Fainting and Dreams... I would like your input!

Ever since I was a young child, I have had fainting spells. The cause is yet unknown. All they know from the scans they did is that it is not epilepsy. I have a feeling it has something to do with low blood pressure. The reason I am bringing this up in this forum, is that I would like to discuss what happens when I faint , and discover if there are others who have... seen or felt the same things I have felt.

Pre-faint:

It can come on suddenly, and take me by surprise, or it can come on very slowly. The "triggers' are random and have included going from the cold to heat, hospitals and doctors offices, and being around formaldehyde. Some things always remain constant, though:

* My sense of smell "changes". It's almost as if someone puts a penny soaking in salt up to my nose, and everything I smell is changed.
* My vision becomes tunneled and colors fade.

Since this has happened to me so many times in my life I have been able to push off many of the fainting spells, as long as they come on slowly... But when I don't, I will pass out, and that's where the interesting things begin...

The Dreams:

I can never remember the dreams in detail, I can only tell you a little about them... but I am hoping perhaps someone has some insight as to what may be going on, or even confirming they have had the same experiences...

First off, they are in black and white. Always. I dream in color when I sleep so I find this a bit odd that my dreams while unconscious are different. The "lighting" is always strange... Like something out of a Dick Tracy movie... Very stylized and highly contrasted.

Then there are the people and the voices... I can never remember what happens, just that I know there are always people in there. I am always indoors and they are always talking. There is an echo to the voices, like I am in an empty room with stone walls. These voices will continue even as I am waking up... and I try and "grasp" onto them as if I were losing consciousness in the dream itself.

Waking Up:

Waking up out of the spell is the hardest thing to do. One moment I am grasping onto the dream, the next I do not know where I am, and people are over me, talking in a language I do not understand. Slowly and surely I come back to reality... but it takes me a long time to remember everything that happened prior to passing out. I feel as if I have been "gone" a long time, so the first thing I always ask once I am partially aware again is "how long have I been out?" It's never been over a minute, and usually less than 30 seconds. Then I try and remember the dream I had, and I never can. I just remember bits and pieces... the sound of a voice... a white light shining on a wall in a dark room... shadows of people, but never enough to put into words.

So my questions are these:

1) Have any of you ever experienced what I have while fainted?
2) What do *YOU* think you and/or I am seeing?
3) Have you ever remembered a dream from fainting?
4) Is your coming around similar to mine?

(Disclaimer: I am not asking for Medical advice, as I have been to the doctor many times about this. I would like to know about the specifics of what you have felt/seen/heard while you have passed out.)

[Edited: Grammar Police/Title Change]

[edit on 7/23/2010 by Sararainmaker]

I was about 12 or 13, I reckon.

Mother and father had taken us to TN to the Parthenon for the day.

It was hot and summer time, and I too (only as a child) was prone to fainting. As we walked in a group across a grassy area from one place to the other, I suddenly found myself sitting in a train, with other passengers. It was the late 1800's, and I as well as the others were dressed appropriate for the times, I had a bonnet on and a long dress. I looked out the train window, and heard the people speaking, in low tones. I felt the rumble of the train as we traveled, and felt wind in my hair.

Then like that I was back, on the ground, with my family surrounding me. I was confused wondering where I was, where did the train go.

It is still a family story!

Sounds a little stupid now, but when we were kids we used to make each other pass out on purpose by holding our heads between our knees and breathing deeply, then getting up quick and straining.
We all used to drop like flies. I also used to have low blood sugar levels so after sport I used to pass out sometimes.

I can never remember any dreaming though. I remember that just before going under, vision used to go monochrome and then tunnels to black and white. Just before coming around my sense of sound came back first, this is what seemed like a dream different voices and sounds could be heard. Then I would wake and see people over me with unfamiliar voices.

It would all return to normal after a minute or so. I don't believe I am invincible as I was back then so don't want to push it and try it again. It is a very strange experience, but then the brain being starved of O2 usually is!

