The big scare

[Jim]

I left Floyd at 6 AM Sunday morning and drove to Columbia, SC. Stopped at a friend's house and visited for an hour. Left Columbia and drove to Charleston. Visited with Mom for a bit and then got all my stuff in the house and up to my room.
Somewhere about 3 PM, I had to go see a man about a horse. All of a sudden, I got dizzy, weak and short of breath. I was sweatin' like a pig. Somehow, I managed to get back to my bed. At the moment I picked up my cell phone, my brother called. I told Brian to call the ambulance as I thought I was having a heart attack.
They transported me to Roper Hospital and got me in ER. Y'all would have thought I was sufferin' from hypothermia the way I was shivering. They ran a bunch of tests and kept me overnight. They concluded that I was dehydrated from not drinking and/or eating the whole day. I guess the traveling threw off my schedule and I just forgot that I needed nourishment.
They kept me overnight for observation and released me yesterday shortly after noon. My brother came and got me and brought me back to Mom's house. I slept like a stone last night.
Fellas, I'm not kiddin' ya', I thought I was dyin'. That bull about your whole life flashin' before your eyes is just that a bunch of bull. The only thing I could think of was that I might never see Janet again.
All is well, though, and I'm OK. I don't know how often I'll be able to get on and post as I'm usin' Mom's system. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, though.

Later, guys.

[Buddy]

Glad it was just a little undernurishment, ya gotta feed the body ya know. I can relate to the feelings. My new truck was stolen in '06 and I was peeeed off. All of a sudden my neck got tight, jaw wouldn't move, trouble breathing etc. They told me at the hospital it was a panic attack. Scary stuff, glad your ok.

[VA Shooter]

Jim that happened to a friend of mine he got doing things around the house that he needed to get done before we were going to go off shore fishing and did't eat or drink anything all day. good to hear that you are OK

[Calamity Jake]

It happened to me in Nov. 06 and IT was a heart attack followed by a trip. bypass.

So whatever you DON"T neglect it!!! Get to a ER

[Blammer]

Wow! glad you're ok.

I have a built in "PO'ed meter" whenever I get hungry, nothing works right and any little thing said to me just makes me mad, hence the PO meter. :D Time to eat!

only took me 20 some years to figure this out about myself. (that's why I never diet. :D)

[gnoahhh]

I'll second what Calamity Jake said. In August '08 those same symptoms in the middle of the night prompted a 911 call + trip to ER. Sure enough- heart attack. It was a life altering event. Don't ignore symptoms like that.

Glad you're ok Jim. I'll bet your mother was glad to see you.

[Ajax]

I have had pannic attacks and they are scary as hell. Glad your ok though jim.


Andy

[Harter66]

I know that bit about not eating. I went picked up buddy leaving town for a deer trip. We'd planned to eat on our way out,but another guy called so we went helped him hook up his rig agreeing to get lunch to go etc.etc. at any rate about 530 that night I was piled up in a heap 100yd down hill from the truck. Scared hellp outta me. Looked back at it by the time we had dinner that it'd been 27hr since a real meal w/a candy bar and a couple of pops for fill.

[ph4570]

Glad your are ok now Jim.

[P.K.]

Jim,

Same thing happened to me a few years ago while on the track for a PT test. Went straight to the ER wondering if it was possiable to have a heart attack at 32...It wasn't, dehydration as in your case but I don't take any chances anymore. My insurance loves me, anything I or WebMD can't explain the Doc gets a call.

[Recluse]

Dehydration is bad enough. A significant drop in glucose levels can be devastating.

Congrats, Jim. . . you pulled them BOTH off and at the same time.

Crazy Virginians. . . :)

:coffee:

[Olevern]

Glad to hear you are o.k.
How's mom doing?
vern

[Firebricker]

Glad your ok Jim and it was not the ticker. I work in some hot place,s dehydration is serious business. FB

[Jim]

Thanks, fellas. I 'preciate the concern.

Recluse, I got a tickle outa' the "Crazy Virginians" comment.:D

Mom is not ill, she's just 94, that's all. She's pretty much non mobile and somebody has to be with her night and day. I'm here until my brother and I figure out what to do about having somebody here with her.

I'll check in when I can, fellas.

[excess650]

I'm glad to hear you're OK there Jim. I saw a guy that resembled you on Friday afternoon on Rt 8 headin' towards Riner drivin' a Lincoln Town Car. Was that you?

[firefly1957]

Glad to hear you are fine now.

