Vasovagal Syncope

[ServerError]

Apologies if this isn't the appropriate forum for this. I wasn't sure where best to post.

So I've been having CBT and am taking medication, having been diagnosed with anxiety and panic. I believe I've been having mild, tolerable panic attacks for about six years without questioning what was happening (silly, I know).

However, in January, I had something that felt really different. I felt like I was on the edge of passing out - if I didn't fight it, I think I would have. I just remember a strange feeling in my arm, and then adding more fear to it, and then my vision went fuzzy, and everything seemed distant. Everyone's voices sounded miles off. I was seen by paramedics, who just told me it was 'one of those things' and left me. As soon as they did, it started coming back.

Anyway, to try and cut this long story short, I ended up in hospital due to constant fear, anxiety and panic. Since then, I've kind of accepted I have anxiety and panic attacks, and just been trying to get on with it. However, I haven't been able to forget that attack - it was so different. It happened again while I was walking down the street. I think the trigger may have been going too long without food, but I can't be sure.

Until I can see my GP, I just wondered if anyone knew anything much about vasovagal syncope. I really think that's what it could have been. Is it dangerous? I'm relatively young at 31. I've had an MRI scan of my brain, a CT scan, urine tests, blood tests, ECGs, a chest x-ray, and been hooked up to a heart monitor. Nothing showed up. I'm due a heart echo, but I'm told it could take ages to get the appointment. My GP hasn't mentioned any of the tests for VS, but I think that's because I haven't described the events properly. Is this something I should be scared of?

[netminder1976]

Sounds to me like a typical symptom of panic attacks. I've felt that way plenty. Sometimes if I'm sitting when it happens I'll hurry and grab something because it feels like I'm sinking or falling.

[ServerError]

It's really frustrating. I've been doing really well lately, not really worrying and just accepting I have anxiety and panic attacks.

Now it feels like I'm back to square one because the thought of vasovagal syncope has occurred to me. I feel sure this is what it is. Suddenly I'm scared to stand up in case I pass out and give myself a concussion or worse...

[debs71]

Vasovagal Syncope is not dangerous.....it is just a posh word for a common faint.

I suffer from this. I have actually passed out twice with it, once when I was in the hairdressers (of all places) and had an anxiety attack, and again when I was at work.....totally embarrassing.

It is just a sudden drop in blood pressure and heart rate....no big deal. Yes, a thorough doctor may investigate it if it happens frequently, to rule out any underlying heart issue, but nine times out of ten it is just a faint....especially if it is related to an anxiety or panic disorder.

I know it is scary. The times it has happened to me - and the times when I have had loads of near misses...when I was close to blacking out but have managed to breathe and talk myself over it - I have worried that I may have a cardiac issue, but I can always relate it to my nerves and my anxiety, so I am sure that is the root cause. I have also had a few ECG's and apart from a racing heart due to my anxiety, nothing shows up.

Don't be scared of VS. It is very common, doesn't cause any damage, it is just frightening when it happens, and the physical weirdness it creates. x

[MyNameIsTerry]

It could even be a Dissociative Seizure, classed as a Non Epileptic Seizure (NES). Don't panic because the word "seizure" is there, these are quite common and occur in anxiety/panic disorders and are not connected to epilepsy.

This is a good explanation of them and you will note they say many have an organic trigger including a drop in blood sugar:

https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/n...s#.Vu6q78unwj0

I knew someone who had one of these once and he had no mental health disorders but had been putting himself under a lot of stress at work for years.

[ServerError]

Thanks both for your replies.

Debs - that was certainly very reassuring. If that's what is happening to me then it's good to know it's nothing too serious. I've had tonnes of ECGs and had my heart monitored and all they found was that it occasionally races during panic. I'm still to have an echo test, whatever that means, but I've been told to expect a long wait.

Terry - it's good to know that this would be related to anxiety/panic, but I have to say the word seizure has gotten to me. I read the article and it was certainly informative, but I now feel like I'll never get a diagnosis. My GP isn't thinking down the VS route or the seizure route, but I know that's because I've not described my symptoms properly.

I'm so frustrated. I was doing so well just accepting it was all panic and abxiety related and getting on with my life. It was yucky, but I was okay. Now these two things have come along and I just feel like everything's changed. Hard not to be scared...

[Suziewuzie]

As someone else said, Vasovagal is just a medical term for 'faint' and is nothing to worry about. Probably everyone will have a VV at least once in their life. Lots of my patients have them when we're getting them out of bed for the first time after surgery. I have low blood pressure so I get light headed & faint a lot.
An ECHO is an ultrasound scan of the heart

[countrygirl]

I posted about having this last week. Hot room, I had over eaten rich food and was standing chatting when wham i knew that if I didn't get sat down I was going to faint so rushed to the loo and sat on the floor ( was sick) and then was okay.
I know it was not connected to any heart issue as I have an implanted cardiac moniter ( they leave them in for 2 years) because I do get super ventricular tachycardia that is not harmful but this causes a massive chest flutter and feeling faint but this was totally different.
I sent a download to the heart hospital when I got home so they could check that my near faint was not related to my heart and they confirmed over the phone that my heartbeat was totally normal at the time of the near faint.
I am sure my near faint was caused by a very full tummy of rich food and a very hot room and then me standing up chatting
It scared me rigid but most faints are just that a sudden drop in blood pressure for all sorts of reasons.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Terry - it's good to know that this would be related to anxiety/panic, but I have to say the word seizure has gotten to me. I read the article and it was certainly informative, but I now feel like I'll never get a diagnosis. My GP isn't thinking down the VS route or the seizure route, but I know that's because I've not described my symptoms properly.

Sorry, I did expect that really as the word seizure tends to conjure up images of serious things. But you can see throughout that article it makes no connection to anything serious and makes lots of connections to anxiety/panic and minor things like blood sugar drops.

Perhaps it is similar to fainting however in the case of dissociation it is more about escaping something overwhelming. There are disorders that have different forms of dissociation and they are all about more extreme mental trauma and shutting it out. That doesn't sound like you, but the seizure version (which fits into one specific Dissociative Disorder) is noted to have the ability to happen to anyone. That makes it just like how so many of us can suffer some DP/DR but that doesn't mean we have the DP/DR Disorder version.

This could be isolated. Others on here have reported it once but not come back so that could have been isolated to them. The guy I knew had never had it again years later and still had no mental health problems. After all, it's been a couple of months now.