Standing up after sitting down for some time, why does my head feels light head and my vision blacks out?

Question

Standing up after sitting down or laying down for some time, why does my head feels light and my vision blacks out for about 3-10 seconds? I'm am still conscious when it happens. What is this condition? How do I fix it?

I'm not on any meds

Answer 1

Well, many things could be going on, all of which should be seen by a doctor...
You could have decreased blood flow to the brain, this is common, but you still need to have it checked out to make sure it isn't something like temporal arteritis (inflamation of the vessels that provide blood flow to your eyes). Also, a popular thing for doctors to suggest is that patients who present with this problem may have further testing ordered, like karotid dopplers. That is when they look at your neck arteries with an ultrasound machine to determine if you have any blockages. It could also be something more serious like a TIA (transient ischemic attack) which is like a mini-stroke.

The term for loosing vision like that is amaurosis fugax. Look it up. I think I spelled it correctly.

Answer 2

I get this occasionally too; but as previous posters have put it is mostly down to heat and movement. I even had it getting out of the bath once - drained the bath and then every time I'd try to stand up to get out, everything would go black and I would feel the blood rushing out of my head to my feet. It was pretty terrifying and I was home alone - ended up stuck in the bath for about half an hour until I could see a TINY bit and just RAN to my room and launched onto my bed for half an hour. Was horrible and pretty trippy. I think the only thing to do is either make it less hot or be quicker. Sucks though!!

Answer 3

Are you taking any medications? reason I'm asking some blood pressure meds. will do this,try getting up more slowly,but if this is new to you and it's not something your taking I would see a Dr.