People Reveal Coma Experiences

From Redditor /u/TheOpus:

I was in a medically induced coma, with full-body paralysis, for six weeks. I distinctly remember waking up in my head a few times. What was that experience like? It was awful.

When I woke in my head, I had no idea what happened. I was fully conscious; I knew I was me, but I could not open my eyes, move a muscle, or speak. The first time was terrifying. I panicked and thought I might be dead. Then I saw I was thinking, which seemed wrong. I tried to move; I could not. I tried to speak; I could not. I tried to scream; I could not.

I realized I needed to calm myself or go crazy in my own head, and no one could help. While on a ventilator, I did deep breathing exercises in my mind. (I think I thought I was breathing.) I listened to machine clicks and focused on them. Then I started counting a repetitive sound. That gave me focus until I drifted off again.

From Redditor /u/XxBURNBOYxX:

I am a burn survivor. I was in a backyard explosion at age seven. While hospitalized, I entered a medically induced coma to increase my survival chances.

I recall some things from the coma. I remember my father reading the seventh book of the "Magic Tree House" to me. I also remember hearing screams from new patients. But I could not move my body or signal my family or medical staff.Magic Tree HouseI remember hearing the screams of new patients. But I could not move my body at all or give any signs that I could hear my family or medical staff.

From Redditor /u/Tinman556:

After eight days in a coma following tough surgery last year, I wondered if I died or survived. I could not open my eyes; I rested on a medical air mattress, feeling like I floated. This made me think I was dead. I thought it wasn't so bad and hoped my dad would find me.

Realizing I was alive made me think I had fought in a war and worried my wife would not know. Communicating with nurses while intubated and drugged was hard. My wife later told me she was there the whole time. When I fought the doctors and nurses, I calmed down and cooperated when she held my hand and sang to me.

Thinking of the love and devotion she showed me during that time still brings tears to my eyes.

From Redditor /u/nitzlarb:

My dad was in a coma for about two months a couple of years ago. Recently, we discussed it. He told me he dreamed or hallucinated living for 10 years, doing many things during that time. He said it was very vivid and he traveled across the country a couple of times during it.

Upon waking or arriving home, he said running into people he hadn't seen since the coma would throw him off, as he first expected them to have aged ten years.

From Redditor /u/Brainslosh:

A car accident put me in a coma. I only recall one thing: I walked down a street. I fell to my knees while coughing. I grabbed my throat. Looking down, I saw my esophagus on the ground. Then, I fell onto my side. I learned later that was likely my vent tube coming out of my throat.

From a former Redditor:

I was in a coma for five weeks from Meningococcal. I had many "dreams," most I still recall clearly.

You take in what people say around you. I was 12 then (22 now); my mother was reading Lord of the Rings to me while I was out. I had vivid LotR dreams. I recall eating ice cubes under a bridge with Bilbo Baggins.

Upon waking, I felt like I had been gone a long time, though I did not know how long.

From Redditor /u/sharms2010:

A car accident left me in a coma for three days after hitting my head. I was driving, then purple, then woke up three days later. Nothing existed. It is not like sleeping; when you wake from sleep, you know you were asleep. It is like blinking—one second you do one thing, then the next, something totally different. I have a faint memory of being on a table with a cute guy wiping my nose and it hurt badly. I remember saying, "You are super cute," but that is all.

I believe that happened before I entered the coma after the accident.

From Redditor /u/Amsterdance:

It felt like nothing. You wake up and realize something happened. They tell you you were injured, what caused it, what you broke, etc. Somewhere along the line, they also tell you, "You've been kept in a coma." I did not ask the first time, but I mostly remember nothing during that time anyway; they may have told me, I just forgot.

What I clearly remember is waking up. It felt like a dream until your brain actually registers what is happening around you.

During the coma, I cannot claim to have experienced anything. Not even vivid dreams. However, how often do you recall vivid dreams? Mine usually vanish in under five seconds after waking.

