A brief WARNING:  Don’t do what I did.

It was close to 100 degrees, and after a long workday I lugged three bags up to my third-floor NYC walk-up.  I dropped the bags and dived into the refrigerator for a nice cold drink of bubbly seltzer.  I gulped hastily and happily.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp burning in my head and dizziness.  Then, wham!  I fainted.  I went down hard and fast.  I awoke horizontal on my kitchen floor with my head dribbling blood.

Seven stitches later and a cranky overnight stay in the emergency room taught me something important: that bubbly drinks and a warm body can make you drop!

I learned it has a name: deglutition syncope.

Deglutition syncope is the phenomenon of lightheadedness or loss of consciousness associated with swallowing cold liquids.

The nerve lining of the esophagus can become sensitive to various stimuli.  If the body is extremely warm, and you drink an ice-cold substance too quickly, down you can go.  Dr. Brian Olshansky of Loyola University Medical Center writes about soda-related fainting spells in the New England Journal of Medicine, “Carbonation and ice-cold beverages ‘tickle’ the nerves.  This stimulus can trigger slowdowns in heart rate accompanied by a quick drop in blood pressure, culminating in fainting.”

Two lessons I learned:

#1: Know thy neighbor! Regardless of how robust our social, love and family lives might be, in a pinch, we need our neighbours.  (Thanks, J)

#2:  Slow down — and sit while you sip!

Do you have a fainting story? Got a tip to share?

Internet site reference: http://blogs.prevention.com/a-pound-of-better/2012/06/21/dont-faint-read-this-first-2/