View Full Version : Very nervous about fainting/passing out?
Hi,
I am a bad sufferer of health anxiety. For the past few months I have been conscious of my breathing every nearly all day everyday. Started a few years ago when I had a panic attack in town and thought I was going to pass out. Ever since I have been so scared to death about passing out or fainting. Im getting myself that wound up about it im actually been sick everyday when I wake up!!! I know its something to do with low blood pressure and it dropping, but then I keep telling myself what if mine drops randomly or what if im diabetic or something and I have no idea about it!!!!
I have a one year old to look after and I feel I cant do anything. I feel like this is actually controlling my life, cant go out, feel I cant stand in kitchen and cook or anything! if I feel dizzy (which is most of the time) I automaticly PANIC about going to pass out and get myself in a state! I am going through CBT at the moment but feel very alone and fed up.
has anyone else been through this? any tips?
ive never actually fainted before but have felt like im going to many many times!!!!
Hi Amyamz,
I can completely understand what your going through.. I am currently suffering vertigo/dizziness and its ruining my life. I went through a stage where I wouldn't leave the house because of my dizziness, its still there and quite bad at the moment however there are things which can make it better.
One thing my CBT counsellor told me which is the best quote ive heard is: 'Worrying cannot prevent or solve the problem' which means that if even if we worry about fainting it won't stop it from happening if your body really wants it to! I am yet to faint and this has been happening for 9 months now so Its highly doubtful I will!
One thing I do to make myself feel better is to actually ge tup, get some fresh air and walk around. I almost think sitting there can make it worse! also try not to avoid places, Iu use to avoid Tesco as I had a really bad dizzy spell in there however I was taught to stay in there now till I start feeling better.
I hope you feel better soon :)
This is so me. I am always convinced I am about to collapse/faint/pass out. I never have but doesnt help with the worrying. I am pregnant too which is making me worse. Somebody once said when you are panicking your blood pressure goes up and it needs to be low for you to faint. I know you think yours is low but when you are worrying it will be rising. I totally get how you feel its horrible
fedup36, I thought I had vertigo and was on some tablets but didn't do anything!! so now starting to think wether its all in my head with the dizziness!!? EXACTLY same happened to me, and in tescos too. (weird huh?) had to rush and pay and get out ASAP. now I dread going in there! do you feel tired too? I feel mentally exhausted.
bab I was having these thoughts when pregnant too. Near the due date I was worried focused on the birth and these thoughts went, but now they are back again :(
Well I'm seeing an ENT on Monday so will let you know what he says..
I honestly believe deep down its all coming from anxiety, I was really stressed last Novemeber and started getting a tingly head, I went then on a business trip In Japan for 3 weeks and started having my first panic attacks after googling tingling head! (I didn't know what they were at the time) anyway the dizziness all started once I returned home.. Ive been on different tablets for it but no luck!
It really wears me out, to the point the doctor has said im exhausted because as soon as I put my head on my pillow im asleep!( apparently that's not a good thing)!! Its ruining my life to be honest and I've had enough of it really. In Tescos I suddenly get hot, sweaty, my legs turn to jelly and I get so so dizzy, I literally use to drop everything and run out! Think about it logically though this is what my therapist said, Tescos doesn't make someone dizzy, its the apprehension of going to Tescos. Do you feel better when you leave because I do.. if there was something actually wrong with us we wouldn't feel better after leaving Tesco! When you almost take a step back and think it makes you realise that anxiety can cause all sorts of things!!
When I have some answers I will let you know!
yeah I feel the same way :( I think anxiety drains you as your constantly always thinking 'oh my god whats going to happen!!!!'
im exact same, I get dizzy, flushes, head feels hot, legs jelly, hands sweat, and the urge to get out!!!!! feel I cant even go in there! anxiety is a horrible nasty thing! my therapist said to me to stay in a shop until the anxiety goes, but I just feel the symptoms are so overwhelming I need to get out :(
are you on any tablets at the mo?
