Convulsive syncope?
For a bit of background, after a very stressful period about a year ago, I started having episodes where I’d suddenly almost faint while walking, and I passed out once. Those episodes eventually stopped. During another blood draw months later, I almost passed out again (i assume that i was fighting it because i WAS awake but my head was lolling left and right, backwards and forward. They gave me warm water with sugar for some reason) and had what felt like a panic attack, so ever since then I’ve been extremely anxious about getting blood taken.
A few days ago I had to get blood work done for my driver’s license.
I warned the nurse that I get really overwhelmed during blood draws and asked if she could make it as quick as possible.
She inserted the needle, and at first I was okay. The last thing I remember is seeing her walk over to her station, then everything went black.
From my perspective, I genuinely believed I was at home having a horrible nightmare. I had no idea I was still in the hospital. It felt like I was caught in a tornado and being thrown around REALLY aggressively. I remember trying to escape it, and I had the feeling that I was gripping onto something tightly.
According to my dad, my eyes rolled back, I started convulsing like I was having a seizure, and I was gripping the chair extremely tightly.
I don’t know how long it lasted, but when it started, the nurse had only inserted the needle. By the time I came back, the blood draw was completely finished, the needle was out, and there was already a cup of water waiting for me.
When I regained awareness, I panicked for a few seconds because I genuinely thought I had just woken up from a nightmare. Then I realized I was still in the hospital and started crying because it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced.
Has anyone experienced anything like this? Does this sound like convulsive vasovagal syncope, or something else?.. just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or knows what this type of episode is called.