Hallucinations

[RedKC]

Does anyone experience sleep hallucinations on a regular basis? I've had them since I was young, but they eventually went away. Now they've been back for a few years and are usually just hallucinations of objects or patterns in the room. I am completely aware and can move around, so it's not sleep paralysis.

I start seeing these things shortly after I get in bed and they cause my body to go into a panic state beyond my control which can last up to an hour. I've had a ton of tests done including sleep study (which I don't consider very accurate because I could barely fall asleep during it).

I've seen a cardiologist, internal med doc, and endocrinologist and all tests are normal. I'm not sure where to go from here....sleep doctor or neurologist? I can't stop hallucinating and my body responds to it in a very negative way.....

[Icanbeathis2016]

I see that not many will respond since the forum doesn't have many that are active. I'm usually more active on the anxiety forum. But I have just found myself googling about hallucinations last night because it just came to me last night when I was having a hard time going to sleep again that that is what I could possibly be experiencing. What I've noticed for me is that I'll only experience this when I doze off and then abruptly wake out from my sleep or in between falling asleep and waking up. I may see things like crawling bugs or insects like a spider last night. One other time I was seeing crawling bugs on a wall. I'll see shape shadows. And it's not every night but often enough that I notice it. And it last about 10 seconds or less upon waking up. Is this close to what you experience or something different?

[RedKC in reply to Icanbeathis2016]

Thank for the reply! It will happen shortly after i go to bed....ill be laying there and when I open my eyes I'll see patterns, decorations, shadows, etc but never insects. I never wake up abruptly from a sound sleep....i think it's when I'm almost drifting to sleep. I haven't been able to find a pattern on why I hallucinate so much....

[Icanbeathis2016 in reply to RedKC]

Ok gotcha. Mines mainly happens when dozing or drifting off or waking up out of a sleep. I'll open my eyes and see shapes or figures, etc. And it only lasts up to about 10 seconds and fades away. How long will you see things for?

[RedKC in reply to Icanbeathis2016]

It's about the same for me...probably no longer than 10 seconds. It makes me feel like I'm losing my mind!! They always cause an automatic severe panic response in my body too which is super traumatic, even though I know they aren't real. It's so odd to me how they went away for the longest time, and then returned.

[Icanbeathis2016 in reply to RedKC]

So do you think it's from sleep?

[RedKC in reply to Icanbeathis2016]

I honestly think it's a weird sleep disorder. I've had a ton of tests done and everything checks out. I wanted an MRI of my brain but doctor doesn't think anything is wrong. Who knows what brings it on....food sensitivities?? Lol. I had a sleep study done years ago and could barely fall asleep because of the distractions outside the room so that was a waste of time and money.