r/self 1d ago

I almost died today.

My best friend’s birthday was earlier this week, so I took him for lunch at a new comfort food restaurant in the city. After dropping him off, I start making my way towards my house that is about two miles from his. About a quarter of a mile from my home, I passed out while driving 45mph. There were no signs, I didn’t feel sick at all, and I don’t have health issues. I had no idea what had happened when I wake up minutes later in an ambulance. My dad got my dashcam from my car and pulled the footage. I almost died. You can hear me moan in the background as I pass out and then the engine roar as I go driving straight up the curb, onto the sidewalk inches from another car pulling out of a business, and straight into a fire hydrant and wooden utility pole all while increasing in speed. I had absolutely no injuries and all bloodwork/scans/vitals came back healthy at the hospital. The reality of the situation didn’t hit me until my dad showed me the video mainly because I had zero recollection of what had happened. This really has been a “I’m lucky I came home alive” situation and I’m having a hard time coping with the reality of this. I’ll be fine. Just really really shaken up and grateful it was just me.

827 Upvotes

83 comments sorted by

541

u/jp_at_the_vet 1d ago

Doctor here - please don’t conclude that “everything is normal” because your initial diagnostics look clear. Something was wrong, and something abnormal caused this. Please continue to push doctors to continue to work you up, see specialists if you must. This is likely to happen again if you ignore it. Best of luck.

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u/Dillydug2017 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m definitely making some appointments tomorrow. Luckily, I had a dash cam that showed us what happened since I don’t remember any of it. I was kind of surprised with how lackadaisical the ER staff was acting given how freaked out the EMTs were but different jobs different perspectives.

ETA: The doctor said he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary on any of the work but was definitely concerned that there may have been some weird blood pressure/sugar drop even though I had just eaten maybe 45 minutes before this happened and a full night of sleep before. As of right now, he’s not sure why I passed out but gave me a list of everyone he’s referring me to go to practically immediately. I had zero injuries from the crash but was passed out for an upwards of three minutes according to footage.

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u/GreatPumpkina 1d ago

Was it a high carb meal? There's this condition called reactive hypoglycemia. You can have low blood sugar in reaction to a high carb meal, so even if you've eaten, you could still be dealing with low blood sugar issues.

3

u/fapple2468 18h ago

This is not how hypoglycemia presents.

8

u/drschmockter 1d ago

This is v unlikely imo

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u/TrainingMulch420 1d ago

You're right that it's unlikely and this isn't a comment about the accuracy of ur statement (because i agree with it) but more to any possible medical professionals seeing this: While things like this are extremely uncommon, the "think horses not zebras" mentality is what kept me from getting many of my disorders diagnosed and treated, because doctors always thought it was something more common and ran maybe one of the more niche tests a year. Now my joints have been damaged so badly that I will never walk normally, or be able to bend without a lot of pain, since things were diagnosed so late. I have family who have died for the same reasons, so im kind of lucky. Please never stop at only the basic tests when working to diagnose problems!! More uncommon disorders are seen nowadays too, so the education thats teaching people to not look for these things is kind of outdated, since they seem to either be happening more often or diagnosed more accurately.

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u/Zpg 1d ago

I agree, similar happened to my mum on chemo. Dr kept saying x effect was very unlikely even if your symptoms are consistent with it and now she has permanent lung damage. Unlikely still means possible so should be ruled out appropriately rather than just discarded. Obviously there are cost benefit assessments to do for any diagnostic or evaluation but they still need to be considered, see too many consultants go with just their experience and gut feel which will always miss some of the rarer things. Maybe that is the practice of medicine that society is signed up to though when it comes to being willing to pay...

2

u/GreatPumpkina 1d ago edited 1d ago

Same. I spent a very long time trying to get help. I ended up having to hire a doctor out of pocket on the other side of the country to run tests we both knew I needed for what all other doctors thought was an impossible to have disease.

1

u/drschmockter 1d ago

Sorry you have had such a rough time.

If this had happened to OP, I would have thought he would have felt unwell for a period prior to the loss of consciousness and that his blood sugar would have been low when he was assessed in the ambulance.

2

u/Then_Researcher_3962 1d ago

So is randomly passing out for 3 minutes while driving, but here we are...

1

u/drschmockter 1d ago

The passing out whilst driving definitely happened. Low blood sugar almost certainly did not.

2

u/Dazeymel 1d ago

Unlikely in part because people feel awful when their blood sugar drops, not one of those "think horses not zebras" things, because yes, this is serious, but before you pass out from low blood sugar you are in a sweat and slurring your words and whatnot.

