# Have you ever fainted? What was the experience like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524 "2017-11-02T18:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/21 "2017-11-03T00:05:34Z")
One time, Husband had a very high fever, which is something he’s prone to. I was trying to get his fever down by getting him in the shower, and while I was adjusting the water he went to the toilet to pee. He did so, and then started falling over backwards. Fortunately I saw it out of the corner of my eye and was able to stop him from falling! He came back to conciousness sitting on the toilet backwards, with me scared spitless holding him up from behind. He attributes it to the loss of so much superheated fluid all at once causing a rapid shift in body temperature. I’m just glad I was there. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/22 "2017-11-03T02:58:29Z")
Twice: The first time I was about 15. I had gotten up from the couch and went into the kitchen to start lunch and the next thing I know I hear my mother yelling if I was ok, the sound of the burner metal thingies rattling as I lay over them and the blackness receded. Yeah, up too fast. The second time was after the birth of my 3rd son. I had a headache that got worse to the point I sent my in-laws home. Then my body just felt weird. I clicked the call button and told them that. The nurse came in and I said again I felt weird and then… it felt like I had peed the bed. Nope, I was hemorrhaging. They (by then there were a few more people in the room) got me up to go to the bathroom and tons of blood flowed out. I, a brown person, turned grey. I buckled at the knees and the whole world went in and out. Some more Pitocin, some stomach squeezing/kneading and a completely full chuck pad later I was ok. ---
**Author:** ![molten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ec9cab/32.png) [@molten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/molten)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/23 "2017-11-03T03:25:16Z")
I have never fainted. The closest I ever got to that was giving blood when I felt somewhat lightheaded but that’s it. When I was around 4-5 I played that game where you fall backwards and the other person catches you. When I fell my sister with busy talking with some girls so I fell on my head… It really hurt but I wasn’t close to losing consciousness. I have once met one person who never fainted and was on a quest to faint because he wanted to find out what that is like. He donated blood consecutively and some other risky stuff but was never able to faint. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/24 "2017-11-03T03:32:16Z")
I’ve fainted 4 times. Mostly for me my eyes will be wide open but everything fades to black and then very shortly thereafter I’m unconscoius. The first time I fainted I dreamed that I was being chased off a cliff by dinosaurs, it was a very pleasant sleep - I still remember it thirty something years later. I felt very refreshed when I woke up. Then my dad took me to the hospital to get stitches. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/25 "2017-11-03T03:32:46Z")
When I was about 15 I was walking through the kitchen at night and hit the top of my wrist on the corner of the kitchen counter. I stood there looking at it and the next thing I knew I was clawing my way out of deep red water while being torn at by demons. Opened my eyes and I was lying on my back on the kitchen floor with family members standing looking down at me. They heard the clunk when the back of my head hit the linoleum and then these weird groans. I remember it took me some hours to mentally recover from that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/26 "2017-11-03T04:35:56Z")
When I was a teenager, I strayed into an eating disorder. I wasn’t eating much. I remember talking to my father and seeing stars. I could hear him saying my name, but it sounded very far away. The next thing I knew I was on the floor. Off I went to the doctor, who ultimately got me some help on the whole eating thing. Much later, I was getting a spinal tap and I passed out. Medical procedures don’t usually bother me. I’m one of those “pass me a mirror, I want to watch” folks. Something about the spinal tap caused a drop in pressure or something, because I went out. That time there were no pretty lights. It was just greying out. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/27 "2017-11-03T04:36:25Z")
I fainted for the first, and so far only, time in December. As happens nearly every time I get a cold, it took up residence in my chest, so I had a hellacious cough, as usual. On this particular day I stayed home from work, which turned out to be a good thing. I was sitting at my desk and typing when I had a violent coughing fit. When I stopped coughing, I was really, really confused. At first I thought I was waking up and couldn’t figure out why there was something hard and flat inches from my face. After several seconds I gathered enough wits about me to realize that I’d knocked over my chair and the thing in front of my nose what the table my mouse lives on. I’m damn lucky I just ended up with a few bruises and not a broken nose. Having never fainted before then, I was shocked that regaining consciousness _isn’t_ like waking up. It never occurred to me that fainting would come with disorientation. Embarrassment if you did it in public, sure, but not having any idea what had happened? Very surprising. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/28 "2017-11-03T05:29:44Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Having never fainted before then, I was shocked that regaining consciousness _isn’t_ like waking up. It never occurred to me that fainting would come with disorientation. This. I’ve had seizures twice that knocked me out. Both times I felt a sudden dizziness for a second or less. Next thing I know is a very strong sense of confusion (as I’m waking up), as if my brain was actually rebooting itself. (Which is probably not far from the truth.) Both times I was only out for about 5 seconds. The experience is \*completely \*different than waking up from sleep. J. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/29 "2017-11-03T06:13:34Z")
