Summer dizziness

[Jeordie]

So, here in Italy the hot summer is coming up.
After a relatively tranquil winter in which I didn't have this specific symptom, I'm having it again, the thing that made my last summer a hell: when I walk, I feel dizzy and faint.

I try to drink as much as I can, but I still get it. I have normal/low blood pressure, but in any case the problem is still the same: I'm pissed when it happens because I need to stop otherwise I would faint.

It improves only if I sit and drink and relax. My breathing becomes exaggerated too, and I HATE BEING LIKE THAT WHEN I'M 25, and pretty athletic.

I know dizziness, blurry vision, being afraid of fainting can happen for anxiety. But why does it happen regularly when I go walking down the street, especially by summer when the climate is very hot?

My ideas are:
a) it's anxiety, just being afraid of fainting because of the moderately low blood pressure (or because of shock of a previous dehydration episode, which I had few summers ago).
b) I have mild symtoms because of the blood pressure which I exaggerate with anxiety.
c) I have low blood pressure and blood sugar, or severe dehydration, because of some condition the doctors ignore. So my brain doesn't get enough oxygen.
d) like c) and exaggerated by anxiety.

I personally hope a) or b) to be true, though afraid of the possibility of having an illness or a condition. The fact the brain doesn't get enough oxygen really scares me, because isn't that one of the vital functions? I want my brain to get enough of everything!!
I feel ill, I feel annoyed by that, and I find it funny a young guy without any severe condition can feel like that. All people I know just don't know what to say and are surprised that I feel like that, which makes me feel alone.

If somebody can give comfort, that'd be appreciated.
Thanks a lot.

[neutoticamber]

Hello, I am a newbie here. It is 5 a.m. and I have been up for the past couple of hours with anxiety. I decided to surf the web and I came across this forum. When I read this post I had to reply because I have the exact same symptoms in the summer. Actually, whenever I get hot, it creates an anxiety type reaction. I have figured that the reason I react in this way is because whenever I have a panic attack I start to sweat, breathe heavily, get dizzy, etc.... In the summer, just walking around in the heat will create our bodies to naturally sweat.... but in my mind this creates a response that my tricks my mind into thinking it's something more than it really is. I have heard of many people who have anxiety problems to not be able to exercise because the physical exertion (sweating, hot, heavy breathing, heart pounding) brings on an anxiety response because it reminds us of how it feels to have a panic attack. I think that is the case with the summer heat as well. Trust me... I have thought all the same things as you... (low blood sugar, blood pressure.... bla bla) I actually don't leave my house in the summer without a protien bar and water. Sometime I even bring a spray bottle with cold water if it is really hot. Sorry if this post is sensless... I am going on a couple of days without sleep. I will post a proper introduction soon. -----The only thing to fear is fear itself.

[Jeordie]

Thanks, I liked to hear this.
Right now I'm trying to avoid the hottest times of the day. I'm going out before 1pm, and I'm having little problems. I know too much sun (in fact experts recommend everybody to avoid sitting or walking under the sun when at its highest point) will bring those symptoms...maybe it's just the pressure, I don't know, which I charge with more anxiety giving me those sensations.

I aldo drink more water. Maybe I exaggerate subtle signs of dehydration, get scared and improve them. Maybe I'm still shocked of the REAL dehydration episode I had last summer. In all cases, there's little I can do except drinking, avoiding when it's too hot, and relax.

[neutoticamber]

I have never experienced dehydration before, but my father has. I think the main symptoms of that is headach and muscle cramps. He had really bad leg cramps.... that is how he knew. After that he was really nervous about it, because he said it was miserable. Your past epidose is probaly the reason your are so anxious about having enough water in your body.

[Jeordie]

Oh, then it wasn't dehydration, for I didn't have cramps.

See, what makes me anxious is NOT KNOWING what the hell happened!
I just felt awfully, that's all I know. I'm still alive, I know that too.
I went to hospital, they told me I had low blood sugar, they put a needle in my arm, I fainted, I vomited, and they dismissed me after that telling me NOTHING. Just to go to my doctor, which told me NOTHING abut what I had. Just shrugs!!

