Waking from noise as I doze off

[Jester23]

First - I have trouble falling asleep because my brain tends to speed up when I lie down to sleep. On average it takes me between 15 and 25 minutes to relax and start falling asleep.

Often times - 3-4 out of 7 nights, I will lie down, relax and I can feel myself starting to sleep. Then all of a sudden I here things LOUDLY like someone knocking on my door, a name spoken out loud and quickly, or just a weird and loud sound of something crashing. The problem is that there is nothing there making noise and it is all in my head.

I do sleep with a Loud fan on for a constant noise. This is the best thing I have ever found to help me relax and fall asleep.

Each time this happens I naturally come out of the phase of falling asleep and many times my heart beat is increased a good amount.

Then I have to relax again and hope to fall asleep quickly. I have also found myself laying there for an hour or two after this happens and unable to sleep at all. Not from a fear but I find myself wide awake afterwards.

I was curious if any one else has ever had this issue before.

I took a sleep study one evening and slept 7 hours. They said I slept well although the entire night I felt half awake through out the 7 hours. I only slept 3 hours the night before and hoped this would help me sleep the night of the study. Regardless, I was shocked that they said my sleep patterns were not BAD yet I felt so tired afterwards and also felt as if I had waken up more than usual through out the night.

 

[Thoreau]

First - I have trouble falling asleep because my brain tends to speed up when I lie down to sleep. On average it takes me between 15 and 25 minutes to relax and start falling asleep.

Often times - 3-4 out of 7 nights, I will lie down, relax and I can feel myself starting to sleep. Then all of a sudden I here things LOUDLY like someone knocking on my door, a name spoken out loud and quickly, or just a weird and loud sound of something crashing. The problem is that there is nothing there making noise and it is all in my head.

I do sleep with a Loud fan on for a constant noise. This is the best thing I have ever found to help me relax and fall asleep.

Each time this happens I naturally come out of the phase of falling asleep and many times my heart beat is increased a good amount.

Then I have to relax again and hope to fall asleep quickly. I have also found myself laying there for an hour or two after this happens and unable to sleep at all. Not from a fear but I find myself wide awake afterwards.

I was curious if any one else has ever had this issue before.

I took a sleep study one evening and slept 7 hours. They said I slept well although the entire night I felt half awake through out the 7 hours. I only slept 3 hours the night before and hoped this would help me sleep the night of the study. Regardless, I was shocked that they said my sleep patterns were not BAD yet I felt so tired afterwards and also felt as if I had waken up more than usual through out the night.

This is an honest question so please don't take this out of context....

Do you do drugs? If so, which ones?

I'll explain why I'm asking afterwards.

 

[Crunchy Cat]

First - I have trouble falling asleep because my brain tends to speed up when I lie down to sleep. On average it takes me between 15 and 25 minutes to relax and start falling asleep.

Sounds like you need some wind-down time before jumping into bed.

Often times - 3-4 out of 7 nights, I will lie down, relax and I can feel myself starting to sleep. Then all of a sudden I here things LOUDLY like someone knocking on my door, a name spoken out loud and quickly, or just a weird and loud sound of something crashing. The problem is that there is nothing there making noise and it is all in my head.

That's quite normal. It's called a hypnagogic hallucination. A variant called hypnopompic hallucination can occur when you first wake up and is often accompanied by temporary paralysis.

I do sleep with a Loud fan on for a constant noise. This is the best thing I have ever found to help me relax and fall asleep.

Cool.

Each time this happens I naturally come out of the phase of falling asleep and many times my heart beat is increased a good amount.

Then I have to relax again and hope to fall asleep quickly. I have also found myself laying there for an hour or two after this happens and unable to sleep at all. Not from a fear but I find myself wide awake afterwards.

Keep some turkey jerky handy. Seriously. If you can't sleep eat some turkey and drink some milk. It will trigger a natural cycle in your body and make you tired again.

I was curious if any one else has ever had this issue before.

Just about everyone at some point.

I took a sleep study one evening and slept 7 hours. They said I slept well although the entire night I felt half awake through out the 7 hours. I only slept 3 hours the night before and hoped this would help me sleep the night of the study. Regardless, I was shocked that they said my sleep patterns were not BAD yet I felt so tired afterwards and also felt as if I had waken up more than usual through out the night.

