The Exploding Head Syndrome Is Bugging Me
Every night before falling asleep, this loud noise suddenly explodes in my head. I didn’t know what it was until yesterday.
When it first hit me about three weeks ago, I almost jumped out of bed in shock. I glided over into the realm of dreams when suddenly a sharp, shrill humming sounded in my head, which was like a generator burning through.
Immediately my heart started to race, and I panicked. What the hell was that?
At first, I thought it was a stroke, but other than my heart racing in terror, I noticed no other symptoms. When I calmed down after a few minutes, my eyes closed again, and I fell asleep back.
But already in the next second, the same noise as before tore me out of sleep again. This happened to me three more times that night. It was maddening. To be honest, I thought I was actually going crazy.
Since then, this phenomenon has repeated itself every night. After a few days, I was convinced that it must have had a psychological cause. During the day, I felt physically and mentally fit, and I was not particularly stressed. Therefore I saw no reason to go to the doctor.
Instead, I began to research on the Internet to see if other people had this problem too. And I found what I was looking for.
The exploding head syndrome
This diagnosis is still relatively new in sleep medicine. However, the phenomenon has been known for some time.
The exploding head syndrome takes its name from the sound that the affected persons perceive in their heads before they fall asleep or shortly after they wake up. Most of those affected describe the sound of an explosion, but some hear a whistling, hissing, gong, or other loud noises. In my case, it is the hum of a generator burning through.
In some people, the acoustic hallucinations are accompanied by visual hallucinations. Thus some patients see flashes of lightning or other inexplicable light effects.
In most cases, as in my case, these events trigger anxiety and palpitations. Some also report tingling lips or numb extremities.
In the past, this syndrome was thought to occur mainly in people over fifty, but in recent years, more and more cases have been documented in young people as well.
From all that is known today about exploding head syndrome, it seems to be completely harmless. This knowledge alone can help people to live with it better.
Since I found out that this loud noise with the subsequent palpitations is not dangerous, I can deal with it much better. The syndrome is still there, but I no longer pay attention to it.
As soon as the loud buzzing sounds, I am awake again, and my heart beats faster, but I no longer get scared. I just wait until my heartbeat calms down again and then fall asleep back quickly.
Even though the exploding head syndrome has no known psychological causes, the psyche plays a crucial role in living with the syndrome.
Serenity and acceptance are essential in this case. I have also noticed that although my heart still beats faster after I startled from falling asleep, it no longer races as fast as before.
I think that since awareness that the phenomenon is harmless prevents the heartbeat from being stimulated even more by panic. So I can’t avoid being alarmed, but I don’t get into a spiral of fear anymore.
Conclusion
The Exploding Head Syndrome is initially extraordinarily annoying and can cause severe anxiety. But as soon as you know what it is that upsets you so much, it loses much of its terror.
Doctors are trying to treat the syndrome with beta-blockers or Ritalin, but I think a calm approach is helpful. In my opinion, one should refrain from taking medication that might have unwanted side effects.
For me, Exploding Head Syndrome is not the first disturbing but ultimately harmless syndrome that haunts me. In an earlier article, I described how I live with Roehmheldt syndrome.
If you are also interested in this field report, you can read on here:
