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Anyone have Vagus nerve problems causing strange, unnerving symptoms?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: 13 hours ago | Replies (36)Comment receiving replies
Hi Joaf37,
I had an episode of vagus nerve syncope while on a cruise ship in 2019. At 11:30 pm I woke up feeling nauseous and needing to use the rest room. While on the toilet I had a very large bowel movement and felt like I was going to vomit. I passed out and fell off the toilet and hit my head in the tile floor. My husband heard me fall and called the ship’s medical office. In the ship’s medical clinic I was hooked up to an IV by a young nurse who didn’t speak English and didn’t know how to start an IV. The unknown fluid entered my vein very slowly and my forearm began to bulge. I started having hallucinations and uncontrolled movement of my legs similar to severe RLS. A Canadian Coast Guard ship was called and I was transferred to a hospital in Nanaimo, BC. The hospital removed the IV and did many tests on me between 1 am and 8 am… and diagnosed me with Vagal Syncope and told me to have my PCP check me when I returned home. They discharged me with a letter stating that I was safe to fly home to Southern Cal.
My PCP did similar tests when I returned home and did not find anything of concern.
I have had a couple of similar incidents since then when I have eaten too many high fat foods during the day. As long as I eat a low fat high fiber diet I seem to be fine.
Replies to "Hi Joaf37, I had an episode of vagus nerve syncope while on a cruise ship in..."
@healthseeker77 I have had these large bowel movements followed by heaving till I throw up bile about two or three times in a year. They always happen very early in the morning.
My doctor sent me for an abdominal ultrasound which showed fatty liver (which I have had for about twenty years) and some scarring of the liver which is a new development. So she sent me to a gastroenterologist for a liver biopsy. Gastroenterologist says I am only at Stage 1 for cirrhosis and nothing to worry about - just keep cholesterol levels down and eat less carbs. Strange, because the liver biopsy was quite painful. I have had two liver biopsies in the past eight or ten years and neither of those hurt. 🤷🏼♀️
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What a nightmare that must have been -- I had a fishbone caught in my throat in France one --- I could feel your pain in every word... "far from happy far from home" certainly applies. Your situation was much worse than mine -- appreciate your sharing the detail.
Ironic that you should mention these incidents with the bathroom situation, I have had the some of the same ... when so always first thing in the AM and very unsettling but not to the extreme you define. Often wake up nauseated. I was told recently that what we've experienced is not all that uncommon. People just don't tend to discuss these issues. I do the same things you describe in your closing comment and that has worked best for me as well .. I plan to raise these issues with my PCP when I meet with him in 2 weeks. Again --- I thank you for your comments!