Fainted from Sprite
Today, I was helping a friend load moving boxes into some U-Haul containers in Arizona. It was over 100f, and I don’t think I had been drinking enough water. I also hadn’t eaten much throughout the day since breakfast at 8:30am. But I was exerting energy loading, moving, and lifting boxes of varying sizes and weights.
Cut to 12:30pm, my friend and I drive to a taco shop for lunch. Everything is fine. We get to his house and I’m doing okay, just hungry. His wife offers me a cold beverage and I initially decline, pointing to my 64oz water jug. But I decide to partake in a refrigerated Sprite.
The absolute second I take a drink of the cold Sprite, I get the WORST carbon dioxide bubble in my chest I’ve ever felt, I stand up and walk towards the entryway holding my chest, and next thing I know I’m laying on the ground, my friend and his wife in shock.
I slowly got up, got my bearings, called my wife to let her know, had some water, and finished my tacos. My wife brought me to the Urgent Care. They did some bloodwork which I’m waiting for results on, did an EKG which noted that I had a slow heart rate (54bpm, though I do a lot of cardio), and assigned me a wearable ECG to wear for 5 days. Nothing of note was found, and we all inferred it must have been the circumstances.
I don’t know if the syncope was caused by dehydration, over-exertion, the CO2 bubble, standing up too fast, or what. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Can carbon dioxide bubbles do that?
TL/DR Helped a friend move, not enough water, had a cold Sprite, big CO2 bubble, fainted. Doc ran tests, not positive what caused it or if something else is going on yet.