Medical Strange Sensation starting to fall asleep

[zoobyshoe]

My experiences were purely non-visual perception, just a "feeling." Opening my eyes, or moving my limbs/repositioning caused the sensation to cease momentarily.

OK, if it's not visual then you have exhausted my ability to find a name for it. I'll bet there is one somewhere though.

The parietal lobes of the brain are where spatial relationships are processed. According to Ramachandran (Phantoms In the Brain, 1998) various "maps" are held in the parietal lobes, and incoming stimuli is compared against these maps. It sounds like the non-visual aspects of your "map" of your immediate environment are being distorted during these episodes.

I'll check out the links that Zooby posted later on, but for now I will state that I have never experienced the pain of a migraine, and only a handful of small headaches throughout my life (25 years).

Migraine is a massive subject as I found out from reading Oliver Sacks' Migraine. He specialized in it, or, at least, took a special interest in the Migraine patients he treated (over 1200 of them), because he suffered from various Migraine aurae himself throughout his life, all without ever having had the Migraine headache.

 

[Moonbear]

It might be something as simple as starting to dream while nodding off to sleep. We had a discussion about an article quite some time ago, where the authors of a study had demonstrated that dreaming is NOT restricted to the REM stage as so many believed prior to that. So, it could be just a recurring dream when you're drifting in and out of sleep without really realizing you have nodded off for a few moments at a time.

 

[zoobyshoe]

look here--good page on these types of events;
http://www.dreamsnightmares.com/sleepparalysis.html

I believe its David bufford who i heard speak on the radio--talking about the archetypal images of old hags, demons, and incubii that sometimes accompany the suffocation types of events described here. For the purely hallucinatory events, these are hypnopompic and hypnogogic hallucinations for those unfamiliar with the terms.

I've had sleep paralysis four times. The first two times I was merely paralyzed. The third time I was paralyzed, and there was someone walking back and forth by the side of the bed bouncing a basketball.

The fourth time was totally terrifying: I woke up to find I couldn't move, and the reason I couldn't move was because I was lying (on my back) on top of a guy who had his arms around my chest physically holding me down on the bed. He was sniggering grotesquely in my left ear, amused by my struggles to break free of his grip. His cohort paced slowly back and forth at the foot of the bed. He looked like James Dean. He wore a trenchcoat and looked depressed.

This went on for maybe, 15 seconds, and suddenly, I don't know why, they both just vanished. I could move and was awake.

I was seriously unsettled for about three days after this. It was incredibly vivid.

There was no suffocation by this guy holding me down. His function as an hallucination seemed just to be to "explain" why I felt paralyzed and couldn't move. I have no idea what the other guy was there for.

 

[S_Happens]

It might be something as simple as starting to dream while nodding off to sleep. We had a discussion about an article quite some time ago, where the authors of a study had demonstrated that dreaming is NOT restricted to the REM stage as so many believed prior to that. So, it could be just a recurring dream when you're drifting in and out of sleep without really realizing you have nodded off for a few moments at a time.

I would be more inclined towards this, although the experiences were quite vivid and the notion of being completely awake went along with the strange sensations. Although I'm no expert on the different stages of sleep, I'm aware of them, and would tend to believe that this is not what it was. Although I am certainly not denying that it could be the case, I will say that it is some sort of minority, being that typically the first stages of sleep where you aren't aware of being asleep don't include (for me at least) present time awareness of any sensations, or the ability to actively move around to prevent said sensations.

Although the migraine links were very interesting, I wouldn't think it a likely cause as the condition only occurred while trying to go to sleep, could be momentarily ceased with simple movement, and has been brought about more than once simple by thinking about the sensation itself. I would think some sort of early dream stage explanation (as Moonbear said) FAR more likely. Maybe it is some sort of proprioreception confusion. If I am completely motionless for an extended period of time (not experienced while laying down trying to sleep, but usually sitting say at a computer and reading for an extended period) I can lose my sense of propriorecption for whatever parts of the body have been completely still. It's hard to do since I move so much normally, but I work shift work and many times working nights I might sit at a computer for a long time reading articles. The proprioreception comes back immediately with the slightest intentional movement, and my proprioreception is phenomenal in daily activities, so I don't believe I suffer from any condition.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Although the migraine links were very interesting, I wouldn't think it a likely cause as the condition only occurred while trying to go to sleep, could be momentarily ceased with simple movement, and has been brought about more than once simple by thinking about the sensation itself. I would think some sort of early dream stage explanation (as Moonbear said) FAR more likely. Maybe it is some sort of proprioreception confusion. If I am completely motionless for an extended period of time (not experienced while laying down trying to sleep, but usually sitting say at a computer and reading for an extended period) I can lose my sense of propriorecption for whatever parts of the body have been completely still. It's hard to do since I move so much normally, but I work shift work and many times working nights I might sit at a computer for a long time reading articles. The proprioreception comes back immediately with the slightest intentional movement, and my proprioreception is phenomenal in daily activities, so I don't believe I suffer from any condition.

