View Full Version : open-eye hallucinations
For the past three nights I've experienced open-eye hallucinations in bed. The first two nights it was just small, widely spaced green dots in a Christmas tree/triangular pattern that I could see wherever I looked. Last night was FACES. I had awoken suddenly from a dream and jumped out of bed and went to the kitchen to get some water. When I lied back down, I opened my eyes and looked around the room and could see the same face repeated over and over wherever I looked. I got up and went to the bathroom (light out) and could still see it. I sure hope this is a hypnagogic thing, brought on by anxiety/too much adrenaline, because the alternatives are not good.
Anyone experience something similar?
I have when I've had a high fever before.
I have when I've had a high fever before.
A few folk have said one of the first symptoms of this horrible flu going about was fever with hallucinations.
Nah, no fever. Oh well, guess it's a brain tumour ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Have you moved on from the b word..?
No :weep:
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A brain tumour AND the b word would be terrible luck, huh?
I guess the symptoms can overlap (I don't want medical details) or maybe you can maintain both sets of symptoms at the same time?
I think Terry knows a bit about this type of thing. Hoping he chimes in here ...
Maybe try to restrict the medical info though? Would you believe it anyway? Too much info in non-medical hands is dynamite.
I'm sure Terry would be able to explain your symptoms but this just adds to the focus(pardon the pun) you will place on them because whatever the non-sinister explanation you will just counter with info derived from BT annals and tomes galore..
I'm interested in whether you can maintain the BT and B word symptoms running alongside each other..
I don't actually think it's a BT, I think it's hypnogogic hallucinations that occur in the blur between being awake and asleep. I've not googled further than that. If it starts happening during broad daylight, then I'll worry
Well I'm sure there's a wealth of info on HHs out there..Just so long as the info doesn't veer onto the dodgy territory of BTs..You know how it progressed for you with the bulbar tidbit...
Yes. That'd be textbook
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Funny how my speech issue has been much improved since my hallucinations started :/
I think it's hypnogogic hallucinations that occur in the blur between being awake and asleep
I believe it's those too.
Funny how my speech issue has been much improved since my hallucinations started :/
Geez, Mel. It's almost like you're wishing you had ALS. My G-d, maybe you'll even start believing you don't have ALS soon. What are you going to do with your life?
No, that fear is still alive and kicking. That's why I'm avoiding the new thread that just started ...
Mindprison
14-01-18, 23:53
Just wanted to say that i've been getting this and similar things on and off the past year. The best way to describe it is just as my body is about to sleep my brain feels like it's being crushed, I wake up and briefly see flashes or strange shapes and the like. Faces too sometimes.
Would be interested to see what info ends up here. It's no coincidence that it started happening more often when my anxiety got severe.
Just wanted to say that i've been getting this and similar things on and off the past year. The best way to describe it is just as my body is about to sleep my brain feels like it's being crushed, I wake up and briefly see flashes or strange shapes and the like. Faces too sometimes.
Would be interested to see what info ends up here. It's no coincidence that it started happening more often when my anxiety got severe.
Mine last minutes, not seconds, and I am definitely awake. I'm also taking mirtazapine, interestingly, though only 7.5mg
Mindprison
15-01-18, 00:09
I've heard that hypnic/myco jerks are a common occurence in mirtazapine users. The lower dose might actually amplify it since lower doses of it are more sedating.
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Also I probably didn't explain properly. I don't actually get to sleep, the event happens before sleep happens and can persist for a few minutes. Its like my head has dropped through the floor and it throws my head up instantly, it can be pretty painful on my neck at times especially if it happens 4 times in one night. The flashes I can sometimes still see when I close my eyes, like a camera flash.
Hmmm, that sounds similar. I've been taking the mirt for more than 6 months and do get the jerks. The hallucinations are new, though. Last night, I woke from a dream, got up to get water, then took the mirt I'd forgotten to take earlier, and went straight back to bed. The hallucination happened soon after.
Mindprison
15-01-18, 00:15
I think the mirtazapine definitely makes it happen more often for me. Before I started on them I would get this very rarely. I've been on them for a year and a half and it's been happening at least once a week since then.