When I was very little, maybe three years old, I was put on a rocking horse in a playground. Then my older brother rocked it so fast I went flying and hit my head on the horse’s head, and then a few minutes later I came to again, on the side of the playground now, surrounded by my mother and sister. I have hated [those particular rocking horses](http://c8.alamy.com/comp/C6WNEA/five-seat-rocking-horse-in-a-public-playground-in-coniston-cumbria-C6WNEA.jpg) ever since. I don’t think they are around much anymore, precisely because they were so dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/30 "2017-11-03T06:30:07Z")
Air Force basic training. 1st day after they issued us uniforms. This was in June in San Antonio Texas, so it was hot. We’re all standing at attention in front of our wall lockers while the TI is stalking up and down the aisle between the beds yelling at every one. I could feel it coming on so I tried to get the TI’s attention, but he just yelled over his shoulder for me to “shut up” then continued on with his previous yelling. I literally got tunnel vision where everything turned black except a hole in the middle, then I woke up on the floor. The guy standing across the aisle from me said it looked really cool. I kind of went straight back against the wall locker, then slowly slid down to my knees, then toppled straight forward onto my face. ---
**Author:** ![Onyerbike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onyerbike/32/5402_2.png) [@Onyerbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onyerbike)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/31 "2017-11-03T06:58:08Z")
Once I tripped over the mess in my bedroom and caught the palm of my hand on a sharp surface while heading south and down quite hard. Clean, slicey cuts really squick me out, especially on my hands or fingers, and I often have a ‘need to sit down’ type of moment when that happens. After getting up and walking to the kitchen to run the tap over my hand I began to feel the usual woozy. After staring into the cut and the red water coming off it for half a minute (how dumb was that!), I got lost in a really dizzy, really weird place… Mum says she managed to prop me up just as I was heading down again, awkwardly but safely thanks to her effort. The actual experience felt like my consciousness was a record that was skipping beats, back and forth as I tried apparently to fight it. I don’t actually remember coming to rest on the floor though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/32 "2017-11-03T14:09:53Z")
Twice. Once in high school. I was sick with some intestinal distress. Sat on the pot. Stood up to wipe , vision started tunneling, knees buckled, and I woke up in the bathtub. Must have been only out for a couple seconds. Second time, I run to catch a tram in Budapest to get to work in the morning. All of a sudden I feel a little bit nauseous and dizzy. I assumed it was just from the sudden exertion. So I sit down. But then I feel really bad, like I need to vomit. So I think, okay, in two stops, there’s a McDonald’s–I’ll get off there. I get up at the stop, tunnel vision, and the next thing I know, I have several Hungarians yelling _Segíthetek?_ (“May I help you”) at me as I’m sprawled out beside the tram outside at the stop. One man helps me up, says something about me having a weak heart, and walks me to work (which is also on the same block as McDonald’s.) Turns out I had some sort of panic attack (which I was unfamiliar with at the time), and that set off a bout that lasted a couple of years of anxiety attacks, particularly on public transportation. Never did quite figure out why it happened then and there. It’s not like there were unusual stresses in my life, just the normal ones. But, fuck, did that anxiety crap throw me off for a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/33 "2017-11-03T14:34:40Z")
Twice 1. I was a bridesmaid in a Catholic wedding with a full mass. It was hot and we had to stand the whole time. I was standing between the 2 other girls (thank God) and all of a sudden my scalp began to prickle and sweat started pouring down my face. The priest was approaching us to give us communion and as I watched him come towards me my vision started narrowing to a pinprick. The other 2 girls must have realized what was happening and they both grabbed my arms. I suddenly felt better and thankfully never fell. 2. One night I started hemorrhaging due to fibroid cysts. I got up, went into the bathroom and went down like a ton of bricks narrowly missing the corner of the vanity with my head. I ended up having an emergency hysterectomy a few days later. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/34 "2017-11-03T14:37:39Z")
A couple times. Mostly the usual slightly dizzy followed by waking up but at least one time a gray-out followed by passing out. More G’s than I was ready for on a rollercoaster. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/35 "2017-11-03T16:01:01Z")
