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finzi · Aug 21, 2008, 03:16 PM

I'm curious if this has happened to other people.

I visited the ophthalmologist for a fairly routine checkup last week. I have had a recurring eye problem brought on by an allergy to my contacts. I have horrible eyesight and have been wearing contacts for about 20 years now, so I'm really used to having my eyes being poked, prodded, etc. I have no stress about seeing an eye doctor.

So he put some drops in, looked around, and as he begins to explain this allergy, I start to feel a little bit sick to my stomach. As he continues talking, the feeling gets worse. I finally have to ask him to hold on as I am no longer able to listen - I put my head in my hands, then dropped my head in between my knees. It felt like a brick, and my body was so heavy I was unable to hold my arm up to take the glass of water the nurse was offering me. Eventually, I did come around with the help of time, some water and some smelling salts (eww).

Everybody's answer (or rather, question) has been, are you pregnant? I just stopped using birth control, but if that was the case, I would have been 4 days pregnant or less, so that seems somewhat implausible. Any other thoughts?

BlakeCory · Aug 21, 2008, 03:27 PM

This occurs usually from four activities:

(1) Contact tonometry (both applanation and indentation - the instruments must touch the cornea to get IOP readings)
(2) first-time contact lens trial
(3) slit-lamp biomicroscopy
(4) Insertion of punctal plugs

In all situations, once the patient's eyes or eyelids are touched by the tip of the tonometer, by the doctor or an assistant when inserting a contact lens, or by the doctor's pulling down the patient's lower eyelid for a closer view of the palpebral conjunctiva or the puncta, usually at the slit-lamp, vasovagal reflex kicks in within seconds.

Interestingly, most patients are young and healthy, possibly for the first time in their lives, their eyes are now manipulated by a stranger. The eyes/eyelids are indeed under some mechanical pressure albeit quite minor yet the physical reaction is quite dramatic.

Fr_Chuck · Aug 21, 2008, 03:52 PM

Of you were just sick, perhaps getting the flu or something that is oncomming.

Did you then go to a medical doctor, I would assume a person who passes out, rushes to a medical doctor for a check up??

finzi · Aug 21, 2008, 08:02 PM

I guess I am surprised because his exam had finished a fair amount earlier than when I began feeling faint; it wasn't an instantaneous response that the vasovagal response seems like. I am young (well, 31), healthy, but I've been to the eye doctor a million times and had a variety of people play with my eyes. I've also read that most people with the vagal response are young men?

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

Of you were just sick, perhaps getting the flu or something that is oncomming.

Did you then go to a medical doctor, I would assume a person who passes out, rushes to a medical doctor for a check up ???

No flu or sickness. After the smelling salts, the doctor allowed me to sit in the exam room for a while to make sure I was okay. Then they walked me to the waiting room so I could wait for my husband and mother to pick both me and my car up since I didn't think I should be driving home. I was fine for the rest of the day!

For the record, I never lost consciousness/blacked out. Just nauseous feelings and pre-blackout symptoms.

ChihuahuaMomma · Aug 21, 2008, 09:47 PM

I am wondering if you are allergic to proprocaine. Which is the drop used to dilation.

ChihuahuaMomma · Aug 21, 2008, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by BlakeCory

This occurs usually from four activities:

(1) Contact tonometry (both applanation and indentation - the instruments must touch the cornea to get IOP readings)
(2) first-time contact lens trial
(3) slit-lamp biomicroscopy
(4) Insertion of punctal plugs

In all situations, once the patient's eyes or eyelids are touched by the tip of the tonometer, by the doctor or an assistant when inserting a contact lens, or by the doctor's pulling down the patient's lower eyelid for a closer view of the palpebral conjunctiva or the puncta, usually at the slit-lamp, vasovagal reflex kicks in within seconds.

Interestingly, most patients are young and healthy, possibly for the first time in their lives, their eyes are now manipulated by a stranger. The eyes/eyelids are indeed under some mechanical pressure albeit quite minor yet the physical reaction is quite dramatic.