Let me tell you, knowing what I had would help me. Of course you get more scared if you know it could happen again, and you have no way to prevent it, and no way to help yourself in that situation.

Then I'm going back to the simple low blood pressure idea...

But whatever it is, I know what brings the symptoms back today is the anxiety. Or at least greatly exaggerate them.
It's still hard to cope with.

Especially because I don't know what happened.

[neutoticamber]

Well, how low is your blood pressure? Usually a person can have fairly low blood pressure and not have any bad symptoms. I am starting Pharmacy school this fall, and i have learned so much about anatomy. It just seems that if you had reallllllly low blood pressure you doctors would be concerned. Also, high blood pressue is what causes chest pain. Low BP would cause feelings of light headedness upon standing up really fast or something like that. Almost everybody gets that. If you lay down for a while then get up reeally fast and see stars; it is just your body adjusting. It's normal for most people but if you feel like that all thetime then I would maybe buy a BP cuff and check it at home for a while. I am betting it's mostly anxiety. OUr minds can manifest crazy symptoms in our body.

[Jeordie]

I bet it's anxiety too. I don't want to live concerned about my bodly symptoms, so I won't buy anything to continously test my pressure! That would make me test it all the time.

The symtoms appear at times completely randomly. I do bench presses, and some days when I wake even very slowly, I get dizzy. Some days it doesn't happen at all. So why? Why does it happens at times? I couldn't find any reason why that would happen one specific day and not the other. Anyway it would make me feel concerned of fainting in the gym (which I'm alone in, nobody could come to help me out in case).

In any case doctors would tell me I have a fairly low pressure.
But don't you think fear itself can lower it? Of course if you get scared, one of the body reactions could be to lower your pressure even to the point to make you faint (that would happen if I see a needle, for example - and just because of fear of it).

So maybe it's the fear making me feel faint, and not feeling faint making me fearful. What do you think?

[vaio]

hi Jeordie
I know this kind of feeling, I also seem to have it specially in the spring and summer.
Usually first time of the year when I get it, it comes without anxiety, but it creates anxiety because I never found whatever causes it. I took almost all possible blood tests and scans and found nothing.
How many hours/day do you spend on the computer/tv?

Someone told me it can happen because the body gets somehow electromagnetically affected by the high tech electronics.

Also someone told that air composition is changed in summer and if you spend a lot of time inside before you get out, then you breathe different so there are changes in the blood pH.

You should learn to live with these feelings at least until you find the cause.
Don't get scared or you'll have 5 or 10 other worse symptoms.

[Jeordie]

I work as graphic designer and I therefore spend a lot of time in front of the computer. I have thought of this, I indeed feel better when I'm away from the computer for few days.

It really sucks not knowing...
but I stopped worring about it. If it happens, fine. I have done all I could: spoke to doctors, and done tests.

[MikeMarcoe]

Jeordie,

This sounds to me like high blood sugar. Blurred vision and dizziness are common symptoms of that.

Do these symptoms go away shortly after you drink water? Are they worse at particular times of the day?

You may have insulin sensitivity, which, over time, can turn into diabetes. Try cutting way back on sugar and starches (esp. refined starches) and eating more proteins and vegetables and drinking more water. See if this works over the course of a week.

I've had to adjust my diet accordingly and it has reduced my own mental haziness and blurred vision markedly. Also, it has made me calmer.

[Jeordie]

But blurry vision and dizziness could be because of LOW blood sugar too, coudn't they?

I had a period when I thought I had post-prandial low sugar problems, but right after the crisis began to come randomly.

In the last weeks I has crisises in the late evening. The symtoms often vary, they're all terrible but vary. From blurry vision to faintness, sometimes blurry vision is just to one eye, lately neck pain and a feeling of not hearing well occur. In facts, my ears feel weird lately, in a way I wouldn't know how to explain well. It's like they're "full" or something. Like something is preventing me to hear fully.
Sometimes I have the feeling of losing my hear and fainting. A sort of "spasm" that lasts a second or two.
Other times, but I haven't had that for a long time, I would feel a spasm of faintness together with colitic pain (in my stomach). This would happen almost exclusively after a while I sat at the computer.
See how weird this is. It's the weirdness of it all that make me think it's just anxiety. No other illness could be that crazy and unpredictable! Most have a routine!