It sounds like lack of motion is a prerequisite. I take it you can't bring the sensation about by thinking about it when you are in motion.

 

[Monique]

I've had the same sensation as well and tried to explain it to people, who thought I was insane for experiencing such a thing.

As said by several people in this thread, it starts when you're about to fall asleep, you feel like an enormous density that is being shrunk to a point in space and at the same time you feel like you are getting larger. It is like a disconnection of your body and brain.

It is not paralysis, since I am able to move during the experience, although that will disrupt the sensation (so I usually try to lay still to prolong the experience, it's so weird and beautiful at the same time).

I don't think it is a dream, since I'm conscious of where I am and that I can move. I can be in the sensation, feel completely detached. At some point the only thing that is left is the sensation of deep breathing, everything else will be gone (like the Never Ending story, where the Imagination world has disappeared into nothing and only the consciousness of the boy is left). When you reach that point it is somewhat unnerving, so to check that I am still there I move an arm and start becoming aware of my body after which the sensation slowly disappears.

I also don't think it has anything to do with migraines, although the brain areas that are affected may be the same.

I think it is an experience that you are are conscious of the first phase of sleep, when you'd normally be unconscious. It must have something to do with the deep relaxation of your body, the shutting down of parts of your brain in preparation for sleep.

 

[Monique]

It sounds like lack of motion is a prerequisite. I take it you can't bring the sensation about by thinking about it when you are in motion.

Lack of motion is a prerequisite, but reading this tread (in utmost concentration) was able to induce the sensation. I could feel 'myself' shrinking, not my body but some consciousness, to a heavy point; much like to what was described. When I started to type the sensation disappeared. It's not so strong as you'd experience when lying in bed, but it was an interesting experience. Apparently I was able to 'recall' the feeling.

 

[Monique]

I tried to find some information on the internet. This is not the best website, but it does somewhat describe the phenomenon. It appears to be an out-of-body experience that occurs in a lucid dream at the direct transition between wakefulness and REM sleep.

http://www.lucidity.com/NL32.OBEandLD.html

Above we described our operating theory that OBEs occur
when people lose input from their sense organs, as happens at the
onset of sleep, while retaining consciousness. This combination
of events is especially likely when a person passes directly from
waking into REM sleep. In both states the mind is alert and
active, but in waking it is processing sensory input from the
outside world, while in dreaming it is creating a mental model
independent of sensory input.
..
The unusual feeling of leaving the body is exciting and
alarming. This, combined with the realistic imagery of the
bedroom is enough to account for the conviction of many OBE
experients' that "it was too real to be a dream." Dreams, too,
can be astonishingly real, especially if you are attending to
their realness.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Very nice, Monique and Moonbear.

I found a name that sounds like a good description, but again, probably not a good site. Although the same or similar to micro/macropsia described before, this, on whatever authority (not sure, sorry) mentions feelings other than purely visual, and also mentions a range of possible causes.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome - depersonalization, altered perceptions of body image, visual illusions, feelings of levitation, metamorphosia. The syndrome could occur as migraine aura, epilepsy (simple or complex partial epileptic seizures), also in hypnagogic, delirious states, encephalitis, cerebral lesions, drug intoxication, schizophrenia [21,22,23,24].
The name of the syndrome is derived from a character from Lewis Carroll's (C.L. Dodgson) novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).


http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=ENE2005053004171

Monique’s paper, was very fascinating, but also interesting that it didn’t mention NREM (and so, maybe, less of the condition of atonic REM, along the lines Monique mentioned), as Moonbear and this link have.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I've had the same sensation as well and tried to explain it to people, who thought I was insane for experiencing such a thing.

As said by several people in this thread, it starts when you're about to fall asleep, you feel like an enormous density that is being shrunk to a point in space and at the same time you feel like you are getting larger. It is like a disconnection of your body and brain.

