Surroundings becoming weird and fast/intense/loud
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Apr 20, 2015
I'm so happy I found this forum, I've been experiecing these episodes now since I was 12 and I've never been able to put it into words until my second year biological psychology class. Its a symptom of Alice in wonderland syndrome and is often accompanied by migraines. I was diagnosed with chronic migraines several years ago, although my neurologist is now looking at the possibility that my migraines are causing this or this is causing my migraines. At first we thought it may have been a symptom of schizophrenia which frankly terrified me, but its very comforting to know what it is and that I'm not the only one. The good news is that AIWS is often treated with anti depressants, which is what I'm on for my migraines, so the episodes stop when my dose is right, although when my tolerance builds up and i start getting migraines again, i start getting episodes again.
Apr 21, 2015
Wow, this is amazing, that so many have experienced this! I went through this as a child. I am 42 now, and I am here because my 10 year old son is starting to experience similar things. I was hoping to find more info about what is going on. As a child, I would get weird out-of-body sensations, feel floaty, and completely lose all sense something that was actually across the room would suddenly appear right in front of my nose, or the ground would be seemingly eye-level. I would also at times be in a disconnected dream-like state, almost like a form of lucid dreaming (which I have as an adult), but according to my mom, I was awake and responsive, only feeling like I was in a dream. It would pass in a few minutes. This stuff went on for a year or two prior to puberty. My childhood pediatrician told my mother that it was hormones and that it would likely resolve itself when I started puberty. He was right, it did. I have for years just assumed, based on that astute pediatrician 30+ years ago, that my issues were just pre-pubescent hormones wreaking havoc on my brain. I have not experienced anything like that again (outside of one random marijuana experience about 10 years ago...and I knew THAT was drug-induced!) My son just this morning told me that he is experiencing the fast movement of time thing, as if everything around him is going on fast-forward. I personally have never come across anyone else that has experienced this kind of stuff that wasn't schizophrenic, but it isn't exactly something that gets brought up in normal conversation because of the fear of mental illness. Gotta love the internet, where people are far more open! It is good to see this is more common than I ever realized...I thought I was weird and had passed on my weird brain chemistry to my son!
It seems from these comments that the majority of people began experiencing these things in the prepubescent years. That suggests that hormones may truly play a part, at least for some people. I hope that for those of you with children wondering what the heck this is can take some comfort in that possibility, and that it passes for most people. I lived it...it was scary at the time! But it passed for me, and I hope for my son too. Those that are still experiencing this into adulthood, maybe get your hormones checked? Hormones can do some crazy things to the body and brain, and entering peri-menopause now, I can attest to that in whole new ways!
Apr 21, 2015
ShellyP166
ShellyP166 - This is a form of anxiety attack that your son is having. Since it happened when he was eating in a restaurant, he is now associating that with eating. My husband and daughter used to have a horrible time with this, particularly in a restaurant. They have both found ways to manage it, and rarely ever experience it anymore, and never to the extent they used to. My daughter used to go outside and throw up! The best way to handle this is to tackle restaurants first. Go when it is not crowded, and make sure he sits on a side of the room, not in the center of the restaurant, and away from any loud parties, and close to an exit or a restroom. Get your table, then show your son the exit and the restroom, as this can immediately put him at ease that there is an &escape& route he can take if he needs it. Feeling trapped in an environment like that will increase his anxiety. If he starts to feel sick, walk him outside where it is quiet and he can get a breath of fresh air. He needs to see that the anxiety passes, and he is will be ok after. Let him go to the restroom as needed, it is quieter and there are less people, so he can relax for a minute. Encourage him, and remind him that it is anxiety that is causing these symptoms, to breathe and think of something else. Bring stuff with you to distract him, or play a little game like &I Spy& to keep him focused on something. It is important to talk to him about what is happening, and that it is the anxiety of getting sick that is actually making him sick...it is a vicious cycle that needs to be broken, ASAP. An anxiety attack can occur at random times for numerous reasons including just a chemical imbalance, and some people will continue to associate those horrible feelings with whatever situation was happening when they experienced them, and so they will try to avoid that &trigger&. The fear of that trigger will cause more anxiety. It is a terrible thing to experience, so be patient with him and help him realize that he is not powerless and can get through it and eventually overcome it. Once he realizes that he can get through a situation and be fine, the anxiet the more success he has with it, the more empowered he will feel over it, and it will go away.
Apr 27, 2015
I am a 45 yr old male and had this happen often when I was young around the age of probably 7-14 yrs of age. For me everything got extremely loud, and it seemed like if a feather dropped, I would be able hear it when it landed.&&Over the years it just subsided.&&The only thing I can say at this point in reflection is, for me I believe it was attached to my epilepsy which was identified at about 30 yrs of age.&&I have had simple and complex Seizures and it seemed oddly related for me to the &noise moments& of my youth.&&While my Complex Seizures are controlled with the medicine Tegratol, the simple seizures are not as much but I function as a professional in society.&&When I was young, telling someone that everything kept getting really loud or I became hypersensitive might of landed me in the psychologists chair.&&Fortunately today this isn't the case for most young people today.&&While I am not on this sight to make people frightened that their child has Epilepsy, I am simply saying be aware of it as a potential option that can be controlled with drugs and provide them an excellent life the quicker it is identified.