[phaessler]

Glad your'e Ok, my A1C blood sugar level runs all over the place and I have spells of sweats and shakes if I dont regular feedings, like Blammer , I too have developed a built-in system to warn me (and the wife), but damn scary when it first started happening.
Gotta not play around and us "Crazy Virginians" are sometimes thickheaded.. ha ha ha

Pete


:popcorn:

[Bad Water Bill]

Weren't nuthin rong wit JIM.
His system kaint get usd ta walkin on flat ground. :kidding:

It must be h$%& walkin roun wit 1 leg shortr than tuther.outa the mountns.:bigsmyl2:

All kidding aside sure glad to hear you are OK.

[leadman]

Glad you are ok now. Having moved to Arizona from Michigan 30 years ago took a couple of those "dizzy" spells to drive it into my head to always have water and food around.

Had a kidney stone about 5 years ago that got caught in a bad place and thought I was having the "big one". Very similar symptons to what you had.

Take care.

[DCM]

Scary stuff!

Glad you are OK!

[SharpsShooter]

Dangitall Jim! You take care of yourself. I've been through the "stay until you can work something out" situation. There are some tough decisions waiting in the wings, so you hang in there.

SS

[EMC45]

I have low blood sugar (at least what the military docs say). If I don't eat I am an ornery jerk. The wife could tell you right off how bad I get. When I eat I am good, but if I go long without food I am nasty and short tempered. I hate it, but now that I know what it is I can deal with it a lot better.

[jcwit]

Jim, I'm not a Doctor, but have already had the same symtoms.

Carring these sure would't hurt, and they do work.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=glucose+tablets&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADRA_enUS451&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=566&wrapid=tlif131852762242410&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6524084280042479856&sa=X&ei=liKXTraSNY7KsQKd1pzKBA&ved=0CGwQ8wIwAA#

[Geraldo]

Glad it wasn't cardiac, Jim. The best thing for me has been to eat a diet that doesn't cause huge ups and downs in blood sugar. If you drink a bottle of pop without anything else, your body gives you a blast of insulin, which drops your sugar like a rock. My co-workers used to know when I needed to eat, but after changing my diet around a bit, one friend asked me why when I hadn't eaten since breakfast I hadn't chewed his head off at 2pm.

[Jim]

I'm glad to hear you're OK there Jim. I saw a guy that resembled you on Friday afternoon on Rt 8 headin' towards Riner drivin' a Lincoln Town Car. Was that you?

A Lincoln?!!:holysheep
I know for a FACT that wasn't me!![smilie=l:

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Jim,
A very similar thing happened to me on a 1989 motorcycle trip with three friends.
we got across S. Dak on a hot day. I didn't realize I was dehydrated.
we found a place to camp, my 2 buds got a fire going and started cooking.
I wasn't hungry(which is unusal for me)..and felt sick, nausiated, tired, cold/shivers and didn't want to move. I was young then (mid 20's) and bulletproof.
we were in the middle of no where, no cell phone, no one around.
Luckily, my buds made me drink some water.
I was better by morning.
I learned after that, to drink alot of water on trips like that.
Jon

[Bad Water Bill]

JIM How is your mom doing.

[linotype]

Well, God bless that you are doing better and it wasn't serious enough to keep you from being with us.
Take care, be well, and here's to being around for a long time.

[Mike in TX]

Jim
You are one lucky person. I am an RN in tele and med/surg. The number of people who come into the hospital having your symptoms is unreal and most often it is dehydration. To all drink water throughout the day, even if you are just fishing. It is dangerous and I have older folks die because of it. As for those of us with diabetes, if you take insulin keep sugar on you at all time. I have seen two people die from glucose levels of 9 and 17.
Mike B

[MakeMineA10mm]

A couple years ago, I got up in the middle of the night to tinkle. Done it thousands of times... [smilie=s: I left the lights off, kept my eyes closed, stumbled to the pot and got the job done without stubbing my toe or missing the target. [smilie=w: Went to turn and head out of the bathroom and the next thing I know I'm waking up in the bathtub completely POed/angry/ready to fight and trying to figure out how I got down here...

My wife comes running out of the bedroom and finds me (laughing at this point, because I don't know what's going on...). She's not so amused, so off to the ER we go. Wasn't dehydrated, wasn't low blood sugar, wasn't a heart attack...

Apparently, sometimes, when a man builds up a large enough supply of pee in the bladder, the combination of evacuating that pee and suddenly getting up from a resting heart rythm to a walking/standing/exertion heart rythm can cause the blood in the lower part of the body to get stuck in the void space that was just evacuated and you lose blood supply to the brain causing a mild/temporary black-out... (And, NO, I don't drink! :mrgreen: )

Doc called it "Micturtion Syncopy" or something close to that. The thing that scared me is that I could've really hurt myself from the fall. Luckily, I have a hard head, but I did have a lump and I missed hitting some sharp stuff by a couple inches...

Now, when I hafta go during the night, I sit. Lot shorter fall, if it happens again! :shock:

Glad you're OK too Jim! Like seeing you around here!