Syncope (simple faint)

[Sebstar]

Has anyone ever fainted at the wheel of their car and were you allowed to drive again. My husband fainted a few weeks ago whilst driving he knew it was about to happen and managed to get the car onto a slip road but still passed out before the car stopped completely my daughter had the presence of mind to pull the hand brake on. At the hospital he was examed given an ECG and 12 hour heart monitoring, blood tests and blood pressure taken everything came back clear. He left the next day and the doctor told him he thought it was just a simple faint and not to drive for 4 weeks. Since then he has seen his doctor had another normal ECG and more blood tests all of which were clear. He's now had a letter from the DVLA wanting to know what happend (the police informed them) he has filled in a questionnaire and given them additional information but we are worried they will stop him from drivng for longer as it happened while he was at the wheel. We think it happened because he was suffering a stomach bug picked up from our granddaughter who had it at the time as he was ill with it for the next few days. Anyone else been in this situation.

[sandradee]

Hello,

This happened to my brother-in-law years ago. He had severe stomach cramps and passed out from the pain. (working hard and hadn't eaten + job stress). He ended up in a ditch and a passer by saw the car. Fortunately it was a quiet country road and no other vehicles were involved. He hadn't been drinking and had no problems driving again.

If it's a one off, I doubt there will be a problem. I think the medics will want to rule out epilepsy, narcolepsy etc. Just mentioning this as in some people severe pain/illness can cause fainting.

[mr_you]

I haven't passed out or fainted at the wheel but I sometimes lose consciousness. What mostly happens is when i go from sitting to standing or lying down to sitting i sometimes get dizzy. I think it might be low blood pressure.

[shotokansho]

This is happening to my step-dad, he faints a lot and has fainted once at the wheel while travelling down the motorway. He managed to pull over onto the hard shoulder and thankfully no-one was hurt. We don't know why this is happening as yet, he is currently undergoing tests. He does suffer with migrains so this may be the reason.
Hope your husband is doing well.