Fainting

Hi, my name is teachermom1992. I'm undiagnosed and I am desperate for answers because I need HELP. My body has been doing crazy things since 2024 and I have been to countless appointments, tests and specialists (what is avaliable in my area anyways)

This is going to be a long read but I am hoping (begging and praying🙏🙏) someone can help me.

​My "Before" Baseline :

​Baseline: Always active (high school English teacher, mom of young kids born sept 2022 and oct 2025), baseline normal always perfect BP.

​Lifelong info: Migraines since age 12, always freezing cold (loved jackets, fuzzy things, heated blankets, saunas, etc) but with a kinda low heat tolerance (would get super red faced and later a heat rash if I overheated - but it took a lot to get there, like a full day / days of being in the heat and being very active), easy bruising, extreme clumsiness (I run into things all the time, even doorframes), hyperextending joints in some places, and a few random fainting episodes over the years when tired/dehydrated.

​Where Everything Shifted (July 2024 while on vacation at Disney 😭):

​Out of nowhere in July 2024, I developed severe, unremitting cyclic nausea and vomiting. I am talking we were on vacation 18 hours from home and I woke up thinking I had to get sick and then I didn't stop for basically 7 months. Let's out it this way, I lost FORTY-FIVE POUNDS from being sick.

​Ended up having my gallbladder removed in Sept 2024 (HIDA scan said hyperactive gallbladder can cause that as well so we had to try something), but the nausea/vomiting came back 6 days post op. I was on short term disability from my job as a teacher from September to February, when i finally stopped getting sick daily.

​The Pregnancy Remission:

My symptoms started to get better, i thought because we had finally found the right medicines to knock it. Then, ​I found out I was pregnant in early 2025—and remarkably, all of my nausea and dysautonomia symptoms vanished 100% during that time. I felt amazing throughout pregnancy.

​The Postpartum Crash & What Episodes Feel Like:

Shortly after giving birth earlier this year, my body has slowly but completely collapsed into severe autonomic dysfunction since about 3 months pp. My daily episodes and symptoms have slowly started to come back and feel like:

➡️​Tachycardia & Bounding Pulse: Walking room-to-room sometimes makes my heart rate skyrocket (recently hit 150–170 bpm within minutes on a slow treadmill stress test). I feel a massive, pounding pulse in my face, ears, and head.

➡️​Temperature Storms: I get severe cold chills and deep internal shivering, which quickly flips into intense heat intolerance, facial flushing, and sweating. Like all over sweating for no reason. To the point I am so paranoid to be hot and I love in the south - so hiding inside isn't fun.

➡️​Sleep-to-Wake Inertia: Waking up is brutal—my BP drops low, and I feel like I physically cannot open my eyes or wake my brain up. Almost like I am drugged.

➡️​Physical Intolerances: Deep, aching soreness in my legs and feet (relieved by walking/stretching, was told it was plantar fasciatous since it gets better with movement), severe urinary urgency/frequency shifts, zero alcohol tolerance (and not that i was a huge drinker but I am a millennial, I have for sure woken up in a field somewhere and I had a good time in college), and sudden nausea flares and facial flushing. Also being HOT is the worst thing imaginable. Like I want to rip off my skin and run away from everything and everyone till I am cool and occasional my body will feel "heavy", mostly my legs, while I am going up stairs.

➡️​Systemic Stress Surges: When my heart rate spikes, my BP can jump as high as 180/91 from the adrenaline surge. But there have been days when I wake up and it is 83/42 and I can't get myself out of bed. I feel faint. And that triggers panic of course which makes it all worse.

➡️not wanting to argue or get political about it but it is relevant, I did have covid at least 4 times confirmed, once while I was 8 months pregnant and got the vaccine

➡️I have been tested for all the normal things. Diabetes, thyroid disorders, had an ANA panel. All came back "normal" or there was another reason something could have been off

➡️MOST RECENTLY AND WHY I NEED HELP

On Monday I woke up and my bp was low. I took nausea meds, drank water and tried to push through the things because I needed to leave for work. I started feeling like I was going to pass out to the point my husband came home from work, I had to call my neighbor for help and and we went to the doctor (not the ER because they always tell me i am dehydratedand send me away and I'd rather pay a smaller bill and see my doctor who is trying to help me find answers. THAT SAME NIGHT I PASSED OUT in the bathroom floor. I woke up nauseous and with stomach cramping, felt super hot, went to get sick and all I remember thinking is I need to lay down and being SO hot and sweaty. Next thing I knew I was laying on the tile floor covered in sweat and I couldn't feel my arms or hands and my body felt so heavy. I had to use an Alexa device nearby to call and wake up my husband because I couldn't yell loud enough for him to wake up.

