what the hell happened? almost fainted

OK, i didn't think i was a baby or a lightweight. until now. I did all the right things--have an amazing, first-class artist, ate dinner beforehand, tried to stay hydrated, etc. I wasn't nervous. The piece was on my shoulder/blade area. Large piece. Would have taken a three hour session and another two hour session to complete. The session i just left lasted two hours. I was fine being seated while tattooing for the first hour and 45 minutes--no problems Then after the outline it was suggested i lie face down on a table while he began the color. The first color applied was very dark (blossoms), and as he stretched my skin and drilled hard i felt my chest vibrating, like i was pinned to the the table, and i could feel my heart beat. Soon after this (say 5 minutes) i began to feel sick and dizzy. I felt sick to my stomach, my feet and the top of my head became very tingly and hot, and i generally felt like i was fading. In other words, about to pass out. I kept fighting it but in 10 minutes my jaw was so achey and my teeth chattering so badly i knew i couldn't continue any longer. I was *so* mortified to have to ask my artist to end the session early, I felt like a complete baby!!!!! Anyway, is there something involving internal organs "vibrating",some sort of specific physiological stress or perhaps the position i was in that triggered this attack? I am going back again in june to have it finished and i am a little worried this might happen again. I can't believe i was such a wimp! :(

I remeber fainting in my dermatologists office while she began to remove a mole from my back. I had just had a baby 8 weks earlier and my epidural did not work out. If you don;t know what an epidural is it's when they inject a long needle into your spine. Anyway, I guess I still had some residual sensitivity to that area becuase when she came at me with a teeny scalpal I passed out COLD! My point is sometiimes certain areas of our bodies react differently to pressure. Like you are not suppose to massage the bottom of a womans feet late in pregnancy becuase it can start early labor. Reflexology. So YES< there are pressure points that can cause sensations that make you feel great or, in your case, incomfortable. There was no real warning other than a few seconds before I fainted. My derm felt i had a menat injury to that area from my bad epidral. SOunds like you were hyperventilating (aka, taking too short of breaths and messing with the O2 balance. Why? Not sure if you had already got that far, but the fact that you could feel your heart beating, tingly feet, etc.... maybe you did not like the feeling of being restrained? Next time just focus on your breathing. Mouth closed, deep intake breaths through your nose,then exhale through an open mouth. Practice now. Do about ten and you will feel more relaxed. (I hope) Just my two cents! Good luck. Maybe your artist next time can finish in another position. Another thing is sometmes we can only take too much pain. maybe try shorter sessions? Kind of a drag when you want to finish, but a thought?

DAMN! Forgot to hit spell check. Sorry. I type to fast and then hit enter.

thanks for the input! Would asthma have anything to do with it? I have sensitive lungs, and perhaps the vibrations were adverse to those organs? I know when i tried to sleep last night, and this is HOURS after the tat, i had to sleep upright for an hour or so because every time i would try to lie down the pressure on my chest felt enormous and my heart would beat rapidly and i would have that familiar nausea again...after an hour ot two of doing that and then sleeping with my back elevated i was ok... i don't think this was psychological--e.g. feeling uncomfortable with restraint etc, and i think you are correct about presure points because it came on very quickly and without warning. And i could not continue or i would have definitely fainted. I might have started panicking once i felt faint which could have accelerated the process, yes, but i have the feeling my lungs did not react well to the vibrations. Having to admit i could not take any more was very embarrassing though ;)

**** i could not take any more was very embarrassing though ;)**** Well, it's not a contest on how tough you are so don't feel bad. I'm sure any good tattoo artist would understand that's a sensitive position for you to be in and try and finish it in a different position. You don't sound like the whiney cry baby customer they hate to work on. I'm sure you'll get some feedback from the local tat artists here (which I'm not one). Cut yourself some slack GIRL! Feel better. Hell, I had a 40 hour labor and then 8 week's later i pass out cold with a teeny tiny mole removal that took all of 2 minutes!

you had a vasovagal episode.......a brief loss of consciousness, preceded by a sense of anticipation. First, there is a period of sympathetic tone, with increased pulse and blood pressure, in anticipation of some stressful incident, such as bad news, an upsetting sight, or a PAINFUL PROCEDURE. Immediately following the stressful occurrence, there is a precipitous drop in sympathetic tone, pulse and blood pressure,causing the victim to fall down or lose consciousness. Transient bradycardia(a slow heartbeat) and few clonic limb jerks may accompany vasovagal syncope. Not as so many tattoo artists like to tell clients that they forgot to eat or they need a candybar. But they just dont know i guess.

Well I don't think I can add to that however there has been some studies into the temporary adverse palpitory effects of varied vibrations ( both sonis and mitrosonic) upon the human nervous system...and to kinda translate the above post ...yer brain saw or felt something it did not want to process so it got pissed off and said" ok fuck ya I'm gonna shut down now"...hence your problem...please don't feel bad at all about your little "episode" it is quite common. Its usually the big tough guys that bite the dust though!!...TAz

this is all very helpful. thanks. i still felt kind of shaky today, but am much better. i need sleep. it was difficult sleeping with my back elevated but that was the only thing i could do. odd that is still bothered me that night. The question is: what can i do to avoid this in the future? I don't want to get all freaked out about it and develop a phobia, which wouldn't help matters, but i also want to be prepared. I have never fainted before and even getting close was a very frightening experience! I still have three hours to go on this beauty and I want to be able to endure it gracefully, hah.

Hey, don't worry, I mean it happens, especially if its your first piece. Just relax and try to figure out a way to make it work for you. I've found that on long, delicate sessions (armpit, inner-upper arm) if I have a couple of energy drinks it actually REALLY helps out. Soda is also generally really great at sort of settling you down and evening you out. Your on the right track, eating a big dinner before hand and all, but I mean, I always feel completely exhausted after long sessions. So maybe all of your energy from your dinner was spent after 2 hours? Try bringing some cookies or a candy bar along to help you through. Lately, through long 5 or 6 hour sessions, I've been bringing in some oreos and whenever I start to get tired I just try to eat a couple of 'em. Anyways, don't take it too hard on yourself and don't worry about the next session. It gets easier and more comfortable each further session. Good luck!

Hey dont feel bad, your artist has seen it before im sure, and should be tottally cool with it. Maybe you even gave him a much needed break too. I'd be lying if i said i never had a day where i had hoped that someone would call to cancel or have to leave early.

I got my first tattoo today. about an hour into it i knew i was going to pass out. I was sweating, shaking, and literally seeing stars. My mom went to the office area there and got me some soda. i took a few sips then i felt fine.

i am going to try eating a carb-loaded dinner (pizza or italian--yum!!) and perhaps a nice sundae to finish it off. i also found an amazing concoction in the village called a royal rush--bee pollen, apples, vitamin powder--delish!) that *really* helped when i went to the city last week running on fumes. Yes, i will also take lots of sugary goodies with me this time. I think when i started yawning a lot during the tattoo and feeling utterly fatigued i should have realized what was happenening, (becaue soon after my heartbeat became slow and funky and i started getting tingly hands and feet and chattering teeth, shaking, nausea etc) but i am a fainting virgin, i've never passed out before and don't know what to expect... heh :). I am still wondering why the feeling returned when i got home that night though, especially when lying down, i had to sleep sitting up for an hour or two. Does having asthma have anything to do with it? oh -epiphany--perhaps? must post in sep thread ;)