Apr 27, 2015
I am a 45 yr old male and had this happen often when I was young around the age of probably 7-14 yrs of age. For me everything got extremely loud, and it seemed like if a feather dropped, I would be able hear it when it landed.&&Over the years it just subsided.&&The only thing I can say at this point in reflection is, for me I believe it was attached to my epilepsy which was identified at about 30 yrs of age.&&I have had simple and complex Seizures and it seemed oddly related for me to the &noise moments& of my youth.&&While my Complex Seizures are controlled with the medicine Tegratol, the simple seizures are not as much but I function as a professional in society.&&When I was young, telling someone that everything kept getting really loud or I became hypersensitive might of landed me in the psychologists chair.&&Fortunately today this isn't the case for most young people today.&&While I am not on this sight to make people frightened that their child has Epilepsy, I am simply saying be aware of it as a potential option that can be controlled with drugs and provide them an excellent life the quicker it is identified.
Apr 27, 2015
I am a 45 yr old male and had this happen often when I was young around the age of probably 7-14 yrs of age. For me everything got extremely loud, and it seemed like if a feather dropped, I would be able hear it when it landed.&&Over the years it just subsided.&&The only thing I can say at this point in reflection is, for me I believe it was attached to my epilepsy which was identified at about 30 yrs of age.&&I have had simple and complex Seizures and it seemed oddly related for me to the &noise moments& of my youth.&&While my Complex Seizures are controlled with the medicine Tegratol, the simple seizures are not as much but I function as a professional in society.&&When I was young, telling someone that everything kept getting really loud or I became hypersensitive might of landed me in the psychologists chair.&&Fortunately today this isn't the case for most young people today.&&While I am not on this sight to make people frightened that their child has Epilepsy, I am simply saying be aware of it as a potential option that can be controlled with drugs and provide them an excellent life the quicker it is identified.
Jun 19, 2015
Read on exploding head syndrome for the loud noises upon waking...not serious from what I have read, but interesting...
Jun 19, 2015
I have had an experience just this morning where I was sitting at the computer and the sound of the keys and the mouse clicking were magnified.&&The sound was so loud it was shots every click and keystroke.&&The noises were accompanied by feelings of anger, fear, and anxiety.&&Movements felt like they were quick and hurried even if they were slow and intentional.&&The a/c kicked on and it was almost unbearable.&&After a few minutes it passed.&&My episodes always involve hyper sensitivity to sound, movement, and emotions.
Jun 21, 2015
Okay i had this last night and I'm not going to make this long but what seems to calm me down when i get this is normally when i walk around the house i check everyones rooms to see who is home and when i slow down my speed of my body i go back into my bed and try to remember what i just did and i feel way safer after that!!
Jun 22, 2015
I just had an episode which reminded me to google this. For me its like I notice that the world is different and I'm aware that everything is off in a speedy/intense/rushed/uncomfortable/erie sort of way. Sound is the most notable difference because everything is sped up and has a loud, harsh, scary, erie tone to it! I remember running to my parents room at night (multiple times) when I was 6-10 years old to tell them that everything sounded evil (every little sound was completely overwhelming). I still get them every few months or so now. Like other commenters i'm usually alone and it's been somewhat or very quiet for a long time. If I do get up and walk, it can be a total trip, like t I'm hyper aware of everything that I'm doing like it's all in slow-motion, or more like I'm speed-thinking way ahead of everything I'm doing and then watching it in slow-motion. I'm 35 now and because I've had them so many times I know that they will end and they don't freak me out anymore but they are scary and annoying. I just remind myself what's going on that that everything is fine and it will be over soon. I usually turn off whatever blaring sounds that are bothering me the most, so I turn off the fan or the clicking that's happening and try to think through it till it ends a few minutes later.My 4 Theories: (based on this forum and a little googling - I'm NOT a professional)1. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: Alice in Wonderland's syndrome does say that it happens to people without tumors in their heads so that's good we shouldn't all be worried about that. As explained above by Minxx454 here on page 4.2. ADHD symptom what doctors call &Internal Static& from a commenter on page 2.3. Migrane (migraine) with Visual Aura as researched by me.&Migraine with visual auraMigraine with aura and its variants are very common and it is well established that migraine and epilepsy often co-exist as co-morbid disorders. The visual aura of migraine preceding a headache can take a variety of forms but is typically in one visual field and contains positive phenomena such as flashes, arcs of lights (fortification spectra), specks, or flames and negative phenomena such as scotoma with blanking out or greying of the visual field. Visual phenomena of occipital seizures are more likely to be coloured and can include a variety of different shapes including diamonds, squares, circles and lines. More complex sensory illusions or perceptions that may or may not precede a headache include the feeling that a body part or parts, such as the hands, have grown dramatically or shrunk or that everything in the environment is louder. These may be misdiagnosed as a seizure, but are more likely to be a feature of the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, considered a migraine variant.&4. Benign Occipital Epilepsy (Gastaut type) as posted by Shopmar&&on page 2)&Benign occipital epilepsy, also known as benign focal epilepsy with occipital paroxysms, is a hereditary type of epilepsy that represents about 3 percent of all childhood epilepsy cases. There is a somewhat higher incidence in girls than in boys. This type of epilepsy can be grouped into two categories, depending on the age of the child when seizures begin. [Panayiotopoulos type & Gastaut type]Gastaut type begins between the ages of 3 and 16 years and has a peak onset between ages 7 and 9. Children may experience visual hallucinations with the seizure. Headaches are common before, during, or after the seizures. &
Jul 04, 2015
Panic attacks can do many things to the body physically and mentally your body temperature can change you can hallucinate visually and in what you are hearing. I myself had two major things that I believe caused or started mine along with cocaine abuse later on in life which added to the intensity of the attacks after I was clean for years. I actually feel as if I do not belong where I am at yet I know I do. Almost as I am losing my mind at times, it is just pure panic (fear) coming out in various ways. Even though I know what it is still difficult to deal with medication and counseling along with prayer and relaxation methods such as exercise help.Stress not a good thing tend to trigger them and certain medications can also cause them. So I guess my advice is like anyone with an illness educate yourself get all the help you can so you don't have to suffer and face it and defeat it and live your life!
