Head rush when falling asleep?

[NeMH]

Ok...ive had this sypmtom for a while but I never really posted about it and it had gone away but has just come back so here goes:

Basically sometimes I will get extremely tired and when I lay down to go sleep....just as I am about to "drop off" I would get a huge headrush that would start in the head but proceed all through my body.

Sometimes it feels like an adrenalin rush, sometimes like a postural hypotension head rush and other times completely different. And obviously it sort of jolts me awake....I usually get it 2-3 times before I get used to it and then eventually sleep. Or if its during the day I would usually wake and then continue feeling light-headed for the rest of the day. This used to happen almost every other day a year ago...but recently its like once a month.

I am 20, average weight, not on any meds, non-smoker, non-drinker, non caffiene-drinker, non-drug taker. I dont take much exercise at the moment. And thats about it. ps: Im asking because I just had one of the worst "rushes" so wanted some reassurance.

Thanks,

[elin_g]

I get it too and it used to really scare me when it happened. Sometimes I have an overwhelming negative, worried feeling which lasts for ages and I would wake up in sweats. It started when I went to uni and I could hear the girl in the room next to me and her boyfriend fighting and i was really worried about it. Sometimes when I don't fight it, it feels more intense. Also when I get it in my sleep I regularly think that I'm shouting and screaming and it feels really real and it's such a relief when I realize that everything's OK. I have also started dreaming that when I'm shouting and screaming in my sleep that my parents come in worried about me and try to restrain me. It's starting to get really annoying and like always is really not a nice experience. I think i really need to change my lifestyle. less coffee, alcohol and try a more regular sleeping pattern. Obviously it's a horrible thing but it is nice to hear that other people get this too, thought I was going mad! definitely feels like your mind is awake but your body's asleep! In answer to eddiekingol's comment about doing some sort of survey i would be very interested to find out what could be causing this. Also, I would agree that alcohol helps when actually going to sleep but probably long term alcohol intake isn't good for it. I drink a fair bit of alcohol, caffeine and have very irregular sleeping patterns so i imagine i'm not helping myself much.

[bullzeye82]

i also get this feeling, only googled it tonight becoz its happend last night and im actually scared of going to sleep tonight incase it happens again, like you say its like a head rush, for me, i can normally feel it building up just as im about to drop off to sleep, as its building i try and kick myself out of it, by moving my hand, or feet, then usually it stops it, till i drop off again, this happens about 4-5 times before i finally fall asleep, but last night was different, i couldent feel it building up , there for i couldent do anything about it, it just came all over a sudden, reaaly heavy head rush, it was like BAM and i was innit, couldent do anything for a few secs, then i managed to kkick my feet and get out of it.

its really bad, but lookin at this thread im not alone, i also thought i was mad, its really hard to explain,

im really nervous about sleeping tonight, i hope it doesent happen agin

[eddiekingol]

I too have very similar symptoms as most of you.  I have been reading everything the internet has to offer.  I would love to do a "study" to see if there is something we all have in common that could be the cause.  I am pretty sure anxiety could be the simple answer. But what if we are all taking the same medicine or something, that could be effecting it. Or maybe we are all vitamin D deficient (just an example).  If you are interested in getting to the bottom of this, let me know and I may set up a survey.  ***@****

[jg942]

I had a similar problem that started about 30 years ago. I went to bed one night and started to drift off to sleep very quickly. As I was almost asleep it felt like a surge of blood, adrenaline or electricity into my head. It felt like it hit the inside of my  forehead. In fact when I continued to have bad ones the inside of my forehead felt sore which doesn't really make much sense (I didn't think you could feel anything there). It also sometimes
felt like I had stopped breathing. It was very frightening and it got worse the more I tried to sleep. I eventually got to sleep but I had bad attacks for the next few nights. The attacks continued but at lesser strength for about 6 years and I still get them from time to time. I found that the only thing that helped was rest. This included trying to sleep in the afternoon or evening so I wouldn't be overtired when I tried to sleep at night. Of course I sometimes experienced it when attempting to sleep at these times.  

I sought medical advice but the doctors prescribed all sorts of sleeping
medications all of which made it worse. I also got sent to three different psychiatrists. A neurologist told me I was 'depressed but didn't know it'. He prescribed anti-depressants. These made it worse just like everything else.

I still get the attacks from time to time and I know noboby will like me saying this but I think alcohol helps.

[tuffluck]

BTW, I found this information through a google search, suggesting sleep apnea:

I am a sleep lab technician and your condition does sound like apnea. I think one of two things could be happening. You may either have apneic episodes only with sleep onset (beginning of sleep) or you only notice them with sleep onset and sleep through the rest of them. I see it all the time. I have patients who wake up choking the first few minutes they are asleep then they usually sleep the rest of the night (most with continued apnea, some without).

Since going to the doctor is out of the question right now, the only thing I can suggest is purchasing a pulse oximeter and having someone watch it while you are asleep. They are kind of pricey, yet still cheaper than going to a sleep lab. The pulse oximeter is a probe that sits on your finger or ear and monitors your oxygen saturation levels. If you have sleep apnea, your oxygen levels should rise and fall repeatedly throughout the night. Although, this will be a good indicator, the only way to truly know if you have it (or what type you have) is to have a sleep study done.

[tuffluck]

Originally I thought it was related to vertigo or sleep apnea.  I also have OCD and have thought that it could be related to a lack of serotonin, which some others have hinted to as well.  I am in my 20s and I had it about 5 years ago for 2 weeks or so and literally could not ever fall asleep for more than an hour during that time.  It has just returned again, which prompted the google search.  Described in-depth:

As with most people, as soon as I drop off into unconsciousness, I get extremely dizzy and I am not breathing well.  Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to “snap out” of the sleep and open my eyes, and I feel extremely dizzy then.  Usually after that I breathe intensely, then try to sleep again.  The closer this happens before I completely fall asleep, the less intense.  If I finally fall asleep and wake up a few hours later from this, it is usually a much worse head rush/dizzy feeling.  I have had this happen so badly that I could not move or go to work the next morning due to nausea.  Ironically, when it happened today, I had a nightmare while asleep, where I dreamed I was in my dining room in the dark and someone I know (either me or my girlfriend) was standing right behind me, and when I turned to push them away from me they disappeared.  It was a huge head rush and I had a hard time snapping out of sleep and was not breathing.  Not a scary sounding dream, but it was truly frightening as an experience.  Afterwards I tried to fall asleep and kept getting the rushes as I dropped off, so knew exactly what it was.  I really wish it had been JUST a nightmare…

I’m not really sure what it is even after reading all of this.  Too bad no doctors visit or post on these types of boards, because this seems to be pretty common.  The only thing that I experience that doesn’t seem common for most people is dizziness.  Does anyone else have that feeling?  Have any of you ever gone to the doctor about it and gotten a fairly good response?