Anyone ever experienced orthostatic hypotension? Where you stand up quickly, and your vision starts to “dim”? (That’s called a brownout, by the way.)
Ever taken it further?
Call me stupid, naive, whatever, but I have a quick little anecdote to tell you guys.
Earlier this evening I had the hiccups. I know that one “cure” is to hold your breath for about a minute, and the hiccups will go away. So I walked around the house holding my breath. I realized that if i stopped suddenly, stood there completely still, and did absolutely nothing but stand, I’d brownout a little. If I breathe or start moving again, I’d be fine. Whoah. This was kind of interesting.
So time passes, and I start experimenting with said weirdness. I sat down to pet Pip, our cute little kitten, and stood up. I decided to hold my breath and stare off into space. I’ve heard from some of my friends that they go “blind” if they stand up too quickly. So, as I expected, my head felt funny and my vision started to dim. It started to dim more. I was mesmerized by this weird feeling.
Thump.
I realized I was on the floor, listening to Mom go “Caaat?” It took a split second for me to realize it as if my consciousness was thrown back into my brain and needed time to recollect its thoughts.
I realized what just happened, and quickly got up (mostly so Mom wouldn’t start freaking out). I told her what happened, and she mostly understood (it makes sense to her as she’s an ex-nurse). “You were unresponsive for maybe two seconds, but that’s all. You’re really white, too. Hmm. Your color is starting to come back now, good.”

So, I’ll add this to the list of times I’ve been unconscious (sleep doesn’t count). The list is as follows:

• I’m not sure this counts, but when I was four years old, I had a tonsillectomy. They put the sleeping gas mask on me, it smelled funny, and that’s all I remember.
• Years ago, a friend was over, and we ware inhaling helium from a balloon. Apparently I inhaled too much, and passed out for about the same amount of time as I did today.
• And finally, a few years ago, I was in California. I was with a friend, running up a large flight of stairs. I was getting tired, but doing okay. When I made it to the top, I remember feeling very faint. I asked if we could get something to drink. In the drink shop, I remember “browning out” to a point where I almost “blacked out” and collapsed. I was barely conscious as he (the friend) carried me to a table to sit down. Fortunately he knew what happened (he has experience with these things), and my assumption (not enough blood and/or oxygen to the brain) was correct. Same exact feeling as all of these. I didn’t feel the pain of the fall at all, just “woke up” laying down going “wtf”.

Anyway, after I regained consciousness, I wanted to cry for some reason. Maybe out of shock. It was a very weird experience, anyone who has ever passed out like that will know what I’m talking about.
So, there’s my story of experimenting with my body in a non-sexual manner. I hope you enjoyed that.