Try the study again but let them see your normal sleeping habits.

 

[Donnal]

wow jester you must be a very light sleeper
i know heaps of people like that the slightest noise or they think theres noise and there awake
you must be tired
have you tried hipnotism

 

[Jester23]

No I don't do drugs and I hardly ever drink. Sometimes I take an over the counter sleeping pill, and Ibuprofen or a Prilosec but rarely if ever take anything else. As far as other drugs, I never have.

 

[Strap_ON]

I use to have terrible problems getting to sleep. I would lie awake for hours. I would just keep thinking about everything, I couldnt close off. I also have a very over imaginative mind, so any little noise I heard would send my mind into fantasy land, thinking that has to be Chucky the killer doll or the gremlins (I am such a child).

I use to try watching TV till I fell asleep which only left me with a serious headache in the morning, but in the end I found that classical chillout music helped me completely, I use to fall alspeep near enough straight away when I had it on.

I sleep fine now though, I never have deep sleeps, always dreaming but can get to sleep straight away. Bless!

 

[greenberg]

First - I have trouble falling asleep because my brain tends to speed up when I lie down to sleep.

Another possibility is that you notice how fast your mind is only when you try to slow down.

Often times - 3-4 out of 7 nights, I will lie down, relax and I can feel myself starting to sleep. Then all of a sudden I here things LOUDLY like someone knocking on my door, a name spoken out loud and quickly, or just a weird and loud sound of something crashing. The problem is that there is nothing there making noise and it is all in my head.

I know this, I have similar experiences as well.

You don't have to answer this here, I'm just posing the questions because they are important and can help you further:

Are you worried? Do you feel very troubled about something?

When we're worried, we usually find it difficult to sleep. Sometimes, we're not even aware of the worries, but they're there.
Working out what's worrying you could restore your sleeping.

I took a sleep study one evening and slept 7 hours. They said I slept well although the entire night I felt half awake through out the 7 hours.

That could have been because of the study - you knew you were being observed and your sleep measured, and knowing such can affect the way you sleep.

 

[Jester23]

Greenberg - I do have some worries considering my company laid off everyone this year and I am in a new and struggling sales role. But - I sleep better now than I did when I had a job I loved and woke up ready to get to work. I did take my work personal and took it home with me.
So, yes it is possible that I am worried and thinking about things all the time. This is rather normal for me. I think best at night when I lie down to sleep. I have often gotten up and gone straight to the computer and started typing away.
I use to sleep 3-5 hours per night and since the lay off I get 7-9 hours per night. I feel worse when I awake than when I only had 3-5 hours of sleep..........really weird!
Regardless, even though I sleep better today than 7 months ago, I still have those fake noises wake me often as I doze off.

 

[greenberg]

So, yes it is possible that I am worried and thinking about things all the time. This is rather normal for me. I think best at night when I lie down to sleep. I have often gotten up and gone straight to the computer and started typing away.

I would say that this is not such a good idea to think a lot when you lie down to sleep, as your mind gets all riled up and this then keeps you awake.

I would suggest you give this a try - it works for me:

Worry time

Set aside one or more specific periods in the day when you are allowed to worry. It can help to set them just before something that you know you will do, to ensure that you stop worrying on time - e.g. before a favourite TV programme, or a meal-time. Whenever an anxiety or distracting thought enters your mind during the day, banish it until your next worry time, and re-focus on to what you are supposed to be doing. Some people find it helpful to write down the banished thought: it is easier to banish a thought if you are sure you won't have forgotten it when you get to your worry time. It is important that you keep your worry time(s), and make yourself worry for the full time. If you find that you can't fill the time available, then make a conscious decision to reduce it.

You may notice, particularly if you keep a list, that certain things keep reappearing: this is a fairly clear indication that you need to do something about them.

I use to sleep 3-5 hours per night and since the lay off I get 7-9 hours per night. I feel worse when I awake than when I only had 3-5 hours of sleep..........really weird!

This is common. The body gets used to a certain amount of sleep; and if it gets more or less than that, it leads to tiredness.

Regardless, even though I sleep better today than 7 months ago, I still have those fake noises wake me often as I doze off.

That might take a while to clear up.

And by the way - I don't think this is anything "parapsychological".

 

[thecollage]

sounds like you are having trouble sleeping.