Has this happened to you?...

Well this happens to my cousins fiance weirdly enough. They just took her in and blocked off a nerve that they said was causing the migraines and if that didn't work they were going to have to go in and cut it. Have you been tested for food allergies? Maybe something you're eating is causing them?

A few questions - how is your blood pressure? High? Low?

Do you ever get dizzy when you stand up or go from laying down to sitting?

Does heat affect you? Say it's a hot day outside, do you get light headed if you're out in it for a little while?

Standing in place for a length of time - does it cause light headedness or nausea? Do you ever feel weird after lifting something over you head or working with your arms over your head?

And what you describe isn't that uncommon. It happens to me on a regular basis whenever I stand. I rarely lose consciousness but I can't see and usually can't hear for a few minutes after a fall.

Depends on your height, if you're 5'4" or less your weight is fine.

I was going to suggest, if dizziness was a common problem, that you look at information for dysautonomia http://www.supportdysautonomia.org/diagportal.html
Common tests usually find nothing.
Some individuals may have high norepinephrine and epinephrine - but that's only found if doctors already suspect the diagnoses.

As for salt. What the doctor was suggesting is that you have low blood volume. Sodium itself is useless, you need to increase the amount of fluids you drink - water specifically. And because increasing salt causes potassium to be flushed you need to eat foods with that or regularly drink drinks that have added electrolytes.

Another suggestion is that it's just hormones playing a part in it. They're a common trigger for migraines, blood loss could lower blood volume - maybe enough to make you near faint. Hormones will also change blood pressure some too.

Weelll I'm not exactly sure how they block it off but i know it involved giving her two shots in the neck and one in each temple.

I know you said brain scans, but were you tested for seizures? (EEG?)

What you described from 3 years ago sounds more like a form of a seizure. You don't have to have a pronounced tremble like you see in the First Aid videos, but you can collapse to the floor, still be aware of what's going on and unable to respond. It can also blind you as well.

When you do get medical (or sooner) I would go in and ask to get an EEG done. If you had one at the hospital, go back and get a second opinion.

^ The link I posted probably didn't have it on there, but it is on other sites with more information. ANS problems can cause seizures due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Probably why we're sort of thinking the same thing.

I don't believe that kind spikes on tests like a form of epilepsy would.

Sounds like what happens to me - I'm anemic, no one could confirm it for years though.

I had blood tests, epilepsy tests, all sorts of things. But they just said... it's migraines. And that was it.

I kept getting all sorts of medical issues and I went to an acupuncturist, who took one look at me and my symptoms and said "you're anaemic".
So I went do the doctor and asked them to see if I really was, and when they were looking for it, they found it! Now I'm just on iron supplements and the symptoms are a lot less, even though it's not a matter of an iron deficiency so much as I "just don't have enough blood"! hahaha
When you go "blind" is it like... spinning, sort of white, and then dark and you can't see anything? That's what it's like for me... at least, that's the best I can describe it. I hear everything in echos too. It's actually like in the movies when you see someone passing out except it's happening to you, not the person on TV! It happens to me when I'm in a small enclosed space, (when I studied art for a while I couldn't stand in the dark room with a group of people without having to go outside straight away), when I stand still for a period of time, when I am tired but force myself to go somewhere, when I'm out in the sun (not necessarily when it's hot, but when it's sunny)... and the list goes on.
It really annoys me, but I guess it's just something you deal with...

Acupuncture really helped me a lot but it's too expensive for me to go on a regular basis (until I finish uni anyway).

They said it was so many things - inner ear problem, epilepsy, the flu (every week, I don't think so), tiredness, depression, etc... etc... etc.

If that sounds like what you have, then you should ask your doctor to specifically check for anaemia. I ate heaps of meat and didn't think it was possible, but I'm about the same weight you are so maybe it is. (I don't know if weight has anything to do with it though )

Good luck! I hope you feel better soon

Originally Posted by Tobi

So I went do the doctor and asked them to see if I really was, and when they were looking for it, they found it! Now I'm just on iron supplements and the symptoms are a lot less, even though it's not a matter of an iron deficiency so much as I "just don't have enough blood"! hahaha

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That's called hypovolemia, it is not a form of anemia. I have it and my iron count is perfectly fine - I've had it repeatedly tested because I look pale when that's what low blood volume does.

If you don't specifically need to take extra iron then it's a very bad idea to. It's one of the supplements that can have bad side effects if it gets too high.

I do have a low iron count - so taking iron supplements isn't bad (I know that if you take them unnecessarily it can be bad for you), but I was told by my doctor and acupuncturist that the MAIN reason for the issue is my "lack of blood"

Perhaps I should ask my doctor about what you have - I'm also quite pale.

However after all this time and finally being relieved over finding an answer I'd be quite ... well, I can't think of a word that can be used on a family friendly site to describe it... if I found out that it wasn't anemia after all.

Although... if there was something to fix it I wouldn't complain too much. I can't even go on a tour anymore, because I can't stand still for long enough. I went on a tour of a zoo where I got to handfeed the big cats, etc, and almost passed out just before the cougar! It's sooo frustrating.

^How odd, when they run standard blood test iron is one of the main things they do test.

Look up orthostatic hypotension and dysautonomia. But if the latter truly matches what you deal with day to day be prepared to deal with doctors who may have never even heard of it.

And I hear you about not being able to stand. I manage 15 minutes before I feel horrible. It's now progressed to the point that I can't even get through the grocery store or k-mart without staggering like a drunk. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'm on midodrine and maybe fludrocortisone (a steroid, ick!).

Ive had that happen!! It use to happen to me all the time when I was a teenager up until probably 21! I would all of a sudden get incredibly dizzy, the lights would go out and I wouldn't know what the heck just happened! The dr's couldn't figure it out and when I got older it went away! I was extremely anemic, down to a 3 one time, but all the drs told me that wouldn't be the cause. It was a pain in the neck having to go through that, and the one day I passed out in front of everyone and got the ambulance called, which then led to a sternal rub, and later, SMELLING SALTS! I woke up cussing like a sailor! That burned so bad... OUCH!!! I get the migraines that go along with it too, but I havn't passed out in a long time! It could be the change in blood pressue when you sit and stand... Have the doctor due a blood pressue check for Sitting standing, and lying! Let us know what you figure out, Im curious!

i too have had that happen, the first time was on christmas day one year i was about 16 or 17. i was standing at the kitchen sink and the next thing i knew i was laying in the floor, just like someone turned off a switch. The er dr. at the time said it was hormonal (i think everything a teen girl goes through is diagnosed at some point as hormonal though), but my regular dr said i was anemic and horribly dehydrated and possibly had low blood sugar at the time. I also had that happen in college, i had donated plasma earlier in the day and passed smooth out in the dinning hall in front of several hundred ppl resulting in an ambulance ride to the hospital. i still occasionally have that happen and it is scary.

Yep just like you i get miagrains very often, but the first time i literally passed out and went blind was when i was pregnant.

Since monday ive had miagrains just from walking up the stairs, and my right eye keeps on blanking out, this is when i take a break from doing things and try to relax a little bit.

Just take it easy!

I have them too, and I've found if I avoid Diet Soda that I don't get them. There are also other things as well: Carpet glue, new paint, and Splenda also are triggers for me.

Go to the New York Times and search for Migraines (they are typically in the opinion pages) they've been doing a long series on them, and why they occur. Oliver Sacks, the man who wrote An Anthropologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, has visual migraines and is attempting to find the cause.

Also do a search on Google for Migraine diet, and see if that helps you as well.

I`ve had a similar thing and one time it happened in hospital but I was there for something different. I had recently lost a lot of blood though so sure that was the cause but it happens quite often when I stand up suddenly.

When it happened in hospital, I`d got up to get a drink and everything went black and I had uncontrollable jerking. It was very scary but they weren`t worried.

Hope you feel better soon!