Interesting accounts you have

Actually no. I have never fainted. My poor noggin has been hit so very hard, so many times but I have never lost consciousness. At about age 6 or 7 I had to have stitches in my head . Once some one opened a door on my head and actually malformed my skull. In High School there was a thing people used to do to try and knock you out to get high. I couldn't do it. I have never fainted and it is tremendously wierd.
So there, something else for you to think about!

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Wow! I wish I could remember in that much detail!

Strange that both of our sensations seemed to have a feeling of History in them.

Perhaps we both read too much!

...or perhaps it is something different. Who knows. I have heard about past-life regression, but I have never put much faith in it, since hypnotism goes both ways. Suggestions are too easily placed in the hypnotized mind...

but this does bring up more questions.
I wonder if there are more out there who can tell of their experiences?

reply to post by LestatG


I remember kids in my school doing that as well to try and get out of school early. I never understood why someone would want to pass out, considering how unpleasant it is, and how confusing it is when you wake up... but looking back, with the knowledge I have now, it seems it was a bit like getting high for them.

I do remember my hearing coming back first, but there is something before that in my case. I don't know if it, like regular dreams, is my mind trying to make sense of the experience, or a "hallucination" brought on by a lack of oxygen to my brain... or something else entirely.

I suppose if science hasn't quite decided what dreaming is yet, they aren't going to know what I am seeing either.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me

My first question is are you sleep deprived in these instances? Or maybe something is blocking your REM sleep and then REM sets on when you faint. For things to be black and white sounds like hypnagogic imagery but there is no reason for that to occur while you are fainting on it's own. Sounds like you have a very strong "imagination muscle" and the schema involved have enough power to overcome waking life.

It's sort of zombie-like, a person who "lives in their own world" and then things happen to cause you to pass out. Trust me I've had times where I think I should have passed out, in relatively light situations that my mind made too much of. Do you have an exceptional memory, at least in terms of vividness?

You never mentioned these episodes hurting you badly in life or socially, though it is assumed it is not necessary that they do. Do you play video games or stay up late for other reasons? It sounds like your sleep cycle is out of wack, for example.

as a child i had never fainted before, it wasnt untill i was 19 or 20 that i had my first fainting spell.

i am 24 now, and since then i had fainted about 3 times

my fainting spells are kind of like how you described except for the smell part, and the remebering the dreams in black and white, but after a fainting spell when i wake (usally by my roommate stapping my in the face) i have no idea where i am or who anyone is, like how you described, everything looks familiar like you been gone along time and have just returned(kinda creepy feeling)

tho i had never gone to the doctor about them so i dont even know what cause it, i havnt even seen a doctor even in like 5 years lol

reply to post by Novise

My first question is are you sleep deprived in these instances? Or maybe something is blocking your REM sleep and then REM sets on when you faint.

Actually, lately I haven't fainted as much as I used to. Perhaps once in the past few years... but as a kid they happened all the time. I know I slept VERY deeply as a kid and had VERY vivid, colorful dreams... strange dreams too. I used to have a very regular schedule with sleep, now, due to my job, I have a very wacky schedule... but I still get enough sleep, I just can't remember the dreams.

Sounds like you have a very strong "imagination muscle" and the schema involved have enough power to overcome waking life.

I understand the imagination muscle part, and yes, I have a pretty vivid imagination, but I don't understand what you mean by overcoming waking life... Passing out causes the dreams, not the other way around.

Do you have an exceptional memory, at least in terms of vividness?

Actually no. My memory is kinda like having a really slow internet connection trying to watch a HD embedded video... Sketchy and usually just still-frames with sound. I know the information is there, I just have trouble accessing it.

You never mentioned these episodes hurting you badly in life or socially, though it is assumed it is not necessary that they do.

Not at all. The few times it's happened lately have just scared the people I was around at the time, but I always tell them before-hand when I know I am going to.