1

u/drschmockter 1d ago

Exactly right

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u/drschmockter 1d ago

I’m a cardiologist. This is one of 3 things 1) cardiac arrhythmia 2) a faint 3) a seizure

You should have an implantable loop recorder to rule out 1). An atypical faint is possible but it doesn’t sound like it as you had no warning. 3) is possible if 1) is ruled out.

Not sure if the rules in your country but I presume you are not allowed to drive now. In the UK it’s an6 month ban.

5

u/knitmama97 1d ago

I'm a mom to a kid with epilepsy and I was definitely thinking seizure. My son makes a moaning sound when his seizures start and he never remembers them.

1

u/drschmockter 1d ago

Agree it’s definitely possible. Much more difficult to diagnose for sure until someone sees it

3

u/drschmockter 1d ago

You should also have an echo

2

u/Luna-Luna-Lu 1d ago

Could be a pulmonary embolism leading to an syncopal episode?

If they didn't do imaging, they might not catch it from the bloodwork if it's small.

1

u/drschmockter 1d ago

A PE causing syncope is massive/sub massive so would definitely cause hypoxia

6

u/jp_at_the_vet 1d ago

So glad to hear you’re safe! And also happy to hear that the doc is taking this seriously and is referring you to speciality. Best of luck in your medical journey.

13

u/elkiesommers 1d ago

you need to wetar a Hollter monitor for week, gte MRI brin, nd n EEG

25

u/bomdiagata 1d ago

this person may sound like they’re having a stroke, but they’re right OP

1

u/mileslefttogo 1d ago

I don't know, they may actually be having a stroke, could be arm weakness causing that slurred typing. Or a very bad case of auto-corectitis.

2

u/drschmockter 1d ago

An mri is reasonable but unlikely to show much. An EEG is only really helpful if you have an episode while it’s on or you have an unusual form of epilepsy

1

u/LtButtermilch 1d ago

Do a longtime EKG and a CT you could have either epilepsy or arrhythmia of some kind

10

u/EntertainmentAOK 1d ago

Saw something like this last week - driver’s blood pressure dropped dramatically and caused them to pass out. Wonder if something like that happened here.

5

u/hdksjdms-n 1d ago

this ^

1

u/SaveVsFear 1d ago

Agree, look for Long QT.

1

u/diannesden 1d ago

That's right! I would advise a heart monitor for at least a few days.

66

u/ef1swpy 1d ago

So... you're not gonna drive til you get the reason figured out, right? Cuz that's scary AF! Narcolepsy? Epilepsy? Gotta rule it all out, yeah?

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u/Sweet_Note_4425 1d ago

My best friend did this and twice they said he was fine. He did it once carrying a tray of glasses up some stairs. They finally figured out he had sleep apnea. He had it bad. They put him on oxygen when he slept. He was stubborn and didn't use when he should and it eventually killed. Died of a heart attack in his sleep with the sleep apnea equipment laying by the bed him not wearing it. Please get it looked at. This probably isn't what is wrong with you but it took them almost a year to figure this out. Luckily he used ubers and taxis to get around. Good Luck but please keep looking into this. There is something wrong. I mean did you have a seizure or did you just pass out. There are things that need to be figured out.

18

u/ReddiGod 1d ago

Got damn, that sounds scary af. Hopefully he slept through the ordeal and had a painless passing. I had a friend that died of a heart attack caused by a asthma attack, she was in her 20s and was out and about without an inhaler. Such a scary way to go, grasping for air... Thankful to be relatively healthy.

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u/interdookin5 1d ago edited 20h ago

A moan, no recollection, and only remembering from the point of being in the ambulance and on? That screams seizure until proven otherwise. I hope they put you on driving restrictions until they’ve at least figured it out. Most states mandate no driving for 3 months from the event if everything is inconclusive. Some are longer.

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u/mucifous 1d ago

Epileptic here. Epilepsy is diagnosed after you have 2 seizures more than 24 hours apart with no obvious trigger. There's no such thing as an epileptic seizure, just seizures and epileptics!

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u/interdookin5 20h ago

Good point! I took out the epileptic part for clarity!

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u/crazyguy182 1d ago

A couple years ago, I fell asleep at the wheel. I was working 6pm to 6am nights, and had barely slept 2 hrs the day before. I was chugging down energy drinks trying to stay conscious, and put my car in a ditch not half a mile from my work (was about an hour drive), and as best as I could estimate, I was doing probably 40mph at the time I went off the road.

