seeing spiders

[Jenn1507]

I have been having this experience for many years.  I can't call it a dream b/c I am wide awake when it happens.  I will go to sleep and wake up to see a spider on my pillow, bed, wall ect... This can happen in the middle of the day (during a nap) or at night in bed.  At first this was a very scary feeling b/c it only happened about once every six months but this past year it has increased to about once every 2 weeks- a month.  In the past I would scream "spider"-waking my husband in a panic and ripping all the covers off of the bed but now I just point to the spider and try to show him that it is there and it runs away and slowly fades away.  It doesn't frighten me anymore, I just want to know if there is a medical reason for this or if this is common?  Do I need to see a specialist?  Please help!

[Sammie4258]

I am not a specialist however, I can tell you for sure that there is an eye condition that manifests itself by way of appearing as though you are seeing a spider. This can cause some serious blindness if not taken care of.  I have a lot of neurological problems and I also see a spider looking things our of the corner of my eye,  Start googling glaucoma and some eye and visual distrurbance conditions,. YOu really need to see an opthamologist. And then a neurologist. If no help there, perhaps there is a phobia or something that is manefesting in an unusual way.  Meds can also cause some of these (Hallucinations) things. I am not saying you are losing it i am just saying tht meds can do some really funky things to us.  I recently went on cymbalta.  I started seeing flashes of cats sitting on my daughters bed.  As soon as I went off the cymbalta, it stopped,  Not everyone reacts to meds the same way either.   Please go get your eyes checked by a specialist.  
good luck and let us know what you find out.  

[KatEyes]

In addition to seeing an opthamologist, consider if you could possibly have sleep apnea. I have a friend who used to wake up seeing big spiders on the wall, and turns out her oxygen dropped so low the hypoxia was causing hallucinations.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

This is a visual hallucination which could be due to sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a condition where there is a partial paralysis of the skeletal muscle accompanied with visual or auditory hallucinations which can be very scary.
I would suggest you to consult a good specialist and undergo a sleep study. Sleep study will help in making an exact diagnosis.

[Sammie4258]

interesting.  I have skeletal muscular problems. and sleep issues too.  My sleep study came out tht I was not getting into stage 3 & 4.  I have hd two sleep studies done.  the first one said sleep apnea. the second just showed no stage 3 and 4. I sometimes see spiders or black spots on the walls. I recently have been having some breathing problems with seizures. I thought my problems was with visual.  Thanks Doc. something to consider.  

[Happy2girls]

OMG!  I can't believe that I stumbled on this post.  I have been seeing spiders in my sleep since I was a child.  Usually they decend from the ceiling or they are on my pillow.  I was also a sleep walker when I was young and most episodes were due to me seeing spiders (according to my parents and siblings).  I am an arachniphobe though.  I have also experienced sleep paralysis with hallucinations...very, very scary as it always involves either the spiders or a shadowy figure walking around the room and I can't move or talk.  These things still occur although infrequently and usually when I am stressed or not sleeping well due to insomnia.  It's interesting that I am not the only one who sees spiders.    

[Zthomas]

Look at my answer to to this question on page five of answers. Its lengthy and my spelling is all messed up but I'd like to know your opinion

[Sammie4258]

Is Medhelp awesome or what!!!!There are so many people in the world, yet we all have at least one thing in common.  Issues.   :o)

[Jenn1507]

Thank you for all of your help and medhelp is awesome.
I noticed that I see the spiders more when I'm stressed as well~interesting~ I will get a sleep study done just to rule out any potential problems.  I will let you know the outcome.

[Zthomas]

Look at my answer to to this question on page five of answers. Its lengthy and my spelling is all messed up but I'd like to know your opinion

[remar]

medhelp is awsome! i also see spiders or spots sometimes. a couple of times i've seem a web like thing coming from the ceiling and covering my husband. i've also woke up to a sphere (spelling?) in the corner of the room and as i woke up more it went away. these all happen when my anxiety is sky high so i figured that's what it must be from. remar

[twinkeltoes_cat]

Ahhh, I'm so happy I'm not the only one!
I've woken up suddenly in the night ever since I was little to see a spider in my bed and it runs down to the side till I can't see it or under the covers. It doesn't happen that often and hadn't happened for a while apart from last night when it happened in my bed, then when I went into my mums it happened again, there was no way the spider followed me so I realised id imagined it or something. I told my mum, she thinks its nothing serious, is she right or is there something wrong with me??? Hazel x

