General Question

Kairi's avatar

What could be wrong?

Asked by Kairi (794points) August 30th, 2013

A friend of mine messaged me, concerned with what could be wrong with him. I’ve tried to figure it out myself, and searched the internet, but I can’t come up with anything.

Symptoms:

1. Fading in and out of consciousness
2. Can not get cool or warm
3. Heart racing
4. Losing track of time
5. Moving rapidly
6. Unusually hyper and hyper-alert
7. Shortness of breath

He’s overweight so that may be part of the problem, but I’m not sure. It doesn’t sound like a heart attack or anything like that. He has been eating to keep his blood sugar up, so that isn’t the issue either. I have suggested to him to drink some water for now.

As you can imagine, my only real source of medical information is WebMD, which isn’t helpful (mostly because it’s not specific enough with symptoms and because it gives you the worse diagnosis possible first)

Unfortunately, he is at work so there isn’t much he can do at this point in time due to the hour (it’s 2:30 AM here on the East coast)

Any ideas?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

20 Answers

augustlan's avatar

If he’s fading in and out of consciousness, he should probably be at the ER.

Kairi's avatar

@augustlan
That’s what I’m thinking too. He describes it as dozing off without realizing it.

augustlan's avatar

Tell him to have someone else drive him to the hospital, and please keep us posted!

Kairi's avatar

There isn’t really anyone that can drive him, and he can’t abandon his post either, unfortunately.

Kairi's avatar

he says the dozing off is under control right now, since he has something occupying his mind.

ETpro's avatar

If he has a post he can’t abandon when he has a medical emergency that leaves him fading in and out of consciousness, and presenting all those other neurological symptoms, then he should just abandon that post and go to the ER. He can worry about getting a new post managed by humans instead of warlocks after his medical issues are resolved.

Kairi's avatar

@ETpro sound advice. he seems to be doing better now, so I don’t know

washie's avatar

Its better he abandon it now just for one day and visit the doctor,or else he shall abandon it forever and visit St Peter in Heaven. One life, thousand such jobs. C’mon….

Seaofclouds's avatar

If he refuses to go to the ER, he needs to get himself to a doctor. Also, I’d point out to him that each time he passes out he is in a sense abandoning his post because he certainly isn’t paying attention to it when he’s unconscious. I doubt his employee will look favorably to falling asleep on the job or not taking action when something is wrong and affecting his ability to do his job proficiently.

Kairi's avatar

@washie it’s more complicated then that.

Kairi's avatar

@Seaofclouds if he leaves, they’ll just fire him. he was doing better once he talked to me for a while and calmed down.

Seaofclouds's avatar

@Kairi he shouldn’t just walk out, he should call his boss and explain what’s going on. I hope he still gets checked out to figure out what was going on. What happens if it happens again while he’s driving? There are a lot of things that can cause his symptoms. No one on here will be able to diagnose him.

DWW25921's avatar

I wouldn’t mess with those symptoms! If he refuses to see a doctor than call one for him. Call 911 and explain the situation. I’d rather have an angry friend than a dead one.

Kairi's avatar

@seaofclouds he couldnt call at that hour. It was three or four am. I think it was just an anxiety attack or something because he’s fine now

Kairi's avatar

@dww25921 yea I probably should have. I didnt wanna get him fired. But like I said, he talked to me on the phone for a couple hours and was fine

DWW25921's avatar

Meh… He’s not fine he’s stubborn.

Seaofclouds's avatar

@Kairi Even at 3am there should have been someone he could call in the event of an emergency. I wonder how his boss would feel about him being on the phone with a friend for a couple hours rather than giving all of his attention to his job ( if he was my employee, that would cost him his job). You can defend it all you want, but he is a potential danger to himself, his employer, and everyone around him if it happens again. He needs to be checked out.

Kairi's avatar

@Seaofclouds I work for the same company, so technically he is talking to a coworker and that’s okay. he is doing fine now. it was most likely a mix of anxiety and fatigue. that’s what his doctor said, anyway.

Kairi's avatar

I would have covered for him myself, but I’m not trained for that site, so they wouldn’t let me do it.

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther