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I am thinking sleep paralysis plus lucid dreaming; the latter can be experienced as hallucinations. I have had both and (1) the symptoms go away and (2) it is not serious. Before concluding that it is not serious, however, you should be evaluated by a psychiatrist who is fully aware of all of your symptoms, because any kind of hallucination while awake can be indicative of schizophrenia, and I don't know if you were awake or not when you experienced these sensations.
People on the internet can't diagnose and treat you. Find a real psychiatrist and keep your appointments, because it's process. DIY and the net are poor substitutes.
It just happens. It's horrible. For me it started at 14 and mostly went away. My daughter started getting the auditory hallucinations and the paralysis at 14 and by 21 it is gone as well. I'm sure you have looked into this and know that stress, poor sleep schedules, and sleeping positions can trigger an episode (I started getting it again in my 30s when I was working nights). Hallucinations can be both upon waking and falling asleep.
The waking up with dread and impending doom sounds like the after effects of alcohol abuse. I spent 2 years on a recovery board working out my drinking problem and what you are describing is common among people who abuse alcohol. Toward the end of my drinking I had this weird persistent feeling like something really bad was coming after me (in a way it was) and that anxiety finally left after about 6 months clean. You have to find a way to break they cycle of using alcohol to cope or it's just going to get worse.
Edit to include link. this is a woman describing the heart pounding and anxiety that accompanies alcohol abuse:
People on the internet can't diagnose and treat you. Find a real psychiatrist and keep your appointments, because it's process. DIY and the net are poor substitutes.
I should've said IANAMD and my casual observations are not intended as a substitute for diagnosis and treatment.
It just happens. It's horrible. For me it started at 14 and mostly went away. My daughter started getting the auditory hallucinations and the paralysis at 14 and by 21 it is gone as well. I'm sure you have looked into this and know that stress, poor sleep schedules, and sleeping positions can trigger an episode (I started getting it again in my 30s when I was working nights). Hallucinations can be both upon waking and falling asleep.
The waking up with dread and impending doom sounds like the after effects of alcohol abuse. I spent 2 years on a recovery board working out my drinking problem and what you are describing is common among people who abuse alcohol. Toward the end of my drinking I had this weird persistent feeling like something really bad was coming after me (in a way it was) and that anxiety finally left after about 6 months clean. You have to find a way to break they cycle of using alcohol to cope or it's just going to get worse.
Edit to include link. this is a woman describing the heart pounding and anxiety that accompanies alcohol abuse:
Thank you. So it all boils down to being the long term effects of drug and alcohol abuse, at least the hallucinations are. I started getting the exploding head syndrome infrequently since I was a kid (probably 9 or so years old), but I started getting it daily after 15 for obvious reasons.
You need a sleep study done while your baseline is smoking/drinking. Increased frequency of Sleep Paralysis can indicate worsening sleep deprivation.
Were you prescribed ADHD meds at any time? Did you have insomnia as a child? Did you, by chance, use Meth as one of those "harder drugs"? Be aware that you are at an increased risk for relapse right now, for any drugs of abuse that you may have usd in the past.
Thank you. So it all boils down to being the long term effects of drug and alcohol abuse, at least the hallucinations are. I started getting the exploding head syndrome infrequently since I was a kid (probably 9 or so years old), but I started getting it daily after 15 for obvious reasons.
The sleep paralysis could be made worse by the drug and alcohol use. The hallucinations could be caused just by the sleep paralysis alone or there could be other causes like withdraw. I looked through your posting history and you said you were psychically addicted to the alcohol. I also saw a thread where you said you felt isolated and that no one cared about you. That is all the alcohol. It distorts your perception and makes you hate yourself and you think others see you that way too It seems your most pressing mental health need is addiction treatment. Am I telling you anything you don't know by saying you need inpatient treatment?
Every day I wake up with this awful feeling of impending doom and depression. I have to keep my eyes closed for at least 10 seconds or else I'll see hallucinations. They're very vivid and interactive. If I make a bad face at them then they'll charge at me to attack me but I don't get any physical sensations. I have nightmares every single night, usually extremely gory, violent, and bloody, and they usually involve me or my loved ones being hurt. I wake up with my heart pounding.
When I'm about to fall asleep I'll get sleep paralysis and hear extremely loud buzzing or screaming in my head. It's like the volume is set to maximum of the loudest sound in the world directly inside my head.
What's the cause of this? I tried to look it up online and apparently it's called hypnopompic hallucinations and exploding head syndrome. I don't have narcolepsy. I don't abuse any hard drugs anymore, I just smoke and drink regularly now to cope with life but could that be the cause? Other people smoke and drink all the time but don't have these experiences.
Why is this happening?
10/2/2017
A psychiatrist would only be qualified to answer that.
My advice:
Cut the smoking to three cigarettes a day. Seriously.
Cut the drinking to two drinks a day. Make it red wine instead of whiskey.
Stop watching the news. Especially today
I've heard that doing acid causes flashbacks. Is that possible in your case.
In any case look for a female psychiatrist. The odds of them taking advantage of you are lower.
With me, not so much doom and fear as generalized depression. I also have trouble feeling like I am myself. It is more like living a novel and telling stories of my self to people around me. Right now I am imagining posting a response to a thread on C-D . . .
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