The floating faces last night was a bit much even for me
Mindprison
15-01-18, 00:26
I know what you mean. I had it last night but it was mostly just flashes. The week before, I got it and freaked because I could see a shadowy thing floating above the TV with bright spots that looked like eyes. It stayed for maybe a minute then eventually faded.
Thought I was losing it.
Kind of nervous to go to bed tonight, in case I don't like the show :wacko:
When did you start the mirtazapine, Mel?
Eight months ago, so likely not linked
Why are you taking a sub-par dose? If I'm not mistaken, mirtazapine has to be taken at least 15 mg to be effective for anxiety/depression. Usually it's taken at lose doses for people who have trouble sleeping.
Yep, I'm taking it for sleep and as an appetite stimulant. It's not for me at higher doses as it boosts norepinephrine
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At the dose I'm on, it's basically an antihistamine
mirtazapine is easily paired with SSRIs for anxiety and Effexor for depression treatment. It would be easy to give it a try (after a talk with your doc, of course) to see if it might help with your intrusive thoughts about ALS, etc.
Yes, I need to get on that. Apparently I have some gene mutation that makes me 7X less likely to respond to SSRIs and SNRIs, so I have to figure that out too. Explains why I haven't have much luck with them in the past ...
What is this gene mutation and how did you find out about it?
Forgive me for sounding skeptical, but some other people I know have had gene testing for various things, but what they’ve found is more questions than answers. The docs say that they will not respond to certain drugs, yet they don’t know which drugs they will respond to... and one was not supposed to respond to one medication, and did anyway... go figure.
I did 23andMe and ran it through promethease. That's how I found out I have alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (which was then verified through MUSC). I forget the name of the gene, but I am homozygous and it apparently stops ADs crossing the blood-brain barrier. Makes sense, because I've had no luck with any AD I've tried in the past
Now listen here, Mel.... This has nothing to do with the "B" word or "BT" word. I think it's likely related to anxiety and Mirt, because one of the few times I ever "hallucinated" was when I tried Mirt at 15mg. I've been on nearly all the SSRIs and SNRIs (currently on Ven) and I never experienced any phantom faces or entities floating about.
I think it's about time you visited a doc so we can slap a "Told ya so!" on your forehead ;)
I did 23andMe and ran it through promethease. That's how I found out I have alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (which was then verified through MUSC). I forget the name of the gene, but I am homozygous and it apparently stops ADs crossing the blood-brain barrier. Makes sense, because I've had no luck with any AD I've tried in the past
Okay, but has an actual doc verified any of your analysis?
I agree with KK on this one.
The alpha 1? Yes. Not the ADs
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Well, not apart from being told several times that some people are just non-responders
Some people aren’t responders, but from what my psychiatrist told me, they are usually few and far between. Honestly, if it were me, and I was dealing with obsessive thinking, I would want to try everything before I just assumed.
I'm not assuming. I've tried four different SSRIs
There are more than four, and all have different dosages and can be combined with different drugs, like the Remeron you’re already taking. Plus there are more types than SSRIS.
The two things I know work (short term) are booze and benzos. Both hit those GABA receptors in just the right spot. Unfortunately, neither are long-term solutions
Nah, no fever. Oh well, guess it's a brain tumour ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No, that fear is still alive and kicking. That's why I'm avoiding the new thread that just started ...
So how did that work out for you?:whistles::doh:
So how did that work out for you?:whistles::doh:
:weep:
Mel, you're the smartest person I know who just won't go get their issues taken care of :P
MyNameIsTerry
16-01-18, 05:42
Hypnagogic hallucinations...what on earth are they??? :winks:
You've got the logic there, mel. You've pinpointed they happen during the potential sleep phases where these sleep phenomena are expected. If you mentioned hallucinations during periods of tiredness or sleep times like this a doctor is most likely going to put them down as this. They want to know about hallucinations during a normal state as that's when they can point to something else, although even then it can just be one of several mental health issues that are NOT what those on here tend to fear (e.g. such things happen in depression, bereavement, etc) as people tend to worry about brain tumours or schizophrenia.
