Hypnagogic Hallucinations

[Camden]

This is the second week in a row I’ve had sleep problems. Last night I had one of my most vivid hypnagogic hallucinations ever.
I was drifting off to sleep on my side, and then rolled over on my back. What I saw made me scream bloody murder. Through the darkness of my room, I saw a live dog standing on my dresser chest. I screamed as I thought it was going to jump on me.
Once fully awake, I saw that there was obviously no dog and I had hallucinated. The whole episode took place in about 15 seconds.
I had not eaten or drank anything unusual immediately before bed, nor do I take any recreational drugs. I had a glass of wine an hour before going to bed. What do you think bright on this hallucination that made me panic right as I was drifting to sleep?

 

[Cuchculan]

More like a lucid dream. You are part asleep and part awake. I love those types of dreams. Because of how real they seem and feel. Had one of a dog biting me before. I could feel every bite like it was really happening to me. I woke fully and quickly put my hand on my legs. Just to be certain. Takes a minute or two to cop on it was just a dream.

 

[MATD]

Have there been any changes in your meds? Dosage or new meds? For what it’s worth, that period of time between sleep and being awake is a vulnerable time. If possible, I suggest you look at it from that perspective. When adding in the anxiety issue, it most likely increases. Also if possible, accept this possibility as nothing more than anxiety doing what it does best. Do your best to not be afraid of it, don’t let the experience shake you up. I’ll share some things I experienced that are very similar. Quite a while back, I started on a new anti D, Luvox. A few days in, I experienced a visual hallucination. I was wide awake at the time. I saw a giant spider, about a foot tall, walking on the floor and it went behind my tv, which was a floor model. I immediately looked behind the tv to see where it went. There was nothing there. I looked all around and found nothing. A few days later, I was asleep on the couch. My daughter’s friend had stayed the night. I awoke to see her standing in front of me and I told her to get the f*** out of my house. I remember saying it, and she was standing there. It’s just one of those things you can’t really explain. I stopped the med, as this was not an acceptable side effect of the med I wanted to deal with, and phenomena went away. It stands to reason that the meds themselves along with the anxiety can combine to cause side effects that are unsettling, to say the least. I hope this helps you to feel better about your experience and it doesn’t deter you from going forward with recovery. In the anxiety state, nothing anyone experiences seems to surprise me. I guess my own experience has shown me a lot of what the brain can do when it is in such a chaotic state. On a happier note, I can honestly say that my own experiences can make me laugh a little as I think back. And I’m truly grateful to my daughter who explained to her friend what happened and to not pay any attention to what happened, mom get’s like that when she is sleeping.

 

[Camden]

Have there been any changes in your meds? Dosage or new meds? For what it’s worth, that period of time between sleep and being awake is a vulnerable time. If possible, I suggest you look at it from that perspective. When adding in the anxiety issue, it most likely increases. Also if possible, accept this possibility as nothing more than anxiety doing what it does best. Do your best to not be afraid of it, don’t let the experience shake you up. I’ll share some things I experienced that are very similar. Quite a while back, I started on a new anti D, Luvox. A few days in, I experienced a visual hallucination. I was wide awake at the time. I saw a giant spider, about a foot tall, walking on the floor and it went behind my tv, which was a floor model. I immediately looked behind the tv to see where it went. There was nothing there. I looked all around and found nothing. A few days later, I was asleep on the couch. My daughter’s friend had stayed the night. I awoke to see her standing in front of me and I told her to get the f*** out of my house. I remember saying it, and she was standing there. It’s just one of those things you can’t really explain. I stopped the med, as this was not an acceptable side effect of the med I wanted to deal with, and phenomena went away. It stands to reason that the meds themselves along with the anxiety can combine to cause side effects that are unsettling, to say the least. I hope this helps you to feel better about your experience and it doesn’t deter you from going forward with recovery. In the anxiety state, nothing anyone experiences seems to surprise me. I guess my own experience has shown me a lot of what the brain can do when it is in such a chaotic state. On a happier note, I can honestly say that my own experiences can make me laugh a little as I think back. And I’m truly grateful to my daughter who explained to her friend what happened and to not pay any attention to what happened, mom get’s like that when she is sleeping.

This nails it! First off thanks for sharing your experience with these freaky hallucinations! I know they’re harmless, but still they’re strange and come randomly. And yes I take Luvox.

I’ve been on Luvox 100 mg per day for the past year. These hallucinations maybe happen on average once every two weeks. They tend to happen more often when I’m stressed and not sleeping well.

I have frequent hallucinations of people (family members) standing over my bed staring at me while I try to fall asleep. I’ll jolt awake and yell at them to get out, a similar experience to you. I’ve recorded myself sleeping a few times and once I spoke in my sleep, as if trying to talk to an imaginary person. Sometimes the hallucinations are more tame and include shadowy images of boxes stacked around me.

I can safely say I’ve never hallucinated while awake. That’s very interesting that it’s probably a Luvox side effect.

 

[MATD]

This nails it! First off thanks for sharing your experience with these freaky hallucinations! I know they’re harmless, but still they’re strange and come randomly. And yes I take Luvox.

I’ve been on Luvox 100 mg per day for the past year. These hallucinations maybe happen on average once every two weeks. They tend to happen more often when I’m stressed and not sleeping well.

I have frequent hallucinations of people (family members) standing over my bed staring at me while I try to fall asleep. I’ll jolt awake and yell at them to get out, a similar experience to you. I’ve recorded myself sleeping a few times and once I spoke in my sleep, as if trying to talk to an imaginary person. Sometimes the hallucinations are more tame and include shadowy images of boxes stacked around me.

