Husband passed out at work!

[kevinswife]

About two hours ago, my husband called me from work.  He works the night shift so that he can do Hemo D in center 3 days a week.  He felt light headed while walking down the hallway.  When he walked into his office, he passed out for a second.  His coworks called 911.  While waiting for the ambulance, my husband called to tell me what happened.  I thought he was joking, because he sounded so chipper.  He told me to say home with our sleeping son and he will call me later.  The ambulance took him to the hospital.  His blood pressure has been running low.  The top number was 90 something at his last two dialysis treatments.  It is a good thing I drove him to and from D last Saturday because his blood pressure was too low to let him drive himself home. 

Has anyone else ever passed out?  If so, what was the cause and how did they treat it?  His last treatment was Tuesday.  He passed out Wednesday night. 

[adairpete]

I hope all is ok with your hubby! I do PD and every once in awhile my bp gets low from taking off too much fluid. I've never fainted but I've come close. To raise my bp in a hurry I usually eat a pickle or anything salty and drink some water. It usually takes about a half hour then I'm good. When I was on hemo my bp would sometimes crash when I was in the chair and while I wouldn't call it fainting I wasn't exactly all there. Hopefully that's all your husband needs is some fluid to raise his bp.

[SteveK87]

I agree it could be lack of fluid.  That'll happen to my wife during treatment if she takes off too much fluid at one time.  Salty foods is definitely a way to elevate the BP when needed.  Although it didn't happen during treatment so I must ask is he on any BP meds or changed his diet lately?  If he is on BP meds they might have to be adjusted especially if he has been eating foods not as high in sodium.  My wife is on BP meds but her BP has been running good with her paying attention to her sodium intake so the doc just suggested taking a half a pill just to keep things regulated.  Also, I would suggest your husband bringing a BP monitor to work to check himself every once in awhile to see where he is at periodically just to prevent things like this from happening.

[Grumpy-1]

I've never passed completely out, but have come close.  When it happens, I get very dizzy and have a hard time standing.  Response is to hold on to a wall, chair, or what ever I can find near by.  If I can sit down, that helps.  Like others, I start eating anything that is salty and keep some crackers at my desk just in case.  Plus drink as much water as I can get down as quickly as I can.  I've found that my getting dizzy is a combination of low BP and not drinking enough.  I can control it, but at work sometimes I forget to slow down and drink.

[Gandalf]

I am on Hemo, have very low BP, and it has happened to me, often in public places too!  It is generally BP related, and is usually quite soon after the session (during the hour after).  It recovers with some fluid, and it helps to lie down for a few minutes after the session, and not do anything too energetic for the two hours afterwards (ie stick to desk-work rather than exercise if possible).

[lmunchkin]

My husband would get low BP's after treament in-center too.  When I would pick him up, I always had Ensure or Boost for him to drink.  That would help some.  But have not had this problem since bringing D. to our home!

Just have him check his BP often at work.  If low, he could eat something salty with fluid and it should come up!

Hope all is well with him now!
God Bless,
lmunchkin
 

[kitkatz]

I have low blood pressure right now and get real dizzy but no passing out yet. 

[rocker]

This happened to hubby.  He was on a ton of BP meds, but after starting home hemo his BP started coming down.  Before we knew to adjust his meds, he'd get very tired and sleepy when his BP would drop.  Then one day right after we moved into a new house, we were cleaning up a few feet from each other and I heard a loud thump.  I called his name, he didn't answer, and I turned and saw him unconscious flat on his back.  By the time I had vaulted the furniture (I think) and gotten to him, he was waking up.  And to add to the fun, as he was waking he had a brief seizure.  He insisted he was fine (seemed to be) and I looked it up and found that seizing is common in that situation, so we just had him lay down for a while and after that started dropping his meds.

What caused him to pass out, as it turns out, was that he leaned over to pick up a box (not heavy) and stood up to lift it over his head and put it on a shelf in the closet.

The storage box still lives on the same shelf, but now we have a standing joke in the house that he is not ever allowed to touch it.   

 - rocker

[jackdempsey]

You might need to update his dry weight and bp meds. Too much UF pull will result in some low BP which can = fainting.