Do you play video games or stay up late for other reasons? It sounds like your sleep cycle is out of wack, for example.

For the normal person, yes my schedule is out-of-whack, but I work late, so I do get enough sleep. Even as a kid I slept a lot, though. I could sleep 12-16 hours if someone left me to it.

Thanks for your interest! I have never heard of hypnotic imagery being black and white before, definitely interesting and something to think about!

reply to post by Kr0nZ


I would suggest going to the doctor about them for sure! It could be that you are having very minor seizures. They thought that was what was happening to me, and if that is the case, you definitely would want to know!

Good Luck! Fainting is no fun for sure, but the episodes become easier to control over-time. Next time you feel it coming on, try controlling your breathing and see if that helps. It's what I do to prevent a lot of them from coming on.

reply to post by Sararainmaker


It makes more sense for hypnagogic imagery to be black and white because it is less complete than dreams. It is less solidified. So what you experienced was more transient and less real seeming. See it enough and you will be sure you saw something, but wont always be able to be certain in that way that we usually are.

reply to post by Sararainmaker


Hi there! I really hope you get this because I've never come across anyone to describe what happened when i fainted so accurately!

I have fainted only once in my life, while i was in ER and hooked up to a monitor...my heart actually paused for 9 seconds...which created quite some controversy among the doctors and they ran all kinds of tests and eventually blamed it on a severe vasovagal reaction. Naturally i avoid all situations where i might pass out like the plague! Actually flatlining is an extremely scary thing and i don't want to find out if it happens every time i faint.

When i fainted, I clearly remember what i "dreamt" and you describe it perfectly!!
I always dream in color, yet this was in a very contrasty black and white...2d...i was looking up at these people talking (more like figures of people because they were pretty much all black)...they were talking to each other in front of a short black wall against a very white background. Very empty like as you describe. Then i woke up (more like i suddenly got life back into me and i gasped into reality). I thought i was in my own bed for a second then realized where i was.

The feeling i got from this "dream" was incredibly uneasy. I didn't like it at all...i can't describe it other than it gave me a feeling of something so bad i would never wish to go back there.

I hope this finds you and I'm really glad i came across someone with a similar experience

Sararainmaker, have you heard any news about your condition?.. You have described, almost word for word, what happens to me when i pass out.. I wonder if you may get this message, but it would be nice to know if you have had a diagnosis, so hopefully i can recieve on aswell.

13 i started my episodes, and 21 and i still get them, Just as you described, i get a pre-warning, 30 seconds unconscious feels like 30 minuites, sight sound and smell go all strange, heart rate increases and i get hot and confused, my dream images always feel so familiar, i often associated them with "dejavu".

Also, pumpkin pie, my episodes match your description aswell, my heart had "stopped" for 4 seconds (the doctors suggested it didnt "stop", but it slowed down to such an extent that a beat occured, with a 4 second pause between the next.. although what the difference is, i dont know!)

Any input would be appreciated!

I recently had a fainting experience. I remember feeling very nauseous and quite awful. It felt that I was instantaneously transported to a green field. Everything was in color, vivid color and I didn't want to leave the scene. My collapsing created a thud and someone soon came to my aid. I'm not how long I was unconsciousness. I have read about the lack of blood flow to the brain, low blood pressure etc. I never fainted before but didn't expect the "dreaming" if that what it was aspect of the experience.

Some of the things in the OP are similar to my experiences.

I used to black out quite often when I was younger. I still remember the first time, I was 3 years old. I had cut my hand on the bamboo fence outside and the sight of my own blood made me faint. I "snow crashed". My vision turned to static/snow like an unused tv channel, my body became tingly, hearing became heightened, and I passed out.

When this happened I'd only be out for about 10 seconds but it felt as if I had been gone for a long time. When I woke up it took me a while to remember the faces staring down at me and to understand what they were saying. What particularly impressed upon me was the force of gravity and pressure exerted on our bodies which we tend not to notice.

