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Chronic fainting, sleep fainting, vasovagal syncope?
I started having fainting spells in 2018. Had heart workup, holter monitor, all negative for bradycardia. It starts during sleep. Fainting wakes me from 4-7 am, then I may faint 0-20 times the following day. This happens about once a month, may last 3 days. Was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope but symptoms don’t fit the disorder since I faint so many times for no known reason. I have Hashimoto’s disease but can’t find a connection, and I have Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency but can’t find a connection.
I posted this here because I couldn’t find another group that might be close. I mean fainting means the heart isn’t pumping blood to the brain but something has to trigger it!
Fainting causes bowel movements, to the point of diarrhea so bad I went into hyponatremia and ended up in the ER twice.
Why can’t I find help for this? If anyone knows ANYTHING, any lead could be the clue.
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Sorry you are going through this. I have no medical training and know nothing about your condition. I can say that, although my condition does not sound like yours, I have learned to distrust test results and medications. Those lists of side effects from drug manufacturers seem convenient to their bottom lines and unrelated to my experience taking their meds. Also repeating tests sometimes has surprises, especially when system B doesn’t know about system A’s results. You probably already know this. Have you lost your driving license? Any advice there?
Thank you for your sympathy. Good advice on testing and meds. I plan to do more testing as I go. No Dr. has yet taken away driving privileges but I don’t drive much anymore. If I do it’s just to supermarket nearby. We have a golf cart, so I drive it most places I go - the beach or golf course.
UPDATE: Its now Feb. 2026 and still no firm diagnosis. So I still go with the diagnosis of neurally mediated syncope (fancy new name for vasovagal syncope). The electrophysiologist put me on a med combo to calm my nervous system. This combo is stated in multiple places when I read about my condition, even the Vanderbilt Autonomic Nervous System clinic so I'm sticking with it as much as I hate taking meds.
- 1.5 mcg Fludrocortisone (divided dose) to keep blood pressure up. ( I have low BP)
- 12.5 mg of Zoloft (sertraline) , though I only take a half one
- 1 mg of clonazepam
I also still take the astragalus tincture. All thyroid labs and antibody labs are good.
Dr. Said if I can get episodes/events down to twice a year it would be tolerable. So far its down to 5 events 🙁
So I'm still digging. Still suspect low electrolytes has a hand in this somehow.