I was staying in motel while traveling for work. I had just woken up and I remember putting my arms up to stretch. The next thing I knew I was laying on the floor on my left side, very confused. I eventually tried to get up, putting weight on my left arm and then I passed out again. This time when I came to, I realized that left shoulder was very unhappy. I had apparently fallen backward, hitting my shoulder on the wall, giving myself a nice scrape on my shoulder blade and later some spectacular bruising all over my left side. After pretending everything was fine for a few days, I finally sought medical attention. Then I spent several weeks in physical therapy for my shoulder. I do not recommend. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/36 "2017-11-03T16:07:43Z")
I _almost_ feinted twice, once when I was eight, and once when I was ten. The first time, I was sick and asked to leave class to go to the bathroom. I tried to enter the bathroom, but I felt dizzy and my vision went red. The door was open, and I bumped into the door as I tried to open it. The second time was when I had the first cast removed from my arm. At the time, I attributed it to the smell. (Full-arm cast, with no washing for weeks.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/37 "2017-11-03T16:22:22Z")
Fully, once, when I was 16 or 17. I was accompanying someone whose dog was being put to sleep. Something about it made me woozy. I remember walking to a clearer spot deliberately, then hitting my head on the way down. I recovered pretty quickly. And, my wife will never let me live down the time I _nearly_ passed out. I was in the room with her when she had an amniocentesis done, while she was pregnant with the little Torqueling. The room smelled all antiseptic and hospital-ly, and then they drew out the fluid, and it was one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen. I swear, it looked like poison. Green with stuff floating in it, like swamp water. I got really really light-headed. The reason that my wife won’t let me forget it: all the nurses rushed to look after _me_, even though she was the one who’d just had the procedure. I think they just knew that if I went down, they weren’t going to be able to lift me back up (I’m a big fella). They helped me to a chair, got me something to drink, and everything. Meanwhile, my wife was still on her table, like, “um, remember me?!” ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/38 "2017-11-03T17:23:13Z")
This thread is great! I have low blood pressure and pass out far too often. I’ve taken to studying my reactions before, during, and after as it’s quite fascinating. Sometimes it’s just what I call ‘greying out’ and I don’t lose consciousness completely. Sound and vision start to fade and I throw myself onto a soft surface as quickly as possible. If I can lower my head then I will usually pull back. But sometimes it’s a total blackout. The cool thing about that is that I usually have no memory of the 5-10 seconds before I blacked out. So I don’t recall the fading of my vision and hearing. As an IT guy the analogy I use is that my short term memory is stored in volatile cache and doesn’t get written to disc when the plug gets pulled. I’m sure a proper neuroscientist would tell me I’m wrong though. My hearing always comes back first, followed by my sense of touch as I realise I’ve landed on something hard. Vision is always last. This seems to be the reverse order in which they go during a grey out. Oddly the first thing I hear is what I assume to be my heartbeat. It’s a loud thumping noise that feels like it’s vibrating my whole body. Then noises from the surroundings start to fade in and I can’t hear it anymore. My blood pressure is due to a weak thyroid which occasionaly decides to work correctly. When that has happened in the past I have sometimes lost a huge amount of weight in a very short period of time. This tends to screw up my glucose and insulin levels and I end up with a case of pseudo diabetes while my pancreas decides how heavy I am. I’ve blacked out because of that and it’s a very different experience. That feels like something is gradually draining from my body from my head to my toes. I feel cold and shivery and then my senses start to fade as above. It takes about a minute as opposed to the 5-10 seconds for blood pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/39 "2017-11-03T18:48:53Z")
I’ve been knocked out a few times in kid sports-related mishaps (baseball to the snout, etc) and it was like a period of nothing, then waking up and taking about 15 seconds to recover who/what/where/why details. I never went to the ER, I was from a family of the 1970’s “hard knocks” philosophy (literally!) Five years ago one night I had three grand mal seizures; it was the same “nothingness,” but I couldn’t recoup any details between episodes. My wife said that in the ambulance and ER I kept asking the same what happened/where am I questions over and over. It took me a few days to actually recover some basic details and I’ve forever lost about seven hours of any memories from that night. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524/40 "2017-11-04T04:05:50Z")
One incident of fainting, as a teenager in a karate class who’d kind of forgotten to eat or sleep for the last couple of days. I stepped forward to throw a punch and just kept going down. The other fun thing I’ve had is the Golgi Tendon Reflex. That’s where your joint sends an urgent message that it’s worried the tendon is going to pull away. Your body responds by immediately cutting all power to your voluntary muscles. When that happens at the bottom of a well over bodyweight squat and you find yourself suddenly lying on the ground looking up at the bar… the guy who invented those safety rails is owed a drink. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-fainted-what-was-the-experience-like/800524.md?page=3)