Readers Respond: Firsthand Fainting Stories

Fainting can be due to a near-death experience, the sight of blood, a medical condition known as syncope, or a host of other causes. Have you fainted? What happened? Share your story of fainting and read what has happened to other readers just like you.

This is a collection of stories only. To interact with others, ask questions, and discuss your fainting stories in more detail, please visit the first aid forum.

Fainting in the Hospital

I was in the hospital visiting a baby, who was quite sick. I began to feel lightheaded and thought water might help. I told my mom that I wanted water. She was walking with me to the door, when I my vision became blurry and the voices began to leave and the last thing I remember was telling my mom that I couldn't see, then my vision blacked out. I woke up lying on the floor with a nurse or two above me. I was confused, as this had never happened before. They asked me some questions, and I was kind of weak still. They helped me up to a chair and gave me some water; however I had to merely sip the water, because it was hard to drink the water in larger gulps. I don't know why I fainted.

—Guest anonymous

yesterday I fainted

Yesterday was a weird experience I ate some healthy sweets and they had a laxative affect on me I had diohrea so.anyway got on the bus home then I needed to get off bus to find the nearest toilet and as I was getting off the bus everything went black and I woke on the bus floor saying to my husband did I just faint? And he said yeah so we got off the bus and I fainted again so I went to a+e in a ambulance I was put on a drip and anti sick medication that made me fee l even more sick apparently I was dehydrated and hadn't drank enough and had low blood pressure the only time I passed out before was when I was on medication and my ex kept giving me alcohol and I passed out I am not the fainting type so it.was a shock for me and my husband

—Guest Elizabeth

Ouch!!!

Id just come out of the shower and I felt really sick I got half dressed but felt to sick to carry on so I got a drink I walked back up the stairs but my eyesight went blurry and fuzzy. I came to my bedroom got dressed then I fell against the wardrobe losing my balance then against my draws before I collapsed my eyes were open and I was woken by my mum shouting WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?!?!?! I went to bed straight after but my bum hurts from falling on it so hard!

—Guest Hi12344

Fainting everywhere!

I am VERY squeamish when it comes to blood. Back in grade 6 during a babysitting course, i remember the woman telling us how to clean a babies wound and then i remember seeing stars, putting my head on the desk and next thing you know, i'm on the floor! The worst part was that people thought i fell off my chair and were laughing when i woke up. Then, just today, we watched a birthing video in health class - i felt dizzy and knew i was going to faint. I stupidly got up and walked in to the hallway where i was completely disoriented. I woke up in the middle of the hall with 5 confused students around me and a teacher brought me to the office. Fainting isn't fun.

—Guest Alexandra

fainting at school

well, i passed out during lesson and when i woke up u saw my greek teacher holding my legs and saying that it was ok , the ambulance was coming to take me to the hospital ... He told i was passed out fell down.

—Guest hi hi

Concert on Stage

I was at a concert for my chorus. The audience was a full house and it was exciting. I had felt fine the whole day, had ate and drank enough. Then, after the first song, this little girl in the orchestra was playing this beautiful harp solo. I was admiring it when my face and feet began to feel really hot and numb. Then I began to hear a bit of a buzzing in my ear. I touched my ear to stop it but it wouldn't go away! then I realized that the orchestra was playing but I couldn't hear anything! I turned to the girl next to her and tried to whisper "I think I might pass out" but I still couldn't hear my volume and there was a microphone right in front of us. The whole room began to spin and I saw clouds and black spots. Next thing I know she pushed me down onto the ground and I ended up singing the entire concert on the ground. I didn't pass out, but I could tell that I was going to!

—Guest liza

never yet

I have never really fainted, but I've come close to it a few times. One time I was in gym class and I had just run for about twenty minutes. I have asthma and didn't take my inhaler beforehand so I was beginning to have trouble breathing. By the end I was really light headed and dizzy, and as I left the room everything started getting these light splotches and becoming discolored like I was constantly stepping out of the sun and into a building or something. I was a bit pale and could barely walk and I told my friend I felt kind of faint, so she told me to sit down and stretch my arms above my head. It worked, and I was okay. Needless to say I officially hate running lol.

