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I've experienced Hypnogogic Hallucinations, for about 30 years. My mother had it too. I found a simple solution. I wear a sleep mask. This has been 100% affective for me. I had gone through sleep studies, been put on medication, did sleep meditation, etc, nothing worked, except for something covering my eyes, as I fell asleep. My hallucinations are extremely vivid. My first hallucination was of a racoon walking into my room, we made eye contact and it ran under my bed. I would see things like shotguns in my face; a faceless man leaping on my bed, with a butcher knife; spiders... One time, I saw a small UFO hovering at my ceiling. I climbed on my bed, jumped up to swat it, I hit the ceiling, sprained my wrist and almost fell off the bed. The funniest one was where I hallucinated on an airplane, saw a spider on the armrest of the woman in front of me, and I told her there was a spider on her armrest! I sat back in my seat and the hallucination then faded, but I was too embarrassed to tell her that I was hallucinating and in fact, there was no spider (didn't want to get kicked off the plane, lol).
I have a theory that this happens because my body falls asleep before my mind does. I'm curious too if there is a relationship with IQ.
Replies to "I've experienced Hypnogogic Hallucinations, for about 30 years. My mother had it too. I found a..."
This sounds exactly like me! I've had spiders climbing down from my ceiling, flashing lights, and strange forms covering my bedroom walls. I even had my three-year-old standing on the door frame completely disappear into thin air in front of my eyes. My husband is so used to it; I ask him the strangest questions, under assumptions that he did or did not do something... I've also asked him, "Do you see that?" .. He'll say, "You're sleeping," and immediately I wake up.
I love the idea of a face mask!!!!!
Question.. Did you ever had a sleep study done? If yes, did they ever prescribe meds? Are you sleepy during the day a lot?
Thank you!
Sorry! I see you mentioned you did a sleep study. What type of meds did they give you?
Thanks!
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Welcome @catdv, I love that a simple and very inexpensive remedy like a sleep mask was the solution to your having hypnagogic hallucinations as you fall asleep.
I don't have hallucinations, but I often wake during the night and sometimes I have a hard time falling back to sleep because my mind starts working, solving issues of the day before or thinking about what meetings I might have on my calendar the next day. It's not productive thinking because there's nothing that needs attention from me at 3 am or whatever dark o'clock hour it is. I just need to sleep. I found that putting on a sleep mask helps stop my thoughts too. The room is dark, so it's not light that keeps me up. Somehow the mask's complete darkness and focus on it, calms my mind and I'm able to go back to sleep.
Do you have a particular kind of sleep mask that is best for you? I just got a cheap one from the drug store and sometimes it's not comfortable. What works for you?