Anyone know about bodies going into shock? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

broken wings · 08-04-2007, 03:07 AM

Tonight something happened and I am thinking this persons body went into shock because of pain. I am trying to make sure I am right.

This is what happened..(it's kind of a repost, but explains all that happened)

Today around 12:30 am we went to walmart and were walking around. I started looking at the weight stuff like workout equipment and he started checking out one of those really long silver weight bars, because he was trying to see if they said how much they weigh because he thought they weigh'd 25lbs. Well the bar ended up falling off the shelf and smashing is finger. His finger nail turned black immediatly and he other finger was bleeding. He was in a quite a bit of pain so I told him to go to the bathroom and rinse his finger off while I went to the inside mcdonalds and got a cup of ice for his finger. I said we will leave as soon as I grab somehting for snoopy. So we went to the dog section to get a chew for my dog when all the sudden he starts talking about he feels like he is about to throw up. Then he stumble walks to the buggie and has his hand over his mouth. He starts twitching alittle bit and I knew something was wrong, he was also kind of swaying. I told him to sit down and I grab him. We walked back a few steps and then he lost controll of his body and I was just holding him in my arms as I set him down he then fell over. He was acting very weird and was really pale and twitched a few more times. Then he went to his back. I had thrown my purse to the floor during all of this and when he went to his back he ended up with his head on the purse like a pillow. I yelled "SOMEONE HELP ME" there was a woman across the isle from me looking at some glasses, she looked over and had a weird look on her face then just walked off. If I could find that woman and tell her how horrible she is, I mean he could have been dying for all she knew. Finally a walmart person walks over and asks what was going and if he was alright I tell him the story and he was like let me go get someone. So he comes back with a guy over him and I tell him the story. Although they weren't much help it I was glad someone was there with me. I think what happened is his body went into shock. Once he could set up I went to get him something to drink because he was still dizzy and felt weak. Well that took forever with the school shopping going on and Mcdonalds was packed by now and the smallest bill I had on me was a $5 then I finally after pacing for a moment remembered I had .50 cents in my wallet so I ran grabbed a bottled water and ran all the way to the back of the store. The guy stood there the whole time I was gone with him. When I returned I told him to drink small sips because I didn't want him to get sick. So he drank and sat there. Finally he felt well enough to stand and I made him walk around alittle bit to make sure it wasn't going to happen again. I'm really glad I wanted to get something for my dog, because we could have been in the car when it happened and something even worse could have happened to us.

tomandkara · 08-04-2007, 04:12 AM

I passed out from a really awful (face swollen and body completely covered) case of hives once. I also passed out once after I hit my knee on a table, you know the "funny bone" of your knee? I don't just pass out so that was a big deal for me. I think when you're in a lot of pain your body kind of shuts down to deal with it. I'm no expert, though.

Kara

melekalikimaka · 08-04-2007, 08:34 AM

I'm not a doctor but if your friend fainted it was probably due to the drop in blood pressure after smashing his finger. So in a sense yes, it was in response to a "shock". Did he recover OK? If he needs medical attention for the finger he should mention the fainting episode to the doctor who can check for other causes just in case.

KateRN · 08-04-2007, 02:59 PM

it could be a few things. it could very well be a late pain response. lots of people pass out from pain.

i suppose if you want make it a stretch... - the pain could have caused a rush of adrenaline, which causes your vascular system to constrict - raising your blood pressure, and heart rate and there could have been a sudden relaxing - either his heart rate dropped down or the vascular system finally dilated - causing a sudden drop in either his cardiac output (the amount of blood leaving the heart due) or with the dilation - a drop in his blood pressure.
it could cause him to pass out, feel weak and iffy while he body re-sets itself...

kaplods · 08-04-2007, 04:22 PM

It sounds a lot like a vasovagal reaction. I've had them in reaction to pain, drawn out blood draws (it's very hard to get blood from me,) and even to the sight of blood (my own or someone else's, such as when my little sister fell and bit through her tongue). Sometimes I can stop it before I actually pass out, but on 3 or 4 occasions I did faint. Passing out, or fainting make it sound like you just lose consciousness, but wake up fine in a few seconds or minutes, but that's definitely not how I experience it.

The worst was when a phlebotomist drawing blood accidentally hit a nerve with the needle Yikes! My husband said it looked like I was having a seizure - I was flopping around and my eyes were rolling back into my head.

For me, it starts by feeling nauseous, and hot and cold at the same time (kind of a clammy cold-sweats feeling, but my face feels flushed and hot).
My vision will actually go black slowly from the outer edges (a tunnel vision before passing out), and I'll feel like the room is spinning. Then I pass out, and while I'm unaware of what's going on, I've been told I either "lay there or go into what looks like a seizure with muscle jerks and flailing around with eyes rolling. This only lasts a few seconds to a few minutes, and then I start to come around. But it definitely is not just like waking up, fine. It feels almost like I have to "fight" to regain consciousness, and it's very uncomfortable. I hear the voices around me first, and then they start to make sense, and I'm still feeling nauseous and dizzy and it almost feels like someone is holding my head underwater. A cold washcloth placed on my forehead and the back of my neck help a lot. From start to finish it only takes a few minutes, but it feels like a half hour, and it WIPES ME OUT, for hours afterward. In fact, often I have to sleep. After the blood-draw incident, when we got home, I went right to bed and slept for 4 hours!

broken wings · 08-05-2007, 02:58 AM

Thanks everyone for your help. He is also feeling sick due to his mom being sick and he thinks he may be catching what she has. He says he has been in alot more pain before, but who knows. I think maybe it was a combination of him being half way being sick and the smashing of his finger. I don't know but it really scared me. So I thought I would ask you all if you had any similar things happen or knew anything about it. He seems to be fine today other than still not feeling 100% from trying to get sick. Thank you everyone for you help!!