​We are currently TRYING TO connect any dots that may be related or that could help find an answer. I had a negative tilt table test. I do take anxiety medication and have for years. I do not take extra to sleep if I need to wake up early the next day, but I do struggle to fall asleep. I had had a heart monitor on twice and an echo, my heart is structurally fine. Neurologist says she thinks it is some form of dysautonimia but wants to dig more.

Can anyone give me any insight?? Does this sound like something you have experienced?? I need HELP. Desperately. I want to be a good mom again. I have 4 kids, 2 of which are little and need me. I want to be a good teacher again and full of the energy and life that made me good at it. I want to live my life without carrying around fans, water, cooling towels and a BP monitor OR AT THE VERY LEAST know why, so when i have to explain things i have an actual answer. I just need help. I have never been so sad, terrified, and just defeated in my life. I just cry and cry and want answers

Please, I would love to hear your experiences or what has helped you! 💜

#MightyTogether #Anxiety #Migraine #ADHD

Hi, my name is syncopevictim. I'm here because I have struggled with an undiagnosed chronic illness since I was 15. It has made me disabled and I'm looking for people to relate to. I love crafts, dressing up, and fainting with style!#MightyTogether #Anxiety #Depression #EatingDisorder #Undiagnosed #Syncope

Hey, whoever reads this. I’m new to the app and trying to find comfort in community. I apologize beforehand for the long winded mess but I’ve been really struggling with my sense of self. Over the past 5 years I’ve gone from being a “healthy” individual, working a full time job, a university student and regularly going to the gym and working on myself. I was a vegetarian for almost 4 years. Now mind you, I was not a healthy child, I was sick very often and had a history of stomach issues but to my knowledge at the time this was completely normal and not a worry to my parents (they didn’t believe in doctors so one had never been seen for these issues).
In 201 9 I started to experienced some concerns.
It started with small allergic reactions to food I had previously had no issues with (spinach, pineapple, carrots..etc). Then full blown anaphylaxis for seemingly no reason. I went from a full and reasonable diet to nothing but grilled cheeses to avoid having a reaction. After my third or fourth trip to the hospital, the ER doctor mentioned something I had never heard of before: MCAs. At the time I couldn’t afford further testing or treatment so I continued my very limited diet and kept working thinking “well that’s a little set back but I’ll be fine”
During this time I wasn’t going to the gym as much as I was previously (or at all) focusing instead on classes and working. I had always had some issues with “bone” and muscle pain. Growing up, I was told it was growing pains and completely normal. I go back to the gym, 5 minutes on the treadmill and my back seized. I thought “wow, I took a month off and this is the price, I need to build up my strength again”, except I couldn’t. I was in so much pain, not just my back but my arms, my legs, my hips, everywhere and anytime I ride to workout again, no matter the amount, it would just make it all worse.
During this time I was in a very high stressed state, I was homeless trying to find a place to live, struggling with daily allergic reactions, I was failing my classes due to the pain keeping me in bed day to day. I was seemingly “sick” for no reason other than the stress. My body felt heavy, sluggish and impossible to control properly. My diagnosis for Ehlers-Danlos wouldn’t come until a year or two later.
Despite the pain, I had no choice but to work as much as possible. I didn’t have health insurance and no place to call home besides an old pickup truck so I was working three jobs, only sleeping 4 hours a night, continuing my diet of cheese and bread. I was still having daily allergic reactions and at the ER one night, the doctor was doing an evaluation of my throat. To note, I can easily dislocate my trachyia and my neck has lot of mobility. He’s the one who mentioned EDS to me. I held onto that until I could afford to make a proper appointment, at which I was diagnosed with a physical evaluation. This is 2021. I’m still thinking “well, its not a big deal. I can deal with the pain, now I have an answer, I can go figure it out and return to normal”. WRONG.
I have always had issues with my digestion and stomach. As I mentioned when I was younger, I had very chronic diarrhea and would often be kept home from school due to illness. In 2022-2024, I began to develope severe pain after eating, what was once “normal pain” was now sharp and couldn’t be ignored. At an ER, I was diagnosed with gallstones and told that was the cause (surgery was not offered at this time). I was roughly 200-215 pounds and told to change my diet, loose weight and stop eating greasy foods. Only the other foods where causing a myriad a reactions, so I kept eating as I was before and just accepted the pain as normal.
In November 2024, I started to get really sick (sicker than I had currently felt). I began to throw up consistently, almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day. I went from 240 odd pounds to 145 in less than 8 months (June 2025) . I was told everything was fine with me, one doctor even noted in my chart that I appeared to be a “well fed individual” after I told him I hadn’t been able to keep down food for over a week!
It wasn’t until I went to the ER after going jaundice that they finally did something: remove my gall bladder. Only that wasn’t the only issue they found at the time. Kidney Failure. And they didn’t even tell me, I found out later, looking through my online test results and diagnosis sheet from the hospital. Nowhere on paper did they mention this, nor the fact that my liver enzymes are incredibly high. (I understand that their job is to treat emergencies and that a PCP should always be followed up with, but you’d think just once in my 4 day stay that they would have mentioned it.)
Immediately following my surgery and release from the hospital, I was readmitted after fainting later the same day. My resting heart rate after arriving at the ER was 169. After testing and a little more time spent watching hospital tv I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Hypotension. After my stay and during my recovery, this definitely worsened, at one point lifting my head up would result in a BP crash. (I have had issues all my life with presyncope, blurry vision and numbness upon standing for years, I suspected POTS but hadn’t gotten into with a cardiologist at the time). This is my most recent diagnosis, with a few on the backburner awaiting further testing.
My biggest issue currently (aside from severe light headedness and fainting occasionally at work) is my digestion. I have suspected Gastroparesis (awaiting testing) and what was an already limited diet has become nothing but liquids, meal replacement shakes and applesauce. I still experience pain after eating and as it moves through my digestive system, and an issue with actually engaging the muscles “back there”. What used to be a passion for food has turned into bitter resentment, I’ve come to hate the ritual, having to force myself to swallow so that I might receive the nutrional content of what I’m consuming, or throw it up trying.
I have an endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled in two days, hopefully that will bring more answers.
I apologize again for the long story. I haven’t actually had a chance to write about the journey and, even if it may not appear so, there is a lot still missing. I have issues in almost every area of my body. I just want to feel “normal” again. I understand that what I had and where I was may not be obtainable, but id like to feel content at least with where I am in life. I’m 24 years old, I walk with a cane and outwardly I look healthy which tends to lead very uncomfortable situations with people believing in either faking or not sick enough to depend on a mobility aid/be receiving medical care (and its disgusting, why would you go up to anyone and tell them you don’t believe them or they aren’t sick enough. That its for attention. I hear this a lot in the gastro-waiting room).
And anyway, thank you if you did read this far. :)

