Waking up, unable to comprehend anything, number counting
Posted , 28 users are following.
I have searched on google for years trying to find someone with the same or similar problem to no avail. So here I am.
Over the past 8 or so years (20 now.) I've had this reocurring dream atleast once a year where I wake up unable to comprehend anything, comparing everything to numbers, almost as if I'm trying to count everything I see, to infinity? This is very hard to explain because its nothing I can compare it to in real life. As if i'm trying to count, each little cell, I don't know. But its almost as if my brains trying to comprehend an infinite number and makes me extremely frusterated in this post-dream state, while I'm still awake, walking around panicing. It seems when I look at the mirror I start to fade out of it.
I typed this out trying to explain it the best possible way I could.. I know it's weird, but I just need answers if possible.
Thank you.
4 likes, 49 replies
lily65668 ry27528
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My particular one was waking up as two people - particularly if I woke suddenly in the middle of a deep sleep, to go to the toilet for instance. I'd feel very resentful that "she" had woken "us both" up, and I would hear my own voice in my head, grumbling about it. This would continue throughout the time it took me to get to the toilet and back. One winter night, I peeped round the curtain on the way back from the toilet, saw deep snow and started wondering whether I'd wear my green or my red hat the next morning. The angry voice in my head exploded: "Now she's talking about b****y hats when all we need is to get back to sleep!" I laughed about that when I remembered it in the morning.
I also used to wake, even in the morning, hearing very loud music in my head. Another one - which I still have to this day, though less often - is visual hallucinations on waking. Sometimes household items, often miniaturised, but more often geometric patterns all over everything. It takes several minutes for these to fade. Like you, I can get up, walk into the kitchen or bathroom, and still see the patterns or hear the music for several minutes.
These phenomena, normally down to minor glitches in the temporal lobes of the brain, are actually quite common, but most doctors don't seem to know much about them. There's no reason why they should, really, as they're not very significant and aren't a sign of mental illness. The reason we don't hear more about them is that people don't normally discuss them for fear of being thought crazy.
I find them very interesting, though there are others I experience that are much more scary, so I won't describe them here. All this started when I was about 5, stopped when I got into my teens, then came back with a vengeance in my early 20s. I'm 71 now, in perfect health and have never had any mental illness, except for minor depression in my mid-20s.
Probably best not to share with your doctor. He/she is most likely to assume you're making it up, but might just be tempted to prescribe anti-depressants or something, that won't help at all.Just enjoy being a bit different!
ry27528 lily65668
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ry27528
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titabeth ry27528
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ry27528 titabeth
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I'm very sorry for the late reply but it seems notifications from this site were buried in my emails inbox. Thanks for your reply! I do suffer from anxiety at times. I've talked to Gps about this but none of them have much knowledge on it. Your chocolate story made me smile. Thanks
Anne8606 ry27528
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ry27528 Anne8606
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Sorry for the late reply - I haven't had this dream in atleast over a year and I have no respiratory issues that I know of.
dylan17030 ry27528
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nina69282 ry27528
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I have had this since I was a child. I am 18 now. I have been trying to find someone with the same experience but I couldn't find them so I just gave up. It happens once a year, maybe more, I don't really remember. I can't explain it either because it is such a scary experience. It stopped for a while, maybe a year or so, after I calmed myself down without getting out of the bed (I always had to get up and start walking, sometimes crying too, because it was so frustrating and I felt like I would go crazy) but about two weeks ago it happened again, and I was really curious ( for the lack of a better word) to find someone who has this same problem. I couldn't explain it better because it really can't be explained and english is not my first language. But it is kind of a relief to find out I am not alone
james68579 nina69282
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hi nina i'd like to know if you would still wanna share with this topic.
veronica02196 ry27528
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lily65668 veronica02196
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Veronica, I'm a former neuro nurse but am only posting on this patient forum as someone who has a number of sleep glitches (see above).
There's not enough information in your post to come to any conclusion about your daughter's problem. For example: has she seen a doctor; if so, what kind of doctor; is she on any medication; has she had any psychiatric problems?
And the most important question of all: when did this start? Is it a recent development or has she been like this all her life? Did she sleepwalk as a child?
Your daughter's case seems slightly different from all the others on this board, in that you say her episodes produce aggressivity and an apparent change of personality that lasts several days when she's woken. Though it's not uncommon for children to be a bit odd and cranky if woken from a deep sleep, and especially a sleepwalking episode, it's quite rare in adults. However, a few individuals do carry childhood sleep patterns into adulthood.
