Fainting

[jason h]

Kids dropped like flies in Assembly in the poorly ventilated gym at our school. I remember standing in Assembly quite a few times with my head spinning and mouth watering thinking I was about to faint but never did.
The only time I did was in Boots on a Saturday. I was watching boxing on a store TV and collapsed, falling forward and head-butting the TV set on the way down. Very embarrassing.

[joybee]

Re: Fainting

I did keel over a couple of times in Assembley, but loads of the girls in my school had it down to a fine art - apparently if they got up quickly enough from sitting crosslegged on the floor or on the low balancing beams used as benches in the hall it caused them to faint !! They demonstrated this in the playground too by curling up as small as possible then straightening out to an upright position - immediately blacking out !!

Don't know what the attraction in performing this strange art was, but I certainly never did it purpously.

[jason h]

Re: Fainting

Yer, there was quite a dangerous craze of induced fainting in the 80s based upon controlled breathing and chest compression but I always thought that was a lads thing. Silly game.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Fainting

I remember the first time I ever fainted was after a very hot bath when I was about 13. I got out and keeled over while I was drying myself, bashing my head on the door as I went down. I came to lying on the passage floor outside the bathroom with only a towel draped over me. Mam and dad had hauled me out! I was sooooooo embarrased that they had seen me with nowt on!

[Marine Boy]

Re: Fainting

I came so close to fainting on two occasions. One day - mid 70s - when I was at a school féte, I was really ill but insisted on attending because two of 'The Tomorrow People' were opening the event! I came so close to passing out but just managed to stop myself.

...I was sooooooo embarrased that they had seen me with nowt on!

Oh Tricky, I'm feeling my trauma all over again! I was about the same age, at school, getting changed for swimming. I had a bad reaction to some tablets I was taking and nearly keeled over in a state of undress!

So glad these were only 'nearly' moments!

[Richard1978]

Re: Fainting

I managed to faint a few times when I was in my mid teens. A couple of times at school & once at home after being outside on a hot day.

On the last occasion I hit my head on a table & had to have stitches. The wall the table was pushed into still had a dent years later.

[darren]

Re: Fainting

Yer, there was quite a dangerous craze of induced fainting in the 80s based upon controlled breathing and chest compression but I always thought that was a lads thing. Silly game.

sounds very dangerous indeed cannot imagine it as a game though.

fainted once as i had not ate or drank for a few days.
this was around 15 yrs back.

[willpurry]

Re: Fainting

I fainted one day in 1987 when we went to see Grandma Purry in hospital. A combination of the heating and seeing a tray of gloopy mashed potato that looked like it should be attacking Doctor Who.

[darren]

Re: Fainting

I fainted one day in 1987 when we went to see Grandma Purry in hospital. A combination of the heating and seeing a tray of gloopy mashed potato that looked like it should be attacking Doctor Who.

yes hospital food can have that effect mate.

as a kid i was in hospital a lot and the heat and bad food combo made me sick regular.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Fainting

I still occasionally feel faint but I've never gone completely over since that time as I can stop myself by bending over or lying down.

One of my worst 'near misses' was at around the same age when I felt ill on a bus and proceeded to feel faint but I couldn't get off because the bus was full and in a traffic jam. Panic set in which made me feel worse. The worst thing about this incident was that it set off a phobia. I wouldn't get on a bus for about a year and used to panic that it was going to happen again whenever I was out of the house. Sometimes the panic itself would make me feel faint. I eventually got over it but it took many months.

A funnier incident happened a couple of years ago in Spain. I was on a train from Valencia to the Tomatina festival. It was very early, very hot, I was hung over and the train had no air con. I couldn't buy any water because the shops hadn't opened yet. I had to stand for the hour-long trip and it was very crowded with commuters and festival-goers. I already felt dodgy and soon we passed a very 'fragrant' farmer's field and that was it! I started feeling sick and felt a faint coming on but there was nowhere to bend down to stop it. I was without doubt going to puke on a young couple beside me or worse still collapse on top of an old man beside me (who looked like a tramp). Being British and not wanting to cause a scene, I gripped the bar with all my might, retching, pouring with sweat and with blackness invading my vision. How I held out I will never know. I think it was the potential embarrassment that pulled me through!

[HG]

Re: Fainting

I had a couple of near fainting episodes at school, the first was in junior school when one of my friends had an epileptic fit and the teacher panicing and trying to stick a ruler in his mouth to keep his tongue from going into his throat had my eyes go all starry in front of me and feeling decidedly light headed. The second time was first day at comprehensive and being packed into the school hall on a very warm day and first day nerves made me very unsteady on my feet and I had to go and get some fresh air.

The funniest faint I ever saw happened at comprehensive too in the second year whilst watching a film about having a baby, a girl in my class fainted backwards off the bench and landed flat on her back with her legs sticking straight up in the air (anybody that watched George Gently that school was my old school and it also doubled up as the police station)

I fainted once properly as a small child, I used to get whooping cough quite a lot and after one particularly bad episode I passed out on the bathroom floor.

I've only nearly fainted once as an adult as that was after being in the sauna too long, I went out and into the shower but everything started spinning and I felt sick as hell, a few minutes sitting with my head between my knees sorted it out.

[branny]

Re: Fainting

I had a couple of near misses when I was younger. The first was when my Dad took me shopping in Manchester City Centre for my 12th birthday. It was a really hot day and I was wearing a coat. Had to sit on the steps outside Boots to avoid keeling over. The 2nd near miss was when I was about 17. I managed to slice my knuckle open on a tin lid. Cue lightheadedness. Just put my head between my legs and then felt fine. The one time I did keel over I was maybe 19. I'd been ill for a few days, went in the kitchen to get a drink. Bent down to pick a bottle of Coke up and passed out. I fell backwards and fortunately fell against the cooker before slumping on the floor. It was weird because I could hear my Mum scream and shout my Dad to ring an ambulance. I came around pretty quickly and was more embarrassed than anything.

I had a scarey moment a few weeks back as well. My Wife was out for the night with friends and my 3 year old was asleep on the sofa next to me. I was watching a film when from absolutely nowhere a crimson torrent decides to exit from my nose. Never had a nosebleed before and not had one since but this went on for half an hour and I was becoming concerned about the amount of blood I was losing. I was scared of passing out and my Daughter waking to find me but thankfully it stopped eventually.

[sf1378]

Re: Fainting

1987. I once saved a kid at Prep School (yes, sadly I went to a Private School) who had an epileptic fit right next to me....We were rehearsing for some stupid Christmas Play or something...I saw his eyes roll in his head and pure liquid spittle dribble out his mouth, that was in a split second-I jumped up and shouted 'Hes having an epileptic fit!', and the teachers came over etc....

What upset me was some other kid claimed to have saved him....charming. The boy I saved knew it was me. He was a nice boy too and sadly left the school a while after, I say sadly because he was nice to me.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Fainting

Fits are scary to watch. A lad in primary school used to have them and the vision of him flailing backwards off his seat, limbs shaking and mouth foaming has never left me. It's a good education though. A few years ago an older woman had a fit in a queue right infront of me and went down like a ton of bricks, making a strange noise as she went. A friend I was with completely freaked out, but I knew it was only a fit and was able to help the woman until she came round.

[sf1378]

Re: Fainting

An old man had an epileptic fit at the Bus stop in Ceylon my Mum and Dad were stood at....that was finally how the ice was broken and well, they got married.