Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Neurology (Expert Forum)
Flashes of light and sound upon falling asleep
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury.
Flashes of light and sound upon falling asleep
by Melinda__0__0, Aug 06, 1998 12:00AM
My husband occasionally experiences odd sensations upon falling asleep.
My guess is that what he is experiencing are occipital or temporal lobe
seizures. He describes a sensation where he is at the point of falling
asleep, and he suddenly sees flashes of light that he describes as
"sparks", in addition, there is an auditory sensation of a squeeky grinding
type noise. I believe that he also once mentioned having a metallic taste
in his mouth at that point. Once this starts, he says that he can wake
himself up at this point, but that to do so takes considerable effort.
The occurance of these episodes is increased when he sleeps with his head
completely alligned with his body, and decreased when he sleeps with his
head tilted to the right. These episodes happen only at night, and he can
sleep in any position for a nap during the day without incident. He has
had these symptoms since age 14. He is age 25 now. The frequency of this
occurance has decreased to probably about once monthly, although I don't
know the original frequency. We are both graduate students working on
degree's in physiology, and are therefore rather poor and uninsured. If
this situation is quite urgently serious, we will attempt to find an
excellent neurologist immediately. However my husband will be employed
this fall at a community college where we will have HMO type insurance.
Am I even on the right track thinking that this is some form of epilepsy?
And will waiting, and using HMO doctors most likely be sufficient, or is
treating this type of condition urgent and specialized? I would value the
personal opinion of any responding doctor, and therefore release you from
any liability should I follow your advice. Thank you so much for your
interest and service!
or should we use our limited resources to consult
-======================================================================
Dear Melinda:
It seems that your husband's symptoms are what we call Hypnagogic hallucinations (sleep onset dreams).
These are phenomena that occur usually at sleep onset. At times they are associated with excessive day time sleepiness, sleep paralysis and drop attacks (Cataplexy), making the diagnosis of narcolepsy. I do not know if what you describe as taking time to move is because he can't move or because he is still sleepy.
If he has any one of the other symptoms, therefore the diagnosis of Narcolepsy becomes a possibility.
Considering the possibility of seizures, it can't be ruled out based on what you described. If there is no shaking, loss of consciousness, history of severe head trauma, family history of seizures, history of childhood febrile convulsions, among others, seizures become unlikely but can't be fully ruled out without EEG recordings.
A Neurological consultation may be needed at certain point. Certainly, the consultation becomes urgent if he has loss of consciousness, convulsive movemnets, tongue biting, urine incontinence.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Good luck
My guess is that what he is experiencing are occipital or temporal lobe
seizures. He describes a sensation where he is at the point of falling
asleep, and he suddenly sees flashes of light that he describes as
"sparks", in addition, there is an auditory sensation of a squeeky grinding
type noise. I believe that he also once mentioned having a metallic taste
in his mouth at that point. Once this starts, he says that he can wake
himself up at this point, but that to do so takes considerable effort.
The occurance of these episodes is increased when he sleeps with his head
completely alligned with his body, and decreased when he sleeps with his
head tilted to the right. These episodes happen only at night, and he can
sleep in any position for a nap during the day without incident. He has
had these symptoms since age 14. He is age 25 now. The frequency of this
occurance has decreased to probably about once monthly, although I don't
know the original frequency. We are both graduate students working on
degree's in physiology, and are therefore rather poor and uninsured. If
this situation is quite urgently serious, we will attempt to find an
excellent neurologist immediately. However my husband will be employed
this fall at a community college where we will have HMO type insurance.
Am I even on the right track thinking that this is some form of epilepsy?
And will waiting, and using HMO doctors most likely be sufficient, or is
treating this type of condition urgent and specialized? I would value the
personal opinion of any responding doctor, and therefore release you from
any liability should I follow your advice. Thank you so much for your
interest and service!
or should we use our limited resources to consult
-======================================================================
Dear Melinda:
It seems that your husband's symptoms are what we call Hypnagogic hallucinations (sleep onset dreams).
These are phenomena that occur usually at sleep onset. At times they are associated with excessive day time sleepiness, sleep paralysis and drop attacks (Cataplexy), making the diagnosis of narcolepsy. I do not know if what you describe as taking time to move is because he can't move or because he is still sleepy.
If he has any one of the other symptoms, therefore the diagnosis of Narcolepsy becomes a possibility.
Considering the possibility of seizures, it can't be ruled out based on what you described. If there is no shaking, loss of consciousness, history of severe head trauma, family history of seizures, history of childhood febrile convulsions, among others, seizures become unlikely but can't be fully ruled out without EEG recordings.
A Neurological consultation may be needed at certain point. Certainly, the consultation becomes urgent if he has loss of consciousness, convulsive movemnets, tongue biting, urine incontinence.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Good luck
Member Comments
by loriwd, Jul 04, 2009 10:53PM
A related discussion, sound in head as falling asleep was started.
