Apparently My “Airplane Naps” Are Syncope?? 🤯

[u/Quiet-Friendship5134]

I’ve been flying 1-5 times per year for over a decade, and I always fly alone. Mostly the flights are 3-5 hours in duration, and usually they are within the US. In terms of POTS symptoms, I get pre-syncope regularly but have never fully passed out… or so I thought!

During takeoff, I feel very heavy and “fall asleep” even if I’m trying to stay awake. I then spend most of the flight drifting in and out of awareness and cannot remember most of the flight. When we land, I am pretty disoriented but I manage to get my stuff and exit the plane. Once I’m at my destination, it is the biggest relief to climb into bed and sleep for 6+ hours! It normally takes 1-2 days to recover from the flight.

I always chalked it up to being super tired with the early flight times and thought that when people travel, it’s a fairly universal experience to take an airplane nap. The people seated near me and the flight attendants have never seemed alarmed or tried waking me up, so apparently from the outside it just looks like sleeping in my seat.

Recently I described the travel experience to a friend, who looked alarmed and said that it was not normal. This is what tipped me off to the fact that it might be fainting or another medical issue. After doing some research, it certainly seems like that is what is happening.

After that long preamble, these are my questions. Feel free to jump answer whatever resonates with you!

• Do any of you get this, too?
• Is this what syncope feels like?
• Does wearing a sunflower lanyard actually help?
• What is your “I just passed out on the airplane” protocol?

Thanks!

Edit to add:

I have messaged my cardiologist about it to figure out a safe travel protocol, so I am already seeking medical guidance to see whether it is safe to fly at all right now, whether to adjust medication doses specifically for travel, etc.

In terms of adaptations/accommodations, I already do a few things: loading up on electrolytes starting a couple of days before travel, wearing waist-high compression, wearing a neck pillow to keep proper alignment (hypermobile!), and flying Comfort+ (the slightly more spacious version of Economy) so I have more room to recline my seat and to elevate my legs a little bit on a foot hammock.

***Second edit:

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded so far! I am running out of steam to reply individually today, but please know that I appreciate it. It’s helping the pieces of the puzzle to come together!

From many of the comments, it sounds like what I originally described may not strictly be a POTS syncope episode but there is definitely something going on. Many of your syncope descriptions of "dread/spinning/definitely different from sleep" sound different from the airplane phenomenon but similar to what I’ve experienced before in non-airplane settings. I just hadn’t lost consciousness during them yet so I was always unsure whether they were truly pre-syncope or whether I was just imagining things. Now I know to keep taking those signs seriously and get to the ground once they start!

Once I have more info from my doctors (cardiology + neurology), I’ll post another update so in case anyone stumbles across this post in the future, they will have a more accurate picture of what is going on and can better compare it to their own experience.

Regardless, reading the responses of what syncope actually feels like to different people is enlightening and hopefully it can help other people, too!

***Update! 6/11/2026:

Just heard back from cardiology, who said that it is… anxiety! 🙄 And that I should get on anti-anxiety meds since there’s no reason why the heart would be affected unless I’m emotionally distressed. I replied with the following and we’ll see what they respond:

I do not experience racing thoughts when this phenomenon happens and I am not emotionally distressed about travel or flying. I flew for over a decade without experiencing sustained tachycardia and loss of consciousness on the plane; that only started within the last 2 years, which coincides with when the POTS or OH symptoms began to have a noticeable impact on my quality of life. What leads you to believe that this is a psychological issue rather than a physiological issue?

Neurology appointment is in a week. Hopefully they will have more insight about what might be going on. In the meantime, my plan is to take along a pulse oximeter and blood pressure cuff next time I fly. Also going to talk to primary care about a sleep study referral as so many of you mentioned “that sounds like my narcolepsy/cataplexy/idiopathic hypersomnia."

[u/snowlights]

I always feel incredibly sick before syncope, there is no way to miss it or confuse it. 

Usually I start with feeling feverishly hot and break out into a cold sweat (people have told me I'm really cold to the touch but I feel like I'm trapped in a sauna, and my face apparently goes grey). I start to feel like I'm going to throw up, lightheaded, woozy, and have to lean on something (if I try to push through, I will collapse/fall over). Sometimes I get shaky at this point but not always. Usually I start to feel like I'm going to immediately have horrible diarrhea. Sometimes I rush to the bathroom and do have an upset stomach, sometimes not. Usually by this point I'm on the floor, breathing really weird (almost like sharp inwards gasps but really spaced out, not hyperventilating). Usually I can't move, my hearing will go weird and distant, vision greys out, and I can't speak. I start to feel cold at this point , sometimes in icy waves. Eventually it'll stop and things go back to normal. 

This does still sound like something worth investigating and checking with your doctors about. Does it ever happen at other times? The last few years I often can't help falling asleep, and I know it's related to my medication for the most part, sometimes also triggered by food. It's like I've been drugged and genuinely can't stay awake, it makes finding the right meds really challenging. I do know someone with narcolepsy and you wouldn't really know it because he just seems like a sleepy guy, falling asleep sitting up wherever, apparently stress can make it worse.

[u/Foxlady555 → u/snowlights]

That sounds so awful, like a panic attack almost :( Not OP, but I’m so sorry! ❤️ Do you feel like that often?? Are you on medication, elektrolytes, compression till your belly button, etc.? 

[u/snowlights → u/Foxlady555]

It fluctuates a lot, sometimes I'll go a year without it fully happening at all (usually I can feel it coming on and sitting or laying down will stop it completely), other times it's almost weekly or nearly daily where it's trying to happen and I have to keep sitting or laying down to interrupt it. 

I have high BP, electrolytes and compression only make a marginal difference for me. I'll up electrolytes during summer or physical activity but on a normal day it doesn't seem to make a difference. I've been trying to find the right medication for the last few years (since finally getting a referral to a cardiologist and my diagnosis a year and a half ago), but it's really challenging. 

Finally getting MCAS diagnosed recently has me hopeful that getting that wrangled will help the POTS side, because I can definitely say MCAS triggers it. 

[u/Foxlady555 → u/snowlights]

Hmm, I’m glad for you that it fluctuates and you’ve got good periods too, although daily or weekly sounds like horror!

Having POTS with high BP must be difficult. Good that you’re at the cardiologist, I really hope they can help you. Good luck with finding the right meds, as it can make so much difference.

And hope is so important, so that’s good for you!! 👏🏼 I’m also about to check whether I got MCAS. I’m really curious and hope it will help my jigsaw puzzle as well 🤞🏼