Does anyone else find that they feel faint in supermarkets? Especially ASDA

[Buttybach]

I have always found this. Especially Asda and I have no idea why!!
I do have Adhd and I'm on medication for it. But I still experience this extreme feeling of almost passing out every time I go there.
It's very odd!

The Trafford Centre makes me feel very ill.

Some supermarkets have “sensory hour” or “autism hour” where they have the lights dimmer and no music playing etc. It’s often like 9-10am on a Tuesday or something though so not that helpful if you work.

www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/news/latest-news/2017/autism-hour-29092017

I have this in a particular book shop, no idea why as its in all of the branches and they differ in terms of size, appearance, temp etc! I don't remember any sort of particular event that may have triggered it, but it's been the same for as long as I can remember. Thankfully easier to avoid than a supermarket!

I get that too, in our big Asda, it’s really claustrophobic. Even as I’m walking down the middle aisle and looking either aside I feel sick. I never go in there alone in case I pass out. I never get it in the huge Tesco even though it’s a much bigger store.

I get this, especially in IKEA. My head goes all weird and I get the lift dropping feeling.

Yes...

Had my only ever migraine with aura in Asda...it was awful.

I have trouble with the overhead lighting. I go all off balance. Same in some shopping centres - I tend to black out when going from the Main “Mall” unto the department stores (beauty counter areas). Trafford Centre going into Selfridges/John Lewis/Debenhams isn’t fun... had an awful blackout by the time I got to the MAC counter in Selfridges once.

IKEA can be trippy too. I have a very weird autoimmune condition and my heart rate and blood pressure change rapidly. I still don’t get how the lighting triggers it though.

You're definitely not alone, OP. In fact, I'm sure there's been a thread about this before. A few posters mentioned the lighting.

I also think it's a claustrophobia thing. Supermarkets and shopping centres are designed to 'pull you in', which can feel very disconcerting.

I use the self scan at Waitrose, which means I can in and out as quickly as possible. It also means I don't have to queue (major panic attack trigger for me). I also freak out when I go into a store I don't know. I get disoriented walking around the aisles trying to find certain things.

Another one not keen on IKEA. That awful one way system they have 😱

C&A used to make me feel poorly- I always blamed the lack of windows.
Tk maxx is a constipation cure

Yea. Supermarkets and big department stores. I get overwhelming nausea

The only shop I get this in is Smiggle. It seems very brightly lit in there and also smells funny.

Wow this thread is enlightening. I’ve always had this (worse when pregnant) and assumed it was just me. I get the same disconnect and faint feeling when the air pressure plummets too.

ExDH gets this in some shops. He can't go in his local Aldi.

Yes!!!

I’m quite “robust” generally - don’t get migraines etc.

But places like aldi and Asda make me feel awful. Sometimes Ikea. Is it the crap lighting perhaps? The air?!?!

Yes. I actually did pass out in the supermarket in 3 of my pregnancies. I agree with a pp that it's the lights.

Yes. But only when I was pregnant.

Also had it in a conference centre and a gallery.

I worked out what they had in common was suspended lighting (so lights at a different level to the ceiling). Faint and sick. Kind of glad it isn't just me!

I have had occular migraines twice in my life.... with kaleidoscope vision... both were in Asda. Scared the hell out of me until optician said "oh yes, there's a few every week in there... it's the lighting "

Yes, for me this always happens in Tesco and Costco. It's a really horrible weak, faint, disorientated, disconnected, foggy kind of feeling. I will be pushing the trolley around in such a daze. It's awful.

I wish they would change their lighting as I think that is what causes it.

I made a thread about this under a different username a year ago, so it is very common: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3746970-Does-anyone-else-start-to-feel-light-headed-in-supermarkets

Yes in ASDA or large Tescos in particular! It is bizarre!

I agree with others. I think it is the lighting or whatever they clean it with or something but I feel headachey and sick within a minute of being in there. I feel a bit 'out of body', disconnected too.

Also get the needing a poo thing often PP said. It is so weird!! I think that it to do with standing and walking at an odd pace while thinking about food.

If it wasn't for this thread I'd have always assumed it was just me...

I always get this and feeling of needing a poo in Wilko. Very strange! If I do need to go I have to rush in and out. I assumed I was the only one with these quirks!

I used to get this in Marks and Spencer’s. A spaced-out feeling. Horrible.

I get this in Tesco. I think it’s because they added a floor. It vibrates and I’m sure it’s on a slant because as soon as I go up, I feel sick and start veering off to the one side like I’m on a ship in a storm.

I had this in the nearest Tesco superstore. Even with a list I felt panicky and faint. All the other supermarkets around me are ok, even the large Sainsbury’s.
DS used to have it in Toys R Us. Only child I know who refused to go in there! When he was old enough to explain why he said it made him feel “dizzy and cross”. Wasn’t overexcitement, he was fine in other toy shops. It was like it affected his hearing and spatial awareness - couldn’t look at toys, couldn’t make a decision which one he liked best. It was a big barn of a place, very high ceilings with the strip lights hanging down on long wires.

I thought it was just me that had this. Asda or B&Q were the worst.