—Guest Abby

First day at work

I've been anemic for a couple years now and on my first day of work at an eyeglass lab sum guy was trainin me on a machine so he's explaining the process then suddenly I don't feel good at all. First I lost my hearing so I read the guys lips asking me if I was ok then my body started sweating my vision was tunneled very blurry and every muscle in my body stopped working I fainted for about a min. and from what I heard when I woke up was that I lost consiousness and the guy training me had to catch me before I hit the ground. Embarassed word got at the job that new girl fainted on the first day. I've been there a year now and pple still remember lol.

—Guest Wandy

Good morning

I woke up this morning and started towars the bathroom. Next thing I remember is my girlfriend calling my name from bed asking are you okay and my head was tingling. I fell into the wall and hit my head and after that I was fine and wide awake. It was quite disturbing because it has never hapened before.

—Guest Chris

Almost fainting firsthand

I was thirteen I was playing tackle football and someone caught me off guard and threw me to the floor I landed on my left wrist then my vision got blurry colors started fading I was trying to walk it off but ended up walking to a nearby lamp post and sitting down then a group of kids started crowding around me asking me questions then my vision was coming back to me but my wrist still hurt for the rest of the day

—Guest Almost fainted

Surprise!!

I was in 6th grade and we just just finished doing lots of exercises around the gym. I was very tired and we were going to play volleyball next so I went up to get a ball. My body started feeling weak and I was spinning in circles. When I woke up I was laying on the floor and my friend kept asking me if I was ok. I tried to get up but the left side of my body was numb. The ambulance came to the school and the rumor already spread that this girl( me) had a heart attack. I later found out I had a stroke. The cause is still unknown today.

—Guest Kelly

Unbelievable!

When i was 13 i went on a science school trip to the lake district, we'd done all these cool activities and i was pretty beat but i thought i would be ok cos we were only going on a night walk so it wasn't gonna be hard. During the walk i ended up at the back, trying my best to keep up with them. I slowed down a lot, i even got left by all those walking at the back including the teacher who thought i must have been in the middle of the group. I went really dizzy. A few moments later i threw up, then everything went black. when i woke up it was light out and i was lying in a hospital bed with my teacher sat next to my bed. I asked him what happened and he said "When we got back from the walk i noticed you were missing, so me and one of the staff came looking for you. We found you out cold about half way back where we'd been walking. You haven't woken up since. The doctors think you had a seizure and have been sleeping it off" I think thats the oddest experiene of my life!

—Guest Lottie

Fainting

I fainted when i was on school camp in yr 6 and we were at maccas getting dinner and my friend fainted which made me faint and i whacked my head and went into a 3 min fit on the way back the principal was holding my legs up and i was lying on the seats on the bus lol the second time i fainted i vomited on my teacher and then fainted and she was like omg and took of almost all my clothes to cool me and the third time i fainted and rolled down the hill lol

—Guest Emma

never saw it coming

i was at work going over some rules with my new reps and took a drink of pop i felt like it dident go down all the way and was stuck in my chest as i turned away to wait for it to dissapear i felt real hot and everything went blury i felt as if i was still explaing the rules to my reps the i herd sombody scream call 911 i woke up on the floor with about 30 people around me asking if i was ok and pulling me up into a chair i remember feeling like i was waking up out of a dream then i realized somthing was different i was not in my bed i was at work and had no idea what was going on. Then i remebered the feeling i had before i passed out and started feeaking out asking what had just happened. Supposably i fell to.the ground hit my head really hard and my whole body was shaking and i was making a sound in my troat as if i was trying to breath but couldent. my whome face turned pale and lips turned blue i was shocked this has never happened to me just cuase i took a drink of soda

—Guest maria

In my kitchen

I had been ill with some kind of throat/sinus thing. I went to the kitchen thinking I needed to rehydrate and take my nightly meds which included a calcium channel blocker(for high blood pressure) and ambien (sleep aid). Within seconds of taking these meds, I became very nauseus, like a consuming fire from my tummy up to my head and I went down. Luckily my husband was there to catch me. I was out for only 2 minutes max. Husband and daughter were screaming at me, waiving their hands, etc. But I was unresponsive..but my eyes were wide open. Frightening. I had been suffering from daily headaches and dizziness for about two months after a chiropractic neck adjustment. Have no idea how all or if all this is connected, but seeing a neurologist and having an MRI very soon. Hope the fainting thing never happens again. Family thought I was a goner. Ironically, I had just got done praying with my husband when this all happened. I think I have a guardian angel.

—Guest Julie