Exploding Head Syndrome

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Troublesome Lagomorph

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May 26, 2009
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Sometimes. Once I felt like I got hit on the back of the head while sleeping. It would only happen if I slept in a certain position. Usually when I am sleepy I see a flashes like two eyes right in front of me.
 

Sethzard

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It sounded more awesome than it was

OT: yes I do sometimes.
 

DoctorWhat

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derelict said:
MrBacon said:
Not as serious as this, but I have felt as though I were being shocked sometimes... And if I fall in my dream, I often wake to myself giving a MASSIVE jolt.
That's known as hypnagogic jerk. Lookie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogic_jerk
Oooooh! That explains it a bit, I mostly get it if I start to fall asleep on the bus after school :) That's an irregular sleep rhythm, right?
 

TheGreatCoolEnergy

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Aug 30, 2009
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I didn't know there was an actual term for this. And yes I do suffer from it every now and then. Infact, one realy scared the shit out of me not 3 weeks ago
 

Doctor_Insano

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Oct 23, 2009
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arc101 said:
I get it quote a lot. I also have chronic vertigo. When i lay down, at times i get a sensation of spinning whilst i am stationary in my bed, like you get after spinning around for 20 minutes. I found this more unsettling that the Exploding head
i get that spinning feeling sometimes, i have also, a few times woken up because the air felt too thick, almost loud, if that is an accurate description, but in those cases i was not the only one in the house that felt it as well. i have experiences this syndrome, all the time in fact, although it does not distress me, usualy i hear a knocking, like on my window, but it's not possible. sure it's in my head. i also sometimes hear old console nintendo music, like someone is playing an old nintendo game downstairs as i am trying to fall asleep. these things do not distress me. i have also seen ghosts, and although startling, not really inducing any dread. i think of the noises, in whatever form they choose to be manifested as some sort of internal alarm, although i am a very light sleeper, and have been known to wake up because someone was looking at my door, yelled out what? and they would respond something along the lines of ... nothing, i was just looking at your door... strange? perhaps. frightening? no. hell, even as a child i used to have nightmares, and the nightmares themselves would console me, like one night: i was 4, i dreamt of a vaampire entering my room, looked like grandpa from the munsters. i was afraid, he put his arm around me, told me not to be afraid, gave me a toy of himself, and started talking... well shop... wierd. that same night my little brother had a dream that he was eaten by a big dog.
 

Jark212

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Jul 17, 2008
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GrinningManiac said:
Do you suffer from it?

E.H.S occurs usually when you are just abot to nod off to sleep.

The sufferer experiences a sudden loud noise of some sort seemingly originating from within their own head. Sometimes there is a visual jolt as well. They are nearly always harmless, but distressing and shocking.

I get it sometimes, when I'm just about to drop off to sleep. If I'm daydreaming and there's a noise in my daydream, it might suddenly explode in volume for a split second, frightening the hell out of me.

Do you get this as well?
YES!!! I thought I was the only one, nodding off to sleep one moment then *pow* wide awake again, and I'm like DAMN!!!
 

derelict

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Oct 25, 2009
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MrBacon said:
derelict said:
MrBacon said:
Not as serious as this, but I have felt as though I were being shocked sometimes... And if I fall in my dream, I often wake to myself giving a MASSIVE jolt.
That's known as hypnagogic jerk. Lookie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogic_jerk
Oooooh! That explains it a bit, I mostly get it if I start to fall asleep on the bus after school :) That's an irregular sleep rhythm, right?
Yep, EHS is also related, either of them tend to happen during periods of sleep deprivation. Although, in people with normal sleeping patterns, you can usually deliberately cause hypnic jerk by sleeping on your back, gives you the feeling of falling through the bed.
 

Emperor Inferno

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Jun 5, 2008
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No, but sometimes, right as I'm falling asleep and my brain is still in that in between brain wave state, I have a dream where I'm running. As I'm running, really fast, too, I step into a hole. My body is actually convinced that I am running, then falling, and my stomach does that inertia thing where it seems to lurch. The sensation wakes me up, and I sit up in bed, panting from the exertion of running, and my heart is pounding. The dream is always exactly the same, and it's the most vivid dream I've ever had. When I wake up, it takes me a second to realise that I wasn't running, and remember that I had gone to bed.
 

Lothae

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Mar 29, 2009
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Wow, this used to happen to me sometimes, 'twas rather terrifying.
Haven't had it happen for at least two years now though 0.o.
 

Proteus214

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Jul 31, 2009
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Amnestic said:
FallenJellyDoughnut said:
Amnestic said:
Sometimes, not often. Once or twice it was even a voice speaking to me. That was weird.

When I'm nodding off I'll generally jerk awake, but there's no noise. Just an instinctive reaction that I'm not allowed to go to sleep yet.
You mean like you feel like you're falling?
No, it's not a falling sensation, just that my head is nodding off and automatically it'll snap back up. Kinda hurts your neck after a while if you keep doing it.
There is a name for this, and it's not EHS. It's called a hypnic jerk. A hypnic jerk is your brain reacting to your body quickly falling into a state of rest. The brain gets confused and thinks that you aren't just going to sleep, but that you are dying. The response is a muscular spasm and a small shot of adrenaline.

I also get this often.
 

Nomad

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Aug 3, 2008
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ZeroMachine said:
... Huh. There's a name for it and everything?

I mean, it's only happened to me like three times that I can remember, but it has happened. Interesting.

Amnestic said:
Sometimes, not often. Once or twice it was even a voice speaking to me. That was weird.

When I'm nodding off I'll generally jerk awake, but there's no noise. Just an instinctive reaction that I'm not allowed to go to sleep yet.
That's a myclonic jerk, and you're exactly right. It's the brain sending a small shockwave through your body to try and wake it up because part of it misinterprets you falling asleep for death. It's nothing to worry about, though, unless it happens when you're not falling asleep or very tired.
derelict said:
MrBacon said:
Not as serious as this, but I have felt as though I were being shocked sometimes... And if I fall in my dream, I often wake to myself giving a MASSIVE jolt.
That's known as hypnagogic jerk. Lookie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogic_jerk

EHS is technically a syndrome, but it can be on random case too, and is related to the hypnic jerk.
That was interesting. Thanks, to the both of you!