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

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  • Posted

    I am most eager to find a solution for my daughters problem and would love to hear from anybody with similar experiences. Hope that nobody is ashamed to post these experiences. I have a video of my daughter which I took one night and the few people who saw it were totally shocked.
  • Posted

    Yeah, when I was on my initial studies, counting alphabets and a teacher commanding me to mutiple numbers during sleep and I woke up frustrated.

    At these nights, I ran through my house just like I'm going crazy and fatiguely knocked on my parents' door. But these dreams faded as years passed by and a month ago, counting pages of books distracted me whenever my head touched my pillow.

  • Posted

    I was actually curious so I typed - waking up and counting numbers, since this is something that happened to me on several occasions in my late teens (Iam 34 now). When I read your story I immediately made a profile to tell you that the way you described it is almost identical to my case.

    I would wake in the night in a state of distress or more like severe anxiety, start prancing back and forth between the kitchen and bathroom, as if I had to do something but I didn't know what. Meanwhile my mind seemed like it was counting numbers, what seemed like infinities. It was so much more pronounced than regular counting in your head, so much so that I felt overwhelmed. I guess I finally burned out, because I dont remember when I went back to sleep.

    Prior to this the only experience similar to this was when I was even younger, whenever I would run a high fever I would wake up in the night screaming. My body would feel like its in a million pieces, proprioception gone and I wouldn't know where, what was, my arms, head etc.

    I've had other experiences such as lucid dreaming or what seemed like an out of body experience while hearing screams but nothing as drastic as above mentioned.

    What I am curious about whether or not we share other things in common, from a psychological to physiological stand point. If you care to share then I'll tell you a little about myself. Feel free to do the same, it might paint a better picture as to why our experiences were almost identical.

    I had anxiety (still do) and tics when I was a little kid, I eat and write with my left hand but did everything else with my right. I say did because its very easy for me to switch hands and learn to use tools or eat with the other.

    I am artistically gifted, could draw from memory and could recall events with very vivid details, even of things when I was an infant. My grades in school were always very good but my behaviour wasn't, most likely due to child abuse on behalf of my mother.

    Not only was my memory vivid but also my perception, it seemed crystal clear like I always had a light bulb on above my head, sort of speak.

    I've since diminished considerably to the point of vaguely remembering what that felt like. Mainly by drug abuse, depression, and a host of other stressors.

    Another thing worth mentioning is that I was never good at making friends. I know I left out a lot more peculiar things about myself but this should be enough to tell you I am a bit different then most people you'll meet

    Last but not least, sorry for a very late reply. I hope all is well with you.

  • Posted

    THIS HAPPENS TO ME, IT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!! SAME EXACT THING. NUMBERS LIKE 8 MILLION, I CANT REMEMBER THE EXACT SITUATION OR WHY I WAS THINKING ABOUT 8 MILLION BUT I GOT UP WITH ANXIETY THINKING ABOUT INSANE NUMBERS!!! this hasn't happened since i was around 16 years old, im 22 now. Its some form of anxiety for sure. it doesn't happen often.

  • Posted

    im so happy i found your post because it is the same exact thing i was experiencing and have experienced  i was trying to explain it to my bf without sounding insane.
    • Posted

      This happened to me last night. I have had this happen to me my whole life.  Growing up it used to happen all the time. I felt like I was still asleep but I was up.  I would be counting numbers, feeling like I couldn’t get to the number I needed to. Once I am out of this state I can sort of remember what happen but I could NEVER put it into words.  I would wake up crying screaming for help because I couldn’t stop and I was trying to get myself to stop but I couldn’t.  I would cry for my mom when I was younger kissing her hand over and over, yet stil counting. It happen to me at least once a week as a kid from 10-17. Out of nowhere it stopped happening. I am now 23 years old and it just happen to me last night. My friend was around and told me everything that happened. I finally found the words to describe it because someone was able to tell me what happen. Then I searched it on google and this is the ONLY thing I found. Everyone here has helped me understand what was going on. But still... I feel like no one here know what it MEANS..
  • Posted

    This happened to me last night. I have had this happen to me my whole life.  Growing up it used to happen all the time. I felt like I was still asleep but I was up.  I would be counting numbers, feeling like I couldn’t get to the number I needed to. Once I am out of this state I can sort of remember what happen but I could NEVER put it into words.  I would wake up crying screaming for help because I couldn’t stop and I was trying to get myself to stop but I couldn’t.  I would cry for my mom when I was younger kissing her hand over and over, yet stil counting. It happen to me at least once a week as a kid from 10-17. Out of nowhere it stopped happening. I am now 23 years old and it just happen to me last night. My friend was around and told me everything that happened. I finally found the words to describe it because someone was able to tell me what happen. Then I searched it on google and this is the ONLY thing I found. Everyone here has helped me understand what was going on. But still... I feel like no one here know what it MEANS..
  • Posted

    Finally someone else that this has happened to, this has only happened to me like 4 times but i've always wondered if it happens to anyone else!!