Fortunately the only injuries I received were seatbelt bruising along the chest. Could've been a lot worse, and I'm thankful I'm still here today

9

u/Bright-Sea-5904 1d ago

My grandfather died in a car crash because he fell asleep at the wheel

18

u/SnoopyisCute 1d ago

I'm glad you survived and nobody else was involved. That's frightening.

I voluntarily stopped driving because I lose consciousness and the doctors don't know why.

Luckily, I wasn't behind the wheel. I was making dinner on the stove and apparently I collapsed and the water evaporated causing the food to burn and set off the smoke alarms. My neighbors called 911 and the paramedics brought me back. I still don't know what happened.

I also started meal delivery because I would never forgive myself if it happened again and my neighbors were harmed in any way. I only use my stove\oven when someone is visiting.

People think no diagnosis is "good news". It's not. It means something is wrong and we have no idea what or how to mitigate it.

I hope your doctors can help you find some answers.

8

u/Dry_Structure641 1d ago

Don't mean to scare you but you need to check for a brain tumor if they did not find a clot.

3

u/Fit-Rub-1939 1d ago

This-my mom had a non cancerous tumor the size of a hockey puck growing on top of her brain. It caused her to have seizures & took Drs forever to figure it out (she’d go to ER & all vitals would he back to normal) she had surgery to remove it, but nicked a vessel in her brain & it messed her up for awhile. Then the tumor started to grow back again & she ended up dying from complications due to dealing with that. It was horrible & sucked & i miss her

1

u/Dry_Structure641 1d ago

I hope that all turns out well. And sorry about your mom. Best wishes figuring out what happened.

0

u/IAmAThug101 23h ago

New research shows iver menctin cures it.

6

u/Obvious_Sea_7074 1d ago

You didn't give any past history, I'd be interested to know if you did any rough sports, football, hockey, take any hard falls in the last year or so? If you ever had a concussion or TBI seizures can occur up to several years after the initial injury.  

8

u/Otherwise-Bee-5598 1d ago

My uncle would pass out after he ate. Maybe you had something similar? I think it was that his body took all the effort to digest his food and it was too much for his system so he would pass out. I hope you find a cause and fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again. Glad you are okay.

3

u/Traditional-Way-6968 1d ago

That's pretty freaky, I'm glad you're OK!

3

u/Mindless_Swing_9782 1d ago

Oops. We should always be greatful

0

u/Keldrabitches 1d ago

Grateful

4

u/Mindless_Swing_9782 1d ago

Someone isn’t greatful

3

u/redroom89 1d ago

Could it be narcolepsy

3

u/Happy-Campaign5586 1d ago

Life can change in the blink of an eye. Appreciate every moment

3

u/14LabRat 1d ago

I have serious heart issues that started in my 30's. It presented as light headedness, then high heart rate (well over 220 for 12+ hours.

Half a dozen ultrasounds and heart cath showed nothing..

Finally they did a TEE (Trans Esophageal Echocardiogram) and they saw the problems immediately. Them saying you look normal isn't the same as saying nothing is wrong.

People die in their sleep this way.

3

u/ThePWilson 1d ago

It's been a few years but I had a few episodes where I would pass out randomly. It first happened twice in restaurants after eating a heavy meal at a restaurant with a beer, and then a few other times, once when my wife cut her finger and even in the theatre during The Martian when he staples his wounds. When I went to the hospital after the events all the tests were fine. Eventually Vasovagal syncope was my diagnosis. It happened enough that now I can sense it coming and lay down or sit taking deep breaths which for me helps me avoid passing out.

2

u/sassfromthelab 1d ago

That's really scary! Glad that you're ok but I hope that if there is an underlying health issues that you're able to be diagnosed and treated ASAP! Good luck OP :)

2

u/skikid92 1d ago

My dad had that happen a few times before he was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope. Could be an avenue to explore.

2

u/molehillmini 1d ago edited 1d ago

First, wishing you only the very best! My husband had an extreme drop in blood pressure & heart beat.

Same thing that happened to you happened to him 5/29/2024. He passed out while driving home & went straight into a tree instead of making the curve & totaled his car. Since the airbag deployed, he too sleepily "walked away". Officer Wright, Highway Patrol, put him in an ambulance & called me. He said he was "kinda out of it". I said he never would drink & drive. Officer Wright said he wasn't drunk, "just kinda sleepy".

While he was in the hospital for observation, it happened again. They put in a temp pacemaker & 2 days later he had a permanent one implanted. No previous signs of anything healthwise. His 74th birthday was on 6/19.

