Odd sensation while lying in bed

[morgs]

Hey guys, this is a bit hard to explain so bear with me.

I've been getting this sensation lately that I used to get quite often as a child. It's very unnerving and I guess it scares me in a way.

While lying in bed with my eyes closed, it's as if the darkness behind my eyelids is 'expanding' very quickly, and I am suddenly a very small being within a very large, dark space. I also get somewhat of a 'zooming' sensation, and a feeling of weightlessness in my head. During this experience I feel very worried/unnerved, probably because I have no explanation for what is going on or the fact that no one else knows what the hell I'm talking about when I try and explain it to them.

When I got it as a child it was much worse, it was usually accompanied by sound, e.g I could hear a large group of people talking as if they were in my room. I remember I used to explain it to my parents just as 'that feeling' but I don't think they ever really understood what I was on about.

I've done a little bit of research, and uncovered something called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome or 'AIWS'. It relates to the conditions of micropsia and macropsia. A description of Macropsia:

"Macropsia (also known as megalopia) is a neurological condition affecting human visual perception, in which objects within an affected section of the visual field appear larger than normal, causing the subject to feel smaller. Macropsia, along with its opposite condition, micropsia, can be categorized under dysmetropsia. Macropsia is related to other conditions dealing with visual perception, such as aniseikonia and Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS, also known as Todd’s syndrome). Macropsia has a wide range of causes, from prescription and illicit drugs, to migraines and (rarely) complex partial epilepsy, and to different retinal conditions, such as epiretinal membrane.[1] Physiologically, retinal macropsia results from the compression of cones in the eye. It is the compression of receptor distribution that results in greater stimulation and thus a larger perceived image of an object."

The only thing is this only seems to happen when my eyes are closed, I don't see over-enlarged objects or feel really small at any other times, otherwise it's the closest thing I can find to explain this sensation.

I should note that I have never taken drugs, so we can rule that out. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[CptStern]

it might be a tumor

 

[No Limit]

Maybe you should take some drugs then.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Difficult to tell if this is similar but I feel like I know what you're talking about. It could be some form of a headrush.

 

[Emporius]

I occasionally have a very similar sensation.

It usually occurs fairly early on in my sleep, where I feel as if blackness/evil is sort of zooming towards me, often accompanied with a growing sound, and when it all peaks, I wake up terrified.

 

[morgs]

Here's another way of explaining it.

When You shut your eyes, you are still very aware of everything around you, aware of the fact that your eyelids are right there. During this sensation, it's like that sense of awareness is gone, and you are just two eyes floating in a quickly expanding black void.

 

[Mogi67]

embrace it. also, smoke some weed.

 

[Krynn72]

Its the aliens.

 

[Eejit]

You must contact your spirit guide. The jackal will show you the way.

 

[CptStern]

I wish my spirit guide was johnny cash

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Do you get it at any time of the day when you lie down and close your eyes? Or just when you're tired and about to fall asleep? Also is it triggered when you close your eyelids or would pitch black darkness (with your eyes open) give you the same effect? Bizarre but really interesting.

 

[morgs]

I've never had it when my eyes have been closed during the day, it's always been when I've been in bed, as for your latter question, I'll experiment next time I get it.

 

[Stylo]

You're probably just reaching a point of consciousness where you're between true wakefulness and sleep. It's called Hypnagogia.

It's fairly common and accompanied often by paralysis (while you're in the Hypnagogic state) and weird and abnormal visual/auditory sensations. Also, a sense of fear or danger.

 

[CptStern]

helplife2.net

"OMG there's air coming out of my mouth at regular intervals DO I HAVE MICROPSIA AND SHOULD I MAKE OUT MY FINAL WILL?"


it's definately micropsia of the brain

 

[Sulkdodds]

Have you...talked to a doctor?

 

[No Limit]

Who needs a doctor when you have HL2.net. That's been my health insurance policy for quite some time.

 

[morgs]

I figured it's nothing big enough to really see a doctor for, but I can relate to Stylo's post; see: sense of dread.

 

[CptStern]

"help me hl2.net I have a tingling sensation in my nether regions what should I do?"

"Help me hl2.net I have a growth on my foot, what should I do?"

"Help me hl2.net I ran over a pothole what should I do?"

no offense morgs

 

[Stylo]

I figured it's nothing big enough to really see a doctor for, but I can relate to Stylo's post; see: sense of dread.

Yup. The reason I suggested it is because it's what I get on odd occasions. Though mine is usually not being able to move accompanied by extremely loud whooshing noises and feeling like some kind of threat is in the room with me or that I'm going to be harmed somehow by the experience. Everything is all distorted and weird.

It's basically a transition state between being awake and falling to sleep which people get stuck in temporarily sometimes. If that is indeed what you're having then it's completely nothing to worry about in itself. It can just be a bit unpleasant.

 

[morgs]

Only odd thing Stylo is that I can get it straight after getting into bed, and it usually takes me a long time to fall asleep. I can open my eyes and sit up but once I close them it resumes. I wish I could explain it better.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Sounds like a form of sleep disorder akin to Sleep Paralysis or Night Terrors. Not unusual, can be related to stress, eating habits, self-esteem and so forth. Worth mentioning if it worsens or happens to a debilitating extent, but you're most likely just fine.

 

[Viperidae]

I used to get what you're describing when I was 6. Didn't know it was a disorder. I think I lived through the experience.

 

[staticprimer]

I've had this happen to me, used to be quite a bit, not so much anymore. I would get the sense that I'm looking at an impossibly huge object accompanied with a sensation of falling or 'zooming out'. Only happened when my eyes were closed, too. It's a disconcerting feeling, but it always passed fairly quickly so I never thought anything of it. Coincidentally I do have a propensity for migraines. Never knew anyone else got these until now.

 

[Letters]

What are you scared of, morgs?

 

[StarBob]

Sometimes when I start falling asleep I'll get these extremely strong shocking sensations randomly in my upper body preceded by a crecendoing sort of buzzing/humming sound. It's literally as though someone is shocking me with a live wire. It doesn't really hurt or anything, but it causes my body to jolt. Fascinating albeit most likely unrelated.

 

[knut]

i've had this before, often when ill with flu. it's quite a scary feeling seeing all of your surroundings suddenly tower above you.

 

[Laivasse]

I've had this, or similar. I think there's even a thread buried somewhere on these boards where a couple of us confirmed it as a shared experience. For me it was usually the sensation that something colossally large was obliterating something tiny and helpless, accompanied with a sense of overwhelming, increasing ominousness. Used to get it fairly commonly as a child, particularly when feverish,when it would get so strong and terrifying even in a semi-waking state that I could be reduced to tears. In adulthood, I'd say the sensation probably hasn't occurred more than once in the last decade.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I've gotten it. I don't have the sensation of feeling small, but definitely a feeling I might associate with a headrush. It's almost like the feeling you get when you hit your forehead on something, and opening my eyes usually makes it go away (unless I've got a bad case of the flu or am really tired). I never thought anything of it, and though it's not pleasurable I usually dwell in it for a while due to how rare it is (maybe only once in two years now that I'm an adult, but I know I experienced it more often as a kid). It usually comes along with ringing in my ears, but not like the ring of hearing damage.

Another part of the sensation is often a back-and-forth alternating feeling, like I'm somehow switching between two different static states. It's relatively fast, like 6 cycles per second. Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

 

[Vegeta897]

I've never been satisfied with the definitions of macropsia and micropsia.

I would describe it as objects appearing far away. Whether that gives the impression that they're huge and I'm tiny, or the objects looking small because everything is far away (like a fisheye lense), it's all kind of the same thing.

I used to have terrifying experiences with this as a child. Horrifying sounds and other visual things in my imagination would have me screaming at night, and my mom would have to calm me down.

I still experience it on occasion when I'm deprived of sleep, but it's usually just the visual sensation. I almost try to immerse myself into it so I can get the audio and tactile experiences that go along with it, just because I find it so interesting. (like taking drugs without the drugs) Sometimes I'll hear audio noise, as if my ears are turned up real high but there aren't any loud sounds. Or I'll hear sounds in my imagination and they're distorted as if overdriven. The tactile sensations are far more difficult to describe. The last time I remember experiencing it, it was in a half-dream state and there was a terrifying feeling accompanied with it. I was grasping some unknown object (or maybe nothing at all) with my hand, and it seemed to be changing in size. I was comfortable when it was small. But when it was large I would be terrified for some reason. Yeah, in before penis jokes.

