Hi reddit, I've been experiencing this weird but infrequent phenomenon when seeing/tasting/smelling things from my childhood. The worst instance happened when I was 12 and found an old bottle of perfume that my mom used to wear daily for years. When smelling it, I completely lost balance and thankfully fell onto a nearby bed. The sensation almost feels like someone is using 2 thumbs to press right between my eyes and almost feels like an out of body experience? Like I lose control of my body and feel... distant from it?And if the nostalgic feeling is strong enough, I black out for a few seconds.

The same thing happened again a few years ago, I don't remember the trigger but the outcome of stumbling and having to catch myself while losing vision was the same. It also happened last year when having lollipop brand/flavour that I hadn't had in over a decade.

The most recent instance was about an hour ago when I was watching a compilation video. A clip in it was taken from a video I used to watch back in quarantine and again, I feel the head sensation and feel dizzy.

To clarify, I am on no medication with no illness or suspected disorders that would cause this. No one in my family has every experienced this. I did not have a traumatic childhood or anything as far as I am aware (I have memory issues that are believed to be caused by my fibromyalgia that only started developing this time last year. I am 100% sure my siblings would have brought anything up if something like that did happen).

Is there a name for this sort of thing and has anyone experienced this? I can't afford to go to a doctor, especially if the appointment ends with them saying they have no clue. Any help or theories would be great!