View Full Version : Fainting/Fear of Fainting
I've only recently started to suffer panic attackes again, after a good run of not having any for ages. I have attributed them to loads of things, and think I have a slight obsessive tendency when it comes to panic attacks. Lately when I've had a heavy night and go somewhere where I have to stand up for a while (like a supermarket or in a queue) I have felt quite faint and have had to go and sit down, and the feeling of lightheadedness makes me start to panic. Now I have started to think about it more and more, and even when I'm sat down sometimes I feel like I'm going to pass out! It even happens now when I haven't had too bad a night the night before.
Does anyone else get this? Sometimes I'll even just be stood up for a short period of time, and as soon I think about it, whoosh! It comes back.
That is my biggest fear and at the root of my panic and anxiety the fear of fainting. My psychologist doesn't seem to grasp that its not the fear of feeling embarassed in public if I faint its fear of the sensations and actually fainting and the worry that I may never wake up again.
I can't really offer any advice other than its incredibly rare to faint due to panic/anxiety.
Sounds just like me!:)
Try and think of something/somewhere nice and try a Claire Weekes technique of letting these thoughts of fainting go over your head......
Deep breathe even though it's hard - and get yourself some "Rescue remedy".
You are not alone, I had an episode of this only today shopping in Watford and it passed:yesyes:
Big hugs,
Kim X
Yes I get this too , but you have to be sure you know what is going on.
My gp always told me its anxiety , however when it got worse and I felt dizzy 24/7 , in the end i got reffered to a specialist, It turns out I was getting
a rare type of migraine that got triggered by busy enviroments, and motion.
After 6 years of this , NOW i am getting worse , and my balance is effected and i can stagger when walking.
Now i only have to think about being dizzy and i can be :mad: .
Maybe keep a diary of symptoms for a while ?
I get this too. Dizziness has been my worst anxiety symptom, and a few months ago I felt dizzy all day, every day. I still get lots of dizzy spells, and fears of fainting when I'm in anxiety provoking situations (I'm agoraphobic so that's pretty much all situations outside of the house!!) BUT I've got myself to the stage of not letting it make me panic when I'm at home.
If I start to feel a bit dizzy, I just tell myself 'it's only anxiety, it'll pass, I won't faint' and it disappears in a few minutes. A CBT technique is reframing the thought to something balanced, for me that has been accepting that I will feel lightheaded/dizzy sometimes, but that I've never fainted from it, so the evidence is that I won't faint when I feel dizzy. Instead of thinking 'oh god I'm going to faint', I can now think 'it's anxiety, it'll pass'.
It's not a quick cure, but reassuring yourself that all the evidence points to the fact that you won't faint, however horrible the lightheadedness feels, should eventually lessen the frequency and intensity of the feelings.
My therapist got me to write thought records when I started to feel faint - I wrote down what was going through my mind, what was happening at the time etc, and what happended. Over time I ended up with a big pile of papers all saying 'I feel like I'm going to faint' but that I never actually did!
Hope that might help you a bit.
Good luck missy_c!
It does make me wonder how this fear of dizziness comes about ?
I feel for me , when my 45 year old aunt fell to the floor and died of a brain hemmorage , it may of given me this fear ?
Cos if i feel im about to fall to the floor , i wonder if my sub concious is remembering this ?
so can you think of anything that effected you at any time ?
Maybe seeing someone faint ? or even reading about someone fainting ?
bit like me mirry.My mum used to get dizzy spells.She got the all clear and not long afterwards passed away from a brain haemorrhage.
Bet x
Now I am scared ,I get dizzy and just read your post, can't stop thinking i will have a hemmorage and die also had a sharp pain in head this morning and am a bit dizzy:ohmy: you see my problem.I may have to stop reading posts they are making me anxious.
Sorry to be a woose:wacko:
Lesleyb
Dont be afraid hun sharp pain in the head really does sound like a migraine varient, dizziness is very common , infact 50% of people will see thier gp about it in their lifetime.
I am now being investigated further cos im loosing my balance when i walk , they are gonna check me out 13th march :blush: for m.s. (dont like the 13th,lol).
But I have to find out what is wrong , i am scared but want answers now.
My symptoms are suggestive of a few different conditions ....... if you have any of the following (like me) , then go get yourself checked out....
nystasgmus of the eyes (eyes jump back and forth).
significant sway when you walk or stagger.
severe vertigo , when you see the floor or room spin around you.
There are hundreds of causes , yet being anxious we cling on to the worst :lac: .
:hugs:
Mirry, sorry to be such a pain when you have so much going on, I don't have any of the things you mentioned just a general feeling of lightheadness really, been checked by ENT they could not find anything.I will try my cbt techniques but sometimes it is not easy.
Hope all goes well for you:flowers: :hugs:
Lesleyb
hi lesleyb hun,
hope I didnt scare you. when my mom passed away she had other health issues also.Its just me and the worrier I am.
bet :hugs:
Hi Bet, I am ok now just stupid panicking again LOL:ohmy: .
Take care:hugs:
Lesleyb
Thanks so much guys!! I kno it sounds horrible, but sometimes when I post I'm glad in a way that there are others like me (although I wouldn't wish panics on anyone!). I did faint once hilst I was stoppd up in church when I was very young, and I have tried to avoid situations where I stand for long periods since then, but it had never given me the feeling of being faint or panic before, I would just sit down and not even think about it. I think now that my panic disorder seems to have returned, if I feel remotely panicky I'll try and attribute it to something, I can't just think "oh well, i'm panicky again". Boo!!! Also I had a panic attack whilst AT my psychiatrists appointment, how embarrassing! (think I may have mentioned that when I first posted, so if so, just ignore!).
I'm hopefully getting referred soon to an occupational therapist who deals with CBT, and I can't wait, it's been a long time in coming, but I'm just at that stage where I want a magic wand cure. x
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