Higher levels of anxiety can increase these sleep phenomena. So, how is your anxiety fairing at the moment?
I would have to check on the Mirt part but I would be more tempted to say anxiety symptom.
The patterns and lights are all commonly recorded sights in these states too.
The question to ask is - you know this is a recorded possibility and you are in the sleep stages where this occurs so which is more likely? A BT with no symptoms other than this or this which is well documented and natural for all human beings BUT with the added issue of an anxiety disorder sufferer who is likely to panic due to such an experience and add that obsessional focus to it?
Pulisa raised a question about overlap into BT symptoms. There is a pretty large number of possible elements you can experience in Hypnogogic states and it's likely there will be overlap into many other problems if you go looking for them. Just the same as someone who has had a persistent cough for weeks after a known virus (cold, flu) might start looking at lung cancer. Therefore looking too deep is a Confirmation Bias issue. It needs to be attribute symptom to this as it is known to happen and I'm also in that expected state and then stop and apply acceptance.
Hypnagogic hallucinations...what on earth are they??? :winks:
You've got the logic there, mel. You've pinpointed they happen during the potential sleep phases where these sleep phenomena are expected. If you mentioned hallucinations during periods of tiredness or sleep times like this a doctor is most likely going to put them down as this. They want to know about hallucinations during a normal state as that's when they can point to something else, although even then it can just be one of several mental health issues that are NOT what those on here tend to fear (e.g. such things happen in depression, bereavement, etc) as people tend to worry about brain tumours or schizophrenia.
Higher levels of anxiety can increase these sleep phenomena. So, how is your anxiety fairing at the moment?
I would have to check on the Mirt part but I would be more tempted to say anxiety symptom.
The patterns and lights are all commonly recorded sights in these states too.
Oh good, I was hoping you might see this Terry. Yeah, I suspect anxiety; something I set a January deadline for now needs to be tackled, and the stakes are high. I don't think it's the mirtazapine either. The timing is doesn't add up.
What about faces? Or rather, the same one, repeated like a stamp all over my visual field? That hallucination continued all the way to the bathroom and back (still in the dark), then faded as I went back to sleep ... it was kinda cool, if freaky stuff :yahoo::scared15:
MyNameIsTerry
16-01-18, 07:29
Some see faces. Imagery differs to proper dreaming because it's without narrative.
But it's one thing, always be wary in anxiety of experiencing something and trying to connect it to anything. Unless something keeps happening, it's just one of the wacky & weird world things anxiety has up it's sleeve.
Some see faces. Imagery differs to proper dreaming because it's without narrative.
But it's one thing, always be wary in anxiety of experiencing something and trying to connect it to anything. Unless something keeps happening, it's just one of the wacky & weird world things anxiety has up it's sleeve.
Yes, I don't think I'd have been so calm had it happened during the middle of the day, when I was wide awake. I realised I was in a sleepy state, so figured HH is what it must be. Thanks for you input :)
MyNameIsTerry
17-01-18, 04:43
I've heard that hypnic/myco jerks are a common occurence in mirtazapine users. The lower dose might actually amplify it since lower doses of it are more sedating.
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Also I probably didn't explain properly. I don't actually get to sleep, the event happens before sleep happens and can persist for a few minutes. Its like my head has dropped through the floor and it throws my head up instantly, it can be pretty painful on my neck at times especially if it happens 4 times in one night. The flashes I can sometimes still see when I close my eyes, like a camera flash.
Just to add.
All recorded in Hypnagogic & Hypnopompic stages. The falling sensation is a classic like the jerks and loud noises.
MyNameIsTerry
18-01-18, 02:39
Something useful to add from our NHS:
Hallucinations and sleep
It's relatively common for people to experience hallucinations just as they're falling asleep (hypnagogic), or as they start to wake up (hypnopompic).
The hallucination may take the form of sounds, or the person may see things that don't exist, such as moving objects, or a formed image, such as a person (the person may think they've seen a ghost).
Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are particularly common in people with narcolepsy. However, they can also occur in people without narcolepsy or any disorder. They're essentially like dreams, and in themselves are nothing to worry about.
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