Fainting after abortion
April 30, 2019 6:06 AM Subscribe
Why did I pass out after my abortion?
I had an in-clinic suction abortion at 6 weeks 1 day gestation. I was not feeling emotional turmoil about my decision. I was awake for the procedure and had 800mg of ibuprofen beforehand, plus local anesthetic injected into my cervix. I found the procedure very uncomfortable and quite painful, but not excruciating (for context, I have also given birth without an epidural). Immediately afterwards, I didn't feel like myself (mental confusion), and had a lot of trouble sitting up when I was asked to. I finally did but felt overwhelming nausea, then blacked out. I came to on the table an unknown amount of time later with cold compresses on me and my blood pressure apparently extremely low. I was taken to the recovery room in a wheelchair and kept in recovery for a slightly longer period of time than usual - 45 minutes compared to the normal 20, or something like that - with frequent BP checks. Over the course of the first 20 minutes in recovery, and while eating a small amount and drinking ginger ale, my blood pressure recovered, and I felt completely physically normal by the time I left.
I asked the staff how often people pass out after an abortion and was told "it happens, but it's uncommon." I asked what percentage of people they see it happen to and they seemed not to want to answer that - I think they were worried I would be frightened, but I was, and still am, just curious! They just said it is "very rare."
So, my questions are: What was going on in my body that caused my to pass out/why would anyone pass out after an abortion? Also, does anyone know how common it is for this to happen - are there statistics?
PS: Overall, this was a positive experience for me and for my family. I am very grateful for the care I received and the kindness and compassion with which I was treated. I am merely curious about the medical explanation of what happened.
I had an in-clinic suction abortion at 6 weeks 1 day gestation. I was not feeling emotional turmoil about my decision. I was awake for the procedure and had 800mg of ibuprofen beforehand, plus local anesthetic injected into my cervix. I found the procedure very uncomfortable and quite painful, but not excruciating (for context, I have also given birth without an epidural). Immediately afterwards, I didn't feel like myself (mental confusion), and had a lot of trouble sitting up when I was asked to. I finally did but felt overwhelming nausea, then blacked out. I came to on the table an unknown amount of time later with cold compresses on me and my blood pressure apparently extremely low. I was taken to the recovery room in a wheelchair and kept in recovery for a slightly longer period of time than usual - 45 minutes compared to the normal 20, or something like that - with frequent BP checks. Over the course of the first 20 minutes in recovery, and while eating a small amount and drinking ginger ale, my blood pressure recovered, and I felt completely physically normal by the time I left.
I asked the staff how often people pass out after an abortion and was told "it happens, but it's uncommon." I asked what percentage of people they see it happen to and they seemed not to want to answer that - I think they were worried I would be frightened, but I was, and still am, just curious! They just said it is "very rare."
So, my questions are: What was going on in my body that caused my to pass out/why would anyone pass out after an abortion? Also, does anyone know how common it is for this to happen - are there statistics?
PS: Overall, this was a positive experience for me and for my family. I am very grateful for the care I received and the kindness and compassion with which I was treated. I am merely curious about the medical explanation of what happened.
I've passed out after other medical procedures / exams and I eventually figured out it was because I was holding my breath.
posted by beyond_pink at 6:30 AM on April 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by beyond_pink at 6:30 AM on April 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
Possibly Vasovagal syncope. Some people regularly get dizzy and can pass out after defecating so if you are prone to this it is not hard to trigger.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2019 [23 favorites]
If your vagus nerve was activated during the procedure it can cause fainting. When I had my IUD inserted I was warned to be careful and I did feel dizzy right after.
posted by lafemma at 6:32 AM on April 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by lafemma at 6:32 AM on April 30, 2019 [9 favorites]
I passed out after a papsmear once. I was holding my breath and tensing up. I also used to pass out whenever I felt nauseous. Took 3 different doctors to finally work out it was because I used to tuck my head in to suppress the feeling & was basically cutting off blood to my brain.
posted by wwax at 6:48 AM on April 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by wwax at 6:48 AM on April 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
I pass out aka faint aka vasovagal response on occasion whether I am in actual or perceived danger or not. When my child broke their arm, when I had a minor biopsy, seeing my own blood, having a non-stressful conversation in the hot sun, or a stressful conversation in a comfortable room. It doesn't really matter whether I am in any sort of danger, I can know that I am not in any danger, but sometimes it just happens even when I'm willing it not to happen and don't feel actual mental stress. I can easily regenerate this feeling just by typing these words or being in a doctor's office. My medical practitioners tell me this is common, they regularly see it; when I passed out during the minor biopsy (no stitches required), the nurses told me that it happens all the time. I take care to warn people if I am in a situation where I might pass out so they know that I don't have seizures and not to call an ambulance. Some people just faint. It happens more that I am older. It happens to my dad too.
Your description of experiencing pain (that probably caused a tense body), then mental confusion, sitting up, blackness and nausea before passing out, low blood pressure, sounds normal to me. I would add a lingering feeling of dizziness, cold sweat, and overwhelming tiredness for the rest of the day.
posted by RoadScholar at 7:39 AM on April 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Your description of experiencing pain (that probably caused a tense body), then mental confusion, sitting up, blackness and nausea before passing out, low blood pressure, sounds normal to me. I would add a lingering feeling of dizziness, cold sweat, and overwhelming tiredness for the rest of the day.
posted by RoadScholar at 7:39 AM on April 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Likely a vasovagal response. My husband does it for just about any stressful (doesn't even have to be painful, but if it IS going to be painful we/his doctor have a whole routine including pre-procedure Zofran for the nausea) medical procedure, as well as scenes of same in movies/tv sometimes.
For a lot of people it does seem to be at least partially triggered by tensing up your core or neck, and in the case of short-term anesthesia sometimes your blood pressure dips a little and the combo is definitely a fainting trigger.
I strongly doubt there are any public data about this in relation to abortion specifically, and I've never found any related to all medical procedures either, I just know that it only takes a "hi, I'm here because he's a fainter" for medical staff to be like "right, thanks for the warning, let's do this a little different" but nobody ever asks up front so it must be in the range of "everyone's seen it, but not often enough that anybody's worried about it on a daily basis".
posted by Lyn Never at 7:40 AM on April 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
For a lot of people it does seem to be at least partially triggered by tensing up your core or neck, and in the case of short-term anesthesia sometimes your blood pressure dips a little and the combo is definitely a fainting trigger.
I strongly doubt there are any public data about this in relation to abortion specifically, and I've never found any related to all medical procedures either, I just know that it only takes a "hi, I'm here because he's a fainter" for medical staff to be like "right, thanks for the warning, let's do this a little different" but nobody ever asks up front so it must be in the range of "everyone's seen it, but not often enough that anybody's worried about it on a daily basis".
posted by Lyn Never at 7:40 AM on April 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
Nthing Vasovagal syncope.
posted by Miko at 7:45 AM on April 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 7:45 AM on April 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hi, I’m a nurse and midwife and worked in abortion care for a long time. Yes, you had a vasovagal reaction. Your vagus nerve was stimulated and this caused you to feel dizzy and nauseous and to faint. I’d actually say it’s not un Common and can happen in lots of medical procedures (abortion, IUD placement, having blood drawn, etc.) and doesn’t signify anything went wrong with your procedure or with you. In my experience, it often happens when people are feeling tense —in your case, perhaps because of the pain you experienced during the procedure—or if they haven’t eaten recently. (I once worked with a very anxious provider and they had lots of patients faint; I think it was because they put the patient more on edge (unintentionally, of course)).The symptoms generally resolve on their own or sometimes with extra food/fluids/sugar. There should be no long-standing effects.