It is not paralysis, since I am able to move during the experience, although that will disrupt the sensation (so I usually try to lay still to prolong the experience, it's so weird and beautiful at the same time).

As I described, I've had sleep paralysis four times, and used to have this "big and little at the same time" as a kid. The latter is completely different than the former, so I agree with you, it has nothing to do with sleep paralysis.

I don't think it is a dream, since I'm conscious of where I am and that I can move. I can be in the sensation, feel completely detached. At some point the only thing that is left is the sensation of deep breathing, everything else will be gone (like the Never Ending story, where the Imagination world has disappeared into nothing and only the consciousness of the boy is left). When you reach that point it is somewhat unnerving, so to check that I am still there I move an arm and start becoming aware of my body after which the sensation slowly disappears.

Yes, it's clearly not a dream. A more accurate term might be "proprioceptive hallucination". It happens in full awareness of yourself and the environment. Without thinking about it, a person operates on a certain "feel" for how much volume they have, how much space they take up. During these episodes my sense of how much volume I had seemed to tangibly inflate like a balloon. This wasn't an "idea" or "notion" but a physical sensation. I was somehow taking up way more space than usual while, paradoxically, remaining the same size as ever.

I could always move, was never paralyzed, but moving caused it to stop suddenly.

I also don't think it has anything to do with migraines, although the brain areas that are affected may be the same.

Migraine auras can happen anywhere in the brain. Moonbear's aura consists of the hallucination of the smell of cigarette smoke. Evo's aura consists of fascinating visual light displays. I would call the experiences of feeling simultaneously large and small Migraine auras if the neuronal activity behind them is the same as during a Migraine aura.

I think it is an experience that you are are conscious of the first phase of sleep, when you'd normally be unconscious. It must have something to do with the deep relaxation of your body, the shutting down of parts of your brain in preparation for sleep.

Yes, it never happened to me unless I was extremely relaxed. On the other hand I been extremely relaxed many times when it didn't happen.

Lack of motion is a prerequisite, but reading this tread (in utmost concentration) was able to induce the sensation. I could feel 'myself' shrinking, not my body but some consciousness, to a heavy point; much like to what was described. When I started to type the sensation disappeared. It's not so strong as you'd experience when lying in bed, but it was an interesting experience. Apparently I was able to 'recall' the feeling.

That's pretty interesting. I bet with practice you could do it more and more easily at will.

 

[tishamarie]

My 11 year old son is having this sensation now (the far away feeling, the big and small feeling, and his thoughts being loud in his head). It's causing a lot of stress for him and for us, he's getting to sleep very late at night and dragging in the morning. It doesn't matter how much exercise he's gotten during the day or how tired he is. We've enforced relaxation time a half hour before bed, watched his food intake, etc. Nothing helps. I remember having very similar sensations when I was his age. White noise made it worse. Eventually I outgrew it and it hasn't happened since. He's very disturbed by it and nothing he does seems to help. Has anyone really found a good explanation for this and a remedy? why does it seem to happen more to children?

 

[zoobyshoe]

My 11 year old son is having this sensation now (the far away feeling, the big and small feeling, and his thoughts being loud in his head). It's causing a lot of stress for him and for us, he's getting to sleep very late at night and dragging in the morning. It doesn't matter how much exercise he's gotten during the day or how tired he is. We've enforced relaxation time a half hour before bed, watched his food intake, etc. Nothing helps. I remember having very similar sensations when I was his age. White noise made it worse. Eventually I outgrew it and it hasn't happened since. He's very disturbed by it and nothing he does seems to help. Has anyone really found a good explanation for this and a remedy? why does it seem to happen more to children?

It's most likely migraine aura.

As I mentioned earlier, migraine is a four part syndrome: prodrome, aura, headache, postdrome. A person can have any of the four parts in isolation from the others. What that means is you can have migraine without ever having the headache. Neurologist Oliver Sacks, for example, has experienced migraine aura all his life without ever getting the migraine headache.

If you go to this page:

http://www.migraine-aura.org/content/e27891/e27265/e26585/e48971/e49032/index_en.html

You'll find a comprehensive list of possible migraine auras on the left hand side.

If it's chronic and becoming a problem I'd say take him to a neurologist. Myself and the other people in this thread only had it very occasionally, and it was never something that interfered with sleep to the extent it seems to be bothering your son.

