Fainting when standing for long periods

Heat, dehydration, illness, hunger, alcohol, or standing still can make this response stronger. Early signs may include warmth, nausea, sweating, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, weakness, or a grey feeling in your vision. Fainting is brief loss of awareness followed by recovery, but a fall can cause injury. Repeated episodes deserve a clinical review to check blood pressure, heart rhythm, medicines, hydration, and conditions such as Anaemia or Dehydration.

Sit down immediately, or lie flat with your legs raised if you can do so safely. Tell someone nearby, loosen tight clothing, and move away from heat. Do not try to walk through the feeling or stand up quickly after it passes. Once fully alert, sip water if you can swallow normally and eat if you have not had food. Avoid driving, climbing, or bathing alone until you have recovered.

Get urgent help if fainting happens during exercise, causes a serious injury, follows chest pain, breathlessness, a racing or irregular heartbeat, severe headache, seizure-like movements, or confusion. Seek prompt medical advice after a first episode, repeated episodes, fainting without warning, or an episode while taking heart or blood-pressure medicines. Emergency services should assess anyone who does not quickly regain normal alertness.

Ask whether your blood pressure should be checked lying and standing, whether any medicine could contribute, and whether tests for heart rhythm, blood count, blood sugar, or dehydration are appropriate. Record what you were doing, the heat, food and fluid intake, warning symptoms, and how quickly you recovered.