Your Dark Passenger

Happy Saturday, dark passengers.  As you know, I haven’t really been posting vampire content here anymore because I’m trying to move it over to The Vampire Lair.  However recently, I’ve been getting some very sincere comments and e-mails on the subject so I thought I should make an exception so that they can get some answers.

Below, I’ve copied two of the comments I recently received.

Amanda says:

” i was searching the net for vampire symptoms & i have found alot that i am having like

1) i can not sleep well at night & sometime not at all
2) sun light bothers me alot , but i can go in it
3) i feel like a strong desire for blood
Please help me i don’t know much things about this stuff , Am I a vampire ?!”

John says:

” Hi, I’ve read your article and i was wondering if you could help me out here… I’m in my mid-teens and for the past few years I have felt a strange hunger, that seems to take a lot of food, or just won’t go away. My eyes, recently, can’t take sunlight as well as they used to, and I’m having to wear sunglasses so they don’t get hurt. Whenever I get into a wrestling match with either my brother, or whoever it is, I get this urge to bite them, and when I do sometimes, my lower jaw aches in a way that I can only describe as tempting, and I just want to keep biting and draw blood, but I don’t want to hurt them. I have also recently(over the summer) been unable to really sleep at night, and my best sleeping is my naps during the day that I can’t avoid. Walking past the frozen meat section in the grocery store makes my mouth water, and I can’t take my eyes away for a few seconds. Although I have never tasted blood before, I have always had a deep fascination for it. The color, the texture, etc. And all I have been able to think about/look up lately is vampires, and recipes for sang vamps. If you think its because I’m about to awaken/are awakening, please lemme know?”

  Are they vampires?

Simple answer: I really don’t know for sure.

Complicated answer:  There are a LOT of things that could be causing these symptoms that have absolutely nothing to do with vampirism.

The inability to sleep at night doesn’t necessarily mean vampire; it could be insomnia.  Lots of non-vampires report being night owls.  It happens.  It is also pretty common among most teenagers.  Some outgrow it; others don’t.

Sun sensitivity is also not a wholly-vampiric symptom.  In fact, lots of vampires report having no issue with the sunlight. To give an example, my husband (who is 100% not a vampire - trust me, I’d be able to tell) has eyes that are VERY sensitive to the sun.  Other people I know can’t go outside in the sunlight without the risk of severe sunburns.  They aren’t vamps either.

Increased hunger is really more a symptom of being a teenager than being a vampire.  Teenage boys, especially, are known for eating their parents out of house and home.  This constant hunger may have very little to do with an unsatisfied need for blood and everything to do with a growing body going through normal biological changes.

I love the comment about wanting to bite someone while wrestling with them.  Seriously, haven’t we ALL thought about biting the person we were fighting with?  I mean, most fights don’t include biting so it would definitely throw them off balance for a second, if nothing else.

The desire and fixation on blood is the only one I’m having trouble explaining.  Celiac disease is a possible cause.  There’s another disorder (who’s name escapes me at the moment) that has been known to cause people to crave things like dirt and blood.  Something else that’s been suggested to me previously is that we tend to crave that in which we are deficient.  For example, if you haven’t had many vegetables and you find yourself starving at the end of the day, it’s because you’re missing the nutrients from that group.  Perhaps a blood craving is the body’s way of letting you know you’re deficient in a nutrient, vitamin, mineral whatever that’s important to proper blood function.  Now that I think of it, might even be an anemic thing or an iron deficiency.

Seriously though, don’t try to drink the blood from the meat packages at the grocery store.  People have gotten very sick from things like that.

As for the constant thinking about vampires and researching vampires, that one has a highly logical reasoning.  Vampires are back in favor in the media.  You can’t turn on the tv without hearing about one fo the movies or television shows about vampires.  You can’t go to the bookstore without seeing at least one newly released vampire novel.  And online…it’s everywhere.  These things seep into our subconscious.  When we later look for a reason for whatever our problems or symptoms may be, our mind will supply one - typically one that seems to follow along with what we know.

So, while I’ll go ahead and confirm that some of things are often associated with a vampire awakening, I think I’ve shown how they do not always lead to being a vampire.  I think when it comes to vampirism, we have to assume that any other logical explanation is correct unless it can be proven invalid.  First thing I’d recommend is seeing a doctor, just to make sure that there are no underlying illness causing these symptoms.  Tell them everything - except for the part about vampires.  Unless you’re doctor is really cool, they’ll probably put something in your file about a psychotic break from reality and refer you to a shrink.

You might be a little more vague when you bring up non-food cravings.  Maybe say something about all of the sudden craving your red meat prepared very rare or something to that effect.  It’s a more roundabout way of saying blood craving.

I really hope that helped.

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

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