 

[tishamarie]

Zoobyshoo...
I've been reading up on this a bit and it seems to fit in many ways. As I said, I had these same sensations around the same age. A few years later, the onset of migraines arrived for me and I've been a sufferer ever since...witout aura though. Several websites seem to state that children who experience this often become migraine sufferers in the future, especially when there is a family history, which I have a long one.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Zoobyshoo...
I've been reading up on this a bit and it seems to fit in many ways. As I said, I had these same sensations around the same age. A few years later, the onset of migraines arrived for me and I've been a sufferer ever since...witout aura though. Several websites seem to state that children who experience this often become migraine sufferers in the future, especially when there is a family history, which I have a long one.

I'd appreciate a link to one or two of those sites.

It's well known that Migraine runs in families, so that certainly makes it the prime suspect here. Since this is interfering with his sleep it's definitely time to see a doctor. I'd suggest a regular physical first with blood tests for sugar level problems, thyroid function, iron levels, all that stuff. If that all came back clear, then I'd see a neurologist.

 

[matthyaouw]

Thanks for digging this thread up. I have looked in vain tor it a couple of times. This is really interesting. I will look further into the migrane idea. I have not looked at the site in great detail but so far I haven't seen anything on there that quite matches. The experiences they recount seem to be in changes in size of real things- things they look at or themselves. For me, the bigsmall feeling hasn't (as far as I remember) ever been assoiated with a real object and only once with myself.


The time it was associated with myself & real positions was very odd. I had flu or similar and was feeling pretty horrible. I'd been for a nap and when I woke up it felt like the whole universe was facing a different direction. Sort of like- when I'm in a new place I subconciously make a little map of it as I explore, normally with a set of 'compass points'that align on easy to follow features like roads and that will be the way up I imagine the place after that when I'm thinking about getting from one place to another. Then if I see a map with the real north, the two won't marry up, I'll have to make sense of a new set of directions, a new frame of reference to understand wher I am and where I'm going. So it felt like this had happened with the whole universe. It had this new direction and I had to make sense of the whole universe or turn everything back bit by bit, and it would take me an eternity. I guess the universe and the time involved were the big and i was the small. I was fully conscious and it lasted probably an hour or more, even when I was up and walking around. Movement didn't break it, as often seems to be the case with other people's experiences. I could think clearly and rationalise it. I knew it was in 'in your head' kind of thing but that didn't help.

It was an odd one, but so far only a one-off. I probably sound nuts now, but oh well.

Three things that have cropped up here are:
-Movement normally stops it
-Control of it is sometimes possible
-Relaxation is important for it to happen

Are any of these true with many other mirgane symptoms I wonder. I shall have to look into this further.

 

[tishamarie]

A few links requested by Zoobyshoo:
http://medicana.blogspot.com/2009/02/alice-in-wonderland-syndrome.html
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/4/517
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=24174
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40025025/
http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/what-are-silent-migraines?page=2

Of course, I did not find the link I was mentioning before where it said this occurance could be a precursor in children of migraines to come...especially with family history.

Anyway, to Matthyaouw: For myself, what I remember as a kid wasn't so nearly as cut and dry as the big and small sensation of objects or my body. It was much more complicated to describe...sometimes with images of heavy objects and tiny objects together, a sort of overwhelming silence or overwhelming feeling if there was a fan running or something, weird spatial feelings, etc. Yes, I think a lot of these feelings are similar to the delerium of a fever now and then.
Now that I'm older, my migraines are always without aura. I'm not clear if you're asking if the three "remedies" you listed help with actual migraines? If so, the answer is no, although relaxation is definitely necessary for me if my medication is going to take effect.

 

[sas3]

Thanks everyone for all the replies to this thread and all the links. I have looked through most of them and it may have something to do with migraines but most of the links talk about having a part of your body feeling big and that is not the experience that I have, it has always been about inanimate objects like the tip of a pin or a dust particle that seems huge. I have always found the experience to pleasurable except for the one time when it got so powerful that actually scared me.

 

[tishamarie]

Sas3,
As I said, I used to experience this myself, and it wasn't particularly a big small thing. The tip of the pin thing you mention is farmiliar. It's extremely hard to remember and even back then difficult to explain in concrete terms. But I remember things in contrast like you mentioned. It was never pleasurable though.