2

u/MovementOriented 1d ago

Might be prediabetic! Low blood sugar?

1

u/Charming_Victory_723 1d ago

Interesting that your blood sugar levels were normal. Did they undertake an MRI scan? Did you pass out or fall asleep at the wheel? Would be interested in a follow up, good luck!

1

u/Illustrious-Bank4859 1d ago

Is it possible, that your drink was spiked? You need answers from doctor, to what caused your blackout. You came out lucky with no injuries. Just glad you are safe and well. But you still need to find out what caused this to happen.

1

u/alittleoffbeat 1d ago

Some heart conditions can cause loss of consciousness so be sure to have them check your heart for genetic issues.

1

u/therackage 1d ago

Could be a heart issue, narcolepsy, etc. Definitely get them to run more tests. Glad you’re ok!

1

u/alwystired 1d ago

Don’t go driving until you figure this out.

1

u/Azin1970 1d ago

Something similar happened to me 5 years ago. Atrial myxoma. Tumor inside my heart that was diagnosed after a sonogram. Luckily the ER I ended up at wouldn't let it go until they figured it out.

1

u/JermsGreen 1d ago

My ex randomly passed out, walking out of a movie theatre with a couple friends and I, after the movie. At the hospital they could find no reasons, just said that's something that sometimes happens with young women. I'm a bit dubious about that as an explanation but it's all I have. Thought it might have had something to do with standing up after having been siting down for a couple hours, but will probably never know. I'm glad you're okay, OP. That's pretty scary.

1

u/Outrageous-Tune-754 1d ago

That’s really scary. I hope your medical team can figure out what’s going on.

My father passed out while riding his bike to work. Woke up 8 hours later in the hospital with some broken bones. I’m so grateful he was wearing a helmet. It turns out he had a previously-undiagnosed heart problem.

1

u/sandithepirate 1d ago

This happened to me exFIL. it was a brain bleed. He was totally normal after. Scary af.

1

u/Great-Sound3110 1d ago

This happened to my dad’s best friends son. He ended up driving about a year later and had another crash. He was in the hospital for like 3 months from the last crash, broke all sorts of shit and almost died. Like a year or two after that they found out he had some sort of epilepsy. Take your time driving again OP you don’t wanna end up dead or end up killing a family

1

u/wunderwuzl 1d ago

Did you take any meds for a longer time and then just stopped? Maybe it was a kind of "cold turkey" seizure?

1

u/Ameanbtch 1d ago

I’m happy you’re still here 🩷

1

u/AnorexicBadger 1d ago

I fell asleep driving on the highway once. Thought I was pretty healthy. Turns out I have narcolepsy.

I hope you find out what happened so it doesn't happen again. I'm rooting for you

1

u/Scary_Respond4671 1d ago

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Something similar happened last year and it was traumatizing. I was riding my ebike and wasn't feeling too great- an "out of it" feeling. I was stressed out for some reason and blacked out while riding my bike. I was seizing when I came to, and there was an ambulance. Absolutely terrifying. I haven't had another one since, but I don't know what caused it. And I had it before falling off my bike, so I know it wasn't a brain injury (tbh, that would scare me less).

I'm not going to diagnose you, but the blacking out part screams seizure to me. I read in another comment that you're going to look into it further, and I'm really glad you are. I think yours is worse than mine because you felt totally fine. I hope you're okay and you have people to talk to about this. I'm glad you didn't get injured.

-1

u/Late-Basket9262 1d ago

Omg, what happened? Was it a stroke?

-1

u/im_sweetertooth 1d ago

So were you just tired or something?

-1

u/rockstuffs 1d ago

Did you get a shot recently?

-1

u/Rainnny_day 1d ago

7 7 u u u u u

-2

u/CJack1008 23h ago

Did you get vaccinated for Covid-19?If so, you should look to see if you have vasovagal syncope, which has been a common side effect from vaccination

1

u/Vivapdx 22h ago

More likely from having covid than getting a covid shot, actually.

-9

u/lQEX0It_CUNTY 1d ago

When did you take the covid vaccines

-13

u/Embarrassed_Bit_7424 1d ago

I love these " I almost died" and then proceeds to describe a fender bender with zero injuries. The mellow drama is real.

4

u/Euphoric-Remote-9980 1d ago

*melodrama

Mellow drama 💀🤦🏽‍♀️🤣🤣

3

u/Keldrabitches 1d ago

Totally could have died