# Weird feeling in my feet when at height **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-feeling-in-my-feet-when-at-height/204287 "2003-09-28T12:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-feeling-in-my-feet-when-at-height/204287/1 "2003-09-28T12:17:55Z")
I’m not particularly scared of heights - I’ve done my share of climbing up cliffs, I can lean over railings on the top of buildings, climb into the crow’s nest of a ship, all without distress. Recently, however, when I’m up at great heights, I don’t feel fear, but I get a weird tingling feeling in my feet, which goes up into my abdomen the further I lean out. Does anyone else experience this, and if so, what is it? Further info: a couple of years ago I went on a fairground ride that hauls you up about 30 metres and drops you straight down, with a big electromagnet at the bottom to catch you. I went on a similar ride at Astroworld when I was much younger, and totally loved it. But this time my reaction was different: I experienced true, visceral terror - the hairs on my head stood up straight, like in a cartoon. The weird feeling only really began after this incident. Could this be connected? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-feeling-in-my-feet-when-at-height/204287/2 "2003-09-28T12:50:17Z")
I don’t know the answer **jjimm** , but I’ve had a not-quite-the-same-but-similar sensation. I’ve always been a fan of roller coasters and such, and I’m quite familiar with the ride you mention at Astroworld. The (I think it’s called) Big Shot at the Stratosphere is a staple of my visits to Las Vegas. _But_ I _have_ in recent times experienced a (what?) tingling(?) sensation in my legs when presented with situations that involve falling. It hasn’t prevented me from enjoying a roller coaster, or whatever, but I’ve certainly noticed it. I’ve a vague, never articulated, feeling that it has something to do with aging. While I certainly don’t feel decrepit, and am usually as much up for jollies as the next, I have had experiences in latter times that have forced me to acknowledge that I’m not quite as malleable as I was at 20 (I’m 50 now). How old are you? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-feeling-in-my-feet-when-at-height/204287/3 "2003-09-28T12:57:45Z")
1. Maybe the feeling is “wisdom”…? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-feeling-in-my-feet-when-at-height/204287/4 "2003-09-28T14:01:00Z")
Wisdom is forced to legs in times of need? Or maybe it decided you needed abject stupidity, as wisdom apparently failed to keep you from the situation. Anyway, I would vote for either simply a change in perspective, or maybe altered blood flow. I can see panic and adrenalin bringing more blood to your head and upper body. There might also be an evolutionary explanation, where if you were a zillion miles in the air a monkey would need all the blood in the upper body… but hindsight is 20/20, so who can say?