 

[Krynn72]

Wow, y'all are ****ed up.

Nah, jk, I've had some odd experiences like this too. Sleep deprivation can do weird things to your head. In college I used to nearly jump out of my bed at the sound of my mom screaming my name, only to realize that my mom was most likely asleep in her bed, 1,200 miles away from where I was. But when I "heard" it, it was like the loudest I've ever heard anyone scream. Freaky shit.

Also I used to have weird semi-concious dreams where I was stuck in some kind of ever expanding foam filled with tiny little tacks that pricked against my whole body, non-painfully, while I was being carried away by the foam. But I later realized why it kept reccuring, it was because the way I was sleeping made my arm fall asleep, giving it that tingling, numb sensation which my brain turned into a dream.

 

[Wanted Bob]

I occasionally have a very similar sensation.

It usually occurs fairly early on in my sleep, where I feel as if blackness/evil is sort of zooming towards me, often accompanied with a growing sound, and when it all peaks, I wake up terrified.

Yeah, I get this too. Sometimes it happens multiple times before falling asleep. Got used to it now, not such a big deal anymore.

 

[Stylo]

Only odd thing Stylo is that I can get it straight after getting into bed, and it usually takes me a long time to fall asleep. I can open my eyes and sit up but once I close them it resumes. I wish I could explain it better.

Could still be a form of Hypnagogia. When you're laying in bed with your eyes closed in the dark your brain will know that you're trying to go to sleep and it might activate it. It's also common to have more than one in a night, you can get out of it, make yourself aware again and then slip back into it.

Some of what other people have been saying is right though, it can be brought on by sleep deprivation or anxieties. They're not always the root cause but can make it more likely that you'll have the experience.

I'm still fairly sure it's nothing to worry about but obviously if it starts to have a major a effect on you, you could always seek a professional opinion.

 

[Raziaar]

I don't know what you're talking about exactly... but when I was a kid I used to get the sensation that the room was getting darker and darker when I peered at the wall. You'd think it'd get brighter as your eyes adjust... but my eyes were already adjusted, and whenever I'd look at the wall it'd get darker and darker and darker until I looked away. Doesn't seem to happen to me as much as an adult... but then again I don't stare at the wall awake as an adult.

 

[Naph]

I have this occasionally. I don't know why you guys had terrifying experiences with this 'sensation' as children. When I was sleeping at my grandparents house I'd look at the handle for the cupboard and watch the room expand, close my eyes for while and watch it all over again.

 

[Raziaar]

I was never terrified by what I described, but I have no idea if it's the same thing other people are describing.

 

[AtomicSpark]

Have you...talked to a doctor?

This.

I didn't bother to read the next two pages.

 

[Unfocused]

Holy shit, some of you guys would run to the doctor with anything slightly out of the ordinary.

 

[Raziaar]

Also we can't afford doctors, you ****S! Well, okay maybe morgs can... some of that sweet sweet socialized medicine.

 

[Vegeta897]

Yeah um, this isn't something you go to a doctor for. What are they going to do? Give you some magic pill? I'd rather live with it than take some weird pills.

 

[AtomicSpark]

Okay, I read a few pages and now will share my story. When I was a kid, I slept out in the living room. On the other side of the room were two large sliding glass doors and windows. I would stare outside and I would start to see things. The giant tree in the neighbors yard would be a sort of dark shadowy gear that slowly turned. A dark substance, perhaps tar, would slowly spill out over the cement wall (that we used as a fence). At the same time, the house would slowly lift up into the air. All of these things seemed to be connected somehow. The more I stared, the more it progressed, etc. Blinking would reset it. I also remember seeing the ceiling fans like a hand crushing sticks or a monster ghost face on the top of the wall where an outlet faceplate was.

I don't remember if I dreamed these things or hallucinated them. I also remember experiencing the darkness spreading Raziaar story too.