Health question

[Blastfrog]

I'm not worried about this (but maybe I should be), but I was curious what you guys think of this.

I haven't been getting good enough sleep as of late, and I've started to get some very odd sensations in my head. The best way I can describe it is it feels like dizziness in liquid form rushing through my brain in short bursts, often in quick succession, while I hear some high pitched noise each wave of it. This has been happening more and more frequently and severely over the past couple of days.

I also crashed into sleep somewhat recently, and I woke up a while later, still somehow being asleep at the same time, finding it extremely difficult to breathe, no matter hard I tried to get myself to wake up to breathe. I could only breathe very slowly. As I said, I'm somewhat certain that I was still asleep, but somehow aware of it, trying to make myself wake up. After much struggling, I managed to wake myself up just enough to start consciously breathing normally again.

I should note that my lungs are perfectly healthy and that I've never had any problems with them. I think it was my brain that was somehow not controlling them properly, only being able to do so when I woke up enough. After that, it was incredibly easy to breathe.

[Technician]

Sodaholic said:

I also crashed into sleep somewhat recently, and I woke up a while later, still somehow being asleep at the same time, finding it extremely difficult to breathe, no matter hard I tried to get myself to wake up to breathe. I could only breathe very slowly. As I said, I'm somewhat certain that I was still asleep, but somehow aware of it, trying to make myself wake up. After much struggling, I managed to wake myself up just enough to start consciously breathing normally again.

When you reach a certain point of exhaustion, your body will sleep even when your brain is awake. I've had times where I've tried to wake up but my body wouldn't cooperate. Your body is in a resting phase (your heart and respiratory slows down) but your head knows it should be more active than it is.

I'd get it checked out (if you're an American, I'm sorry).

[DoomUK]

Sodaholic said:

I haven't been getting good enough sleep as of late

I'm not a doctor and I can't say whether this isn't something more serious, but try and get into a better sleep pattern or at least figure out why you aren't getting enough of it. Stuff on your mind? Eating late at night? Sleep getting interrupted all the time? Uncomfortable bed? Too hot? Too cold?

But yeah, go and see someone who practices in medicine for some proper advice.

[Phml]

How old are you? The dizziness you describe could be just blood moving in your head, which is typically something people can start feeling in their early twenties. Same goes for your slow breathing in half-sleep. Those are things that just start to happen but don't present real risk. I know it freaked me too when it started happening to me, we tend to take health for granted and think people just move one day from young and fine to old and senile, then the reality of a gradual decline settles in.

The high-pitched noise sounds a bit more unusual and possibly troublesome. Besides, that's not to say the other things you describe couldn't be something as equally important. Definitely consult as soon as you can. Could be nothing, but just as well it could be early tinnitus for example, and that's the kind of pathology you can treat much better if you spot it quick.

[printz]

I get dizziness, and feel like I'm dead for a few seconds (while standing upright), and sometimes hear high-pitched sounds, when I rise from the chair or bed suddenly. It may be something to do with my low blood pressure, but nothing big. Seems like I need iron. Sometimes I get nauseous if I exaggerate (such as suddenly working out and straining) and am in big need of soda (heh) to cure it.

As for Sodaholic's difficulty waking up: isn't that sleep paralysis? From others' descriptions, also nothing big, just a nuisance and a source of nightmares (you're half-awake/half-dreaming, you're both conscious and dreaming, you're panicking so it becomes a waking nightmare) if they're not used to them.

[Krispy]

printz said:

I get dizziness, and feel like I'm dead for a few seconds (while standing upright), and sometimes hear high-pitched sounds, when I rise from the chair or bed suddenly.

That sounds like a common head rush. It's blood draining from your head. All you can do is maybe move around more or stand up slower.

[Aliotroph?]

Make sure you stay hydrated (anything with caffeine or alcohol doesn't count). I find that helps with head weirdness.

[Creaphis]

printz said:

Sometimes I get nauseous if I exaggerate

You must not have the necessary enzymes to digest hyperbole.

[Vordakk]

In order to fully address the question you asked, we(or better yet a doctor) will need more data. Like your diet, exercise patterns, sleep patterns, daily routine, and other stimuli that make up your day-to-day life. Personally, I've had battles with insomnia before, and they vanished once I aligned my Circadian rhythms and started getting to bed around 11:30pm or 12:00pm. When the sun comes up, the light is a trigger for your brain to wake up. Also, be aware of what you do right before you go to bed. Gaming on a computer has been shown to produce insomnia for a number of reasons, but two of the big ones are increased brain activity due to hand-eye coordination and reflexes required to play, and the blue light emitted from the monitor which simulates daylight in the human brain. And obviously stuff like rigorous exercise and caffeine are gonna keep you up if you partake in them right before bed. Also, keep your clock out of view when you sleep. The urge to keep checking it is a stressor, and stress will keep you awake.

