Does this sound like it could be anxiety?

[SkyBlue1987]

Or am I possibly just prone to feeling faint for some reason? This type of “attack” has happened numerous times over the last 2/3 years, but I’ll describe the most recent one. I was at the supermarket checkout earlier today with both my kids and suddenly felt really warm and a bit spaced out/overstimulated, and like I was going to faint. Two different people were talking to me and I was trying to keep an eye on my little ones but I wasn’t feeling anxious before it happened, nor am I really a particularly anxious person. It lasted maybe 30 seconds. Mostly this happens in a shop/public place. Although a couple of days before this I was sitting in my car with my big puffer jacket on - it wasn’t overly hot in the car but I suddenly felt hot, panicky, and like I might faint (same sort of feeling) until I cooled myself down. So it’s not always when I’m in public. I’ve never actually fainted nor has it happened at home (where I spend most of my time as I WFH and am on maternity leave) which made me think it might be anxiety. I’ve had blood work done recently and nothing out of the ordinary with that.

Could it be hormonal, perimenopause ?

I've experienced very similar to what you have described and only twice in my life, both in the past year, and both times in shops where it was all a little too much. I was told it was likely an anxiety attack, though like you, have never really had anxiety... it helped to focus on breathing but still quite scary. There's lots online about it and resonates with me, so it could be that.

Could be, it only really started after I’d had my children so maybe hormonal in some way or linked to lack of sleep? I have a 4 year old and a six month old.

Oh I think lack of sleep definitely could be a factor in it.

I don't sleep well generally and if I have a period of very little sleep I get so tired I sometimes have an attack of suddenly feeling dizzy and as though I'm going to lose my balance or even pass out. It only lasts for a few seconds but is quite scary. It tends to happen when I'm doing something on my lap top.

I will also add that during the period of recovery I had from hip replacement where I was trying to sleep upright and also not walking very much I used to feel as though my circulation was packing up. I thought I was going to die. I had a few trips to be checked out at A and E. I kept getting told it was stress and anxiety that was causing me to feel like that. I found that impossible to believe because the physical symptoms were so real. Tbh I'm still sceptical it was stress and I felt I was being told that because they didn't know the cause of my problem and they wanted me to stop bothering them. Although I do accept stress can cause lots of weird physical manifestations.

Even if you have already had medical advice on this I really think it's worth going back to your GP and talking about it again.

I’ve def had the same at the supermarket checkout. I have to keep deep breathing and focus on packing my shopping. I say in my head “you’ll be walking out with the trolley soon into the fresh air”. Horrible and odd

Dehydration
A hot flush
Too much caffeine
This happened to me when I was overweight and very unfit, standing or walking a while made me hot and woozy.

Hi, it happens to be. In my case it’s definitely anxiety. I had a couple of full on panic attacks and I recognise the connections.
I’m also waiting for ADHD assessment- what you describe sounds like sensory overstimulation, it can happen when your environment gets too much but also gets triggered by temperature in my case. It got much worse when I had my child and started perimenopause- I think it’s a mix of the hormonal changes and the way your children overload your senses.