A second fainting spell, fifty years apart

Just a lift too high

He lifted my right leg by the foot towards the back, and I was out. I cannot tell how long I was out for, but I eventually came to, and considering he neither panicked nor called for help, it could not have been that long.

That was fifty years ago, around this time of the year. We had gone cycling together into the wilderness among the tin mines of Jos, near Rayfield. This was both adventurous and dangerous. We once came upon a gathering of menacing men who not only shooed us away, but they were also quite threatening, though it is unlikely that reporting them to the police would have made much difference.

On that day, we had ridden out on an uncharted route around the paddocks, too deep to approach, with standing water that spelled danger and death by drowning, with the possibility that one may not be found at all. However, that was a story of childhood.

Woozy, down and out

What brought back that memory was suddenly standing up, and I had a serious woozy feeling, very much like when I took my eighth COVID-19 booster on Monday. I had willed myself back from the pharmacy to the office and sat down; everything seemed to sort itself out in minutes.

This time, I grabbed onto something, thinking I was holding on until I heard a crashing sound. It was me hitting the floor, and I lapsed into a kind of dreamland, believing I was still holding on and about to get up.

I was out, quite totally out, and I cannot remember how long for; I just realised I was picking myself off the floor and made for the sofa to sit down and gather myself together. What just happened? I had a fainting spell.

A bit delicate, I realise

Until this afternoon, I had handled these sudden drops in blood pressure caused by standing or sitting up quite well. I think it was exacerbated by my medication, which, as an alpha-blocker, could accentuate light-headedness and, in some cases, lead to passing out.

It was not a side effect I had associated with the medication, having only learnt of this usually rare side effect from a YouTube video this morning. [The NHS: About Tamsulosin]

While I have tried not to feel too delicate in my recovery stretch, the reality suggests that I need to be more careful and considerate of the unforeseen events that could put me at great risk and peril. The knowledge is helpful, and I am doing quite well after that episode.

Postscript: The medication for the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia (an enlarged prostate), also treats high blood pressure.