 

[Averagesupernova]

I never have any cool sensations like these. :( I do recall having dreams where I am able to crawl through VERY tiny places. I'll walk into a room thinking it is a hallway but it turns out to be a dead end. There may be a small crack or hole in a corner like up at the ceiling or down towards the floor. As I get closer to look through either I get smaller or the hole gets larger. I'm not really sure which. I can recall this happening several times before I became aware of what it really was.
-
I DO have a strange sensation every now and then that I used to have a lot when I was a young teenager. If I'm sitting in a chair for instance, it feels like the floor is sloping down ahead of me. I don't lose balance or anything like that. It's not a sensation like a sloping seat or my feet are on an incline. It's just a 'feeling' that the floor slopes away from me. So am I the only weirdo here?

 

[Mk]

Being able to control this sensation sounds a bit like lucid dreaming in the waking life.

There has been good success with this thread, may I offer a second strange sensation?
Once, when I was very sick I would sit up in my chair and feel the sensation on every inch of my body of being pushed backward. I was of course, not moving, and there was no physical force lending a push. Has anyone else felt this sort of thing?

 

[fleem]

Good grief. All these years I thought it was just me that got this!

I started to grow out of it around 35-40 years old, and now I never get it (early fifties).

Its an unnerving experience and I'd have to think about something else, get up and drink some milk and read a book, etc. With me it was infinitesimal to infinitely large, at slightly faster than 1 Hz. Its not anything visual--just the thought of something (not necessarily myself) that toggles between infinite and infinitesimal. Getting something in my stomach almost always helped. Sometimes associated with that sensation (really, thought or impression--not sensation) was the thought of a sharp object/large needle embedded in the small of my back. Ain't the brain fascinating? It is loaded with feedback paths with gains and delays barely adjusted to prevent oscillation (usually). It seems neurons adjust their gain just below that threshold, ideally. Somehow keeping things barely below oscillation improves brain utility, I suppose--kinda like a regenerative radio receiver--makes it more sensitive and discriminating. Maybe a lot of simple thought processes can be accomplished by iteratively processing the data.

 

[schism]

I'm 51 and have asked people about this all my life. (in fact, I thought, did I start this thread and then forget about it?) It seems fairly common. For me it was vacillating between the two extremes of big and small, sometimes with the sensation of much complexity (someone's earlier mention of dirtiness) I "felt" the presence of many voices (although unintelligible and not exactly hearing) and an out of body experience like hovering above. I can still feel it if I think about it (even now) and movement does not disrupt it. I've had it while driving! It doesn't happen as frequently or intensely anymore. But there have been plenty of lesser incidents.

Mostly, these are a disconnect between head and hands. I look at my hands, feel them and they are working but they do not feel like a part of me. But also as feeling like I am hovering just a foot or so above my body. As a child, I had out of body experiences and other visual hallucinations in a fever delirium, and tried to do OBE through my teens and twenties with no luck.

I do get frequent headaches although I have never been diagnosed with migraines (I don't think they are that severe) but very long lasting. No other visual disturbances other than "seeing" little vibrating and flashing dots that are infinitely small against the sky or a blank wall at all times.

 

[Rusalke]

I used to have exactly the same thing as a kid now and then: big and little at the same time. I thought it was weird, but it also felt cool, and I would try to encourage it once it started, but that would wreck it.

Anyway, it's a Migraine Aura.

You may object that you don't get Migraines, but Migraine is actually a four part syndrome, and a person can have any of the four parts in the absence of the other:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=305792
As Mentor Evo attests in that thread, a person can have Migraine auras without ever having had a Migraine headache. (But maybe you have have the headaches at some other time.)


Here's a description from a Migraine site:


http://www.migraine-aura.org/content/e27891/e27265/e26585/e43013/e46075/index_en.html

It seems to happen to people at any time, not just when lying down on the verge of sleep:



Descriptions of other body-image disturbances during Migraine aura:

http://www.migraine-aura.org/content/e27891/e27265/e26585/e43013/e46067/index_en.html

Sense of body position and location in space is processed in the parietal lobes of the brain so this is most likely some migraine activity in one or both of those lobes.

did you ever experience this when you were experiencing any kind of stress? Also, dd any images come to mind when it was happening?

 

[Moonbear]

I'm 51 and have asked people about this all my life. (in fact, I thought, did I start this thread and then forget about it?) It seems fairly common. For me it was vacillating between the two extremes of big and small, sometimes with the sensation of much complexity (someone's earlier mention of dirtiness) I "felt" the presence of many voices (although unintelligible and not exactly hearing) and an out of body experience like hovering above. I can still feel it if I think about it (even now) and movement does not disrupt it. I've had it while driving! It doesn't happen as frequently or intensely anymore. But there have been plenty of lesser incidents.

Mostly, these are a disconnect between head and hands. I look at my hands, feel them and they are working but they do not feel like a part of me. But also as feeling like I am hovering just a foot or so above my body. As a child, I had out of body experiences and other visual hallucinations in a fever delirium, and tried to do OBE through my teens and twenties with no luck.

I do get frequent headaches although I have never been diagnosed with migraines (I don't think they are that severe) but very long lasting. No other visual disturbances other than "seeing" little vibrating and flashing dots that are infinitely small against the sky or a blank wall at all times.

Go see a neurologist or psychiatrist. These can be symptoms of a neurological disorder (not just migraines...we have too many people here who would like to push their own pet diagnosis on everyone here, but are not qualified to make any diagnosis, and should not be making any diagnosis anyway).

 

[sas3]

I have gone through all the links and it seems like this is what I have been experiencing however for me it doesn’t seem to be associated with anybody parts getting bigger/smaller.
It more of an illusion of a thing such as a speck of dust or small pebble that seem very large or the point of a pin that is holding back some incredibly large force.
I have never had the headaches associated with this, but do have the pulsing sensation and an increased sensitivity to sound and light at times.
I do find the experience quite enjoyable and it doesn’t seem be brought on by any type of stress.

Thanks again for all the replies and comments.

 

[bcbg]

I used to get the shrinking/expanding sensation as a kid. Basically, it feels like you're going from tiny and dense to large and light. Almost like a throbbing, but not in the physical sense. It's nearly impossible to describe. I think that it's probably quite common, but few people have actually felt concerned (or articulate) enough to try to research it. It's like trying to describe a color to a blind person. It took me several failed attempts at googling to find something that I felt best fit my experience.

 

[whs]

Hey! I thought I was the only one that felt like this at random times at night. Happens more if I go to bed drunk.

 

[stsolid]

I can't believe i finally found someone who knows what I've been tryin to explain for years now.I get the same big and small phenomenon.I also feel like time is moving frame by frame.it stays with me even if i get up and move around and i also can make it re-occur.it feels similar to some sort of obe but there is no snapping back sensation and is a more subtle feeling.it happened much more when i was a child also and i could will it by thinking about it before i went to sleep.thank you so much for helping describe this and any more descriptions would maybe help us figure this thing out finally as it is very hard to describe.everyone I've told about this don't understand and looks at me like I am crazy.

 

[sas3]

Welcome to the Physics Forums STSOLID, what did you do a search for to find this thread?
I know what you mean by saying that everyone looks at you like you are crazy when describing this sensation.
If you haven’t already take a look at some of the links about Migraine Aura in the replies above.

 

[FredericGos]

OH MY GOD!

I've been on this forum for a long time browsing treads etc. How come I never saw this!?

When I was around 8-9, I started to have a reccuring dream. It was basically me walking around what can best be described as a desert. All sounds and movement felt exagerated and I felt some kind of pulse. A bit like when your heart beat increases, allthough my heart was beating normally. At the time, after some month of dreaming this 2-3 times a week, I described the feeling to my mother, but she could not understand. After a couple more month I started to experience this feeling while fully awake. That scared me a lot I remember. It scared me to the point that I started not wanting to go to bed because I was afraid of having the dream...

So, for a long time in my childhood, I had this. I can say yes to many of the descriptions in the thread (small/big, exagerated noises, etc). I eventually learned to live with it.

At the age around 20 the dreaming stopped and I haven't had the dream ever since. But I still get the feeling once in a while. Often it is when I can't fall asleep, get up again to drink some milk or something, then go back to bed. boom. It starts and lasts for 5 minutes or so. Normally it is quite a disturbing feeling, especially if I lay still in my bed. When the feeling doenst stop after some minutes, I usually get up again to move around. (movement seems to dampen it)

These days this happens to me 5-10 times a year or so. I am 43 now and I know its not something dangerous. So sometimes, when it happens, I try to analyse what I feel and find an explanation. Thats why I learned that the pulse sensation is not my heart beating faster.
Last time it happened, I noticed that my vision also gets a bit distorted. I immediately concluded that what I am actually seeing is the quantum fluctuation of space. ;)

For all my life, I never found anybody who understood this, and then I see this thread :)
Nice to know I am not the only one out there.

br
Frederic