I can safely say I’ve never hallucinated while awake. That’s very interesting that it’s probably a Luvox side effect.

I’m glad I mentioned the name of the med, I wasn’t going to. Putting two heads together can make all the difference!

 

[Phillies Phan]

Have there been any changes in your meds? Dosage or new meds? For what it’s worth, that period of time between sleep and being awake is a vulnerable time. If possible, I suggest you look at it from that perspective. When adding in the anxiety issue, it most likely increases. Also if possible, accept this possibility as nothing more than anxiety doing what it does best. Do your best to not be afraid of it, don’t let the experience shake you up. I’ll share some things I experienced that are very similar. Quite a while back, I started on a new anti D, Luvox. A few days in, I experienced a visual hallucination. I was wide awake at the time. I saw a giant spider, about a foot tall, walking on the floor and it went behind my tv, which was a floor model. I immediately looked behind the tv to see where it went. There was nothing there. I looked all around and found nothing. A few days later, I was asleep on the couch. My daughter’s friend had stayed the night. I awoke to see her standing in front of me and I told her to get the f*** out of my house. I remember saying it, and she was standing there. It’s just one of those things you can’t really explain. I stopped the med, as this was not an acceptable side effect of the med I wanted to deal with, and phenomena went away. It stands to reason that the meds themselves along with the anxiety can combine to cause side effects that are unsettling, to say the least. I hope this helps you to feel better about your experience and it doesn’t deter you from going forward with recovery. In the anxiety state, nothing anyone experiences seems to surprise me. I guess my own experience has shown me a lot of what the brain can do when it is in such a chaotic state. On a happier note, I can honestly say that my own experiences can make me laugh a little as I think back. And I’m truly grateful to my daughter who explained to her friend what happened and to not pay any attention to what happened, mom get’s like that when she is sleeping.

Damn, I’m on Luvox, up to 75mg recently. At least if I see giant spiders or growling dogs, I’ll know it’s the meds!

 

[JayJay123]

I’ve gotten hypnagogic hallucinations a handful of times over the years. I usually don’t remember them, but my girlfriend will tell me the next morning I was seeing things.

I remember it first started when I was working in a bar, and I would wake up at 3 or 4 am and think I was in the bar. Like it vividly be the bar, and I’d think, “Well this is gonna be awkward and weird to explain to my manager that I just randomly woke up in the bar at 4am in my underwear”. Sometimes I see cats on the couch in the other room or on the dresser. Just recently, I had to stare at this pillow for 5 minutes before my brain would see that it was just a pillow. I remember vividly seeing a pig or something on the couch, and after a few seconds, I realized what was going on and that it was the pillow but still couldn’t under the pig.


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[FirstJack]

This is the second week in a row I’ve had sleep problems. Last night I had one of my most vivid hypnagogic hallucinations ever.
I was drifting off to sleep on my side, and then rolled over on my back. What I saw made me scream bloody murder. Through the darkness of my room, I saw a live dog standing on my dresser chest. I screamed as I thought it was going to jump on me.
Once fully awake, I saw that there was obviously no dog and I had hallucinated. The whole episode took place in about 15 seconds.
I had not eaten or drank anything unusual immediately before bed, nor do I take any recreational drugs. I had a glass of wine an hour before going to bed. What do you think bright on this hallucination that made me panic right as I was drifting to sleep?

Really interesting. Are/were the hallucinations visual, or did you get any auditory or tactile sensations??

 

[Camden]

Really interesting. Are/were the hallucinations visual, or did you get any auditory or tactile sensations??

This last one was only visual. I clearly saw a dog standing on my dresser across the bedroom.

However, in the past when I drift off to sleep I get occasional auditory hallucinations. They tend to happen more when I’m taking a nap during the day. I’ll hear muffled, distant voices as if I’m listening to them from outside a closed door. They happen in the grey area when the alpha and theta waves of consciousness come into play and I fall asleep.

 

[FirstJack]

This last one was only visual. I clearly saw a dog standing on my dresser across the bedroom.

However, in the past when I drift off to sleep I get occasional auditory hallucinations. They tend to happen more when I’m taking a nap during the day. I’ll hear muffled, distant voices as if I’m listening to them from outside a closed door. They happen in the grey area when the alpha and theta waves of consciousness come into play and I fall asleep.

This is a really interesting subject. You reminded that at times I get these tactile sensations, usually around the time I think I'm falling asleep. They tend to be either very pleasant or irritating.

 

[Camden]

I’ve been doing okay with these hypnagogic hallucinations up until last week.

Looking back, a few factors added to this particularly nasty episode. I had an exceptionally stressful day at work the day before, and then I ate and drank later in the evening. I had some spicy wings and a couple of beers.

I went to bed at about 10 p.m. and drifted off to sleep. At 11:15 p.m. I was in the sleep/wake threshold. I thought I saw two shadowy people with their backs to me looking out the window. I can’t remember the last time I screamed so loud. Even after turning on the lights and seeing that I was obviously the only one in the room, I was still unsettled. I took half of a Zzzquil to settle down and go back to sleep.

Last night I was feeling anxious as I got ready for bed. As I drifted off, I felt a light tingling on my forehead and my shoulders. It felt just like bugs crawling on me. I knew there were no bugs, so I was able to ignore this sensation without freaking out.

 

[suzzeeb]

I've always had weird episodes where I know I'm sleeping and I want to wake up but cannot. I will feel things touching me sometimes, which is really creepy, and I want to scream but I can't, or like last week I felt like my dog was laying next to me on the bed breathing on my face, but she wasn't in my room. I struggle and struggle and eventually can wake myself up. It's scary sometimes. I don't know if those are hypnagogic hallucinations or something else, but I have always had them whether stressed or not.