Fainting after a meal?

[Mark in CA]

Anyone ever have this happen to them while flying? It's happened to me twice, and only on BA 747s between SFO and LHR. Each time, it happened shortly after finishing a meal during which I consumed one of those small bottles of wine. No other alcohol. No medical conditions.

Started off feeling like indigestion. First time it happened, I went to the lav to put some cold water on my face when I just went lights out and woke up on the floor. Happened again a minute later after I stood up. Cold sweat after that. Second time it happened, I was still in my seat, but this time I knew what was coming after I felt that indigestion-like feeling again, and it happened a lot more slowly, probably because I wasn't standing up. Something made my blood pressure drop.

When I asked the FAs in the back of the plane about it after the second time, they said surprised me by saying it happened to them often, and that there was probably too much CO2 in the cabin air.

Hasn't happened again for many years now, and I have not been on another BA flight since, although for a while I didn't have any alcohol on flights, but now it doesn't seem to matter anymore. I eat, drink wine, and have no further problem like this on any other flights.

Anyone have any idea what that was about?

[Alanwsg]

I don't think it could be CO2 poisoning, I've suffered from this myself (down caves) and the symptoms are quite specific. You'll get a thundering headache and any bright lights you look at will have a blue fringe around them.

[Paracab]

Mark,

Fainting after a meal is probably more common than you think (but not the norm of course); your body diverts blood to digest the meal, sometimes causing a shortage elsewhere, this can (and almost certainly will) be exacarbated by alcohol.

However, the indigestion you mention is worrying in that it could be indicative of a cardiac event causing hypotension.

Definitely worth running it past the gp, however long ago it was.

Can't see it being CO2 poisoning, with only one pax symptomatic out of a few hundred...

All the best.

[Mark in CA]

This has only happened to me on airplanes, only twice and not for at least eight or nine years now. I have wine with my earthbound meals regularly without any problem, and also did so on a flights to/from Japan in January without incident (among many others since the last incident). I am in good physical condition, don't smoke, have been playing strenuous games of racquetball regularly for 18 years twice a week for about 2 hours each session and have no other medical conditions. I also look a lot younger than I am (pushing 60). My blood pressure was checked about six months ago and was perfectly normal. The indigestion-like symptoms I mentioned occurred in the lower abdomen, like a common bellyache, not in the upper chest area like heartburn. I'm convinced it was just something about the conditions in the cabins of those two flights.

[TightSlot]

The cabin is pressurised to an altitude of approx 7 - 8,000ft. This causes a degree of hypoxia, minor in most cases but more significant in others. Alcohol will exacerbate the situation, as will eating - this is possibly the source of your problem.

[FHA]

I fainted after receiving the bill for a meal once....does that count?

[oz in dxb]

Paracab is correct. After a big meal, increased blood flow to the stomach to aid in digestation.
Normally the pax gets up to go to the toilet and faints as there is reduced blood flow to the head.

I guess you need to relax a while after you have eaten, then slowly get up.

Oz

[Mark in CA]

>I guess you need to relax a while after you have eaten, then slowly get up.

Except that it happened the second time while I was still seated. Oh well, fortunately, it seems to have been limited to those two BA flights. Maybe it was just the food itself :)