#Gastroparesis #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #PosturalHypotension #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #MastCellActivationDisorder #ChronicIllness #AutonomicDysfunction

Well, Doctors have always been a challenge for me. Not only do I feel like my past continues to haunt and challenge me when it comes to living my life but I have been having dizzy spells and some chest pain.. sometimes sharp chest pain when I am overly stressed. My doctor is either just tired of me coming in or this could actually be a diagnosis that makes sense? She is going to get me to do a ecg. I have had one in the past but no results came back. I struggle with serverr depression and have some cptsd symptoms so having to do anything medical related can make me spiral a bit and feel guilty of not getting this dealt with sooner. When I researched dysautonomia I was surprised to find that the dizziness, irregular heart beat and blood pressure makes sense. Even the fainting makes sense as when I go to give blood I have to lay down after a fainting incident year ago. I also got horrible heat stroke as a child and would end up vomiting very easily if I could not cool myself down in time. I am hopeful that there is more research and understanding of this coming out there. I mean in the world of ai. I really think that the future of health will get better now that we can track symptoms and see what matches from data. Take care lovely people of the Mighty community.

Hi everyone, I'm new here and really grateful this space exists.
I'm a 19-year-old college student dealing with a combination of chronic illness symptoms that have been getting worse since late 2021. I’ve been diagnosed with POTS and hypermobile EDS, but there are still a lot of unresolved issues and symptoms that make daily life really difficult. I’m hoping to connect with others who might relate or just get what it’s like to be young, chronically ill, and feeling kind of lost in the system.
Some of the hardest symptoms I deal with include:
* Daily nausea and vomiting (including multi-hour episodes that feel like cyclical vomiting syndrome)
* Severe fatigue and brain fog that impacts my memory and orientation
* Full-body tremors, myoclonic jerks, and some involuntary vocal tics
* Frequent fainting and dizziness, especially after standing
* Joint instability, pain, and mobility issues (I often use a cane)
* GI issues: constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux, and unexplained severe weight loss
* Temperature regulation issues, flushing, and random bruising
* Cognitive issues like word mix-ups, disorientation, and confusion
I’m currently being referred to more specialists to keep searching for answers (possibly neuro, GI, and immunology), and I’m also starting therapy soon because this whole process has been really emotionally exhausting.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, I’d love to hear from you. Even just knowing I’m not the only one experiencing this would mean a lot.