Incidentally, I'd take a guess that your daughter isn't chanting numbers in her dreams, but rather that this is related to sleepwalking, which arises from the non-dreaming phase of sleep. I wonder whether she's ever told you about a dream on waking.
If this is a recent development, you need to get her to a doctor. It's not clear from your post whether or not you've already done this.
Again, if this is recent, you should insist that your daughter is referred to a sleep clinic. They will decide whether or not to refer her on to a neurologist.
veronica02196 lily65668
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Dear Lily°! Thanks a million. Let me give some more details. My daughter is not a child - she is 34 - carrier of mandibular discunfion and MS! She lived in Germany until a year and two months ago when she arrived here in Brazil in a disastrous state of health. We have been able to get her much much better - she is being treated for her TMJ and for the MS we started recently a treatment of VIT D - a very successful alternative treatment with a specialist in Sao Paulo. Yes - she has mental problems - but she always sang beautifully - and yes - she sings - always the same melody - rather melodious but monothonous and ..... numbers - not words. When she wakes up she insist me to "put the 7 there and the whatever there - she talks with numbers. And she is agressive - changed for at least a couple of days. Yes - she has seen doctors for her mandibular problem, the most famous hospital for neurologial problmes in Brasilia - who did 28 blood tests but not the most important one - which the alternative docgor did first - she is below insuficiency in Vit D - and she has seen psychologistas. She never did sleepwalk as a child. She does not remember anything on waking. She has been with me again now for just over a year - .has recovered in many many ways - I do not know if she ever had these number singing in Germany. I once asked her ex and he knew of nothing. She takes esquitalopran . I guess it is not written like this. I spoke to psychologists and doctors about it - they do not take it serious or send me to a spiritual center. Which I have not tried. It only happens about once a week or maybe every 10 days -. but what I do notice is that all my animals . and I live on a farm and have a little rescue center for homeless cats and 3 dogs - they all get scared and restless when this happens. I hope that answers all your questions. THANKS A MILLION
lily65668 veronica02196
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Hi Veronica, I realised your daughter wasn't a child. I was just saying that childhood sleep patterns - which sometimes include this kind of behaviour - can persist into adulthood in some people.
So sorry to hear she has MS. I've heard that trials of high doses of vitamin D have been quite promising in this and a number of other diseases. In my nursing days (a long time ago!) it used to be thought that it was toxic in high doses, and some doctors still haven't moved with the times I'm afraid. My own GP (general practitioner) is very modern in this area and urges me to take high doses of vitamin D even though I'm well above insufficiency level.
As far as I know, escitalopram wouldn't cause your daughter's particular sleep disorder, though I know it sometimes causes nightmares.
I'm glad to hear she's seen a neurologist. I presume you discussed the sleep problem with him? If not, this is something you should do. I'm also wondering whether your daughter has been to a sleep clinic. I'm not too worried about her singing numbers in her sleep - many people have far stranger sleep disorders than that - but I'm still concerned about the fact that she's aggressive when woken. That doesn't fit with any sleep disorder I know about.
I'm also wondering whether you always wake her when you hear this sleep-singing of numbers. Do you feel you need to? What happens if you just let her sleep?
Your point about the animals being disturbed is interesting. Can they actually hear your daughter? I think most domestic animals would recognise this as unusual behaviour and be a bit unsettled by it.
Another point to consider is that our brains are very sensitive to environmental factors. You've probably heard tales of the sirocco - the hot wind that blows off North Africa and onto the southern Mediterranean land mass. This wind has been famous throughout history for causing behavioural changes, especially agitation, in both humans and animals. For many years it was thought that this was an "old wives' tale" but it was eventually discovered that the air driven north by the sirocco has a heavy charge of positive ions. There is now scientific evidence that this produces hormonal changes in the body. The most reliable source for this is on the NCBI site (the US Government's National Center for Biotechnology Information). If you google NCBI and sirocco, you'll find their very brief report. It's only one paragraph long, but very interesting. I realise the sirocco doesn't blow in Brazil, but similar, positively-ionised winds blow in many parts of the world. This is just one type of environmental or electro-magnetic phenomenon that could affect both your daughter and the animals.
veronica02196 lily65668
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