Before fainting, it's common to experience some of the following: dizziness. lightheadedness. sweating.
Before fainting, you may have sweaty palms, dizziness, lightheadedness, problems seeing, or nausea. In young people, the problem usually has no serious cause, though falls related to fainting can lead to injury. But in some cases, it can be due to an underlying heart problem that is more concerning.
Feeling faint is known as presyncope. This causes the feeling of lightheadedness with the sensation that you'll pass out without actually losing consciousness, or syncope. Warning symptoms, such as feeling warm and sweaty, blurred vision or seeing stars, racing heart and feeling weak often precede the faint feeling.
Talk to your physician if syncope happens more often. Pre-syncope is the feeling that you are about to faint. Someone with pre-syncope may be lightheaded (dizzy) or nauseated, have a visual "gray out" or trouble hearing, have palpitations, or feel weak or suddenly sweaty.
Your field of vision may "white out" or "black out." Your skin may be cold and clammy. You lose muscle control at the same time, and may fall down. Fainting usually happens when your blood pressure drops suddenly, causing a decrease in blood flow to your brain. It is more common in older people.
But when you fall down and you're lying flat, blood returns to the brain rapidly. That's why most people wake up pretty quickly after fainting. The medical term for fainting is syncope (pronounced SING-kuh-pee). Fainting once is usually not a big cause for concern.
For example, the sight of blood, or extreme excitement, anxiety or fear, may cause some people to faint. This condition is called vasovagal syncope. Vasovagal syncope happens when the part of your nervous system that controls your heart rate and blood pressure overreacts to an emotional trigger.
Typically in a benign fainting spell, someone will have some recall just prior to passing out. But when someone has no memory of the event whatsoever, it can suggest than an arrhythmia was the culprit. Your doctor will test your heart's electrical system with an electrocardiogram in the office.
Most fainting will pass quickly and won't be serious. Usually, a fainting episode will only last a few seconds, although it will make the person feel unwell and recovery may take several minutes. If a person doesn't recover quickly, always seek urgent medical attention.
While fainting almost never occurs, the fear of fainting is extremely common among people with Panic Disorder. This is because people often feel dizzy and lightheaded during a panic attack, and mistakenly associate this with fainting. People who have never fainted in their lives will say "it feels like fainting".
Dehydration or overheating. A neurologic condition, such as a seizure disorder or stroke. A sudden drop in blood sugar, as may happen in a person who has diabetes. An unknown reason, which happens in up to 50% of fainting cases.
If you actually faint for no apparent reason, or if you feel like you are going to faint (such as lightheadedness), seeing a doctor is a smart decision, even if you believe you have anxiety. But feeling like you're going to faint is often a symptom of anxiety, especially if you suffer from panic attacks.
After four to five seconds, you lose consciousness, stop breathing and have no pulse.
Staying well hydrated is an effective way of preventing fainting spells.
Your doctor will go over your medical history and perform a physical exam. If there is concern your fainting episode could be a predictor of something for more serious, such as a heart condition, you will likely receive a series of tests. Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) - records the electrical activity of your heart.
How does passing out affect your sleep? Since a person will only get to the stages of light sleep, the body is less restorative. REM sleep is not attained when an individual passes out and denies them the ability to repair the body's muscles and tissues while adversely affecting their creativity and productivity.
Don't let people gather or crowd the fainted person as they need more fresh air. The heart can pump blood to the brain when both are at the same level. Therefore, it is essential to lay down the 'fainted' person in a sleeping position. One may raise their legs to increase the blood flow to the brain.
Presyncope occurs when a person feels like they are about to faint but do not actually lose consciousness. Someone with presyncope may experience lightheadedness, weakness, excessive sweating, and heart palpitations. There are many potential causes of presyncope.
Some of the initial symptoms are a result of the body not having enough sugar and include shakiness, irritability, nausea, and more. In most cases, eating resolves these symptoms. If a person continues not to eat, they can have slurred speech, confusion, syncope (fainting), or seizures.
Fainting can be a scary event for everyone involved. According to emergency room physician Troy Madsen, MD, 99 percent of the time, there are no serious health concerns. But if you're around when someone hits the floor, how should you respond? Learn the facts about fainting and what you can do when it happens.
Most people with a simple faint are alert within 2 minutes. They feel normal after lying down for 10 minutes. They are able to stand again without feeling dizzy. It may help to stand up slowly.
Some people use the terms blackout and fainting interchangeably, but they are different things. A blackout is a loss of memory. Fainting, also called passing out, is a loss of consciousness. Both of these can have several different causes.