In terms of percentages, it’s probably hard to say, as some people will have a very mild response (say, just feel very lightheaded and need to lay flat for a bit) and others will have a complete fainting episode. Frequency also varies depending on type of procedure. I’d say maybe 5% of abortion patients will have it but maybe as many as 10% of blood draw patients, but depends on the day.
I’m glad you felt well-cared for and supported.
posted by stillmoving at 8:32 AM on April 30, 2019 [15 favorites]
In terms of percentages, it’s probably hard to say, as some people will have a very mild response (say, just feel very lightheaded and need to lay flat for a bit) and others will have a complete fainting episode. Frequency also varies depending on type of procedure. I’d say maybe 5% of abortion patients will have it but maybe as many as 10% of blood draw patients, but depends on the day.
I’m glad you felt well-cared for and supported.
posted by stillmoving at 8:32 AM on April 30, 2019 [15 favorites]
I'm prone to this (vasovagal syncope) - it's happened after giving blood, while injecting myself with IVF drugs for the first time, and out of the blue while standing in front of a class. I've never actually passed out after a blood draw but I've come close a few times. I attribute it to generally low blood pressure combined with stress/fear to varying degrees.
The advice I've had is that it's fairly normal and nothing to worry about unless it's happening a lot.
posted by altolinguistic at 9:04 AM on April 30, 2019
The advice I've had is that it's fairly normal and nothing to worry about unless it's happening a lot.
posted by altolinguistic at 9:04 AM on April 30, 2019
Yep, this happened to me after I got my first IUD. Blood pressure drop.
posted by greta simone at 9:06 AM on April 30, 2019
posted by greta simone at 9:06 AM on April 30, 2019
This happened to me when I broke my little toe, just in case you want to feel hardcore. Best wishes to you.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:08 AM on April 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:08 AM on April 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Nthing the people who did this after an IUD placement. I have a vasovagal reaction if you insert a needle into my cervix, which seems like a perfectly rational response to me.
posted by Ink-stained wretch at 9:35 AM on April 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Ink-stained wretch at 9:35 AM on April 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Cervical dilation probably triggered a vasovagal response in this context. I once blacked out from taking misoprostol prior to a gynaecological procedure, it was very abrupt. if you ever get an IUD let your healthcare provider know.
posted by chiquitita at 1:55 PM on April 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by chiquitita at 1:55 PM on April 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
One more data point: I passed out in the same circumstances, and also when getting an IUD and donating blood. Fell flat on my face and woke up puking. Fun! The vagus nerve is a fascinating thing.
posted by Freyja at 4:47 PM on April 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Freyja at 4:47 PM on April 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you were trying to stanch the pain by bearing down (like having a constipated poop, or holding your breath "hard" against a closed glottis) you likely upped your vagal tone and dropped your blood pressure. It happens.
The uterus and cervix are innervated by sympathetic nerves and pelvic splanchnics respectively, so it's not a direct result of the procedure but rather an extremely common, if evolutionarily bizarre, response to pain.
posted by basalganglia at 5:38 PM on April 30, 2019
The uterus and cervix are innervated by sympathetic nerves and pelvic splanchnics respectively, so it's not a direct result of the procedure but rather an extremely common, if evolutionarily bizarre, response to pain.
posted by basalganglia at 5:38 PM on April 30, 2019
Here to say - I nearly passed out when my IUD was inserted, and my doctor said it was because some people's vagus nerve freaks out when anything messes with their cervix. This sounds a lot like what you experienced!
posted by oblique red at 10:18 AM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by oblique red at 10:18 AM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was told that I might pass out after having an IUD inserted, and just this past week, was cautioned that I might pass out after having a uterine biopsy. I didn't, in either case, but after the latter I did feel very wobbly and a little dizzy.
posted by sarcasticah at 1:55 PM on May 3, 2019
posted by sarcasticah at 1:55 PM on May 3, 2019
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They attributed my daughter's condition to blood loss, and she is still eating iron supplements now, 4 months later. In every other aspect, she is strong and healthy.
posted by mumimor at 6:28 AM on April 30, 2019