Exploding Head Syndrome?

[GirlAfraid23]

Okay, just wondering if anybody else has experienced this?

Exploding head syndrome is a condition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease) that causes the sufferer occasionally to experience a tremendously loud noise as originating from within his or her own head (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_(anatomy)), usually described as the sound of an explosion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosion), roar, gunshot, loud voices or screams, a ringing noise, or the sound of electrical arcing (buzzing). - Wikipedia Definition.

I thought I was going mad when the other night I woke up with the loudest explosion sound imaginable. I was jolted awake by it and looked out of the window as I thought somebody had got into the house, my heart was pounding and I thought I had gone insane as the house was deadly quiet and there was no noise to be heard. I put my head back on the pillow eventually to sleep again and heard another loud noise, this time accompained by a sharp pain in my head. Of course the health anxiety kicked in and I couldn't get back into restful sleep. The next day I was reasearching and found the above condition.

I didnt experience it for a few weeks and then last night it happened again, except this time it was upon falling asleep in the middle of the night, a ringing sound like a large bell was above my head being rung. It was such a loud noise, I thought that it must have been real, however it went on for a little while and then ceased, then I attempted to go back to sleep and it happened again, however this time I just fell straight to sleep. I woke up and forgot it had even happened until now.

Now I'm being overly sensitive with my hearing and every noise I hear I am trying to decipher whether or not its real or its in my head...please help me, I'm going insane and really worried that I am becoming schizophrenic (sp?)
Please somebody put me out of my misery and tell me they have also experienced this!

[Pendragon]

I get this occasionally just as I'm dozing off at night. It's usually a bang (always a short, sudden noise) and it makes me jump, of course it wakes me up so I then spend ages trying to go back to sleep worrying about what causes it to happen.

[joannap]

hi - i have had this too - i have had gunshot sounds and also a loud "bleep" once! totally normal and nothing to worry about x

[Wolfie]

I've had this aswell, no worries xxx

[cattia]

I get a bleep sometimes too. There is a name for this, I think it is a type of hallucination that happens as you are falling asleep and can involve any of the senses. It's the same thing as when you imagine you have fallen down steps or off a cliff and you suddenly jolt awake.

[feelthelove]

sometimes but mainly when i am under a lot of stress .

[cattia]

Yes, I have had this and I also went through a phase of getting smell hallucinations as I was drifting off to sleep as well.

[feelthelove]

is this anxiety related then ?

[worrywart29]

I got this one it was the sound of a gun shot

[MyNameIsTerry]

EHS can be experienced when falling asleep or within the first couple of hours of sleeping (when you won't be in deep sleep rhythms).

When experienced during falling asleep it is within something called Hypnogogia. There is a separate term for the waking on although Hypnogogia is often referred to as both.

Some people have been worried that they could be schizophrenic due to this condition because EHS is only one of the things you can experience. Various auditory or visual hallucinations are well documented.

The important thing to remember about hypnogogia is that is occurs in the population in general and has no cure. Why no cure? Because it has been proven to be a normal functioning process of the brain in slowing down for sleep or the delays in waking.

Sleep paralysis is also known to occur during this process. I tend to think of it as like a computer booting up - you click on a programme and it won't open for a short while which is because its still booting up in the background.

Whilst this can be scary to anxiety sufferers, can you think back to before your anxiety and how you may think you heard someone say your name pretty clearly and then you just brush it off and get on with your day? I can.