Blackouts

Geez - I haven't posted in a while! However I still read all the time.

Here is the problem. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this.... When I get up out of my chair quickly or bend over while picking something up, shaving my legs, tieing my shoe, etc....I all of a sudden get very light headed and my vision starts to get spotty and then I blackout and fall on the floor. I only blackout for about 2 secs. We are not talking minutes or hours. I go in for blood work on Friday and see my doc on Monday; however it is not my RNY doc. My doc has lots of experience with paitients like us and he is Internal Medicine....so I know I am not spinning my wheels by making a trip to see him. I see my RNY doc the 1st part of Jun.....therefore I am going to wait until then to go and see him. Anyway - I was just wondering if anyone else has had these problems? I don't even know if it could be related to my surgery! I am guessing that it is.  Would love to hear input from all of you. Thanks ahead of time for the support! Sarah __________________________ RNY:  14Aug07 (8 1/2 months out) 337 / 212 / 165

My first thought would be dehydration - are you drinking enough water? Are you drinking caffeiene? If so are you drinking additional water to balance out the caffeine?  Next would be - are you eating every few hours? Are you following a good post-op diet? Are you eating sugar? Lastly would be to see your surgeon and get bloodwork - which you already are doing... I believe some hypoglycemics experience the issue you describe. I have a coworker who experiences the same thing... he drinks zero water and sucks down regular coffee all day long, he 'sometimes' uses splenda and typically uses regular sugar in it... I feel his 'blackout/dizzyness' issues are relating to dehydration. He also lacks protein with his meals... his breakfast everyday is toast... he doesnt eat regular snacks and sticks to packing in food during his 3 meals... so it really could be a combo of everything. Keep us posted on what the doc says!

In the mornings, I drink one cup of hot tea and then a Pepsi One. I have to wake up in the mornings!  After lunch is over, I start drinking my water....no caf. I drin****il it is time to go to bed. I also do one protein drink a day.....instead of mixing my scoop with 8 oz of water I do 20 oz of water. I know it may sound bad but I like choc water! It is the only way I will drink the stuff. I am constantly eating, oatmeal for breakfast, beef jerky for a snack, protein bars, grapes, etc. I snack a lot but it is on the "good" things. When I eat meals, I eat my protein first....normally chicken or pork and then I eat some kind of veggie. Hopefully this answered your questions. I will let you know what the doc says. I am worried about vit levels and things like that. Thanks for your post!

Postural Hypotension - aka - low blood pressure when you change positions.  It happens when we lose a lot of weight and our blood vessels have less pressure around them, so your blood pressure goes down, then when you stand up, or go from laying to sitting or whatever - go from down to up somehow - your blood pressure drops even more for a second or two - so you'll "black out" - I imagine this means you can't see for a few seconds, feel dizzy and / or unsteady.  It takes some time for your body to adjust.  It can be made worse by dehydration (which also lowers your blood pressure).   To help - change positions slowly and make sure you're getting enough water during the day.  If you drink coffee, which is a diuretic, make sure to drink extra water to make up for it. It wouldn't hurt to have this checked by your doc, so good idea there, but I would almost bet that this is what is going on.  I dealt with it for about 6-7 months, and periodically when I am dehydrated it happens again, but it does straighten itself out eventually.  So remember to drink and try moving more slowly to give your body a chance to adjust when you're getting up.

This used to happen to me all the time (when I first had surgery) now it happens once in a great while...in my case it just kind of goes away...however I never passed out or anything..things just got dark and spotty....I never really looked into it before....hopefully it isn't anything serious