Jul 05, 2015
Yes that's exactly how it feels for me. Especially the loud thinking in my head.
Jul 06, 2015
THEORY:&&how many of you had Mono as a child?&&
I also suffered from these mental episodes as a child.&&I have been researching it lately and may have found a commonality among us.&&I had Mono as a young child.&&Did any of you?
Jul 11, 2015
Helloo I experienced this as well.. I wonder if you drink too much coffe and coke any drinks high in caffeigne..
Jul 23, 2015
I believed I was the only one who experienced the, but should have realized it must be somewhat common. Everything used to just feel intensified. Sound, sight, touch... I would find myself very interested in these sensations, since they didn't hurt. I used to call them, to myself, my &spells&. I didn't tell an adult 'cause I sort of thought, in my child's mind, that I might be a little crazy.
Jul 23, 2015
So interesting after a lifetime, and often remembering my &spells& along the way, to finally realize others share the experience. I was scared to tell anyone, and they went away. But now I wonder if it wasn't a precursor of migraines, which I've suffered with all my life. Hmmmm.
Jul 23, 2015
So interesting after a lifetime, and often remembering my &spells& along the way, to finally realize others share the experience. I was scared to tell anyone, and they went away. But now I wonder if it wasn't a precursor of migraines, which I've suffered with all my life. Hmmmm.
Jul 23, 2015
So interesting after a lifetime, and often remembering my &spells& along the way, to finally realize others share the experience. I was scared to tell anyone, and they went away. But now I wonder if it wasn't a precursor of migraines, which I've suffered with all my life. Hmmmm.
Aug 24, 2015
this is so wild... i too have experienced this sporadically throughout my life without any explanation. interesting that most of you have shared some type of illness where as I did not. the first time it happened i was laying in bed and my stucco ceiling seemed to .. morph.. if you will, from calm and relaxed to extremely stabby and abrasive, after a while I began to feel like i could almost control its mood, though in the beginning it was just visual, no auditory reactions. Now as an adult (25) after years of not experiencing this it is back with a vengeance. the person who explained the shaving incident was spot on. today i had quite a bad episode where i went running from my house to escape the violent atmosphere of the room only to realize i brought my brain with me and the sound of the crickets and the lawn mowers and birds chirping all seemed so intensely amplified and abrasive that i found myself in tears. this one lasted longer than any one previous and this is the first time in my life that i have had a horrible headache afterwards with long lasting auditory sensitivities.. wild that so many of us have gone through this and not one person has ever been given an explanation. i am a Pisces, no major health concerns, no migraines, no anything. I've read a lot about alice in wonderland syndrome and it does have some similarities though i've never had any issues with the enlargement of body parts... i always know I'm here and am aware it is happening.. there just doesn't seem to be any way to stop it once it starts building up..
very strange, best of luck everybody!
Sep 01, 2015
All i did was search everything gets loud and here we go. I wish the internet was around when i was growing up.
Anyway. I'm 36 now and i used to get this all the time when i was a kid, like 5-10 years old. At first it was scary but after a while i got used to it and i remember i could make it happen and turn it off again at will. Then i totally forget about it until i was about 16 and it happened again and scared the **** out me. Then i remembered all the episodes from when i was a kid...
It always happens in bed and I used to call it &the violent feeling& and it felt like the air would get loud and and everything would have an ominous presence. I would also hear voices and (this is one thing i didn't read in any comments) the voices would always be calling my name, some whispering,some yelling, some speaking flatly etc. many voices some that i knew like my parents and some i didn't recognise calling my name. There were also other voices saying other things but that was like background rabble that i couldn't understand.
Whatever it is, it is soo weird and triply. Ive done DMT and it's nothing to compare, I have also have experienced panic attacks, which i think are closer.
Someone talked about this earlier and I too was,(still am) thinking tis could be some kind of anxiety thing. But having experienced both i will say that they are a bit different. Really weird but interesting Phenomena.
Sep 01, 2015
yeah i did. Though Im not sure which happened first.
Sep 02, 2015
Ok I'm sitting hear randomly and a memory of this happening to me as a kid just popped into my head and i can remember everything that happened that night. To the point where i can remember what the voices i heard were talking about (American Idol). I'm in my 20s now and i just decided to lool up symptoms to this crazy thing and i find hundreds of stories explaning EXACTLY what went through. Normal conversations seemed 100x louder, everything seemed sped up and i was little paranoid to be honest. It's cool thinking back on it now but as it was happening it was extremely frustrating and i all i wanted, NEEDED was complete silence. It hasn't recently or anything i just remember it so vividly. It happned maybe 5 more times and i guess i &grew& out of them. Idk. Weird no one is talking about this. It's creepy.
Sep 02, 2015
Also i may have had a fever when t happened so intensely... Like many other people were too.
