Doctors reveal exactly how it feels as you die and the 4 things that happen to everyone

YOU wouldn't be alone in pondering what it feels like when you die.

Death is something we will all experience some day, but for many of us it feels like the great unknown.

People who've experienced being clinically dead have shared their experiences on Reddit.

One user said the experience was peaceful: "My world became soft and foggy and everything faded to black."

Another described seeing their dead aunt sitting at their bedside.

A nurse recently said many people often experience "visioning" - this is when dying people, who are often fully lucid, see deceased friends, family and even pets.

Now a doctor has shared what exactly happens to your body as you edge slowly towards death.

1. Your heart slows

Firstly, your heart will begin to beat more slowly - in turn, your blood will be pumped around your body more slowly and your blood pressure will fall, palliative medicine specialist Dr Kathryn Mannix wrote in .

You may feel at peace while this happens, or you could experience some restlessness or confusion.

2. Your breathing changes

Your breathing will follow automatic patterns generated by the respiratory centre in the brain stem, Dr Kathryn wrote.

It could get heavier and noisier - some people lose the sense of their mouth and throat. But this happens without apparent distress, the doctor said.

You may also start to breath more slowly and shallowly.

Your breath could move from deep to shallow and from fast to slow in repeating cycles.

There might be pauses and, eventually, it will come to a halt. Your heart will stop after a few minutes, as it is no longer being supplied with oxygen.

3. Dipping in and out of consciousness

You'll spend progressively less time awake, Dr Kathryn said.

It might look like sleep from the outside, but you'll gradually drift into consciousness for longer periods of time as you near the end, maybe without noticing it.

Dr Kathryn wrote: "On waking, people report having slept peacefully, with no sense of having been unconscious."

Research published earlier this year indicates that you could even enter a meditative state.

Scientists accidentally captured our most complex organ as it shut down, showing an astonishing snapshot into death.

A patient with epilepsy was hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) before having a heart attack.

This meant the 15 minutes around his death was recorded on the EEG.

In the 30 seconds either side of the patient's final heartbeat, an increase in very specific brain waves were spotted.