Or this whole thing could have less to do with insomnia and more to do with being in poor health, or perhaps you have a condition unbeknownst to you which is manifesting itself as the symptoms you described. Like said before, without all the info no one here can make an informed call.

Good luck.

[AndrewB]

Sodaholic said:

I also crashed into sleep somewhat recently, and I woke up a while later, still somehow being asleep at the same time, finding it extremely difficult to breathe, no matter hard I tried to get myself to wake up to breathe. I could only breathe very slowly. As I said, I'm somewhat certain that I was still asleep, but somehow aware of it, trying to make myself wake up. After much struggling, I managed to wake myself up just enough to start consciously breathing normally again.

What you're experiencing is sleep paralysis. It's pretty common and nothing to be concerned about. It's a mismatch between the conscious states of your mind and body, and it's basically the inverse of the state that sleepwalkers are in. Essentially, your mind wakes up before your body does. When your body is asleep, you have no conscious control over your basic motor skills like breathing, moving, opening your eyes, etc. The reasons for this should be pretty obvious. This explains the sense of panic you felt when you couldn't breathe. There was no real need to panic, though. You were breathing very slowly because that's all your body needs when you're resting and your HR is very low.

I've experienced sleep paralysis many times. I know that you want to escape that state as quickly as possible, and I've learned what works and doesn't work.

What doesn't work is trying to forcibly open your eyes / move your limbs / get up or whatever. When you realize that you're in sleep paralysis, your instincts might be to remain calm and try to wake up while ignoring the sense of terror that is overcoming you. It might feel like you're able to move very, very slowly, like some powerful force field is restricting all your movements. This is just a dream, however. The reality is that you're imagining all your movements and are remaining motionless. There's a good chance you'll remain in this uncomfortable mental state for several minutes if you calmly try to wake up.

What does seem to work is embracing terror. When you feel the sense of terror creeping up on you, the best thing to do is just go ahead and give in. Just scream like you're about to die. Don't worry about causing a disturbance: You're only dreaming that you're screaming. It's a really fascinating sensation when I do this. When I scream in this state, I can feel all the physical sensations associated with terror: Chills, hair standing on end, etc. Yet, because I have the rational knowledge that there's nothing to be afraid of, I'm able to experience pure terror without any actual fear (if that makes any sense). Every time I do this, I wake up and have full control of my body within about 5 or 10 seconds. I don't know the scientific explanation for this, but I'm guessing it's the adrenaline that does the trick.

I think sleep paralysis is awesome and I wish it would happen to me more often.

[NiTROACTiVE]

You should go to your doctor to explain what's been happening to you. Also, I hope that you'll be doing OK and feel better soon.

[Technician]

NitroactiveStudios said:

You should go to your doctor to explain what's been happening to you. Also, I hope that you'll be doing OK and feel better soon.

Why need a doctor when he has the Doom community?!

[[PROTOTYPE]]

Sodaholic said:

I haven't been getting good enough sleep as of late, and I've started to get some very odd sensations in my head. The best way I can describe it is it feels like dizziness in liquid form rushing through my brain in short bursts, often in quick succession, while I hear some high pitched noise each wave of it.

I think it's nothing serious about the dizziness. It also happens to me often.
As for the high-pitched noise... are you listening to loud music regularly? STOP DOING IT.

[Sharessa]

Get more sleep.

[Kirby]

Sodaholic said:

I also crashed into sleep somewhat recently, and I woke up a while later, still somehow being asleep at the same time, finding it extremely difficult to breathe, no matter hard I tried to get myself to wake up to breathe. I could only breathe very slowly. As I said, I'm somewhat certain that I was still asleep, but somehow aware of it, trying to make myself wake up. After much struggling, I managed to wake myself up just enough to start consciously breathing normally again.

I should note that my lungs are perfectly healthy and that I've never had any problems with them. I think it was my brain that was somehow not controlling them properly, only being able to do so when I woke up enough. After that, it was incredibly easy to breathe.

Read what AndrewB said. I have had this happen many a time and essentially the best way is to describe it as a disconnect - you're mentally aware/awake but you are not able to control your sleeping body.

The main times I found it happening were 1)I was in a setting that made it incredibly easy for me to fall asleep, or 2)just like you said, at times when I crashed from not having enough sleep. I'm not sure how to describe it - I would just say that the looser the sleep barrier is the easier it is to drift in and out of asleep/awake consciousness while your body stays asleep regardless.

[Dragonsbrethren]

Technician said:

Why need a doctor when he has the Doom community?!

Take two stimpacks and kill an imp in the morning.

[Use]

Probably should stop smoking oregano too.

[Blastfrog]

I probably should've mentioned this in the OP, but it's been a very long time since I've smoked any weed at all. I got bored of it, actually. I really don't feel like returning to it for a while.

[fraggle]

Doomworld isn't an appropriate place to be asking medical questions like this. Try Yahoo Answers instead.