Do you feel like you are about to faint, dizzy, light-headed, and weak? And this is not the first time you’ve felt it? Don’t neglect it, see a doctor. It could be anything from hunger to heart problems!
There is a medical term for it – presyncope. It is a state of near-fainting consisting of light-headedness, muscle weakness and dizziness. One can feel faint when the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain falls temporarily, below minimum requirements for normal function, but without loss of consciousness.
Presyncope is often dismissed as a trivial symptom; however, instead of ignoring it, get a diagnosis of what is causing it so you can effectively manage it. Even if you don’t actually faint, there is a risk of falling and injuring yourself. Further, it may give rise to conditions that are life threatening if not diagnosed in time.
Feeling faint frequently could be because of many reasons including:
Low blood pressure: You have normal blood pressure when your systolic/diastolic reading is 120/80. You have low blood pressure when
your blood pressure reading goes down to 90/60 or lower. Some people have low blood pressure all the time. They have no symptoms and their low readings are normal for them. In others, blood pressure drops when they sit up from lying, or when they stand up from sitting or lying. However, the dizziness occurs for a short time, and blood pressure quickly adjusts to the new posture and returns to normal. This problem is called orthostatic or postural hypotension. It tends to get more troublesome as you become older, especially in those who have underlying medical problems such as diabetes and/or certain nervous system diseases, or those who are dehydrated from hot environments or inadequate fluid intake. Blood loss can also cause blood pressure to drop below normal. (Also read: Treatment of hypotension (low BP))
Medication: Certain commonly prescribed medications, such as diuretics (enhance urine flow, opiates such as morphine, high blood pressure pills, or those that dilate blood vessels (for example, nitroglycerin), may cause fainting or feeling of fainting. Read the information leaflet that comes in the drug packet to check if dizziness is one of the side-effects. (Also read: Drugs for hypertension)
Heart problems: Some heart disorders, for example, arrhythmia, can cause the feeling of fainting. An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm when the heart may suddenly beat too fast (generally greater than 180 beats per minute, but depending on overall heart function), too slowly (usually less than 30 beats per minute), or in an abnormal way that occurs due to sudden decrease in blood supply to the brain causing you to feel faint or light-headed. Faints may also occur when a rapid abnormal rhythm stops suddenly, and a pause ensues before the normal heart rhythm takes over again. If this lasts for greater than 5 seconds in duration, you may experience light-headedness or faint. Find out all you need to know about heart disease here.
Low blood sugar: Sometimes if you have low blood sugar you may feel faint. Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, is a condition when your blood glucose levels drop to 70 mg/dL or lower. Fatigue, tremor, sweating and faintness are its typical symptoms. (Also read: Emergencies in diabetes – do you know enough?)
Structural disturbance: Structural disturbances of heart muscle, heart valves, or blood vessels may sometimes cause real fainting, the most common cause being fainting associated with a heart attack. ‘In general, faints caused by structural disease of the heart or blood vessels are particularly important to recognize as they are warning signs of potentially life-threatening conditions,’ says David G. Benditt, from the Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School.
Dehydration: Dehydration occurs when you are not getting enough fluids causing low blood pressure, weakness, dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. For example, in a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, researchers found that dehydration caused severe presyncope in the subjects and re-hydration improved the symptoms. Read about how you can increase the amount of water you drink here.
Anemia: The main symptom of anemia is tiredness. However, if you have anemia you may not get sufficient oxygen to the brain because of insufficient quantity of red blood cells that carry oxygen molecules. This can make you feel light-headed and dizzy. Vitamin B12 deficiency may also cause anemia because then the body starts producing abnormally large red blood cells that cannot function properly. (Also read: Amazing health benefits of beetroot)
Autonomic neuropathy: It is a nerve disorder that damages the nerves thus disrupting signals between the brain and portions of the autonomic nervous system, such as the heart, blood vessels and sweat glands. It especially affects the heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration and digestion. Autonomic neuropathy can be a complication of a number of diseases and conditions or alternatively, it can be a side effect of some medication. One of the main symptoms of this condition is dizziness or feeling faint upon standing caused by drop in blood pressure. People with type 2 diabetes must get screened every year for diabetic neuropathy as soon as they are diagnosed with diabetes.
Panic attack: Feeling faint can have a psychiatric cause too. Those diagnosed with anxiety syndrome can feel faint just before having a panic attack. ‘I’ve had panic attacks for years. My heart rate gets up to 170 and my BP up to 150/105. Doctors never seemed worried about it. The high blood pressure usually comes with the first part of the anxiety and the build up to the panic attack. I wouldn’t worry too much. As long as your BP is normal when you’re not anxious it’s not that bad. It’s scary of course. But the body can handle a lot. Just keep track of it,’ shares a member of dysautonomia forum.
Acute stress: When under stress, you tend to breathe more rapidly and deeply, though you may not be consciously aware of over-breathing. And when the stress is acute, it produces a variety of symptoms including light-headedness, numbness, palpitations, blurred visions, flushing, feeling of fainting and tingling of the hands and around the mouth. Sometimes the person will even faint. (Also read: 7 signs that say you need to take a vacation)
You may not need more reasons to take fainting symptoms seriously and take steps to correct whatever it is that is causing you to feel faint frequently.
Reference:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lowbloodpressure.html
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/106/9/1048.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3699006
http://forums.dinet.org/index.php?/topic/19498-your-blood-pressure-during-anxietyvasovagal-presyncope/
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