None of these activities would cause this sort of reaction. Perhaps being startled. And most doctors use numbing drops before performing tonometry, so most patients don't feel it.

ChihuahuaMomma · Aug 23, 2008, 12:07 AM

I'm sorry, I get my answers from personal experiences, not books. In five years and working with numerous doctors, I've never heard of this happening.

BlakeCory · Aug 23, 2008, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

I'm sorry, I get my answers from personal experiences, not books. In five years and working with numerous doctors, I've never heard of this happening.

Fortunately fainting is fairly uncommon, but those are not uncommon causes to fainting.

DropatEyeDr · Sep 16, 2009, 08:59 PM

I had the Same thing happen to me today at the eye Doctor!
This same thing happened to me today. I had the eye exam, and felt like I was going to faint. It was so strange. I really felt sick to my stomach.
What I suspect might have happened. Since my experience is so similar to your story above, except I'm a 35 y/o male. I'm not quite sure the numbing drops made it into my eyes. This is my suspicion. My event lasted about an hour or so. Then I was OK. Nothing like this has ever happened at the eye doctor before.

somwhereinmiami · Dec 2, 2009, 10:42 AM

I had the exact experience today - after the numbing drops were put in my eye - right prior to the pressure test I felt sick to my stomach then broke out in a sweat. I have fainted in the past so recognized the symptoms. I went numb from head to toe and had absolutely no strength to hold the water glass the nurse was bringing to help revive me. The doctor tilted my char back to prevent me from fainting forward. The whole episode lasted about 5 minutes, then it took me another 15 to get my act together and leave the doctor office. The doctor assured me that this kind of thing happened on occasion and not to worry. It's more embarrassing than anything else. Next time I go in for a check-up I'll be bringing in a bottle of coca cola - I think it would help to have a few sips both before and after the drops to raise the blood sugar and prevent the fainting feeling. I'm a very healthy 34 yo female.

wilcox03 · Jan 22, 2010, 03:31 PM

I've had this happen before when getting my eyes checked and I'm only 28. It was always after they had dilated my eyes that I would feel nauseas. Then I had an eye exam a couple days ago (my last one was 5yrs ago). It was right after receiving the numbing drops for the glaucoma test (not the eye puff one) that I almost instantly became nauseas and thus light headed. I had previously thought it was the stuff used for dilating, but now realize it's the numbing drops that I reacted to. It doesn't take long for it to wear off and that's about when I started feeling better... 5-10 minutes?? It was definitely embarrassing, but if I look back on my labor with my most recent kid, I had a drop in blood pressure thus nauseated feeling after receiving my epidural. My own thinking is that I just have a heightened sensitivity/reaction to any anesthetic. I've never had surgery, but I can say I would more than likely be sick aftwards. What's weird is that I have no reaction to novacaine shots. Would like to get a doctors opinion on this now after having to go through this ordeal at my last eye exam... we couldn't even finish it! But at least the doctor was understanding and told me she's seen reactions to the dye and/or dilating drops, so its very possible to have the same with the numbing drops. Hope that makes those who had a reaction feel better. :)

eblight1 · Jan 27, 2010, 08:15 AM

I went to the eye doc yesterday and had almost the same experience, but it happened after I had been sitting upright for quite some time as this doctor kept going back and forth between my left and right eyes with that extremely bright light they use to look into the back of your eye. I felt thirsty beforehand, and the room was very, very warm. I hadn't eaten for about three hrs prior... maybe it was hypoglycemia. In either case the experience was extremely unpleasant. Being somewhat of a worry-wart I was afraid of having something serious; it's reassuring to know others have had this happen as well.

erynlizabeth · Mar 25, 2010, 04:13 PM

Yeah had that happen to me. I told her I didn't want her to do it (because I thought she was dialating my eyes) and she said "oh no no thas not it its not bad at all" then she dove in and I apparently did not want her to jab my eye with a stick and out I went. Three weeks later (today) I get a call saying they cannot "leagally be held responsible" for my passing out and have to return my exam cost and I can no longer gt my contacts because of it, andthat I need to go to an optomologogist. Has THIS ever happened to anyone? I'm thinking they're saying this because I told them no and she did it anyway, and they're afraid I'm going to sue. Any feed back?