Sep 13, 2015
I've never thought to look this up till about a month ago. I've been experiencing this as long as I can remember. I hear everything super loud and sped up and it seems like I'm doing this faster. But my own thoughts are too fast to understand and they are extremely loud, it sounds like a bunch of voices talking at once. It happened very often when I was a child and then just happened once in a while. About a year ago it started happening pretty frequently again. I've tried explaining it to people but I just sound crazy. I would love a diagnosis. I've tried things to get rid of it like slowing my breathing or listening to music but I just get frustrated and more stressed. It last for about 5-10 minutes, sometimes longer. It usually happens when I'm alone and have been quiet for awhile.
Sep 28, 2015
Just had a similar sensation and decided to google it. For me it does not distort perception of size and touch, but only perception of speed, and sound, and worst of all my own thoughts. They all get distorted, and the sensations intensify.
What I wanted to add to the discussion is that I noticed very well right now exactly what triggered it, and before I get into it I wanna add that as many others I've frequently had this sensation from as far back into my childhood as I can remember. My thoughts would in a way become autonomous, and I would not only hear one voice, but usually about 5-6-7 voices all shouting at me, and they were not shouting nice things either. Quite traumatic indeed.
Back to the present I still experience it, I'd say, perhaps every other month on average. And describing how it was just lead on: I was sitting here concetrating, and trying to start write an academical "article", and there was construction workers going at it outside of my house, and I'm in the basement, alone, silent, except from the rather intense vibration from the machines the construction workers are using to dig, and to cut asphalt. So these vibrations and the static constant sound it makes, and after about 5 minutes of not even really noticing them, an unusually strong "attack", if I can call it that, was set of - and it really was not pleasant at all :p About 15 minutes later it stopped, and I started googling.
I know that correlation does not necessarily equal causation, but it seems to logical to ignore. I'll also add that I've had some physical strain earlier in the day which led to me at a point being unbearably dehydrated, and following this was several hours of hard concentration in lectures.
Oct 22, 2015
i used to get this about once a month from being about 8 to 15, and don't remember the real last time I had it until 15 minutes ago.
For some reason I was thinking about it in bed, my touch went very sensitive, and I knew it was coming on! Next thing everything's loud, struggling to touch things because it brings it on more!
Decided to have a shower, but didn't help - was too loud!
I'm glad I'm not alone! when I was a child I used to put my fingers in my ears and watch tv to make it go.
All the best to all who are blessed/not so blessed with this gift!
Oct 22, 2015
Hey guys ,I had same experience as you have guys ,exactly same things happening ,at the time I was 15 I couldn't bear it anymore ,so my parents took me to psychologist and he put me on a 2 different drugs ,and the dosage was king of high ,like 2 pills of each morning and and same thing at night ,as soon as I started taking pills it stopped ,I just took pills for 6 months and after that I never had the experience ,I am now 34 ,almost 20 years passing with no problem ,ask for medical help ,googling will not treat you ,I know how bad the experience is ,get some help from a professional
Oct 27, 2015
It's happening to me right now.. Kinda scary but it eventually stops. So it's a neurological issue? By the time I finished creating my account it stopped! lol Lasted maybe 10 minutes. I've had these &attacks& just every now and then as long as I can remember. I'm now 22 years old.
Oct 27, 2015
Just to add a few things. When I experience these &attacks& or &episodes&, everything seems to be louder, in fast forward, and feels bigger. So our senses are all intensified then? I've never really been able to describe it to anyone. I've never tried to really. I was actually kinda excited to find this forum. That's all for now but I will continue to watch for more information on our &condition&.
Oct 28, 2015
Hypersensitivity I put it to
Oct 29, 2015
I don't have adhd but I get this sensation too
Oct 30, 2015
I have just read all the comments above and hadn't realised the condition was so common. I used to suffer from these episodes from being around 10 years old to going to college. It always happened before sleep.&&Occasionally they would be quite prolonged, which was extremely distressing. I never heard voices, just the accerated, amplified sensation of all sounds around me and the heightened sensitivity to touch. The clock in the hallway would tick very loudly and far too quickly and the room didn't feel friendly. Passing traffic in the street would sound urgent and threatening. Sometimes they would Iast almost 30 minutes. I would lay very still and concentrate on &bringing myself down& and eventually it would stop. I tried to rationalise the sensations, even felt my pulse and watch the second hand on my watch. My heart beat definitely sped up during the episodes. No epilepsy or migraine in my medical history. Not pleasant but all in the past now. I am 65 and haven't felt a single episode in 45 years. Thank goodness...and I wasn't alone. I wish I had known that then!
Nov 05, 2015
I have suffered from this audible condition since I was at least in kindergarten, maybe even younger. I do remember being about that age having a very severe illness accompanied with a bad fever. That night I struggled to sleep at all, but when I did sleep, I had absolutely CRAZY BIZARRE dreams where time, space, and reality were completely inverted! I can't even conceptualize what I experienced in memory any more except to describe that whatever I was dreaming about, the very fabric of all space and time hung in the balance, at least in my mind. It was very scary at the time.
That moment seems to be the crux of this condition for me personally. Since that time, I began to have daytime experiences where time felt amplified and sound seemed louder. I don't know if louder is even the right word. I've always described it as everyone talking sounds angrier and intense.&&Throughout elementary school these episodes would happen frequently. I found them obnoxious because they kept me from being able to concentrate on the lessons. They never scared me, though. They were always short lived - maybe 10 minutes in length. I've never been seen by a doctor or psychologist about it. I've always had a very hard time describing what it's like sufficiently to make others understand the condition. It's a miracle I even found th I've never had any luck Googling the symptoms.
