Does anyone know much about fainting as an adult, caused by seeing something unpleasant?

[4pmfireworks]

I get lightheaded and lose my vision if I stand up too quickly. I know this is very common.

As a child I also used to faint when unwell (high fever, vomiting etc). I can easily go 'woozy' when unwell now but don't faint.

As a teen I fainted when hungover. Fully passed out like a fallen tree. Once lost 4 teeth doing it. I have become better able to notice I'm going to faint as an adult and have not hurt myself this way for years (I also no longer drink like a student in the 90s).

I have fainted a couple of times on seeing a lot of blood, which pisses me off and puzzles me tbh because I don't faint when I deal with my period, and I'm not a squeamish person. I don't feel disgusted or uncomfortable, and the next thing I wake up looking at the ceiling with a bump on my head.

I also remember fainting once when I must have been about 7, and my brother refused to turn off a tv show about a surgical operation. I hated looking at it, left the room and passed out cold.

Twice recently, a TV show has made me faint. Once it was a scene in which an abortion is implied but not shown, and the woman is seen fully dressed, convulsing and crying after the event. Another time it was a similar scene in Baby Reindeer after he is assaulted and is in pain in the shower. Very uncomfortable viewing, but nothing shown on screen other than people in pain - and I'm out cold. Why? What is this pointless reaction?

I feel a bit puzzled by it and I wondered if anyone has similar or knows much about it.

Low blood pressure?

Well yes, though it's never low enough to worry any doctor when I've had it taken. But why such silly triggers?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vasovagal-syncope/symptoms-causes/syc-20350527

Thank you for the link. I have of course already Googled. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience of this or knew anything about it other than what I've managed to find on Google.

Sounds like you have orthostatic hypotension or postural hypotension and are prone to vasovagal events.
GP needs to rule out medical problems like a heart problem , low thyroid etc.
You can eat more salt in your diet , deink
plenty to put your blood pressure up , wear compression stockings and there are exercises you can do.
The triggers are just subconscious sometimes, your brain perceives danger

Thank you @olympicsrock that's interesting.

I was a fainter as a child too. Less so as an adult but like you recognise the signs. Mine tended to be from minor pain. So I once fainted from period pain and once from banging my elbow. It was psychological mostly rather then the pain. As an adult I got my blood pressure tested during pregnancy and it is naturally borderline low. 90/60. This isn't an issue heath wise but makes me more sensitive to light headedness when I don't eat enough or stand up too fast.

My fainting over the years was anaemia. I'd get a blood test

That sounds unsettling for you, it must be really worrying thinking you might be triggered by something you see.

When I was at uni, someone I was talking to had a full-blown epileptic seizure. I had no idea what I should be doing but I did what I could to help… then afterwards, after some medics stepped in, everything went black and I had to sit on a corridor floor to recover. I guess it was the shock but I felt so disappointed in myself for not coping better. And I often wonder if seeing something similar again would trigger the same reaction, even though I’d know how to respond now,

I wonder if part of your reaction is a subconscious memory of trauma… so that even though you’re not bothered by the event on a conscious level, there’s something you’re not even aware of.

I faint when I'm unwell . I have a permanent dent in my forehead from fainting whilst getting some tablets and banging my head on a table edge.
I also faint when having a trip to the loo in the night when I'm unwell . Fainting whilst sat on the loo is horrible

I do this. Similar lifelong story to you, still get woody over gross things or injections etc, but find breathing techniques and focusing on other things helps.

Interestingly, my daughter has a vasovagal at her one year jabs, and has since been diagnosed with RAS which essentially means she does the same

Omg @Rainbow321 yes, fainting on the loo is awful. I have celiac and when I get glutened, my symptoms involve a whole lot of being on the loo and fainting.

I don't mind 'nearly' fainting, but when I go completely out I feel horrid for a couple of days. Once I passed out and peed when unwell, which makes me very, very nervous about it happening when I'm not at home.

I have very low blood pressure and faint when I vomit or have severe diarrhoea. Also when I have blood tests (I’m fine if I lie down).
When I lift heavy things or stand up, I go very dizzy.

I was told that fainting at the sight of blood is a self-preservation thing. You see blood, your brain thinks it gushing out of you, and your blood pressure plummets to try and reduce the risk of bleeding out. So it's not ridiculous at all, it is in fact very sensible.

Some people are more prone to fainting than others. If it's manageable, and you're able to work around it, it's not usually something to worry about. If it's impacting on your life then you should definitely go back to the GP.

How low is 'not low enough for doctors to be worried'?

I have low BP and would always get told my BP was excellent. Well not so much when it dropped when I stood up and I fainted.

I saw the consultant who runs this team and the advice was really helpful - basically eat more salt, drink more water esp in the morning, clench your bum if you start feeling dizzy

https://stopfainting.com/symptoms/

I have similar triggers and have fainted over things which make me feel squeamish, relating to illness. It's not so much blood but when someone describes a particularly nasty disease, I can faint. It used to happen a lot more as a child. I remember once my dad just explaining allergies and I fainted! Now it's rare but does occasionally happen. These days I'm more likely to get very dizzy and feel faint than actually faint. I did faint a ye1ar or so ago when someone was talking at great length about alopecia...
I've never met anyone else who faints for these reasons!

If you are passing out and wetting yourself I’d be thinking epilepsy. @4pmfireworks have you ever been assessed for epilepsy rather than fainting?

As a child I fainted if I had to stand up for too long, having injections and if I had to watch videos about medical procedures. As an adult I’ve felt like I was going to faint if someone talked about a medical procedure for too long. It’s weird as I wouldn’t say I’m particularly squeamish in other ways or hate the sight of blood. Two of my teenage children also faint if they have to stand up for too long or give a blood sample/have an injection.

My dd is a fainter but she probably has POTS (appointment this week with cardiology). She also had v high temperatures as a child, or in fact whenever she is ill. Also has EDS. Are you hyper mobile at all?

Ah that's interesting about clenching your bum!

I'm someone else who faints when vomiting - I've learnt to crouch down a bit if I need to be sick which seems to reduce the risk a bit - and obviously reduces the fall 😬.

It's a nuisance isn't OP? I luckily can usually tell when its going to happen so can generally now get down before Im pushed, as it were. Yes the bathroom floor is uncomfortable but better to get there under my own steam, as it were!

I’ve always been ‘a fainter’. When sick, over-tired, from standing up too quickly and at the sight of my own blood - but weirdly not bothered by anyone else’s. It increased to almost daily when I was pregnant and could even happen when I was sitting down. Like others, the doctors always praise my ‘excellent low blood pressure’ but the fainting can been damn annoying and inconvenient.

A vasovagal syncope can happen when you see something which distresses you

Have you had your heart checked lately?

I am similar. Fainted a lot in school as a child, I remember fainting at a frog dissection and several times when friends had nose bleeds. As an adult I get dizzy when standing a lot and have fainted a few times with seemingly no trigger. My blood pressure is pretty low but have been checked for POTS, anaemia and thyroid and is is fine.

I have similar experiences OP! Not squeamish but every once in a while something get triggered in my system and I end up fainting. Completely random things like something gross/medical, despite having no problems with blood any other time, sometimes when I’m very stressed and the environment is a bit overwhelming - once I fainted because a shop floor had a really bold pattern?! It’s incredibly annoying. I don’t know if this is related but I was diagnosed with Hashimotos hypothyroidism - might be worth getting a blood test for this as it is very common.

I've never done it until recently. I fainted after giving blood on seeing blood coming out from my arm. Also when I hadn't eaten until.11am one day, when I used to do intermittent fasting quite well. I'll keep an eye on things.