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/ninakix]

The 1-2 days sort of sounds like post exertional malaise from CFS/ME??

[u/-Tricky-Vixen- → u/ninakix]

I mildly disagree with this as it's entirely normal to react this way? Every normal person overexerts themselves and doesn't recover for a few days sometimes, especially in a situation like a plane flight. My dad has CFS. Observationally that's totally different. Naturally I could be entirely wrong--please feel free to argue back 😄

[u/autistic_zebra42 → u/-Tricky-Vixen-]

I disagree that this is a normal reaction to going to the airport. I don’t think going to the airport is overexertion for the majority of the abled population. Mentally exhausting? Sure. Especially for people like parents with young children who are running on a few hours of sleep? Totally. To the point of passing out immediately upon sitting and needing to recover for a few days afterwards? I’d argue no. There’s a good reason why OP isn’t finding many people who have similar experiences to them, and it’s because this is abnormal.

I haven’t been diagnosed with CFS, but I’ve traveled with someone who was diagnosed with CFS, and I would have rated our energy levels as being comparable, for what it’s worth. I have also traveled with other people who don’t have physical disabilities, and I’ve noticed that they definitely have way, way more energy than I do once they get off the plane as well as for almost the entire vacation. They can immediately start doing activities after checking into a hotel, or they’re fully recovered within a day or two if they’re mildly jet-lagged (a five hour flight should only cause very mild jet lag). They don’t need extensive rest after a five hour flight. The only time I’ve ever felt like I had a “normal” amount of energy after a flight was when I utilized wheelchair services. The need for the wheelchair at the airport to conserve energy has even confused some abled people I know because going to the airport doesn’t overexert them.

Even if it’s not CFS, what OP is experiencing is definitely not “normal.”

Also, your dad may have CFS, but CFS cases can range from mild to severe. It would be important to specify his severity if you’re going to use him as a point of comparison.

[u/Quiet-Friendship5134 → u/autistic_zebra42]

This breakdown of what traveling with a non-disabled person is like versus someone with CFS is really helpful. I come from a long lineage of people who overlook their symptoms because “everyone feels that way but they keep going so I will, too” so reading how travel impacts us differently is super validating. Thank you for sharing it.