[Zthomas]

Look at my answer to to this question on page five of answers. Its lengthy and my spelling is all messed up but I'd like to know your opinion

[uplandlady]

For the last month or so I have been having the same thing you mentioned. Every morning when I wake I see a large spider sitting on the corner of my bed. It runs down the side of the bed and it I can't find it. I hit it with shoes, nothing on shoe. I sprayed bug spray right on it and poof, its not there.  At first I thought they were real and I freaked out. I made my husband put a cover on the box spring, put all different kinds of insect killers in the bedroom. After a month of trying to find a spiders den I came the conclusion that I'm seeing things. I stopped trying to kill it but it is still there every morning. This morning there was a small one crawling towards me when I woke. I decided to get brave and I hit it with my hand. Needless to say it wasn't real. This has made me wonder if I'm losing my mind or what. I have been under a lot of stress lately and I take meds. I'm trying not to freak to much but just can't tell everyone about this.   Sandra

[mysterymoonshine]

I have a recurring dream/hallucination too about a spider on my pillow.  I wake up to see it only a few inches from my face and usually leap up and throw my pillow off the bed.  This happened a lot a few years ago but not recently, until today!  I used to work with a community mental health team and the psychiatrist said that next time I see it on the pillow try to just say "hello spider" and it will go away.  This is what worked last time, although it took courage and I had to stop myself responding automatically.  As it was a few years ago, I forgot all that today when I saw one.  I dozed off and woke suddenly just staring at it, and threw my pillow off the bed!  I'm disappointed that it's happening again and wonder why.

[CheshireSmiles]

I have been experiencing this too, although not quite as frequently and it only began a year or so ago. The first time, I leant over the side of my bed in the middle of the night and saw a frightfully large spider scuttling under my bed. I leapt out and called for my parents who couldn't find anything no matter how hard they looked. The second time was almost a year later, I saw one on the wall behind my bed, but, after throwing the covers off and rushing to the other side of the room, I could no longer see it. The most recent time was just this morning, where I saw a reasonably small spider crawling towards me across my duvet. This is only around 3 months after the previous time, so it seems to be getting more frequent.
I noticed a lot of people mentioned it being more common when they're stressed, which I suppose would fit with me too... interesting. It's a relief to know that other people are seeing them though, haha, I thought I was going crazy.

[IAMHOTuKNOWit]

Ok. I've been experiencing something similar. I don't see the spider, but sometimes I thnk that everytime I reach for my coffee cup in the morning a giant red spider will be inside of it and I then, picture it crawling on my hand, which then, causes me to look for it in my cup. I had an incidenct before the coffee cup, where I thought I saw the spider go behind the dishwasher. I had a true incident where my boyfriend was driving and a spider was on the inside roof of the car, he killed it. I think I may be overly paranoid. As a child, I used to run to my bed because I was afraid of shadows at night.

[bdazzled12]

IM IN MY 20'S AND FOR RGE LAST YEAR, I HAVE BEEN AWAKEN BY SEEING A SPIDER ON MY WALL A HUGE ONE AT THAT. IT SCARES ME AND I ALWAYS GET UP AND CHECK BEHIND ME. I'VE BEEN WEARING CONTACTS SINCE JUNIOR HIGH I VISIT THE EYE DICTIR ONCE A YEAR SO I DONT REALLY KNOW WHERE THESE ILLUSIONS ARE COMING FROM.

[aka192]

I'm twelve and last night I woke up and saw a spider on a web like dangling from the ceiling, and my mum had just come in to check on me at the time and I freaked out! I stood up strait away and started pointing at it and she looked at me like I as crazy, it scared me a lot because I'm terrified of spiders. Also I have started hearing footsteps around my house and some one breathing and it really scares me, I can't sleep!:( anyone got any answers?

[swq]

I think most peoples judgements are wrong. It is interesting that the net exist to ask these questions. I think seeing spiders is a illusion brought about by its relation to something in the brain or eyes that is spider like. Ive seen webs as well, its no hallucination as thats never happened to me. Its not pink elephants or Harvey the rabbit. Also, why not flies, or ants? I see spiders in that in between or waking state and It must be 1 of two things since others do too. The brain network and eyes spread out and transmit thru a system that is spider like so at that moment the brain creates the image as a visual representation of that network.  The only other thing it could be is a Star Trek or Spirtual moment where you can see something that exisit in a dimension outside our own, but thats for the dreamers.