The symtoms appear to improve after I drink, but much later. In my severe attacks, in which I feel fainty and scared and have to lie on a bed for a hour or so, they take all that time to disappear even if I drink a lot.

The post-prandial ones occurred especially after having had hamburgers for dinner, which is mainly protein and not sugars.

So, thanks but I don't think I have this sugar problem.
I've decided not to try to diagnose me anymore though, since I'm no doctor. To me, I could have all illnesses in the world. It could be anything. But I've decided to think it's anxiety unless a doctor tells me it's something else.

As much as it's hard for me to believe so, I think in the end, it's just my body reaction to severe stress.

[vaio]

but I stopped worring about it. If it happens, fine. I have done all I could: spoke to doctors, and done tests.

You are right indeed, I wish I could be like this... but I worry which feeds the anxiety and makes it worse..

About low blood sugar, yes, it can be, I thought the same for a while, until I took the test while in a dizzy spell, and the sugar level was fine. But still this means nothing, because while preparing for the test, before you get pinched in the finger your body could release some sugar from the liver deposits.
So for some persons it's really complicated even with these blood tests.

Did you try to eat a cookie or some chocolate when in a dizzy spell to see what happens?

[Jeordie]

It's not the sugars. I have done the blood test while on a dizzy spell. I tried to drink and eat to relieve the symptoms. It's much more about sitting too much in front of the computer or walking under the sun. Of course not eating or drinking properly makes it worse.

I had a winter free of dizzy spells. Maybe I forgot about them, and maybe the summer it's bringing back the symptoms because of remembrance. Somebody even told me this would happen. So here we go. Tricking ourselves.

I also experienced dizziness and also fainted after spending all day under the sun one summer day at the Beach...The sun that day was so hot and I love to spend all mt time in the water...But I never know that would happen to me.

[mabbie]

I, too, have more anxiety problems on hot days. I have never done well in hot weather and so even the thought that it's going to be a hot day can sometimes make me start to worry.

jeordie, you mentioned drinking water. Do you ever drink electrolyte drinks? My naturopath recommended that to me for symptoms of shakiness, etc. It's my understanding that sometimes drinking a lot of plain water can deplete your minerals somewhat because you're urinating more. Electrolyte drinks will help to replace some of that.

When I get the dizzy feelings I believe part of it is because I'm hyperventilating or breathing too shallow and not aware of it. It is hard for me to relax when I've reached that state so I just have to affirm to myself that I've felt this way before and I'll be fine.

[Jeordie]

I had a bad spell yesterday at lunch after having walked a little in the streets. The weather was very hot. Anyway, the usual dizziness wich after a while passed.
Me too I'll tell myself that it has happened before, and nothing really bad ever happened. That's all I can do. I hope I'll have less of this in the future.
About minerals, I'm taking magnesium and potassium tablets...

[ligeia]

your original post at the beginning of this threadd... didn't get to read all of the replies though, but I just wanted to tell you that a similar thing happens to me (and is happening to me right now, more or less, hooray!). It's tough being outside in the middle of the day during the summer, even for people who don't have anxiety, so I think it's normal to be a little exhausted and sunstroked from that. plus, the sun is just so darn strong! i don't know how other girls just lay in the sun to tan. not only does it ruin your skin but gosh my body would probably go into shock if i did that!

sometimes just taking a moment to lay down in a cool room helps. also for me, sometimes drinking a lot of cool (but not cold, that gives me tummy aches!) water and then taking a little nap with the fan on will refresh me and bring me back into focus.

[eon337]

Wow, I experience something extremely similar, although mine started when I overdosed on MSG. Every since then, come spring/summer I get all dizzy, and chest pains, headaches etc. Drinking water definitly helps.

I do have a question though: have any of you guys noticed that salt makes these symptoms more likely to occur, because that is the major factor in mine....

[gettingBetter]

Hi Jeordie,

I hope your doing well. I figured I'd jump into the investigation/conversation since I'm in a similar spot. I was diagnosed with anxiety back in November of 06 and since then I've been through the crapshoot mentally and especially physically. I won't even get into all of the symptoms; I'll just focus on the lightheadedness.