Ceestyle · Jan 13, 2011, 09:45 AM

It's called vasovagal syncope. Your mind and therefore body freaks out because something foreign is happening. Happens to me a lot :( but... I guess its more common then I thought. I was just doing some research before my eye exam!

Ceestyle · Jan 13, 2011, 09:45 AM

It's called vasovagal syncope. Your mind and therefore body freaks out because something foreign is happening. Happens to me a lot :( but... I guess its more common then I thought. I was just doing some research before my eye exam!

kms114 · Jul 8, 2011, 08:35 AM

The drops that optamologists use for numbing temporarily restrict the blood vessels in your eye, therefore causing a lower pressure reading to your brain. In some people, this can cause a vasovagal syncope response. Vasovagal syncope is basically a fancy way of saying you have a sensitive vagus nerve(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve) and pass out!

It is harmless to you to have this happen during your eye exam. In fact, it has happened to me--every time I have my eyes dilated, numbed, and even during my first contact lens fitting! The reason it is not instantaneous is because your brain has to 'react' to the pressure difference.

For reference, I have included a link that shows just how many people have the same reaction that you did. You are not alone!!

http://www.lhoffman.com/archives/124

nyhstlebunni · Feb 1, 2012, 10:26 AM

This happened to me yesterday as well. I had the numbing drops, and then the other drops to dilate my pupils, and by the time the exam was done (about an hour), I knew I was going to faint. I put my head between my legs to stop myself, and the Doctor gave me a cold cloth. I will say that it was 10am, and I had not eaten any breakfast. I also have a history of fainting... so it was not strange to me that this happened. My eye doctor told me that it is actually a common reaction and I shouldn't be alarmed or embarrassed.

tyler1991 · Jun 28, 2012, 09:56 PM

Same thing happened to me today. I was getting my eyes checked before going in for laser eye surgury. I went in feeling completely normal, he put in the numbing drops and said "you may feel a little queezy". I didn't think much of it... but within about 20 seconds my stomach felt upset, then I began to feel light headed, and then started sweating as if I had just ran 10 laps. He told me it was normal, and I lied down for about 2 minutes, got back up, and it was gone. One of the weirdest things I have ever experienced.

tyler1991 · Jun 28, 2012, 10:01 PM

Had this exact experience today. I was going in for a consultation for laser eye surgury. He gave me the eye numbing drops, and warned me that they may make me feel a little queezy. I didn't think much of it, until about 30 seconds later when I began to feel sick to my stomach, followed by lightheadedness, and then began to sweat as though I had just run 10 laps. He said it was normal, so I lied down for about 2 minutes, got back up and felt completely fine. It was like having a really bad flu for 5 minutes. One of the weirdest things I have ever experienced.

harvester2 · Sep 6, 2012, 04:31 PM

This happened to me years ago, when my regular eye doctor was out and I had to see his partner. After she put the drops in, I got nauseous, sweaty and went black for a few moments while waiting for them to take effect in the waiting room. This had never happened to me before, in years of visiting the eye doctor. When I told her what had happened, she said, "Oh, yeah, that happens every once in a while!"

It is NOT just a vasovagal reaction, or anxiety.

It turns out she used a different formula of dilating drops than my regular eye doctor did--her formula was stronger, and contained an ingredient called a cycloplegic. And apparently, some people are allergic to cycloplegics, and one reaction is to faint or nearly faint. So now I always tell my eye doctor, no cycloplegics, please. And it's never happened again.