I hurt my leg 2 hours ago and it still hurts…well ,mediumly" and the more it hurts, the more of a feeling like I am going to faint I have, that’s my problem, ever since I was a kid whenever I got just a scratch, not a punch or something, just a scratch or hit my nose, head or whatever a little, I had that feeling like I am going to faint, few days again also, I hit my hand on a wall and it wasn’t a strong hit at all, but every single f. time the same feeling, in addition to that I also have a fainting feeling when I see blood, 2 times I actually did faint, once after just listening to something about blood (a long disgusting story) and second time after donating it, after that I read on the internet that some percent of people have that natural fainting mechanism that would help the caveman or whatever to survive by acting dead, so I was wondering if that system for ,defense from blood" system is also the reason why I have the fainting feeling just from little scratches and hits? I am 20 and I am average built, my doctors said that my health was perfect (I went there because of something else) , so its 99,9% not that I am too weak or have a weak immune system or something like that…
Sounds psychological as opposed to physiological.
Unfortunately I have the same issue as you. Start googling vasovagal syncopy… my worst spells happen after I injure myself.
JakeRS: Contrary to Omar’s assertion, I believe what you are describing is physiological (or, perhaps, pathophysiological).
As dolphinboy said, you seem to have a fairly classic picture of so-called vasovagal syncope (pronounced SiN-ko-pee). Syncope means fainting. I say “so-called” since, despite the term vagal in the name, the syncope in vasovagal syncope is actually due to a sudden switching off of the body’s adrenalin system (i.e the sympathetic nervous system, the one that gives you the ‘fight or flight’ response).
One way of looking at it to consider that in people who faint because of vasovagal syncope, their bodies perceive that their adrenalin levels are too high; that there’s too much “fight or flight” reaction going on. As a result, a reflex is activated that sends a signal turn off the adrenalin. In the absence of adrenalin, blood pressure falls. When it falls enough, you faint.
Typically, vasovagal faints occur around times of stress, either physical or emotional. In both, though, as a result of that stress, adrenalin levels tend to be high - and that contributes to their bodies perception that there’s too much ‘fight or flight’ going on, and, hence, that it’s time to turn the adrenalin off.
In the minutes before the faint, it’s also classic for people to be standing upright, quite still, and often in a hot environment. All those things tend to cause the blood pressure to be on the low side. In an effort to raise the BP, the body releases adrenalin. And, again, the adrenalin level can reach a point such that the body says, “that’s it. Too high. Time to turn it off”. And, once more, when that happens (i.e. when the adrenalin drops), the BP will fall and if it falls enough, the person faints.
BTW, the reflex turning off the adrenalin (i.e. the turning off of the sympathetic nervous system) is not the only thing that happens in people with vasovagal syncope. Concurrently, there is stimulation of the vagus nerve (sort of an anti-adrenaline nerve) and it is that that leads to the classic warning symptoms such as nausea, sweating, and slow heart rate. But, to faint, you need more than vagus nerve activity. You need withdrawal (turning off) of the sympathetic nervous system (the adrenalin system).
LINK (the link correctly calls it neurocardiogenic syncope and avoids the misnomer of vasovagal syncope)
Just a note of validation: This is a very interesting post to me. We had a guy at work get a paper cut and he almost passed out! Sounds impossible, but now I know he’s not alone with this feeling!
While this usually isn’t a serious enough problem to require treatment, passing out can be a problem especially when you fall down and knock out a few teeth, as I did when I was 12, or if you happen to be driving!
As I grew older I got better at avoiding the issue by avoiding triggers that cause me to have an episode. Unfortunately I am still hurting myself which is one of the triggers for me, but I know the feeling that it’s coming and that gives me plenty of time to drop to the ground so that I don’t fall and hurt myself.
I am usually only out for 10-15 seconds before I wake up disoriented and sometimes, but not always nauseous. Sometimes it will just pass if elevate my feet or put my head between my knees. YMMV.
You will learn to live with it just as I have. Doctors tell me to drink a lot of water and don’t worry about reducing my salt intake. You want to stay hydrated and keep your BP up. For some people just standing in a hot room can trigger a fainting spell. Luckily not for me.