"Can you lose consciousness from coughing too hard?"

Topics: cpr, health, random crap, biology, medical, science

Asked by kshannon 22 months ago

Details:

I was standing in the kitchen today eating a sausage biscuit. My husband and sister-in-law were there. Suddenly, I started choking on a piece of biscuit and I was coughing really hard. Then I fainted, but I was conscious again in less than 15 seconds. My husband said I never really stopped coughing except for those few seconds when I fell (I just fell back against the door I was standing by and then lowered to the floor, so I wasn't hurt other that a small bruise on my back). So my question is, what caused the loss of consciousness? Was it the biscuit or the coughing to remove it?

Forward to friends

Discuss this question (1 comment) why can't I answer?

Report abuse

(5)

(1)

Show all details, Hide all details

"it was the lack of oxygen"

by just_orange_cherries on Mar 25 2008 (22 months ago)

Best Answer
Official Rating

- Collapse

you had a restriction in air causing you to cough which signaled to your brain to pass out because then it can take over with your autonomic system to keep you breathing.

it was cause effect. you were coughing, thus breathing just not enough for your brains standards.

Like this Answer?

Send compliment Send message Forward to friends Report abuse Discuss this answer

"It was the coughing!"

by ragrug_lady on Mar 25 2008 (22 months ago)

Official Rating

- Collapse

My husband had phenomena and coughed so hard he passed out while he was driving back from the emergency room! Scared the crap out of me. I rushed him back to the ER and they told me that it was due to coughing and not to let him drive.
Sources: personal experience

ragrug_lady's Recommendations

Tylenol Cold Head Congestion, Day (Non-Drowsy)/Night, Cool Burst Caplets, 24 caplets (Pack of 3)

Amazon List Price: $19.42

Like this Answer?

Send compliment Send message Forward to friends Report abuse Discuss this answer

" It's not clear that your period of unconsciousness resulted from the coughing -- the piece of biscuit might have ..."

by LexWordsmith on Mar 26 2008 (22 months ago)

Official Rating

- Collapse

... cut off your oxygen for a short time, then been cleared by the coughing -- but it's certainly possible for a "tickle" cough to be activated so often and (each time) so rapidly that it cuts off your oxygen. It would probably be very rare for a coughing fit to be so fierce that it results in a whiplash concussion.

Please PM me if i didn't express my understanding of the situation very well.

Like this Answer?

Send compliment Send message Forward to friends Report abuse Discuss this answer

"No oxygen to the brain as your windpipe is blocked."

by Shasha on Mar 25 2008 (22 months ago)

Official Rating

Like this Answer?

Send compliment Send message Forward to friends Report abuse Discuss this answer

"only a doctor can answer that"

by AnnCallie on Mar 25 2008 (22 months ago)

Official Rating

- Collapse

I would go to the doctor just to make sure everything was okay
Sources: my life

Like this Answer? (1)

Send compliment Send message Forward to friends Report abuse Discuss this answer

View this question's discussion (1 comment)

Find similar questions: lose consciousness coughing hard

You may want to know:

"how can i stop coughing" (5 answers)

34 year old non-smoker
i have had a bad cough for over a month now, this happens every winter.
i cough so much my sides hurt
first i tried cough drops and they work perfect, until a few minutes after i run out, then all the coughing i missed comes all at once.
then i took tussin DM cough formula and i went into an extreme coughing fit that turned my face red, made my throat feel like it was bulging out at the sides and my ribs feel like they would burst and i produced mouth fulls of clear, jelly like mucus.
i cough off and on all day and then when i lay down to sleep i have another bad coughing fit.

"Swallowing/coughing problems after eating?" (5 answers)

For the last several days, I am otherwise fine until I eat something, which is then followed by about an hour of coughing & hacking (violent enough that at first, my co-workers thought I might have bronchitis or something).

But it's not that---it feels like I've just not compeletely swallowed my food all the way--but to feel choked-ish for an hour??? Strikes me as something wrong, but I don't know what it could be. I don't have any food allergies that I know of & there's no common denominator in what I've been eating this week, so I don't think I've having some sort of throat swelling as a reaction to the food.

Has this happened to or sound familiar to anyone else?

"how many people lose the weight and find it hard to keep it off" (1 answer)

Hello, i recently lost over 4 stone.
I have been researching the net for some time to find a diet that suits my lifestyle. This diet suits my busy lifestyle, you do not even have to exercise if you don't want to. You get a list of different foods to choose from. I lost 11 pounds in 11 days, I have reached my ideal weight now. If i put on a few pounds i just start over again it is great i really feel great i got so much more energy to have loads of fun with my 2 boys. I lost body fat which is hard on some diets you only lose carbs and don't target the fat but on this my stomach was getting flatter each day. I am now wearing tight fitted jeans this is a breath of fresh air for me and i have started being more confident with my body.

	"does vicks on feet stop coughing?" (5 answers)

	"What are consciousness theories?" (1 answer)

Or help to answer:

	"why does it seem so hard to lose as little as just 10 pounds"

	"how hard is it to lose weight all by yourself with no help"

	"how hard is it to lose 20 pounds and keep them off too"

	"how hard is it to keep the 10 pounds off if you lose them"

	"why is it hard to lose weight and then keep it off for good"

Ask a question of your own:

Latest post on this question's discussion board:

the amount of oxygen a person needs depends on their size and other physical factors. it would be quite easy to receive a lack of oxygen based on coughing. the body processes almost like hyperventilating. however if you did scratch your throat a complication could have been that your throat was swelling increasing the reduction in air.

also it would be very difficult to tell. my money would be on the coughing as you were breathing, just not getting enough. there is no way you can cough without breathing.

"Can you lose consciousness from coughing too hard?"

Clarifications

"it was the lack of oxygen"

"It was the coughing!"

" It's not clear that your period of unconsciousness resulted from the coughing -- the piece of biscuit might have ..."

"No oxygen to the brain as your windpipe is blocked."

"only a doctor can answer that"

You may want to know:

Or help to answer:

Ask a question of your own:

Latest post on this question's discussion board: