Black spider web in vision, Jolted awake

[Rob jc]

I was just wondering if anyone can relate to this sleep problem(s) i have.

I have had these for years and obviously at first they freaked me right out, over time i have just had to accept them as..erm well shet happens.

The most annoying one is at the point of drifting off to sleep I will get violently jolted awake like head shocked, sometimes chest pain, hard to tell the source sometimes. All i know is that it is traumatic and will happen maybe dozens of times in a row before i drift off. I know when i am going to have a bad night when i have this feeling of pressure in my head, accompanied with what i call the fog of doom feeling.(so hard to put into words that feeling)

I know this may sound weird but one of the things that diminishes the fog of doom feeling is to self tickle my arm, ears or neck.

So when it happens i will sit up ultra fast in bed and gasp like i was fighting for my life. One of the strangest visual effects is that i see a massive black spiders web for a split second at the point of being jolted awake. I will see this more commonly when it is daylight(my hours can be strange) and facing a white wall. I just assume it is the imprint of the veins in my eyeballs i am seeing but i don't know. It is like my body is being awakened before my consciousness has kicked in.

The second and even more disturbing experience is like the opposite.
I will gain consciousness and still be asleep. All i see is black and i have to physically focus/fight with my mind to push myself back to reality and become conscious. Gets to the point that sometimes it is really tough and feels like my head will explode with the weird intense fear.

Would be interested if anyone else on here have similar experiences.

Sucks to be me :)

Cheers Rob

[ecila92]

Jeez, sounds pretty nasty to me!

I have no idea about the gaining consciousness and sleeping issue, but to me it just sounds like your anxiety issues are affecting your sleep.

I jolt awake, gasp for breath, I also twitch certain parts of my body to remind myself I'm still alive and not dead, I also wake up in the night screaming -(No idea why but I'm assuming its anxiety as it happens when my anxiety is quite bad)

I used to have night terrors and sleep paralysis too, maybe you are suffering from a combination of night terrors and anxiety/stress.

You should try and relax an hour before you go to bed, I know it sounds lame-ish but Youtube do some really good 'guided meditation for anxiety and stress' videos and they really do help - also a nice hot bubble bath to ease off the tension in your muscles is good too!

[bingjam]

I had something similar even though its not the same... (not sure how that makes sense haha)

But I had a bad night last week where I was so tired that everytime I was drifting off I felt like I couldnt breath and felt like I was spinning... apparently everything slows doen when we sleep and thats what I was feeling

I also opened my eyes and thought a black cat was runninh up my black curtains only to realise that I left my bedroom window open and the draft was moving the curtains

[Emma2711]

I have sleep paralysis it's awful! It's when your body goes into sleep mode before the brain and it feels like you are shouting out or reaching for something but you aren't.

It's the most weird and scary thing to experience the only way to get out of this is to make a part of your body move and the paralysis stops,the only problem is trying to move is extremely difficult!!!

[hanshan]

The first is a hypnagogic jerk, the second is sleep paralysis on waking. Both are normal and harmless, but can be distressing. This is one case where Googling the problem may actually be reassuring.

[Rob jc]

The first is a hypnagogic jerk, the second is sleep paralysis on waking. Both are normal and harmless, but can be distressing. This is one case where Googling the problem may actually be reassuring.

Thanky you for the reply.
This term i had never heard of before, even though i tried google searching for info several times. Very informative thanks.