There is a thing
That happens to some of my patients;
The scenario:
Sitting quietly, often, after a meal, perhaps breakfast or lunch
And suddenly nothing,
Slippage into unresponsiveness.
I don’t say
unconscious
For, that is altogether different.
These guys,
Always old,
Grey of hair
And thin of skin.
Are able to maintain an upright posture,
Can stay sitting,
Yet
Nothing.
No response to stimulus.
You measure the heart rate,
blood pressure
temperature
saturations,
even, blood sugar;
All reassuringly normal.
Bloods, ECG, normal.
Chest X-ray, normal.
CT, normal.
Brain waves will likely have altered,
Although, that is not something we do.
And, we are left,
Old person,
Suspended in nothingness;
Their
RAS
That is
Reticular Activating System
hanging.
Most theories
Discuss
Cerebral autoregulation,
Hypoperfusion,
Embolism
Or
Epilepsy.
No one
knows.
Modern medicine never works…
Cannula, Glasgow Coma Score;
Sternal rub,
Nasty
Finger-nail press,
Skin-flap pinch.
Time almost always does the trick;
That,
And staying calm.
I suspect some watch me
And think
‘He’s cold… Detached’
It’s not that, it is the realisation
That there is nothing you can do to make any difference
In these situations,
Beyond
assurance to
family and friends.
Such an exposition of vulnerability;
You can’t even blame the demon
drink
Or
dodgy drugs,
It is how
The human body expresses deterioration.
Sands shift
And the
Person falls
And there is no more.
Dr Rod’s Odd Blog (almondemotion) 
Does this state always end in death? As the persin falls , if you see what I mean.
It is not a TIA then?
How long does this state last – is it a variable period of time?
It seems strange that the person can remain upright ?
Interesting.
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No – mostly people recover and are back to normal within an hour or two, sometimes it lasts a whole day; TIA’s are meant to be something that happens, e.g. a facial, hand, arm or leg weakness that lasts less than a day then goes back to normal – this is something more general that affects consciousness; and, yes, sitting upright. I’ve never seen a person standing, although that might be possible.
You could describe it as a fugue…
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Thankyou! Mysteries of the brain and body! Fascinating.
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