Intense Deja Vu, followed by lightheadedness and strange feeling

You experience approximately 99% of the symptoms thatI do. Thank you for sharing

Very glad to have found this forum. 34 year old male. I've been trying to figure it out for the last couple of years now. I read the entire thread and can come to a couple of conclusions. The common denominator seems to be blood flow to the brain. Common reasons that I have seen listed: Dehydration, neck alignment, tumors, heart defects, stress. Someone mentions laying down also helps. All potential interruptors of normal blood flow which seems the brain into a bit of a seizure. Probably the temporal lobe as most people seem to have discovered. It seems many people can live with it for many years so in most cases it is not life threatening but irritating. Going "into" the dream like states is likely going to stress us more as we yearn to figure out where the "memories" are coming which again changes the blood flow.

I go into a dream like states sometimes a couple times of week, bat lately once every few months. I feel convinced that I am so close to remembering them, but I can't "hold onto" anything in particular and the dream goes by in a slideshow. I feel i can slow the reel down momentarily and try to get a closer look, but ultimately, i cant ever quite remember what words were used, what scene is remembered, what dreams were dreamt. Once the scene shifts, the previous memories are no longer available. After the state passes, nothing is remembered.
I once had someone that was with me grab a pen and paper and told them to write down everything I said so I could see if I could remember anything. They did so and afterwards told me it was just single words out of context that made no sense. I was amazed and took the paper and saw they were right. I was convinced I was giving more information but all I managed to say were seemingly random unrelated words.

As counter intuitive as it may seem, the best thing we can probably do is relax. Drink plenty of water. Start movement practice such as Tai Chi or Yoga which have blood circulation as a key focus of their art forms. I would bet countries where these exercises are commonly practice do not develop these issues nearly as much. Check with a doctor for heart issues, neck issues, or brain issues. The more people that get this checked out and get more information the more common these sorts of issues will be understood and thus taken more seriously for all of us.

How many of us get light headed if we stand up to quickly? I would have to guess a bunch. I've been doing simple exercises to help with that issue: I slowly go into chair position, then slowly rise back up rising my hands high above my head and stretch them to the sky. I move my arms in big circles up as I go up and down. The light-headedness has mostly stopped as a result.

I just had an episode however, and the last few days my neck has been super stiff and I've been popping my neck a lot. I have been super stressed lately and this seems like an obvious culprit. I would guess this also challenges the blood flow.

So, my biggest recommendation to all of us?: Less stress. For those of us who are have anxiety issues, I realize the frustration of that statement. And yet I think it may be paramount to these issues. If there are no specific defects in the heart or brain, the best thing we can do is try to find ways to relax. I would guess a simple meditation practice may work wonders for us. I've started doing a bit and I will see if it helps.

I've subscribed and will keep in touch here. Good luck to everyone and it's reassuring to know we have a small community developed here. That alone should help us stress less about it.

If anyone has questions, thoughts, or would like to share something with me, message me for email or just post it here. I've subscribed and will keep an eye on the board. I look forward to any replies. (;

Signed up for an account so people could refer to the last post by name: Freelystreaming is my name here now.

Just thought about something. Many people have mentioned alcohol as another factor, which makes sense with my hypothesis.

"Circulatory System
The circulatory system includes the heart; a system of vessels called arteries, veins, and capillaries; and blood. Blood is pumped by the heart through these vessels, causing “circulation” throughout the body.

You may have read about some positive effects that alcohol can have on this system. Studies in adults have shown that a glass of alcohol (beer, wine, or distilled spirits) each day can help heart function. Drinking alcohol in moderation can help keep the balance of fat in the blood in the right proportions. This can help lower the chances of developing blocked arteries or blood clots.

But the science is clear that drinking more than two drinks each day may cause harm. Large amounts of alcohol can affect how the heart works. If the heart isn’t pumping blood throughout the body effectively, other organs may suffer from lack of oxygen or nutrients. If the person drinking has clogged blood vessels, the heart has to work even harder." http://sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/alcohol/ebook/pages/circulatory-system.htm

I would suggest perhaps experimenting with changing normal alcohol practices and note any changes.