Time sped by, as time does when you sleep. You know time passed, but that is it.

From Redditor /u/typical_villain:

A car accident put me in a medically induced coma for a week and a half. Family stayed by my bedside. They calmly told me I had been in a bad car accident and was okay in the hospital whenever I moved. In my dreams, I did daily college tasks and visited coffeehouses. The twist was I claimed the accident but was actually fine and hospitalized. In class, I dropped a pen; the student next to me said my arm hurt because of the accident.

Morphine dreams varied, from strange to normal. I realized I needed to go to the hospital after the accident. In a dream, I walked into the college town hospital. I checked into triage, saying, "Hi, I've been in a bad car accident, but I'm okay and I want to get checked out." Nurses and doctors rushed to me then. Then, I opened my eyes.

Redditor /u/BravoPapaWhiskey:

I stayed in a medically induced coma for nine days. I have vivid memories of that time. I called it intense semi-lucid dreaming; I had some control, but not total control. Outside world sights entered the dreams, warping my reality. Some dreams felt good; others were nightmares. The worst part happened after I woke up.

You do not just wake up; it takes days. Realizing I was in a Munich hospital ICU, I did not know what was happening. The experience made me question life and consciousness. For days, I thought I had died. I could not separate real life from the coma dream state, which messed with my mind.

A formerRedditor:

I was in a coma for five days. I only recall how I felt. I felt hopeless and despairing at times. I felt relief at others. I felt happy too. I do not know what caused these feelings, but they felt real and strong.

From Redditor /u/gwthrowaway451:

Before the coma, I fell from the second story of a gym under construction and hit my head. I had watched The Grudge. During the coma, I dreamed I was trapped in a white room with the Grudge girl. She stood still. When I woke up, I refused to close my eyes for two nights out of fear.

From Redditor /u/chocletemilkshark:

I was in a room, dressed in medieval style. I recall a strange painting on the wall. The painting was medieval, not Romanticism or anything nice. I thought that. "That's nothing from the Romanticism period, that's for sure." It felt unrefined. But it scared me.

I remember being in that room with the painting while in a cage. The cage was too small. It felt like a cartoon; I was crammed in. The cage sat in the center, but I could only look one way. The cage was too small to turn my head.

I could only see one side of the room, but I knew people were behind me. More than one person. I heard whispers or faint footsteps often. Fear gripped me. I wanted to cry every time a footstep sounded, thinking it came toward me. I could not. I wanted to shout, but every thought made the cage shake.

I could only see the picture and the wall it hung on. Nothing moved. Nothing spoke. I lookedThis directly shows.I looked at the painting once. That single look brought extreme feelings. Anger hit me. I wanted to kill everything.Everything shows this..

I felt anguish. It felt like my whole family died horribly. I felt happiness because everyone who wronged me died.

I felt omniscience. Not total knowledge, but seeing all the evil happening. Not just bad acts, but evil. Every plot to murder hundreds, people tortured for an audience—I saw it all.

I looked away after that long look. Still, the look felt like it lasted most of the dream. After looking away, I looked at the wall. I still saw the paintings in my side vision. Sometimes I saw them move. I never checked again, terrified of what would happen if I looked.

I felt soaked in sweat at one point. Maybe the fear caused it; maybe the fear caused it. Either way, I was scared. Then I heard a deep, dark, raspy voice say, "Alright, it's time." People ran toward me all at once.

Realizing what was happening, I fought to escape the cage. I tried pushing it over, thinking it would help. It did nothing. People circled my cage, looking down. I thought they were tall because my eyes could not look up far enough to see their faces.

Then, I saw a hand. It was black like night, with white nails. The hand put it through the cage holes, reaching in to touch my face.

I opened my eyes. My seven-year-old niece waved her hand in front of my face. She asked me, "Wake up so we could go out and play." She did not grasp a coma. My mother looked away to talk with the nurse. My niece thought trying to wake me up was a good idea. It worked very well.