Almost fainting in 21 celsius weather, so scared

[LostinThought]

Hello everybody. I wish to share a horrible experience I had yesterday whilst shopping in the town centre with my mum.

Before I went out I badgered my mum on her opinion of what I should wear out. It seems I am always doing this, especially in Summer as I am scared of getting stuck out in hot weather in inappropriate clothes as I really can't tolerate hot weather - it makes me panicky.

So I am walking down the street in a loose cotton t-shirt and a pair of jeans on. I am starting to feel uncomfortable, especially my legs under these warm jeans with no air to breathe. Then we turn a corner and the sun starts to come out and I am walking down this street with absolutely no shade and nowhere to go except the Morrisons in the distance. I start to feel so unbearably hot I am almost jogging down the street to get to the Morrisons, haphazardly crossing the road without much care, leaving my mum metres behind. I am almost to the front doors when my vision starts to tunnel and everything feels far away. I am feeling hot and dizzy and I start to panic.

I rush into the shop and rush to the nearest fridge section. I am feeling very lightheaded and I feel like I am getting headrushes. I am so scared and sure I am going to faint. I take some water from the fridge and drink it (I payed for it afterwards of course, I don't condone this normally) and place it on my head, desperate to cool down, willing myself NOT to faint, so sure that I will.

I stand there for a while, shaking. Gradually I start to feel better and cool down, though still a bit dizzy. My mum finds me and says I just 'stressed out'. Since my anxiety got bad a couple of years ago, I seem to be so bad at dealing with hot weather. I don't seem to sweat very much, despite keeping myself hydrated I only sweat a little from my armpits and the small of my back, and the rest feels dry. My latest trick is to bring a bottle of water with me and keep splashing it on me to cool down, it works but I fear I am spoiling my ability to sweat naturally.

It was 21 celsius yesterday, a bit breezy and not humid. Is that really warm enough to make somebody ill/pass out? Oh, and is it even possible to stop yourself from passing out? Is that mechanism bypassable? Is there such thing as 'nearly fainting'? This was such a horrible experience I have lost confidence with dealing with hot weather.

[koala]

I also feel more panicy and dizzy in hot weather. I think it is normal if you are not use to the heat. I think the idea of taking water out with you and splashing yourself is a great idea. I might try this myself. I don't know if it is possible to stop yourself from fainting but have you tried taking deep breathes when you feel panicy? I know it helps me when I feel sick with panic so might work?

[LostinThought]

Thanks. The water trick does work, even if it looks a bit odd in public. Also this is not really possible if you are inside as you don't want to leave a slippery floor for somebody to slip on.

Deep breathing always seems to make me more lightheaded and I hear this is not good advice. Slow, gentle breathing is much better for those having a panic attack.

The reason I ask whether it's possible to stop a faint is useful so I can understand if this was a nearly faint or just me panicking. If my body did decide to faint to correct the blood pressure, I wouldn't have been able to stop it. The fact that I did not is significant if this is true.

[Deepthinker]

Hi, Lostinthought, I know that must have been very scary. I have only felt the fainting sensation about 5 times my entire life and I am 44, so it is rare with me, but extremely scary. The last time I felt this sensation was 2 days ago and it really scared me. Shortly after eating and taking my medicine, my heart rate sped up and I started to feel weak. I battled this feeling for about 30 minutes and when I stood up to fill my water cup, I felt like I was going to black out. I made it to my bed and when I laid down I started to feel better but just really tired. I got better as the day went on and now two days later I am still fine. I don't know if the food I ate didn't agree with me or if it was a side effect of the prozac(which I doubt because I have been on it almost 12 weeks) or if it was some kind of virus or just an extreme anxiety attack. All I do know is that it was very scary. I'll bet that since you were able to run to the shop it probably was a panic attack. I found the symptoms section on this website to be very helpful. It explains what your body is doing during each symptom of a panic attack or during anxiety. Once we understand these sensations, we can retrain our minds not to fear them any longer and then they will eventually subside. Hope this helps and I hope you have a good day today.

Blessings!

[Lyn89]

It's so rare to faint during a panic attack, it sounds like you know how to control it before it gets to that stage, so try not to be scared of it! When I was younger I had a fear of fainting for well over 6 years, but it never happened even at its worst. The fact you've only had this feeling a few times in your life is good! Trust yourself--it seems like you have a natural mechanism that kicks in and you can stop worst of a panic attack. It helps to think of the times you didn't faint or this and this didn't happen rather than worrying about what COULD happen.

[Rennie1989]

The annoying thing about British weather is that, despite 21c sounding relatively cool, we have high humidity. This inevitably makes 21c feel more like 25-28c, depending on humidity. Not to mention that we are so used to cool temperatures anyway.

I must admit that I can cope better in 35c Egyptian heat than I do in high 20's or 30c British heat.

[Catherine S]

I think if you were already worrying before you went out and then became uncomfortable wearing your jeans then freaked out because the sun came out then you'd obviously worked yourself up into a panic, so logically speaking it was you who brought it on and not the weather. I don't think it had anything to do with anything else other than your own fear as you seemed to be scared before even leaving the house. I also have panic attacks in certain situations but i've never fainted. Only once in early pregnancy but never through panic. I too carry a bottle of water with me during summer months but to drink rather than splash :-)