New here with Much Needed Answers

[eversojourn]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice. I have a friend who suffers from Insomnia and panic attacks. I went through the pages, which were very helpful, and found that it says a panic attack cannot cause you to faint. Well I stayed with my friend all night and she continued to faint several times during the course of the attack. I'm wondering what can explain this and if there any way of dealing with it? any help out be very appreciated.

[davebrum]

hi although i have never passed out from a panic attack - i have passed out when i have hypervenilated
david

[Meg]

As Dave says if the person is hyperventilating to an extreme extent - their blood chemical imbalance can get so severe the body takes a break to rebalance itself and this results in a faint.

Breathing into a paper bag for a minute at a time will prevent it. If its not so severe they can just breathe through hands cupped over the nose and mouth .

Learning to breathe slowly and deeply is key - a yoga /tai chi/ meditation/ good relaxation CD class teaches this immediately.

Ensure she been checked out by a doctor and had some investigative tests - it really is extremely unusual to faint once - never mind several times.




Meg

It is impossible to get out of a problem by using the same kind of thinking that it took to get into it.
- Albert Einstein.

[seh1980]

I suffer from panic attacks and I have never fainted either. I have often felt like I might but never have done...

Sarah :D

[nomorepanic]

A drop in blood pressure can cause this as well.

I have never fainted, however, even when really hyperventilating.

Perhaps your friend might like to come to the site and have a look around to see if we can offer some advice about the Panic attacks.

Nicola

[sal]

Hi

There are loads of reasons why your friend might pass out if connected with anxiety.

They are obviously going through a hard time so i would suggest like NiC they come on site and get the support they need.

We all know how it feels and can offer lots of different advice.



Love Sal xxxxx

[Meg]

A faint is the body's natural reaction to not having enough oxygenated blood to the head, so it makes the body go horizontal in order to redress the balance and get the blood evenly distributed again.

The most common reason for not enough blood reaching the extremeties is that the blood pressure is too low.

When anxiety strikes , your blood pressure goes up so it makes it very unlikely to faint from low blood pressure .

The most common ways you can get a low blood pressure with anxiety is from:
betablockers
blood vessels dilating eg through heat or lack of movement,
a vago vagal episode
hyperventilation.

I would like to reiterate it is extremely uncommon for anyone with anxiety or panic to faint however often we feel it might happen due to the dizziness which is caused through something else.



Meg

It is impossible to get out of a problem by using the same kind of thinking that it took to get into it.
- Albert Einstein.

[eversojourn]

Hi,
Thank you all for your quick replies, I've sent on the information to my friend and I will try to encourage her to join this forum so she can give her symptoms and occurences more thoroughly. And hopefully this will help her further. :) It's nice to encounter such a helpful group of people.
cheers,
-jeff :)

[Rennie1989]

hiya

there are 3 reasons why you could faint

1) dehydration
2) low blood sugar level
3) no oxygen going to the head

i hope this helps

Scooter Girl

if i was hungry would you feed me, if i fell you help me up, if i was crying would you brush away my tears

[witchyone]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice. I have a friend who suffers from Insomnia and panic attacks. I went through the pages, which were very helpful, and found that it says a panic attack cannot cause you to faint. Well I stayed with my friend all night and she continued to faint several times during the course of the attack. I'm wondering what can explain this and if there any way of dealing with it? any help out be very appreciated.

<div align="right">Originally posted by eversojourn - 09 November 2004 : 14:08:42</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">


Hi there..

yes you can pass out from a panic attack.. hehe i know from experience

i had one a few months ago.. and the experience felt like i was dying.. "very frightening" i was so scared i had to dial 911
anyways long and short of it is this

it's how we react to siuations.. so behaviour cognitive thereapy is good.. and medicaitons..
seeing the doctor for it allowed me to heal myself from both my depression and panic disorder,.. which is the same drug to treat both.. just a higher dose for the panic disorder..

but yes.. it's very common for females to have these things..

which is the unfortunate part
but having a good support system in place is key... talking about coping strategies with stress always helps for anxiety disorders..
:)
hope this helps..


witchyone

[Alexandra]

Hi

Welcome to the forum

Take Care

Alex

Many People Will Walk
In & Out Of Your Life
But Only True Friends
Will Leave Footprints
In Your Heart