  • Posted

    This happens to me too. Mine happens like once every 2 years because it's not as frequent. It happened about 5 days ago. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of really big numbers . It stresses me out to the point of where I'm forced to walk around my house to get my mind off of it.

  • Posted

    OMG I've just googled this because I want to know why I keep counting big numbers in dreams and you've literally described what happens to me !! I've had it for years and it's one of those horrible things that is really hard to explain, I never fully remember it but I remember the frustration and ends in a massive panic !

  • Posted

    I also had this when I was a kid, I was maybe 10 years old. I still remember every single thing about it as if it was yesterday. I used to wake up in the middle of night, and count like hell! keep counting and counting, I had that strange feeling that if I stop I will die. something was squeezing my mind and forcing me to count to reach a specific number, but I was just a kid and had no clue why I'm doing this or why this was happening to me. I used to cry hard and scream so my parent can hear me and come to help me. My mom asks me over and over every time this happens to me. Like what's happening to you, and I say, "I have to count I can't stop"!

    What a bad memories! But suddenly stopped and I almost forget about it, until I remembered today and googled it!.

    • Posted

      The most important thing was not to panic.

      If you try to stop it by your will, it will pass, the main thing is to realize that you are only half awake (try it like in lucid dream). 

  • Posted

    I think that it's just some kind of parasomnia. I was asleep, too, and then I suddenly woke up. And I started counting these weird numbers, yeah. I thought if I didn't count these numbers, I'd go to hell or something. This 'attack' was quite long, but then I'm back to normal, stopped counting numbers and fell asleep. The next day, my own mind started to count these numbers again for no reason, but I quickly stopped it. I was ready for this btw. After 6 months, that happened again (yesterday). For 15 minutes I thought about how to realize a very weird idea (I'm not going to write about it, but this idea was really ridiculous) without any reason, logic, facts. The feelings were exactly the same as in the previous attack. The mind then is like disconnected 12 'channels' out of 13. Only one 'channel' of the mind worked, and it felt very terrible. So I think IT is a parasomnia because it can't be anything else. Hope this helps. neutral

    • Posted

      I agree. There are dozens of these weird parasomnias out there. I suffer from quite a few of them myself - some inherited from my father's side of the family.

      It is true that some of them can be a sign of neurological disease, but only on very rare occasions. (I'm a former neuro nurse.) In most cases, the only danger they present is if one starts getting unduly worried about, or fixated on, them. That can produce extreme anxiety, which will then feed back into the parasomnia, making it much worse.

      If these phenomena suddenly start getting worse with no obvious reason (e.g. stress, recreational drugs etc.) or if you suddenly start getting other new symptoms like abnormally prolonged headaches, visual or balance problems, marked weakness on one side of the body etc., then it's a good idea to get yourself checked out by a doctor. Otherwise, I think one's nocturnal aberrations are best kept to oneself. Most doctors - including, sadly, some sleep specialists - have very little knowledge of parasomnias. When confronted with stories like this, they may either become uncomfortable, which can manifest as anger, or assume it's down to mental illness and immediately prescribe antidepressants.

      Most parasomnias tend to decline with age. This has certainly been true for me. That being said, even though I'm now in my 70s I still occasionally awake to the terrifying hallucinations of sleep paralysis, or obsessed with composing an impossibly intricate piece of music, which it takes me half a day to shake off. I don't read music or play any instrument and have never composed anything in waking life by the way!

      None of my parasomnias have ever harmed me, and I've grown to love them in a weird kind of way. I just treat them as a gift. If you can keep up your sensible approach, I'm sure you'll learn to live with your brain glitches too.

       

  • Posted

    I have has this issue twice in my whole life if I remember correctly. Even though I am 18, I am left in question of what I felt. The last time was maybe five years ago. To this day i never talked about it. I woke up in the middle of the night and went into the living room where my grandma was. Feeling as if a number I had to reach a number that kept growing away by the millions but I couldn't say anything physically. Seeming nearly impossible to reach or comprehend I'd nearly cry before returning to bed after being told everything is ok. The odds of me using this sight ever again is very likely. Reply to me at 419-607-0375

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