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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Why Did I Lose Consciousness After A Coughing Fit?

I had a coughing fit yesterday and as a result, my friend said I went v red, I lost consciousness for a few seconds and then my friends was standing over me. i saw her but could not speak to her although i tried and i felt my body was convulsing. After that i was fine. What happened to me?
Fri, 27 Jun 2014
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,
Welcome to HCM!

This is Dr. Sridhar and I shall be answering your question.

Well, when a person coughs, his intra abdominal and intra thoracic pressure increases. Increase in the intra abdominal pressure compresses your inferior vena cava, the blood vessel that carries blood from your body to your heart. As this vessel is compressed, heart doesn't receive the impure blood from the body. As a result, it fails to pump blood too ( as it didn't receive any). This decreases the blood flow to your brain, which results in loss of consciousness.

Hope this answers your query. Feel free to ask if you have any other doubt.

Wishing you good health.
With warm regards,
Dr. Sridhar
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Why Did I Lose Consciousness After A Coughing Fit?

Hi, Welcome to HCM! This is Dr. Sridhar and I shall be answering your question. Well, when a person coughs, his intra abdominal and intra thoracic pressure increases. Increase in the intra abdominal pressure compresses your inferior vena cava, the blood vessel that carries blood from your body to your heart. As this vessel is compressed, heart doesn t receive the impure blood from the body. As a result, it fails to pump blood too ( as it didn t receive any). This decreases the blood flow to your brain, which results in loss of consciousness. Hope this answers your query. Feel free to ask if you have any other doubt. Wishing you good health. With warm regards, Dr. Sridhar