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
jill67883 ry27528
Posted
This is actually very interesting (sorry, I know it upsets you, but this is amazing!) Are you "mathematical" in life? It appears your subconscious mind is trying to "analyze" and the way it is doing that is very rational, almost as if you are somehow "working" on a complex physics problem! Have you ever spoken to a therapist about this? I know it occurs rarely and I read that you are very upset by it, but remember: this is a dream, it is originating in your mind, it has symbolic significance that only you are able to understand but it can't HURT YOU at all! I have had recurring dreams my entire life (different ones) and I know it can be upsetting. Here is one dream I had many years ago (over 30 years): I woke up early morning, got up and went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror; then I woke up, early morning, got up and went into the bathroom.....yep, that happened about three or four times until I finally DID wake up! It was really weird and upsetting but it didn't mean a thing. Keep a dream journal by your bed, maybe some of your other dreams can give you a real "clue" about this one! If you figure it out, please post!
lily65668 jill67883
Posted
Hi Jill, That bathroom thing you describe is known as "false awakenings". I've had these all my life. It can be very frustrating when I'm trying to psych myself up to get out of bed in the morning, and keep thinking I'm already up, washed, dressed and ready to start the day... only to find I'm still in bed! I think this is a variant of lucid dreaming, which I also do.
I quite agree with you that it's entirely harmless, albeit weird.
ry27528 jill67883
Posted
Hey Jill, thanks so much for the heart warming reply and advice. I haven't had this dream for a while, but maybe this message will shine through the skies of my wicked dreams and help me.
Ihaveanxiety ry27528
Posted
lily65668 Ihaveanxiety
Posted
I think anxiety is probably making this worse. However, a lot of us have minor sleep disorders that cause us to act oddly when first waking up. I too sometimes experience a voice in my head if I'm woken from a deep sleep in the night (usually by a trip to the toilet) though in my case it's my own voice I hear, making adverse comments about me! I never experience anything like this in my waking life. I also wake to very complex music, hearing all the various parts of the orchestra.
I've been like this all my adult life (I'm in my 70s now) and have long since got used to it. I'd suggest just accepting it. Anxiety about sleep-related phenomena is always a sure way to make them worse.
throwaway2834 ry27528
Posted
Six months ago I woke up in the middle of the night dream in which I couldn't stop counting. There was a number I needed to reach but it kept increasing, and so I had to keep increasing the speed at which I was counting and the multiples I was counting in. Ridiculous multiples like 763, then 5728, eventually things like 1068,025. It was as if I needed to reach infinity with a completely deadly sense of urgency. It felt like a life or death situation.
When I woke up, it didn't stop. It was as if I was still in the dream. I had no control over my brain, I couldn't stop it. I felt this massive anxiety and frustration from not being able to count fast enough and trying to keep up.
In the end I ran to my parents' room and cried hysterically on the floor saying how I couldn't stop counting I couldn't get it out of my head. It stopped after maybe half an hour, I just had to wait it out. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had.
Ever since that night I've had reoccurrences when I wake up from a dream similar to that always involving counting massive numbers compulsively. Every other month or so. It's never been as bad as that first night, but it is still incredibly upsetting.
Sometimes things I do in real life seem to trigger the same anxiety to a lesser extent ever since that 'nightmare while awake'. For example I was watching a video of someone solving a 100x100 Rubix cube sped up by 20 times and I had to stop it.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one this has happened to; I can't find anything else about this online. Does anyone know what might have caused this or what it's called? I really hope I don't have to live with it...
lily65668 throwaway2834
Posted
I don't think there's a specific name for what you're experiencing, but there are all kinds of odd sleep disorders people suffer from. I've described some of mine in earlier posts on this thread.
Things like this are more likely to happen in your teens or early 20s, which I suspect might be your case.
Do you think you were anxious or stressed on the occasions when this happened? A lot of my weird sleep abnormalities happen when I'm in a state of stress. It does sound to me as if this is an anxiety-related condition, and these too are more common in teenagers.
You could consult your doctor, but I'd be wary about accepting anti-anxiety meds, unless it's for a period of maximum two weeks. These things can mess you up badly if taken long-term. "Talking therapies" like CBT provide better long-term relief from anxiety anyway.
I think it would probably be best just to put up with this for the time being, and try not to worry about it. I'm pretty sure it will soon go away on its own once you calm down.
ry27528 throwaway2834
Posted
Thanks for sharing, and sorry for the late reply. Your experience sounds potentially similar to mine. The weird thing is it's been so long since I've had it I can't even remember experience correctly
james68579 ry27528
Posted
veronica02196 ry27528
Posted
Hi! PLEASE - can you send me your e.mail address? My daughter has exactly the same problem - however the only other case I found so far was of a young woman who also suffers from Multiple sclerosis just as my daugher. But somehow I feel that these two cases are not connected. Svenja fixes her eyes far far away - I can not connect to her - she recites numbers - often repeating the same - and lately I taped her - but it is very very personal. And also I think I hear "I don`t want this" in between the counting. She is distressed for days afterwards - to me she is a different person when this happens. Your entry touched me because I feel the same dispair in your words which I see in her eyes. Maybe there are more people out there and we do not know about them. A warm cuddle to you!!!!
lily65668 veronica02196
Posted
Hi Veronica, This site doesn't allow posting of private email addresses.
Instead, you can send a private message via this site. Did you know about this? You just click on the little envelope icon next to the person's name, unless they've disabled private messaging (which ry27528 hasn't). PMs via this site don't expose the private email address of either party or carry viruses. They come into your inbox (or occasionally your junk mail) in the normal way.
I hope you soon find some answers for your daughter.
veronica02196 lily65668
Posted
Thank you very much! I shall reply to your last posting as well. We had no internet for 6 months on the farm and only returned to the "real world" some days ago. I shall contact ry27528 as she seems as desperate as I am when my daughter has these "dreams". Thank you for your kind concern. As I said - I have taped my daughter during these "Dreams of counting numbers" and the fear and dispair in her eyes are just too much to bear. She ist not my daughter then but a strange being that emanates pure fear in her eyes. Thank you all for your concern.
ry27528 veronica02196
Posted
I'm very sorry for the late reply but it seems notifications from this side were buried in my emails inbox. Is your daughter still having these issues? Feel free to PM me.
kate83345 ry27528
Posted
Not alone. Are you still around to discuss this further?
veronica02196 kate83345
Posted