Also, just for thoroughness, I could also mention that after an episode, as I've seen a couple others mention, afterwards, there is often a period of euphoria and seeming mental clarity. If the experience wasn't so anxiety inducing, I would call it a rather pleasant experience and a fun high. I hope some of this helps people!

Hey freelystreaming, thank you for the in-depth description of your experience. I think as everyone continues to share what they feel are the causes we might begin to see a pattern possible triggers for these episodes.

I have just returned from catching up with a mate for breakfast and had an episode while talking to him. During this episode I felt like I had dreamed this particular scene not once but multiple times. As normal, I ended up all hot, sweaty and light headed but it passed pretty quickly.

My current situation... I've been pretty stressed of late (which is currently my best guess for a trigger), we've also been drinking less alcohol lately, but had a couple of nights out driking in the past few days.

A lot of people talk about taking medication, but I haven't done that so it's no applicable to me.

The neck is a possible, but for many years I went to the chiro once a week and still got episodes during that period, so I'm not sure about that being a trigger.

Hey anybody that can hep me or somebody that can relate & tell me what I have.
I had my 1st episode around my sophomore year & ive had probably 30+ episodes. I'm 18 now too.
I can sense when it's about to happen so I just brace myself.
I get this Deja vu effect where I feel ive been/seen/lived through before but when I try to remember I can remember nothing which then drives me crazy & I feel like crying & vomiting & then it feels like I'm breathing some different type of air I can't even describe it.
These last about 3min but I feel like I'm going crazy.

I also have read through almost this whole post, but skipped do the end around the 7th or 8th page, finding freelystreamings post.

I haven't experienced this my whole life but a few weeks ago had an episode how people descirbe it here, like trying to remember a dream, and was dizzy and felt like I was almost going to faint for about 2 minutes while I was at work. This continued to happen but more mildly that afternoon, then the following day I felt a bit spaced out, but no more episodes, until I went to drive that afternoon. After about 20-30 minutes, i had another one and had to pull over. Luckily there was somewhere to pull over. I used to get migraines so I liken the aftermath to that of a migraine, I felt drained and a little worried it would happen again whilst driving, so didn't drive for the next few days.

I went to the doctor, who pretty much wrote me off, gave me some standard blood tests that came back clear and nothing more. I was ... pretty much alright, until last night it started happening again, and then this morning, and all day I have been having mild episodes. I am supposed to drive for about an hour tonight and am a bit worried. A storm is predicted and I don't want to have an accident whilst driving.

Reading this has at least made me realise I am not imagining things ... but still, no answer or solution, so I will be subscribing and keeping an eye out! QSJenna will be my name

Breathe and don't get upset. It might be your neck or alinment .

I thought the same thing until I read other people having the same thing. Go get a good massage, relax, go to a chiropractor neck massage is great. Breathe deep

Just had my 3month follow up appointment at my neurologist office last week. Im going to remain on Keppra for another 7 months and he might consider weining me off once I have been on the medication for a whole year (which will be in October). He asked if I have had any episodes and I said no but I did experience a strong trigger but it was different. He asked if any Deja Vu occurred. I said no. And he replied "good". Following up with my last post it seems an episode can only be considered a true episode if deja vu happens. If it doesn't happen then I just consider it a trigger.

It’s so great to know that I am not crazy! I thank all of you for posting your experiences, and yes, we are our own little group of supporters of each other.

Absolute truth. I go through the same and it's draining. I couldn't have described it better other than the fact it really scares me. Maybe that's the adrenaline.

Don't be afraid, just know to make sure you don't drive when you're having issues. No kidding as soon as I realized other people had this they stopped. I use to have them in the 70's and then started having they again. But not anymore, it's unreal.

I just had another one for the first time since writing this ... and I am even reading what I wrote last time and barely remembering what I wrote.

Same here! They happen all through out the day. I can seriously say to myself as it's happening : I'm going to turn around and the lady in the pink sweater with an embroidered bear will be standing there and say .....

Then I feel an intense feeling of heat and my arms tingle. Sometimes I feel a sense of fear because I'm afraid "the deja vu episode" won't stop and the "dream" will keep going and my reality will be lost.