Episodes of vasovagal syncope are typically recurrent and usually occur when the predisposed person is exposed to a specific trigger. Before losing consciousness, the individual frequently experiences early signs or symptoms such as lightheadedness, nausea, the feeling of being extremely hot or cold (accompanied by sweating), ringing in the ears, an uncomfortable feeling in the heart, fuzzy thoughts, confusion, a slight inability to speak or form words (sometimes combined with mild stuttering), weakness and visual disturbances such as lights seeming too bright, fuzzy or tunnel vision, black cloud-like spots in vision, and a feeling of nervousness can occur as well. The symptoms may become more intense over several seconds to several minutes before the loss of consciousness (if it is lost). Onset usually occurs when a person is sitting up or standing. When people lose consciousness, they fall down (unless prevented from doing so) and, when in this position, effective blood flow to the brain is immediately restored, allowing the person to regain consciousness. If the person does not fall into a fully flat, supine position, and the head remains elevated above the trunk, a state similar to a seizure may result from the blood's inability to return quickly to the brain, and the neurons in the body will fire off and generally cause muscles to twitch very slightly but mostly remain very tense. The autonomic nervous system's physiological state (see below) leading to loss of consciousness may persist for several minutes, so * If sufferers try to sit or stand when they wake up, they may pass out again * The person may be nauseated, pale, and sweaty for several minutes or hours
Reflex syncope
Hypotonic-hyporesponsive episode
Heat syncope
Laughter-induced syncope
Reflex asystolic syncope
Panic attack
Hair-grooming syncope
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome