Hallucinations (flashes, pain, bloody, arm)

[luksky]

This probably could only half-way be called "paranormal" but I couldn't find any other catergory to put it in and it is something I have wondered about for years.

When I was a very young child and up until I reached my teens I would have hallucinations when I was sick with a fever or sometimes even when I just felt bad or unsure about something. The hallucinations consisted of seeing or feeling things that weren't there.

For example, I can remember seeing a girls head float around my dark room after I went to bed. Then there was the dog sniffing around at the end of my bed but I couldn't see him. Then as the song says..."My hands felt like two balloons" on many occasions.

Once, I called my mom to come into the bed and sleep with me because there was a swarm of bees flying around my face and one flew in my mouth. When she came in I told her to get on the side of the bed where all the bees were so they would leave me alone. When I got underneath the covers on the other side of the bed there were black snakes all up under the sheets. I can remember trying to slip my legs in under the sheets trying to avoid all the snakes and I could feel their slick scales.

Those are just a few examples of things I remember. Over the years I would ask family members or friends if they ever had those experiences and nobody could say they had.

The only other person that I have ever known to have these type of experiences is my 11 year old daughter. I also have a grown son that claimed to have never had hallucinations.

Does this sound like an experience anyone else on the forum has ever had?????

[OwlKaMyst]

I know of one person with this issue.
You may find something of interest here, Chronic Hallucinatory Disorder.

[Columbia Blue]

Actually when I was a child, I would have hallucinations when i had a fever...typically that my pillow had sharp edged that would cut me. I remember being upset a few times when i was sick because I couldn't sleep with sharp edged pillows. I'm not sure if it's common or not, but I outgrew that particular malady by my teens.

[AmberroseMI]

The only time I have had hallucinations was right after I wake up, when my brain is still in that dream mode (I'm sure there's a more scientific name for it than that lol). According to my parents I would see spiders on the wall when I was little, I've seen my kitten walking up the wall, and here recently I woke up and saw Guinea Pigs everywhere
I also have problems with Sleep Paralysis sometimes, that's when I saw, felt, and heard more sinister things.
And my dad said he would hallucinate when he had fevers when he was younger, I don't think that's completely unusual.
When I'm really tired and twitchy (I don't know why I sometimes get twitchy when I'm tired, I'm not a druggie lol), I see weird flashes sometimes.

[phone man]

I've only had them on the few occasions I tried to take Ambien to help me fall asleep. I would see shadow figures in the corner of my bedroom and the as I was breathing it appeared the walls were flexing in and out to the pattern of my breathing. I did not refill that prescription.

[Icy Tea]

I once had a fever induced waking dream/ hallucination that I was in a " Hogan's Heroes" episode which was kind of fun.
But thinking back, when I was younger I used to have a common recurring dream that I was running across a field and would trip and go vaulting forward and then would wake up with a start. It was usually just as I was in a near sleep state. Its been years and years since I've had that happen. Of course, I haven't run all that much, either. I sometimes wake up as I'm just drifting off with a kick of my legs but can't remember if I was walking or what I was doing. I'd see "bees" too when I was a kid, small points of light in a swarm that I'd follow with my eyes in a dark room just as I was drifting off to sleep.
Sleep paralysis was an off and on thing and it was scary until I realized it was just stress causing it and not a night hag like in the old superstitions. It still happens when I fall asleep on the couch or out on the porch. Its a throwback to the days when we slept in trees and had to contantly be wary to have a secure resting place. If it happens I get the best of it in the dream. An invisible force or ghost or creature is pulling you off the bed or trying to open the door as you're closing it? I end up overpowering it and driving it off. Your subconscious tells you not to be afraid and you aren't.

[Wisteria]

Very interesting, Icy Tea!

I remember "seeing" bugs/bees when I had chicken pox as a kid -- but I think it was because maybe the "spots" had gotten into my eyes??...

That's interesting as a throw-back. I often feel that way about intuition, too -- if we didn't have an "extra sense" we'd be killed by stalking tigers, etc.

I get the sleep paralysis thing, too. I've heard various reasons for it. I just don't like the fact that I am "awake" but cannot move. Being older now, my mind starts to jump to the "stroke" place.... After awhile, I finally can move again, but it still scares me not being able to control my body.

We've got some interesting syndromes on this forum!

[ParallelJJCat]

Sleep paralysis often leads to 'waking dreams' or hallucinations, where you know you're awake and still see visions. Very commonly when I'm on the end of sleep I'll see flashes of disturbing things every time I close my eyes...like bloody or leering faces. When I was young I hallucinated a snake coming through my window while in a sleep paralysis state.

Sleep paralysis may also be responsible for many reports of demon possession and alien abduction. My mom once saw three little men surrounding her bed. They chanted 'we're here, and we love' three times before disappearing.

Edited to add I used to have a hallucination that wasn't connected to sleep paralysis. When I was young I would be in bed and watch a small, flashing bright dot travel through the air. It would flash different colors. Kind of like after you look at the sun or a bright light and still see the light. I always had the sense that the light was somehow dangerous and I didn't want it to touch me. I could 'stop' it from doing so by closing my eyes when it got close. One night I just gave up and let it touch my arm and it exploded into thousands of points of multicolored light. Never saw it again after that.

[Wisteria]

ParallelJJCat: Edited to add I used to have a hallucination that wasn't connected to sleep paralysis. When I was young I would be in bed and watch a small, flashing bright dot travel through the air. It would flash different colors. Kind of like after you look at the sun or a bright light and still see the light. I always had the sense that the light was somehow dangerous and I didn't want it to touch me. I could 'stop' it from doing so by closing my eyes when it got close. One night I just gave up and let it touch my arm and it exploded into thousands of points of multicolored light. Never saw it again after that.

That's interesting. Some of the threads on this board are very interesting. I never saw anything like that, and I never had hallucinations with sleep paralysis -- just couldn't move.

However, I recently discovered -- why I never went to a doctor kind of confounds me -- that I get what are called "atypical migraines." I had this happen many years ago, too, but never mentioned it to anyone. I had no idea what it was....funny how we can let things lapse without mentioning them.

I finally told my practitioner recently when I had an "attack," because I didn't have any severe headache pain or anything, but I got these "flashing lightning bolts" in full 3-D multi-color in my peripheral vision. The thing that disturbed me and why I eventually told the doctor was that these lightning bolts did not go away for over five hours.....and I finally went to bed and slept. When I awoke in the morning, they were gone. I saw my practitioner and she immediately identified them as "atypical migraines." I never would have thought of that, as I knew nothing about migraines. She said that sometimes one gets those weird lights and "hallucinations" in the eyes, but no real headache....I never heard of it before. I got some medication, and that seems to help, but it's strange.

Although I also get paranormal stuff that can be "confirmed," which is how I differentiate it from the other strange phenomena I get, I'm amazed at how our bodies can do all this stuff!

[ParallelJJCat]

Originally Posted by Wisteria

That's interesting. Some of the threads on this board are very interesting. I never saw anything like that, and I never had hallucinations with sleep paralysis -- just couldn't move.

However, I recently discovered -- why I never went to a doctor kind of confounds me -- that I get what are called "atypical migraines." I had this happen many years ago, too, but never mentioned it to anyone. I had no idea what it was....funny how we can let things lapse without mentioning them.

I finally told my practitioner recently when I had an "attack," because I didn't have any severe headache pain or anything, but I got these "flashing lightning bolts" in full 3-D multi-color in my peripheral vision. The thing that disturbed me and why I eventually told the doctor was that these lightning bolts did not go away for over five hours.....and I finally went to bed and slept. When I awoke in the morning, they were gone. I saw my practitioner and she immediately identified them as "atypical migraines." I never would have thought of that, as I knew nothing about migraines. She said that sometimes one gets those weird lights and "hallucinations" in the eyes, but no real headache....I never heard of it before. I got some medication, and that seems to help, but it's strange.

Although I also get paranormal stuff that can be "confirmed," which is how I differentiate it from the other strange phenomena I get, I'm amazed at how our bodies can do all this stuff!

That's called an aura...people who have seizures can also experience similar things. I have a friend who smells oranges before he has a seizure...he hates smelling real oranges because of it!

I can do this thing where if I extend an arm over my head and turn my head in that direction, then move my eyes in that direction as well (think when you shave under your arm) I can cause my vision to black out. When I look forward again I'll see flashing lights and my vision will dim out completely, then slowly come back in. I never thought about it till now, but it is somewhat similar to what I used to see when I was little. The doctors have never been able to figure out why this happens to me...I had various tests to see if I was pinching off a nerve or circulation. They've finally concluded I just shouldn't lift my arm/turn my head/turn my eyes

Our bodies really are fascinating things! I love reading books like those written by Oliver Sacks that talk about the many different ways our brains can go wrong. To me the science behind it is more fascinating than any paranormal explanation.