Now as an adult they don't happen nearly as frequently. I'm 33 now. May once a month or so. However, it is interesting to consider as I read through this thread that I do now in my adulthood experience migraines associated with intense, nauseating headaches behind my eyes and temples. They also occur about once a month. They almost always start an hour or two before bed time, and if I don't treat them immediately, will end up forcing me up in the middle of the night with severe pain and nausea.&&I often have to walk around the block at 3am just to&&pass the time while I wait for medication to kick in.
Just this last Friday I had my latest audible episode while typing in a quiet office at work.&&Then that night I had my latest monthly migraine, and it had the horrible timing of coming on just before a Garth Brooks concert I was in line to attend. The loud noise and bright lights were enough to send me spiraling!&&I stayed at the concert a.) because it was expensive and b.) I was there more for my wife who was doing one of her most important bucket list items of her life. :-) But I did have to get up and walk the empty corridors of the arena for several minutes just to escape the intensity of the concert. Then Sunday morning I got ANOTHER migraine! I NEVER get them that close together, let alone during the day. It was frustrating.
Nov 07, 2015
i have the same feeling. Its like everything is going really fast and so am i. i find it hard to talk because i feel as if i am talking way too fast and they can notice. even everything i do is almost completely over exaggerated even by the simplest things. i get scared people can notice it is happening. i am 15 and this happens alomst twice a week and its scary. has someone got a name for it yet?
Nov 07, 2015
i have the same feeling. Its like everything is going really fast and so am i. i find it hard to talk because i feel as if i am talking way too fast and they can notice. even everything i do is almost completely over exaggerated even by the simplest things. i get scared people can notice it is happening. i am 15 and this happens alomst twice a week and its scary. has someone got a name for it yet?
Nov 08, 2015
I have experienced this and my 11 year old just told me he had his first episode on Monday. He's scared and this just makes me sad. I wish I could take that feeling away from him and just feel it for him. Wish there was help but again I am glad I found this site.
Nov 10, 2015
I've had these episodes since and child and just experienced another and found this forum through googling - relieved that others are experiencing the same thing. Has anyone got any conclusive answers as to what these episodes are? They've always been quite unpleasant for me and it's hard to snap yourself out of them.
Nov 11, 2015
I've had these for almost 2 years and I hope this helps you all...
This EXACT incident you are all describing that I'm reading sounds just like my focal seizures. I had a brain injury from the military, that has caused generalized seizures as well as focal seizures (the ones you guys are talking about). My doc found it through an EEG.
What happens to me: its triggered by dead silence (I always walk around with headphones to avoid triggering this). If they do happen, everything gets very loud, and my head feels like its filling up with air. Then, sounds are either too fast or too slow and depending on the speed of sound, I think I'm moving too fast or too slow. Mine are lasting anywhere from 3-8 minutes but I'm also on seizure meds for generalized seizures as well. Hope this helps!
Nov 13, 2015
this song is the best way to describe what it's like when I have an episode:
/watch?v=Va2kfyoMBzE
Nov 14, 2015
Glad I'm not alone!
I didn't think I would be able to find any information on this since its so hard to describe when googling. It seems like we have all experienced this since childhood which is weird too! I used to be able to make it happen and &control& it kind of. It used to be calming to me as a child but as I got older it would give me panic attacks. I am 26 and it never happens anymore but I could probably make it happen if I focused on a white noise sound. It feels just like everyone is describing. Has anyone figured out what it is? So glad I'm not alone or crazy!
Nov 27, 2015
You have just explained in a very clear way exactly what happened to me. Minus the migraines.
I had a spider bite when I was 7 years old that made me quite ill with a high fever. My father took me to the hospital to have a blood test and the whole thing was quite traumatizing for me. Later that night I had a nightmare that continued as I woke up of doctors looming over me talking in a loud and intense way. From then on I had these moments that we are all talking about during the day. Episodes of intense, loud, distorted time that lasted about 3-5 minutes. It did not effect my vision. Nothing was distorted visually just audibly. I was never scared, it was more annoying than anything else. It always went away when I got distracted by something else but I did try to listen to music&&or watch tv to try to get it to stop.
I am now 44 and it has not happened in many years. And now that I think about it it seemed to go away after I had my daughter when I was 40. So it occurred about once a year well into my 30's. When I was a kid I told my Dad about it and he told me he had had these moments as well and had never met anyone else who had it.
As I got older it became more of a fascination but it was very annoying as a child. It is affirming to see so many people with the same experience. My guesses about it was that it was an inner ear thing, but I also liked to imagine we were magical and could experience life in another dimension.
I'm sorry for the folks here who are really disturbed by it. Sounds horrible. Everyone has different twists to the same syndrome but it mostly sounds like something you grow out of.
Nov 30, 2015
Just to add that i also have this. The best descriptions for me were on page 1. All sounds and thoughts are in a shouting tone. So strange!
I started keeping a journal on when these would happen. Looking through the entries i see that in almost every one i've had a cigarette just prior and also potentially some coffee. Mine certainly seems tied to those, as well as stress (uni exams, money problems). My episodes last no longer than 10 mins.