BTW, what is an ENT? yes pls message me and let me know :)
I get this even when not pregnant and its exhausting. Driving, walking, shopping, socialising i always think this is it im going to pass out. Its worse now cos pregnant but its always there. I also get vertigo sometimes which isnt related. Some days I can go out, other times its too overwhelming and I know you are supposed to stay in the situation but I find it too hard
im exactly the same, bab. just wish it would go away :( I sometimes find I cant cope with my son and sometimes wish him away it is awful :( I feel so tired all the time
Its a Ear, Nose and Throat consultant... hopefully he will let me know what it is.
Just to reassure you though I have had an MRI and ECG both clear :) So obviously nothing serious is happening...
I get really over whelmed and do run out of supermarkets! Sometimes when I am day dreaming though and thinking about something else (only just started to do this after getting over the worse of my anxiety) I come out and surprise myself that nothing actually happened :)
Will catch up on Monday, hope you can enjoy your weekend
What is your dizziness like? I have always suffered but lately it is unbearable right now i am on the bus and totally freaking out cause i feel like i will faint... i feel unsteady woozy like the ground is moving or i am gonna fall over never spinning so never thought of vertigo plus i get lightheaded and sometimes weak and jelly.. so scared right now
---------- Post added at 17:35 ---------- Previous post was at 17:30 ----------
I feel like i am walking on waves and my head feels wierd. Plus i feel shaky and weak and like i will faint
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xvolatileheart
11-08-13, 03:54
I have this fear every day. I can't get through a day without feeling faint and/or dizzy. Now I have myself convinced there's something wrong with my blood sugar so I'm fearful of not eating often enough AND of eating too much. It's good you're going to see a specialist, I hope you get some answers!
oh I am the same! ive been doing that as well! trying to force feed myself incase ive not eaten enough and will pass out! its terrible..........really getting me down
xvolatileheart
12-08-13, 05:43
I'm doing the same. Of course the anxiety is causing my stomach to feel awful so eating is really difficult. It's a never-ending battle against myself!
Today I was holding my cousin's baby and feeling fine, but then I started to feel a little faint and thought "what if I drop her baby?" so I quickly handed her off before my heart started pounding and I felt dizzy/lightheaded. It feels like the symptoms come first THEN the worry, so how am I to know whether it's a physical problem or just anxiety?! Feels like I'm never going to get a grip on this. :wacko:
yep!!! I could be ok one min, start doing somethijng and feel dizzy then i worked up. I wake up absolutely dreading the day thinking "what if i DO fall/faint today?" then waste the whole day worrying.
i spend most time of the day conscious of breathing and worrying!!! I feel exhausted mentally and physically
Hi Amyamz,
Ok seen the ENT this morning, they still can't figure out what's wrong with me but they are pretty sure its Mal de Débarquement from a long haul flight back from Japan.. The most awful news... They don't know how long it will last :(
I am still convinced its my anxiety causing my dizziness and need to tackle the anxiety first. My ENT said that any type of anxiety or stress will make any type of dizziness much worse...
Im sorry its not much help but I am still here after 9/10 months of having this and am yet to faint or collapse (even though im convinced I will)
lollypopgirl1981
12-08-13, 12:51
thanks fedup...been waiting for u to update...im exactly the same...i got rid of it for while felt normal...shopping in asda and tesco no problem...now doing online shops so dont have to go in there...even cooking and washing up is a massive task...the heat from the cooker makes it worse feel like im goona fall over and people talking to me whole im cooking is horrible...feel better once dinbers done and washing up done...so stupid....i get throu everyday but its a battle...arrrggghh...i talked myself out of it before telling myself its all me and im not going to let it stop me doing anything and it worked but now its so hard to talk mysrlf out of it agin...so many people like us all the same should be enough for us to think well we can stop thinking about it because its normal...but always get nag in the brain saying its not anxiety sorry for going on and on :) x
Well to make you feel better.. I was that bad! I remember at Christmas I wanted to make mince pies and I had to sit down every 5mins because I was scared I was going to faint! Since going to CBT I can now cook a whole meal!
I think when were doing things that switch our brain off is almost where our heads are like, PANIC!! So washing up, cooking etc...
