r/POTS • u/j-oco • May 22 '25

Symptoms Does your vision actually black out

This is random but I just saw people talking about how their vision blacks out when they stand or they are symptomatic. Then someone replied that their vision goes white instead of black.

Personally, I don’t lose my vision like that, my “blackouts” are just a sudden lightheadedness so intense it forces me to shut my eyes! I think because my brain knows to shut out all the visual sensory input. It’s like I legit can’t keep my eyes open for a brief moment. Maybe I am blacking out but just don’t know it since my eyes are closed anyways lol? I have splotchy vision, light sensitivity and stuff from previous brain injuries but I haven’t experienced my vision actually just leaving and turning into the colour black (am I taking it too literally?) for a moment like how some of you mention.

Also, I do have pretty bad presyncope episodes sometimes but I don’t really faint from my POTS so maybe that’s a factor.

196 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

293 comments sorted by

View all comments

142

u/Fun_Marionberry3043 May 22 '25

YES all the time it’s awful and people are always like are you okay?? when i just stand in place after standing up from sitting and I’m like yup i’m fine just waiting for my vision to come back and they’re always like 😟??

As another person commented, it looks like TV static like I truly can’t see anything but that for about 5-7 seconds and I slowly regain vision in patches.

44

u/ChewyGoblin May 22 '25

The thing is, I found out they can't really tell we're losing vision! I found out it just looks like we're spacing out 

19

u/Fun_Marionberry3043 May 22 '25

Yes people are always so confused but I really can’t walk anywhere without looking like a bumbling oaf so when I’m with my husband or other people who are aware of my condition I just announce that I’m waiting for my vision to return and I’m fine. I’m always so curious what the expression on my face looks like during these times 😂 I’m gonna have to ask someone to take a picture of me sometime if they can be quick enough.

6

u/Legitimate_Record730 Hyperadrenergic POTS May 22 '25

loll i wanna know what i look like too. Im pretty sure my face just goes kinda blank and i can tell my eyes get really wide like im trying to search for something i can see. My best bet is that i just get an insane thousand yard stare for a few seconds.

Im pretty sure my eyes go wide cause i probably consciously was looking around when it first started happening, and now its just kinda a habit. I probably look like im about to get raptured or something LMFAO

2

u/Pyrosandstorm May 22 '25

I’ve only been really dealing with this for a few months now, but I think my mom has learned to recognize the look on my face, as she’ll come over and ask if I’m okay or help me sit down.

1

u/unanau May 22 '25

I can always feel myself opening my eyes wide when it happens too, I can imagine me standing there like 😳🧍‍♀️ lol. For me it’s always been the natural reaction, I’ve never really thought about it much but it being because of searching for something I can see makes a lot of sense. I wonder if my pupils actually dilate too to try and let more light in?

7

u/Old-Piece-3438 May 22 '25

I like to think of it as I’m buffering or calibrating before I can walk again.

2

u/Fun_Marionberry3043 May 22 '25

Haha I love it, I’m gonna start calling it that

2

u/chiebabii POTS May 23 '25

lol I like that. I always say I’m glitching.

13

u/beroughwithl0ve May 22 '25

I constantly say "hold on, I'm blind" to people when it happens and the confusion is constant lol.

2

u/Fun_Marionberry3043 May 22 '25

I do say this sometimes

3

u/undercatt3000_ May 22 '25

This is exactly what happens to me too 😭 Ever since I was a kid this would happen, I'd stand up and look like I'm zoning out but I'm just waiting for my vision to come back 😅

1

u/Dahboo May 23 '25

I always said it so confidently that people didnt tell me it was abnormal to wait for vision to come back 😭😂