[DJ50]

I've also experienced seeing spiders. Every now & then its a huge spider dangling from his web directly over my bed coming towards me.  at other times,there appears to be a large amount of small spiders crawling on the wall close to the ceiling. I'm not sleep, but usually just waking.  At first it was scarey, but now I know that they are not real, so they eventually disappear. I don't know if its the medication I am taking or difficulty getting to sleep & remaining asleep for the night.

[strangesensations27]

My spiders are upon waking. They are like black daddy long legs, in a cluster, squiggling around moving along the wall or up above me and they move away. At first I was scared, but now I know they're not real and it interests me to see them now. If you focus on them, that's when they sort of start to vanish, but you can bring them back a few times if you reset your eyes, they sort of start all over. I'm not afraid of them, but I would like to know if this is a symptom of something wrong. Visual or neurological.  

[mystica11]

This morning was the second time that I have awakened to seeing a large black spider (the size of my hand) crawl across the floor and under a table.  As I was watching it, the thoughts that were going through my mind, was that this is not real. What is causing this to happen? I am one of the MANY uninsured people of this great country of ours, so i'm not sure what to do.  

[sam994]

often I wake up in the early hours of the morning ( and I am awake)  and I  see a black shadow and when I focus its a spider and it moves like a spider but its to big to be a 'real' one when it moves to much I shut my eyes n then check and its gone only to appear again when I open my eyes later. I have also seen other things but mainly these black taratular like spiders. im not crazy or on any medication.  i think if we know these not to be real the consequences of a 'cure'could be worse.  When I see them now i just think to myself 'go away your just my imagination runing away with me'...literatly but sleep is not someting i look forward to.

[Tinkerbell377]

Wow - I can't believe there are other people out there with the same problem!  These are exactly the same symptoms I have.  It happens only when I wake up, it's always only one spider but the spider can be as big as a watermelon or just a regular size.  A huge spider may be climbing down the wall towards me, coming down a web over my bed or coming across the pillowcase towards me.  I am definitely not asleep - I've even taken time to turn on the light beside the bed, wake up my husband and its still there!!  But once I've starred at it for a while or (lately) been brave enough to reach to squash it, I realize it's not real, it's not actually there.  I guess this is a temporary hallucination (?) Anyway, nice to know we're not alone.  

[Bellaxx]

I have had this happen twice. My mum, was staying with me told me this happened to her one the night before, a glowing green spider crawling on the celling. As mums is schizophrenic(medicated), I disregarded it. The next night I woke up with the same vision. I thought it might be like a psychological suggestive thing ?. Fast forward 3 years, The same thing happened yesterday morning on waking, wasn't talking to anyone about it or thinking of spiders. It wasn't glowing green this time lol. I have had sleep paralysis once and that was scary. I am curious as to  what is going on in my brain circuitry???

[Bellaxx]

I have had this happen twice. My mum, was staying with me told me this happened to her one the night before, a glowing green spider crawling on the celling. As mums is schizophrenic(medicated), I disregarded it. The next night I woke up with the same vision. I thought it might be like a psychological suggestive thing ?. Fast forward 3 years, The same thing happened yesterday morning on waking, wasn't talking to anyone about it or thinking of spiders. It wasn't glowing green this time lol. I have had sleep paralysis once and that was scary. I am curious as to  what is going on in my brain circuitry???

[Doodle2031]

I came across this because I am curious why all of a sudden I see a spider  every now and then as I am waking up.  I have been wearing contacts since I was 12 and see the eye dr every year too.  I don't believe it is a medical condition.  I watch the spider fade away into the wall, so I know it's not real.  I really believe it is my subconscious trying to tell me something... I just don't know what.  When I am stressed or in a bad relationship I dreamed of tornado's chasing me.  I am very happy and in a great relationship... the only thing is, a co-worker killed himself about 10 months ago... and this all started after he died.  We weren't close, like do things outside of work... but we talked and tried to help each other with problems.  If these spiders are related to it, I feel you would of had the same experience???  let me know, thanks

[Zthomas]

Look at my answer to to this question on page five of answers. Its lengthy and my spelling is all messed up but I'd like to know your opinion