Things will get better especially when you brain learns to distract itself! This will make you laugh when I had a cold I was so worried about my cold symptoms that my dizziness disappeared! its all about distraction but not forcing yourself to distract! Sounds complicated but it works..
I suppose if you accept it and almost tackle the fear that if we faint we will get back up again we will be ok :)
thanks fedup, we will beat this :) it WILL pass, just need to keep telling ourselves that. Hoping CBT will help me.
are you focused on it all day?? I worry from the min I wake till I go to sleep!!!!
Hi Amyamz, Yes I am waiting for it to happen from the moment I wake up.. today I haven't had one dizzy spell yet but I know I won't get through the day without having one :(
I think it is anxiety, I had a good example of it yesterday, I went down to a meeting in London felt fine all morning and on the way down, as soon as I sit in a meeting room full of people that's it im dizzy, spinning, I feel like I have to hold my head up with my hand, I can't see properly, I can't speak properly, Im sweating, shaking everything... as soon as I walk out of that room... boom its all gone! It must be anxiety!!
What your all describing sounds like me, I feel faint alot I can't even stand and cook dinner, going in super markets is a big no I shop online, when I'm in there I feel like I will faint and get really dizzy everything seems really close on the shelves and the aisles seem really long and the lights make my eyes blurry and all of that sets me off and makes me anxious to get out the shop. I also have a 1 year old son and feel like I can't even take him anywhere and we are stuck in all the time. I always think that maybe I'm diabetic or what if my blood sugars go suddenly low. I've got to the point where I've been feeling like this for 4 months that there must be something wrong with me and the drs have missed it. I've been doing CBT which helped a little bit but I had a lot of stress a few months ago and when ever I walk any where or go in transport I feel really off balance like I can't even walk in a straight line and there's a magnet pulling me to the right its so scary that anxiety can do this to you but I always think what if there's something wrong and the drs aren't listening and just put this down to anxiety. Also when I was giving birth I needed an emergency blood transfusion and I felt faint for a couple of weeks cos of my iron levels and my dr has diagnosed me with PTSD and thinks that's what is making my anxiety worse.
Hi, just wondering how you were all doing?
I've had a mixed weekend, I keep waking up and the first thing I'm thinking of is how do I feel! Problem is I keep waking up with this awful neck pain and the back of my head hurts :(
I also saw the cardiologist on Thursday, everything is fine but we were talking about the numbness in my face, I get this odd sensation normally under my eye and bridge of nose, what worried me is he said its good it doesn't happen on the one side. However since Thursday my numbness is coming back and only on one side :(
I had to do some bar work yesterday and because I was so busy I felt fine all day!! Now I've sat and relaxed boom all my symptoms are back, I've had enough :(
Hope your all well :)
hi :)
im a lot less anxious as have been but still having bad days. I do exactly same, wake up and think of my symptoms.
seems to be when distracted we get none of these symptoms, yet when at home or whatever it all comes back!!!
wish I could live normally!!x
Well I had been feeling a lot better, however yesterday just sat here at work, no stress, no anxiety feeling quite well and Bam! I feel like im about to drop to the floor, no warnings just hit me, dizzy, pressure on my chest, sweating, feeling sick! It was horrible.. the feeling stayed with me till about 10 last night! The dizziness is the worse part of it, it makes me feel awful and panic so so much, I just want to lye down and for it to go away :(
Does peoples dizziness just come out of no where like this!?
yep deffinately. HATE the feeling of dizziness/lightheadedness. makes me really anxious too which makes it worse! I get really conscious of my breathing as well when I feel dizzy!
Natalie2389
21-08-13, 17:52
Hi all just read your posts, I'm a health anxiety worrier have been for a year now various symptoms on and off but the latest one is dizziness and fear of fainting, last week In matalan had a hot flush and felt almost Asif I was going to pass out, yesterday daughter was In hospital having an operation had a funny turn in there, body went so hot on and off legs to jelly and I generally thought I was going to faint, also had a few d poos sorry for the tmi! Anyway I'm home now and feel another spell again, horrible and It's nice to read I'm not the only one, it really is hard to think this is all really anxiety!
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