While unconscious I sometimes dreamed of a place of light. I was a "light person" and would sometimes commune with other "light people". Vertical sheets of iridescent light streamed around me in a vast glowing but simple environment. I felt like I understood everything but would remember almost nothing when waking up.

My mom took me to a bunch of different doctors, they never figured out what was wrong. While fainting I would have low blood pressure. It was a type of seizure but not epilepsy. The last time it happened was about 4 years ago (when this thread was created). The trigger was usually physical stress.

Yes, it's common.

See also Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

"The ice was here, the ice was there,
the ice was all around.
It cracked and growled and roared and howled
like noises in a swound!"

Swound, being, of course, a term for fainting.

If you've ever been choked out you will recognize the tunnel vision, pulsating visual static, odd tastes in your mouth, noises and weird free form thoughts/voices/music that you get pretty much each and every time.

a reply to: Sararainmaker

No one has brought up narcolepsy. You mentioned getting medical tests etc. Has Narcolepsy been
ruled out? There are meds for it.

Do you have low blood pressure?

I have never fully fainted that I remember, but have had vision fade away and sparks of light. Usually it
would stop when I lowered my head. One time I collided with a house while swinging. I didn't really feel
hurt, but next thing i knew, I was on the ground, not remembering even beginning to faint. It taught me that it
was possible to die without even knowing you were checing out.

11:11 IS AN INDICATOIN OF A SPLIT PERSONALITY



Always trying to be supportive of your patient, and finding ways to express yourself like exercise, dancing, running do something that you really enjoy is what makes you live a healthier and fuller life.
If you see 11:11 its an indication of a split personality, also with palmistry, astrology, and the archetypes the new uranus conjunction and its transits with all the major planets is the release of pain that we have all held inside from the wars and stuff, and I guess child abuse, sexual abuse, which causes complex post traumatic stress disorder, and basically its a release of pain the double line on the palm is an indication of it, introversion,,,,,, numerology if you have 11 in your name once one personality, twice two personalities
and also a indication of the children being born are sensitive because we have so much stress in our lives that we do not know how to release it, which is living a honest life not too complicated, and stress free.. So from what I have experienced in life was a life living in complete chaos.
this year many people are experiences in going crazy or mad... I have from too much stress, getting a divorce and trying to look after my children and still live a respectable life, the stress made me completely split in half.
so this is why many are remembering their past lives, something has happened to the mother whilst she is pregnant can also alter the life of a child but also taking medication, I took zoloft whilst pregnant which is now indicated harmful to the child whilst inside the womb.
so now I am pleased to say that my other personality is Carl G Carl Jung Quotes and that is why in Analytical Psychology you should use Astrology, Numerology, Psychology, and also patience And by including Carl G Jung, I had many nightmares and dreams whilst I was little which also resonate with Carl G Carl Jung Quotes, with the achetypes, so basically the an indication of a person who will bring knowledge to the world is indicated in astrology also, just what area it depends on where the planets land. and that is why in Analytical Psychology you should use Astrology, Numerology, Psychology, and also patience.
And by including Carl G Jung, I had many nightmares and dreams whilst I was little which also resonate with Carl G Carl Jung Quotes, with the achetypes, so basically the an indication of a person who will bring knowledge to the world is indicated in astrology also, just what area it depends on where the planets land.
Carl Jung predicted his death, and prove it by the portrait on his dreams, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, with his glasses up staring straight at you like cant you see it.... Also I Think Lucia from the three Fatima girls was probably raped when she was seven just like Carl Jung Quotes, and myself.... and that is also indicating in astrology probably with neptune opposite jupiter, saturn opposite the sun several conjunctions or it could possibly be one conjunction depends on the chart and where again the planets are located. Also Bipolar , Schizophrenia and depressive states
Carl G Carl Jung Quotes, wants the world to know and not to listen to what is said about astrology being quackery, It isn't and this is why it is important to have your time and place of birth as accurate as possible

a reply to: Sararainmaker