Does anyone else faint while on during their period?

When I was in highschool, I used to faint during my period because the pain was so intense.  It usually happened on the first day inwhich it arrived and then I'd be perfectly fine an hour or so after the pain lifted.  By college, I had outgrown those fainting-spells & didn't really have bad cramps at all--plus I was on birth control pills so that pretty much regulated everything.  The last time I fainted during my period was a few years ago and I was no longer on birth control pills, so other than that incident, everything has been perfectly fine with barely any cramps each month. 

Fastforward to today....I got my period this morning, didn't think anything of it since all the other times it's light & barely have cramps, so I did an intense lower body workout.  That was probably my first mistake since it was lower body.  Ouch!  I was running low on groceries and had a smaller breakfast than I normally do, which was only a bowl of Grapenuts cereal & two slices of wheat bread with peanut butter.  Again, I felt perfectly fine even with a smaller breakfast...a little crampy, but nothing major.  Then I get to work at 11:30 and I start feeling a bit lightheaded and dizzy.  I'm thinking "hmmm...this isn't good" because the cramps started getting intense & I hadn't taken any Advil yet. 

Next thing I know I faint while trying to walk to the restroom & probably would've fallen down if one of my coworkers hadn't shoved a chair behind me just in time.  I couldn't even sit upright in the chair & had to keep my head inbetween my knees otherwise my vision kept blacking out.  Very embarrassing to say the least because the manager got a wheelchair for me & brought me to the breakroom.  I took a three Advils and after about an hour, the pain lifted, so I ate a doughnut and I was perfectly fine.  A little shaky & hungry, but fine.  (Later I had a large roast beef deli sandwich, Fritos, and an iced tea). 

Has this happened to anyone else while on their period?  I figure it's because I had a fairly intense workout, didn't consume quite enough calories during breakfast as I normally do, so my blood sugar levels were low, and didn't take Advil soon enough, so when the pain from the cramps hit, my poor body just couldn't handle it.  I made an appointment with my doctor to get some blood work done just to be on the safe-side and I'm ask if I can have a test done to see if there are any cysts on my ovaries since the pain just hit me all of a sudden like that. 

Anyway, please let me know if you've fainted while having your period before and what do you do to prevent that from happening.  Usually, I have to load up on protein & crave red meat, such as steak or roastbeef & that seems to help me, but like I said, I haven't had really bad cramps nor have I fainted from my period in quite a while.  Advise please!!

It sounds like you're iron is low.  Red meat has a lot of iron and that maybe why you're craving it.  If this is a real concern, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible.  You're iron can be depleted low enough that it can be extremely hard to bring back to normal levels.  In some cases, you may have to have monthly iron infusions, they are very expensive and can take up to or even more than 12 months before your system recovers. 

It's good that you're seeing a doctor.  What you're describing really isn't normal and could be symptomatic of various medical conditions which only a qualified medical practitioner can diagnose.  In the run-up to the appointment it could be worth keeping a food/activity/symptom diary as that might help your doctor reach some conclusions or see if there are any obvious connections.

What you are experiencing may be a vaso-vagal syncope.  At least, in my case, that's what the issue is.  Talk to your doc about it.  While I don't undergo any particular treatment for it, I have learned how to delay or avoid the syncope, which is critical when I am doing things like, oh, say, driving a car at 65mph on a major highway.

For me, the syncopes are triggered mostly by abdominal cramping.  Historically for me that has included period related cramps, childbirth/labor, a hard ab workout, and even...POOPING.  I know, probably TMI, but there's nothing like passing out on a bathroom floor while in the middle of a bowel movement.

I'm sure you can find some info on vaso-vagal syncope online.  Check it out and talk to your doc.

yeah, it was just so odd though because I haven't fainted during a period in years and usually my time-of-the-month is pretty mild mild, so this totally came out of the blue.  I'm sure everything is fine, but I'm going to get checked out by the doctor next week to be on the safe side.  Guess I can use this as an excuse for rest & relaxation next month when my period arrives again--I won't be making that mistake of an intense workout only to faint a few hours later.  That certainly wasn't much fun!

Its very odd that I came across this. I literally googled 'why do i faint on the first day of my period.' and this site was one of the options!

Just yesterday I started my period and went to work. After a few hours I just suddenly got really hot and light-headed and I had to ask to go on a break as I thought I was going to faint, but luckily this time I didn't. I got told to put my head between my legs, and after awhile I felt much better. I have actually fainted once before on the first day of my period, last summer, and its such a strange feeling as it is so sudden, but I feel pretty much okay afterwards. I did get checked out at the hospital straight after (as very embarrassingly I had fainted while out shopping and had to be collected by an ambulance!) but they said everything was fine.

As it has happened again, like you, I'm going to go to my doctor just to be checked over again, as it is quite embarrassing fainting when I'm working and in public! Also I'm glad I saw this as I thought it was just me fainting whenever and wherever!

My mum was wondering whether I am anaemic, however I have been tested for this as I am quite skinny and pale, but it has always come back negative.

Hopefully the doctor will come up with a solution when I see him! Hope everything goes fine with you!

oh really?  That is quite an odd coincidence that we both faint on the first day of our periods.  When you first started to feel faint, was that about the time when the cramps started during your period?  That how it was for me--I would feel the cramps starting to come on really bad, started to feel lightheaded soon after & have to put my head between my knees--otherwise my vision would black out & I'd keel over.  Not a very enjoyable experience. 

I would definitely get it checked out though to rule out any other factors because it could be dangerous.  A coworker's son actually fainted while DRIVING a few weeks ago & wrecked his car.  He has diabetes really bad though, so if he doesn't keep his sugar levels level, then it could cause him to pass-out.  Another person I know fainted while at school and it turned out to have something to do with her thyroid gland & how it wasn't regulating stuff properly.  (I can't remember the exact terms).  I'm thinking mine was due to low blood sugar & painful cramping during my period, but I still want to get it checked out.

And yes, I agree--it is quite embarrassing to faint while at work!