Just like most others, my experience goes all the way back to childhood (and i wasn't smoking or drinking coffee back then! Don't worry)
Will keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone finds anything new out! Take care
Dec 02, 2015
It took me a long time to find this forum just because it was really hard to even describe my symptoms...&&The person on page one described it perfectly.&&I've been getting these &episodes& since I was a kid, they would happen pretty frequently.&&Now its every once in a while.&&I've also noticed that these generally happen when I'm either very tired or stressed out.&&I do not suffer from migraines like past people have commented.
When I get these episodes its like every sound is very exaggerated, but not in volume...&&I hope that makes sense.&&Its more like the &tone& of the sound is altered, not the volume at which I perceive.&&These episodes usually only last for like a max of 10 minutes.&&I've researched AIWS and while some symptoms are similar, I've never experienced the visual symptoms.&&Its all auditory.
The episodes don't impact my daily functioning at all, especially now that they happen so infrequently.&&I'm just extremely curious.
Dec 03, 2015
I have the same exact thing. I did more research. Look up exploding head syndrome, that was the closest explanation to what I've or we all have been experiencing. Hope this helped
Dec 06, 2015
I'm so happy to know that there are so many people with this and that I'm not crazy. I have had these episodes for as long as I can remember and I am currently 18. I just had one of the most intense episodes I have ever had while shaving in the shower, all I could hear was the pounding of the water and it seemed as if I was moving a million miles per hour. That was all completely normal for me, what was different this time was that I kept on thinking that I was shaving my skin off and actually &seeing& it, I was really freaking out and started shaking and stuff, so I finished and Googled this. I'm pretty bummed that no one really knows what this is, but I'm happy to know I'm not alone.
Dec 19, 2015
just based on googling it's not same symptoms as exploding head . exploding head imagines a loud bang sound for the sufferer like a gunshot or explosion when what described on this forum is all of the sound around us being very loud and agressive
Dec 19, 2015
im so glad that there are so many other people with this happening it used to happen frequently when I was younger then after years it just happened to me again all noise got really loud and aggressive like everything was angry like my footsteps everything my fan was on and so loud its so annoying though not being able to find a straight answer or a name for it on the internet this is the only forum I've found that's definitely the same thing the closest thing I could find is alice in wonderland syndrome but even that seems diferent&&
Dec 19, 2015
ok now I really think its symptoms of Alice in wonder land syndrome because it contains the exact same symptoms I have with aggressive noise but I don't perceive things to be different sizes which is another symptom of alice in wonderland syndrome
Jan 04, 2016
I have also experienced this since a young age and still find it totally terrifying and overwhelming. For me it tends to occur when i'm alone trying to get to sleep. All sound becomes overwhelming even the rustling of my duvet sounds like an earthquake and additionally i feel like i'm moving a million miles an hour. I find that if i talk out loud that sometimes helps me to control it.
Jan 16, 2016
This only happens to me when I wake up from a really bad fever. The first time I encountered this was .. as I was slowly waking up, I felt that my blanket was made of glass and when I moved it and pulled it away from me, it felt like I was removing several shee it felt heavy and cold and I could hear metal scratching against metal sounds. I remember feeling scared that my brain was somehow going to explode. Also moving felt like I was doing it a million times over in a span of a second, I was sweating so heavily then, like I had the most intense workout I've ever had. I hurriedly turned on my fan and directed it at me, trying my best to ignore that intense feeling. Somehow though I instinctively thought that listening to music would help, despite my hearing feeling very intense. Oddly enough music sounded normal, and it helped me gain &full consciousness& (as I would say). It happened to me 4 more times after that (several months apart). Sometimes having mini episodes a few hours after the first big one. And listening to music always helped. Sometimes I challenge myself and walk around while having an episode. I have already made a checklist of what to do when it happens. 1. Sit up right 2. Relax 3. Fan 4. Music 5. Get water 6. Go back to where you were sitting .. I don't know, it helps me get back to normal.
It's a really weird feeling cause you know what was happening wasn't normal, and you're fully conscious. I have a theory actually. Maybe the brain thinks you're still asleep? So what it does is it intensifies your movements in an attempt to make you stop moving .. or wake you up. The brain is trying to prevent you from sleep walking or something. But the problem is, you're already awake, so how can you wake up? Or maybe there's this one part of your brain that hasn't &woken up& yet? Something that has got to do with controlling/filtering your senses.
I haven't had an episode since June of 2014. And honestly, I don't know if I want to experience it again, or not. Though I've never forgotten how it felt, I feel like, I could get more theories or answers from it if it happens to me again.
Btw I'm 18 (2015), 19 (2016). And I recall having something similar to Alice In Wonderland Syndrome back when I was a kid, whenever I had a really bad fever. I remember feeling scared. It's like imagining you being squished through a hole as small as a needle's eye and despite knowing it's impossible, you're bothered by the images/feeling of you going through it as if it was in fact possible. I don't think it's claustrophobia. I think it's the fear of things not matching up or following the rules of reality that bothered me most .. if that makes sense? It's very hard to explain. And it just sounds very plain when you have it written down. It's simply an unexplainable feeling.
Jan 16, 2016
This only happens to me when I wake up from a really bad fever. The first time I encountered this was .. as I was slowly waking up, I felt that my blanket was made of glass and when I moved it and pulled it away from me, it felt like I was removing several shee it felt heavy and cold and I could hear metal scratching against metal sounds. I remember feeling scared that my brain was somehow going to explode. Also moving felt like I was doing it a million times over in a span of a second, I was sweating so heavily then, like I had the most intense workout I've ever had. I hurriedly turned on my fan and directed it at me, trying my best to ignore that intense feeling. Somehow though I instinctively thought that listening to music would help, despite my hearing feeling very intense. Oddly enough music sounded normal, and it helped me gain &full consciousness& (as I would say). It happened to me 4 more times after that (several months apart). Sometimes having mini episodes a few hours after the first big one. And listening to music always helped. Sometimes I challenge myself and walk around while having an episode. I have already made a checklist of what to do when it happens. 1. Sit up right 2. Relax 3. Fan 4. Music 5. Get water 6. Go back to where you were sitting .. I don't know, it helps me get back to normal. Oh!! And talking to myself out loud helps too, even when it feels awful to do so.
It's a really weird feeling cause you know what was happening wasn't normal, and you're fully conscious. I have a theory actually. Maybe the brain thinks you're still asleep? So what it does is it intensifies your movements in an attempt to make you stop moving .. or wake you up. The brain is trying to prevent you from sleep walking or something. But the problem is, you're already awake, so how can you wake up? Or maybe there's this one part of your brain that hasn't &woken up& yet? Something that has got to do with controlling/filtering your senses.
I haven't had an episode since June of 2014. And honestly, I don't know if I want to experience it again, or not. Though I've never forgotten how it felt, I feel like, I could get more theories or answers from it if it happens to me again.
Btw I'm 18 (2015), 19 (2016). And I recall having something similar to Alice In Wonderland Syndrome back when I was a kid, whenever I had a really bad fever. I remember feeling scared. It's like imagining you being squished through a hole as small as a needle's eye and despite knowing it's impossible, you're bothered by the images/feeling of you going through it as if it was in fact possible. I don't think it's claustrophobia. I think it's the fear of things not matching up or following the rules of reality that bothered me most .. if that makes sense? It's very hard to explain. And it just sounds very plain when you have it written down. It's simply an unexplainable feeling.
Feb 13, 2016
I had this much more often when I was younger. I stopped it with talking with my family members or simply just hearing people talk. At first it sounds as if the people are fighting, but somehow my brain stops the panic thinking and I'm back to normal. Recently it's happened to me again and I didn't just block it out like I usually do, but I went online and found this post. I calmed myself with Mozart music. It really does the work. I have all the symptoms that you wrote and I would really like to know the name of the episodes that are happening to us. I also discovered that when I'm reading an online book on my laptop, the letters become very distanced and it looks as if the screen is far far away from me. Really unusual experience.
Feb 15, 2016
I found this post because my 5 year old has been experiencing very much what you are all explaining. Tonight was maybe the 4th time she has explained voices going very fast and sometimes people and movements as well. She said then it just stops. She said sometimes it starts out calm and just gets faster and faster... She is an articulate kid and I don'tthink she's making if up. I plan on calling the Dr. But I'm just not sure how to explain it. She was so upset that I couldn't feel or hear the same thing.
Feb 18, 2016
Well all I can say is thank god for the internet!!&&I've never been able to describe these 'fits' properly - I just did not have the vocab to do them justice!!&&I had the from a very young age - I just remember always having them.&&I would be able to feel them 'coming on'; usually whilst concentrating on something - playing, listening to music, and almost always when alone.&&Sometimes I'd even 'bring them on' deliberately just because I found it fascinating - the intense feeling almost felt like a presence was with me, listening in.....If I was listening to music, it sounded as though the tune was going to fast for the the singer who was desperately trying to keep up!&&Or if I was doing homework, it felt as though my hand wasn't able to keep up with my pen....I could hear my own voice inside my head, giving a running commentary on what I was doing - I found that bit kinda irritating!!&&
I first mentioned it to my mum when I was around twelve and because I mentioned 'a voice' she gave me a look which I knew meant, 'oh shite, she's hearing voices, she's a total nutcase'...!!&&I tried to explain how it was only my own voice and not some evil entity telling me to do evil things!!!&&My mum just didn't get it so I didn't say any more 'til many years later!&&I just presumed everyone had these little episodes but as I got older, I realised it wasn't a common thing so I kept it quiet!&&
Although I always had them, they became more irregular depending on the stage of my life - more frequent during 'exam' times - GCSEs, A'Levels, Uni....I tried again explaining it to a housemate at uni who also found it fascinating and he told me to 'come find him' if/when it happened again so he could observe it...!&&So one, very late night, I woke him up and told him it was happening and I just sat and chatted to him, had a cigarette and as it started to subside, I went back to my own room.&&The next day he told me I was acting like I was on speed!&&He said I'd smoked the cigarette in around 20 seconds - I think he was a tad freaked out!
Now this will, I know, sound a wee bit stupid, but I don't seem to have my little 'brain fits' anymore and I kinda miss them!!!&&I'm 38 now and haven't had one for around 6 or 7 years....The last one, I brought on myself to see if they were still 'there'....I've recently experienced sleep paralysis a couple times and it's made me realise that I used to have them when I was a child and must have blocked them from my memory....It reminded me of these 'episodes' and I tried to 'bring them on' but I'm not able to anymore....I realise how ridiculous it sounds and I don't actually 'want' them back but I'd got so used to it, it was like a part of me that just drifted away!!
The AIW explanation doesn't seem to fit exactly because it was never about perception of size for me, only speed and volume and the intensity element....I'd just presumed I was mental for years so stopped mentioning it!!&&
Thanks to everyone posting - it's been a fascinating read!
