Fear of fainting?

[Bear]

I don't know what's brought this on but I've suddenly developed a massive fear of fainting.
I get fluttering in my stomach and then feel dizzy and go into a panic because I think I'm going to faint. The more I worry about it the worse it gets and I get VERY anxious, breathing quickly and sweating.
When it happens, I worry that I'm going to fall and hit my head, and people with think I'm on drugs or something and just leave me there and I'll die. I get nervous when I'm eating in case I pass out and choke and die.
I'm terrified of anything to do with blood or medical procedures, and this is making it worse because I'm scared of it making me faint. I freaked out at the vets the other day because the vet was talking about an operation and I was scared I was going to faint and hit my head on the corner of the table. I bet she thought I was a nutter.
I had to stop writing this half way though because thinking about it made me anxious.
Can anyone relate?

[Heidi Tiger]

Yes I can definately relate to this. When I first started getting panic attacks about 5 years or so, I was convinced it was because I was about to faint, I didn't even realise it was panic and thought I was panicking because of the faintness and not feeling faint because I was panicking. If it help to reassure you it is really incredibly rare that you would faint because of a panic attack, in fact it tends to raise your blood pressure, whilst people often faint because of low blood pressure. I found mastering breathing exercises helped me cope with it more but it still can be quite scary.

[Stellata]

I actually landed up in a and e via ambulance once because I was so dizzy I couldn't walk any further without passing out. I didn't know at the time that it was a severe panic attack. Me and the Dr I saw figured it out.

My therapist has taught me to focus intensely on the outbreath if I feel similar, and it does help. It

[mikey]

I can relate to this too. My first panic attack made me feel as if I was about to faint and it was in a bad situation (I was in a church full of people), and after that I became terrified of being in such a situation again where I couldn't 'escape' and get out because I was worried I'd faint. It's taken me a while to get over it and what's helped me most is telling myself over and over in my head, 'you're not going to faint, this is a panic attack and it will pass'. Also, focusing on something such as your breathing, the words on a page or do times tables in your head or something can also really help.

[DannieGirl]

i go through phases of fainting....it's horrible...but i find it better to faint than to lay down before fainting cos laying down before fainting makes me hot and sweaty and my ears ring really loud and my heart race..and i feel it's worse...though thats the same symptoms i get when i know i am about to faint...
it's horrible either way...

last timei fainted...i tried to get to my room from the bathroom as quickly as possible and i fainted between my bedroom dorr and a table...i manage to twist my knee and bit a chunk out of my bottom lip...with a retainer in!
that was painful for a few days

[Steel Maiden]

I don't get this but I just want to offer my support. I think you should bring this up with any mental health specialist you see.

[DannieGirl]

apparently fainting can have something to do with your mental health...stress like things i guess..

I used to fear fainting because i thought i might wet myself in the process - muscles relaxing.

Don't really know what else to say. Your not alone.

[Bear]

Thanks, I'll tell my psychologist about it tomorrow x

[Steel Maiden]

Good luck.