Anybody Else Feel This Way?

[punkiefunkyshoe]

I'm new to this, so I hope I'm doing it right.

Lately I've been having panic attacks and then fainting after them and totally blacking out. Is that normal? Does this happen to anybody else?

 

[Sacrament]

I'm sure you're not the only one. What happens before you have those panic attacks? Any specific triggers?

 

[FountainandFairfax]

I get light-headed all the time, but I don't recall ever feeling that way due to anxiety.

Apparently, it has something to do with hyperventilation in some anxious people.

From: Anxiety & Fainting: Can Anxiety Cause You To Faint?

Remember, there's no harm in seeing the doctor if you're concerned. Your doctor can easily rule out most of the dangerous causes of feeling faint. But it's such a common anxiety symptom, that if you have reason to believe you're suffering from anxiety, it's highly likely that your experience is the result of hyperventilation.

If you're feeling faint, the first step is to go against your instinct and try not to take in breaths that make your chest expand. You need to add more CO2 to your bloodstream. You can do this by taking slower breaths and trying to breathe in through your stomach, rather than your chest. Also, once you've breathed in, hold your breath for a few seconds before slowly exhaling.

Often you'll notice your feeling faint comes with other symptoms as well. All of these symptoms represent signals that your body is giving you about your anxiety.

 

[Sacrament]

Yeah, my suggestion would be: whenever you feel a panic attack coming, take a good look at the source, ask yourself if it's a valid reason to panic over, and focus on breathing in and out slowly (and take a seat first). Just close your eyes, relax your muscles, do some breathing exercises, and focus your attention on your physical body, breathing + progressive muscle group relaxation. If you're hyperventilating, which is usually the case with panic attacks, you're most likely not giving your brain enough oxygen to function, which causes you to black out.

 

[punkiefunkyshoe]

All I did was put dishes in the sink and then thought of this weird dream I had and it was triggered. I've had anxiety for a very long time, so I started to breathe deeply and then I just blacked out. No hyperventilation, no trouble breathing. It just happened.

 

[Kiwong]

I had panic attacks for five years, I felt like I might faint, but never completely blacked out. It took a long time to beat the panic, I did it by tricking the lie in the my mind that they could kill me, by ruling out other serious conditions. Then when I knew the panic attacks couldn't kill me, I started to embrace and challenge the panic. "What have you got panic?" I'd ask. And when I was still standing I'd reply. "You've got nothing." Eventually panic lost its power.

Breathing should be relaxed deep and regular. If you breathe in and out for too long, you may not be getting enough oxygen.

 

[Sacrament]

All I did was put dishes in the sink and then thought of this weird dream I had and it was triggered. I've had anxiety for a very long time, so I started to breathe deeply and then I just blacked out. No hyperventilation, no trouble breathing. It just happened.

You did say you had a panic attack, which is something that causes hyperventilation and all the other symptoms that were mentioned. Maybe you just don't remember it happening because you blacked out. The fact that you panicked over the dream is why it happened. If you had simply thought "meh, bad dreams happen, time to enjoy the rest of my day and pay no mind to them", nothing would be triggered because you would have defused the threat.

Also, if you breathe in slowly and deeply but don't exhale accordingly, you'll black out anyway, because you're not pushing out all the carbon dioxide after breathing in all that oxygen.

 

[punkiefunkyshoe]

Okay so by the sounds of it I wasn't breathing OUT properly. I was inhaling, deeply but before the exhale I'd black out. I think. Hard to remember.