Feb 19, 2016
This post just snapped me out of one of these fits. After some research AIWS sounds about right. It really is a weird experience.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_syndrome
Feb 20, 2016
I really wish someone would name this. But Im starting to also think its a type of Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Ive also had symptoms of classic AIW such as size distortions. Reading everyones descriptions of the thoughts symptoms,&&It's almost me to a T. Interesting, the childhood onset, often with fevers.&&is a commonality. As is being alone and quiet.&&Today was the first time since I was a kid to have the fast, loud mind experience. Im 46 now. Apparently its benign because with all of us who have had it and no real medical information....well I hope it's benign lol.&&Im really glad I found this!
Mar 04, 2016
Hi - Im a 28 year old female and Ive been experiencing this since I was a kid. Mostly every few months but recently more often -&&like when Im taking a bath, or when it's really quiet. I am kinda scared that I might be sick in the head. Help?
Mar 07, 2016
Something similar also happens to me. While objects don't appear larger, they sometimes feel larger in my hands. For example, as I type this, my iPhone feels like it's 3-4 times its normal size. Thoughts that I have are often yelled, they feel aggressive, as does my perception of minor and regular sounds, like a sniff, or the sound of a button being clicked. It is very bizzare and happens to me once or twice a year.
Mar 07, 2016
Also, any regular/Normal movements i make feel very aggressive and exaggerated.
Mar 07, 2016
Yeah happens to me as well, specially when at night at its dark, quiet and I read. Try reading at night, it usually triggers it.
We should make a facebook group about this!
Do you guys have ASMR as well? Google/Youtube it, it's blown up now, starting from forums like these.
Mar 22, 2016
&The violent feeling,& sums it up perfectly for me.&&What I have read these symptoms parallels what schizophrenics go through. Its just more on a daily basis with the added layers of paranoia and visual hallucinations.
Mar 27, 2016
I'm 15 years old and I,ve been going through this since I was about 12. I feel exactly the same thing you described. Idk what it is or what it could be
Mar 27, 2016
I'm also 15 and I hve the exact intensified sounds. Everything seems louder and like everything is speeding up than normal.&&
Apr 09, 2016
I have the same thing!! I started experiencing mine about 2 years ago when I was sick in bed with a fever and I still have them to this day. I'm having one right now actually. I'm in high school so almost everytime I take a test it happens or if I'm in class and everyone is typing a paper or something like that it happens. I used to experience something similar to this when I was younger, sometimes when I was in bed trying to fall asleep it felt like everything was getting bigger and my walls were closing in on me and it would eventually stop. They weren't the same thing but they are similar.
Apr 09, 2016
I forgot to mention what specifically happens to me during these &attacks& I guess you could call them..everything gets bigger in a way..but somehow it's not everything at once it's every individual thing is bigger and everything around me is really far away but things are coming at me and it feels like everything is attacking me, and with my hands everything feels really gritty, and all sounds are extremely instensifies, and if im trying to concentrate on something it's impossible (i already have ADHD and don't take medicine for it so that could have something to do with it), and in my head everything I think of is screaming at me and if im not thinking anything it feels like there is something in my head trying to get out. this happens to me at least twice a week for about 5-10 minutes each
Apr 15, 2016
Totally with you on all of what you've said. I've done Psylocybin and high doses of Cannabis and the effects are similar. Definitely not ADHD or panic attack linked though it is similar.
Everything slows down and then magnifies. It's like you can travel INTO what you're looking at. I wear a heart rate monitor in bed and as long as I don't panic (completely separate emotion) I can remain within the experience until I fall asleep, which I rarely remember. My heart rate is not particularly raised - maybe slightly but nothing like a panic attack - which I had once when I had my drink spiked.
It's definitely linked to stress and concentration.
I've had many feelings over the years through my exploration of my psyche about being able to travel &into& spaces.
The visuals for this experience are very similar.
Sounds become exaggerated - very much like the scene in &Wanted& starring James McEvoy. But I personally feel I can control the state, when I was younger it used to scare the crap out of me, I would bury my head in the pillow, go for a wee, etc but it wouldn't go away until I fell asleep.
Would love to know an explanation!
May 05, 2016
I can't believe I found others with this exact feeling. Although I have not had an episode for many many years and I am 41. But for some reason it popped into my head, and I wanted to see if others felt the same thing. Mine started when I was very young maybe 5 or 6. I don't remember being sick when they happened, but for me it would be when it was very quiet or if I was doing homework etc. Everything would move so fast as if fast forward, my thinking would even be fast and it would seem like I was talking a mile a minute, my head would move so quick. Noises also would appear louder and more defined. It was the strangest feeling and maybe last a few minutes at most. I am just glad I found others with similar feelings.
May 10, 2016
Yesss!! Me too it happens when the place is really silent...it first happen when i was 10 i had the flu and recovering thats when its triggered i told my parents but they wouldn't believe me...! Im happy to find more people like us.this happend to me like when im feeling pressured i know when it gonna happen i have severe headache....im 19 now and while im writing this message it almost got like 5mins ago.....what i normally do to try and stop dont always work....but is to go under the shower take deep breaths and try not to think about it....think about something else relax and calm your mind...
im so happy i see more ppl with this illness or whatever this is...
May 30, 2016
This exact thing happens to me too! I never thought anything of it until my friend told me to research it. Idk what this is. It usually happens to me when the room is silent also
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