This bundle of joy showed up in April as the weather began to warm up (in Minnesota). I only had lightheadedness once before and that was tagged on to my first (and really only) anxiety attack in November. Come April I was in a wedding and got really hot in the tux and exhausted. After that day the lightheadedness began. I don't mean occasionally, but morning to night for a good 3 weeks. It's the sensation of feeling like I could potentially faint, and it times it feels like I'm being slightly propelled forward from my head. I feel it really manifest itself in the back of my head (base of the neck/back of the skull).

Other symptoms that buddy up with this lightheadedness are (in order of how much of a pain in the butt they are): Flashy vision (kind of blurred, and the occasional floaters), extremely tight neck/shoulder muscles, and I'm shaky at times. Plus the other slew of symptoms that come and go with anxiety.

Anyways, my point being that I had the dizziness leave for nearly a month in May (a little cooler month), and now come back full force in June. Is it stress? Is it heat? Sugars? I really haven't pin-pointed my cause yet. I'll give the electrolytes a shot, but I'd be shocked if that was it. I've tried cutting back on caffeine and increasing it (I'm sure that would be really bad medical advice, that's why I'm not a doctor).

In conclusion, I've got nothin', just lightheadedness. Anyone have any other ideas for this phenomenon, or do I just need to relax more? I'm curious to see if winter makes it go away again. Jeordie you should pave the way for us dizzy people and find the answer. Kind of like Jared on the Subway commercials finding the solution for his obesity with fast food. Well, maybe not like that. I've embarrassed myself and probably should go now. Good luck, and let us know how things are going.

[Jeordie]

Hi,

for sure we need to relax, first. Whatever the cause of the dizziness is.
My last spell was yesterday exactly when I gout outside of my house. When I placed my foot on the stairs, I began feeling dizzy. It was a bad spell actually, just didn't last long: I repeated to myself I wasn't going to die because of that, and I moved on. And it passed.

My idea of what happened is: it must be in the mind. The idea of going out with warm weather just scared me and replicated the symptoms even before exposing myself to the sun.
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN, I don't know, it does sound crazy to me. But there is nothing I can do, except relax and not thinking about it.

The other latest spell was few days ago at a wedding. I always get VERY dizzy when I sit down and talk a lot with people. This too, must be mental. I can't believe my blood sugar goes down just because I have a woman next to me. Or just because I'm talking in public. Of course no. It's because I have FEAR of this situation. So that is it, fear expressed in the form of the dizzy spell.

Again, gotta live with that since thinking about it won't solve anything.
I still have no answer. Maybe I'll get it one day. But I can live anyway, also without knowing why.

So I want everyone who has this dizzy spells - which I perfectly know how upsetting and bewildering they can be, making you feel like you have some serious illness and won't be able to cope with daily tasks - not to be bewildered by them because we're still here and our nerves sometimes get tired and make us feel funny, also organically. So that is "why" we feel like that, for all that we should care about. I am one of those who want absolute answers, but it is possible to train our minds and become more acceptant, less "seekers" and more "observers".

I think there can be different kinds of dizziness and different reasons for it - say sugars or low blood pressure. In any case, if the doctor told us so they are of no medical concern and such we should treat them.

So, more than finding why, which eventually will happen, I think the key here is to move on with our lives. Maybe it's a message, that we aren't living fully, that there is something we must change, then let's act over it indirectly, I'll see if I'm not very satisfied with my job or the people surrounding me, and what I can do to change this - and when I succeed, when I make an improvement and feel better with my job and social situation, I will feel better phisically as well - and dizziness will just be a remembrance. It could come back from time to time, just to say hello, but we won't give a s...

[Atmospheric Lavatories]

Jeordie, you're suffering from anxiety. You've had test done, they came back clear. You're fine.

The more you try to analyse this, the worse it'll get. The more you self-diagnose, the worse it will get.

If you don't believe me, next time it's hot and you feel dizzy, go for a run. Go for a really hard run, really go for it. I *bet* you don't pass out.

The more you allow yourself to feel like this (a fear of fainting), the more you'll become accustomed to it.

Honestly, if you were actually ill your doctors would have told you so.