Fainting in shower when exposed to hot water, very scary, what could it be?

my girlfriend had this very problem. she lives with me and a couple times id go to brush my teeth in the bathroom and id hear silence. she went through the same little symptoms your sister went through, which are the hallmark signs of vasovagal attacks.

it freaked me out a few times but it happens so often to her that were pretty much used to it now. Im a 3rd year medical student and this happens too often to young girls (and boys)

its very easy to explain: your sister is skinny and frail.

1.) she is in a bathroom where there is no ventilation (window, vents, open door) and she takes very hot showers.

2.) the heat and steam fill the room and there is little oxygen to reach her brain. (women are more prone to faint then men in these circumstances. especially underweight women of caucasian and native american decent.)

3.) with little to no oxygen reaching her brain, the blood volume increases and the body tries to do with whatever it has. vessels thin out, blood pressure drops dangerously low. (this can actually kill someone if they are in the shower alone too long)

4.) her entire body is now responding to systematic shut down: pain in eyes, limp body, shallow to very extremely heavy breathing, pale face, droopy eyes, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, vertigo, abnormal beating of the heart/pulse, confusion and tingling and numbness in the fingers.

4.) the body system goes into vascular shut down and the brain goes unconcious

5.) everywhere turns black, eyes start to hurt due to pressure on the nerves and she passes out and faints

steps of regaining conciousness:

1.) after exposed to air, or cold water, often the person will open their eyes slowly, they are confused and generally dizzy. the cold/air sends a surge of oxygen at a rate of 25m/psd to the brain and heart.

2.) body understands that it is concious and tries to work back to normal, causing pain and symptoms to go away rather quickly (it is pretty amazing how this happens in under a few minutes!)

3.) person will usually be quiet, feel very cold (have chills) and shake tremendously in the hands and lower extremities.

wrap a warm towel around their body if naked and give them water, lots of it to drink, tell them to lay down on a bed or somewhere well cushioned and be ready to call 911 if the body goes into shut down mode again. however, that is unlikely.

be sure to call 911 immediately if the person has hit their head in the tub or anywhere else.

My girlfriend now showers with hot water, but we put a window in the bathroom so she can crank it when she decides to stay for a long time. If you cannot install a window, you must tell her to shower with lukewarm water only. nobody likes it, but until she puts on weight and gets checked by a doctor, this is the only way.

Good Luck

Fainting In Shower

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RE:

Fainting in shower when exposed to hot water, very scary, what could it be?

I'm afraid for my little sister, she is a healthy 25 year old girl, but recently it's been like 5 months she has weird symptoms. She tends to faint in the shower. She uses hot water always but only recently has she been fainting. It's kind of scary, my mother and I walked in on her...

Have you ever noticed that your veins become more prominent when it's hot outside?

This is because when we are exposed to hot temperatures our blood vessels dilate and this decreases blood pressure because the heart doesn't have to work as hard since there is now more room for the blood to travel.

This decrease in blood pressure then begins to decrease the blood flow to your brain, which when deprived of too much blood basically blacks out and causes you to faint.

Since your sister is only 105 pounds, having showers which are too hot is going to have a significant effect on the amount of blood in her brain so she'll pass out.

So tell her that she won't pass out anymore if she has her showers a bit cooler, and when she gets out she should try not to get out too fast.

Hi, Your sister is experiencing vasovagal attacks.

A vasovagal attack is a disorder that causes a rapid drop in heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in decreased blood flow to the brain and fainting.

A vasovagal attack itself is not serious; however, injury is possible during a fainting episode.

Prolonged standing is associated with vasovagal attacks because blood may pool in the legs, thus reducing blood flow to the brain.

Heat exposure can also lead to a vasovagal attack. As blood flows to the body’s periphery to cool the body, this may result in decreased blood flow to the brain.

Heightened emotions, such as panic or fright, including seeing blood, having blood drawn, or being fearful of your life, may cause a vasovagal attack.

The doctor will assess the severity of these attacks and deide on treatment (if any) after assessment.

Hope this helps, try not to worry =)

If her doctor says she's healthy, then perhaps he is not looking for the cause and is just dismissing it. It's time to find a specialist - maybe a neurologist. Something is happening somewhere in her brain that is causing this to happen....she could be having seizures - they don't all result in what we normally see (people flopping around like a fish out of water). Find a doctor who can isolate what is happening and then treat the problem.

Good luck - I hope things turn out okay.

That sounds scary all i know is that she should see the best of the best if that is happening