1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Anxiety Disorders

Has anybody ever been told the had a vasovagal syncope episode?

Posted , 4 users are following.

Faithful30
Faithful30

Hi, back in December 2016 I suddently felt sick at work. Heart rate went down and blood pressure dropped to 69/33. I felt terrible like I was a goner, my legs went numb and cold, I said a prayer (Thank God) my heart rate went up through the roof like 142 to 152, I was taken to the hospital. I had blood work, ekg, ct scan, ultrasound, and xray done on my heart. Blood work and tests came back normal no defects. The ER doctor asked if I've been stressed lately, I said just my usual everyday stress, but nothing extreme. He said I had a vasovagal syncope episode. I never heard of or had anything like this before.

The very next week which was January , I followed up with my PCP. She had already recieved faxed documentation of what had happened during my ER visit. She assured me that everything was fine and told me I could be dealing with some stress or can't tolerate certain degrees of stress. She prescribed floxetin/prozac. I never in my life had taking meds for stress/anxiety. I decided not to take it, and see how I feel during the coarse of the month. I didn't do so well, I started having anxiety and it was hard to sleep. I never had an issue with anxiety after all these years since I was a teen and now I'm 30.

I recently started taking the prozac Feb 4th and its been a roller coaster with the side effects. Its almost like my problem has gotten worse since taking the meds.

Has anybody had vasovagal syncope, and do anybody thinks that this can trigger anxiety???

1 like, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • lisalisa67
    lisalisa67 Faithful30

    Posted

    Yes. And it is genetic. Runs in families. Cardiologist explained it to me and my daughter. I have mvp as well.Usually you also have low blood pressure as well. It does change up as you age so dont worry about it, peri menapause and those changes can knock it out  completely  it doesnt cause anxiety. You are a swooner as they called them in the olden days. Thats all. If you lay down on your left aide you cant faint. Also carry electeolyte drinks and a salt packet with you  (vasovagel toolkit) doesnt require meds unless you have an anxiety disorder. My doctor had it, the same one who diagnosed me a very long time ago, then my daughter fainted when she was little a couple of times and i took her to a heart specialist hospital (top rated) they examined her and such and came in the room and said raise your hand if you have vaso vagel. I laughed. He said it runs in families. And told us tricks and such to deal with it. The only annoyance with it big time is twice when i fainted i ended up  out in an ambulance and went to the hospital. Not my choice thats what they do if it happens in public.  Then i sign myself out lol i inow what it is. And one time i was in a hospital my husband broke his ankle and the bone was protruding and he made me look at it and i passed out. Embarrasing but not dangerous. When very anxious when i was in my 20s-30s id faint at times. You get the warm swarming feeling warning so i knew it was coming. I just went with it.  

    The pediatrician woth my daughter would have her drink 64 ounces of gatorade on a day she would faint, and increase salt in her diet. Shes fine. Grown now she knows what to do for it. Knowing my Mother had it, i have it and then her it wasnt scary so no anxiety as a result of the diagnosis. Not even always fainting from anxiety..dehydrate quite easy too. And when standing in lines move yourself about..move you legs. High bo is the norm so people with low bp it isnt talked about much. 

    you are co existing conditions. You have vaso vagel and you have an anxiety disorder. Im menapausal and its gone. You have a tendency to dehydrate so always be aware of that.

    Its a must to keep hydrated. Its a must to exercise. Then just live with it. It will go away later in your life.

    • Faithful30
      Faithful30 lisalisa67

      Posted

      Thank you so much for sharing!! 😊. I never heard of this condition, so it sounded like something very scary. I heard people faint from this but I never fainted when it happened. Not sure why, but I do sometimes feel the onset symptoms and I hurry and grab some water to drink. Lol. Not knowing that I could had been badly dehydrated when it happened. Now that you mentioned about low Blood pressure, I do tend to have that. The lowest besides the reading of my episode I had was actually a few months prior to when it happened has been 90/69 or 80/75 but it never alarmed me that it was bad blood pressure. A nurse once told me that I probably dehydrated

    • Faithful30
      Faithful30 lisalisa67

      Posted

      Also, I can admit that I hardly ever could make myself drink water alot. But since that happened I have been drinking lots of water. Lol. What you explained opened my mind up to the reasons it happened. It makes since now.
  • gill21655
    gill21655 Faithful30

    Posted

    You could have started with the anxiety because of the fear of a diagnosis you knew nothing about.

    Lisa has given a brilliant description of how it all happenes etc and what to do. So hopefully this will help with the fear , and your anxiety calm.

    But it may linger for a while but you will settle eventually.

    I had a minor medical condition back in september which triggered anxiety... which was weird as i am usually so laid back for some reason it affected me aboutva week after the first problem.

    It took about 6 weeks to get back to normal but i had to do a lot of self help etc and still keep it up now like meditation etc ..

    Hope your feeling it soon 😊

    • Faithful30
      Faithful30 gill21655

      Posted

      That can be true. Just like you I'm very laid back, and just take life a day at a time, when I recieved my diagnosis, it scared the heck out of me because it sounded so foreign to me. So maybe thats what my anxiety all started from. I pray I have to be on meds for anxiety for long.

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.