases your blood pressure.
3. Using a handgrip ball and squeeze tightly.

For people on their feet a lot, try support stockings. Hahaha! I laughed when I heard this, but this July, I'll be up and about a lot so I plan on buying a pair.

I hope you enjoy this info!