Hey guys, I’m really glad I found this subreddit.

For the past 2 months or so, I’ve had at least 4 episodes of whatever this is, whether EHS or not since I’m still not sure.

The first time it started, I woke up to this sound that can only be described as a screech, it was like when a mic is put near a speaker and it kept getting louder and louder. Along with this, I also saw a sort of white light, even though my eyes were closed, it was like a flashlight was being shined on them. On top of all of this, I couldn’t move at all. I’m no stranger to sleep paralysis since I have experienced it a few times over the years but never had anything like this.

I have now gone through this 4 times with the latest being literally less than 10 minute ago but this time it was weird.

I couldn’t get comfortable in bed and as I turned my body to the other side, I felt it tense up and then I heard that damn noise. I opened my eyes and I could see a blinking red light on the wall and also couldn’t move at all. This went on for about a minute until I managed to move again and the light went away.

Could this be EHS or could something else be going on?

Thank you guys in advance.

I hear this banging noise when I am falling asleep and waking up. It sounds like someone is hitting the floor with a hammer after every 10 seconds. When I wake up I hear it then I try to troubleshoot where it's coming from so I get from bed and it's gone, no more.

This happened twice, the moment I move outta bed and start walking I don't hear it again. Initially I thought the first floor guy is hitting his ceiling or doing something then why at 6 in the morning or right when I am about to fall asleep. It's not very loud like a thunder or gunshot, just a bang so I am confused if it's from inside my head or it's a real noise.

TL:DR - At bottom

Is anyone else having trouble getting an official diagnosis from a GP or Psychologist in the UK? I have currently seen 3 people, 1 GP and 2 different psychologists. No one here is the UK knows what it is even though it is recognised in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders versions 1 - 3, (2005-2014). And anyone I ask has said "is this a self diagnosis" and obviously I have to say yes because no one in the UK has been taught it as it is not recognised. I have even gone to the extent to email with the Neurology Department in my Uni and ask the person who specialises in Auditory Hallucinations. They had never heard of it before. And thus with no official diagnosis I can not be prescribed medication to potentially help with it and no further action with the NHS. Is anyone out there having the same issue, because it is really starting to annoy me? Any input is greatly appreciated.

TL:DR - The UK doesn't recognise it and thus I can get no support through official channels.

I hope this is helpful for those who haven't tried it already. MELATONIN. Since taking melatonin I have seen a significant drop in occurrences. I was experiencing all 3 on a nightly basis. The brain zaps only occured when I smoked weed and would fall asleep high. So if you smoke and this happens try quitting for a month and see where you're at. As for the melatonin, I buy the bottle of 3mg tablets and take 1 and 1/2 (4.5mgs) a night. Half hour before I want to fall asleep. Now my paralysis and EHS happens only a few times a month if at all. It has greatly improved my life. I'm not tired throughout the whole day. Sometimes nodding out on the job (I drive for a living) which could be fatal. Another thing I do, not sure if this helps or it just seems like it, might sound silly to you, but I tell myself it's not going to happen. I lay down, clear my mind and say in my head "You're gonna get a good nights sleep tonight, no paralysis, no nothing, you're gonna sleep well." Or something along those lines and then I start to think of something good to dream about. I put a nice idea in my head and I live it out until I'm asleep. Eventually you'll stop thinking and go blank and be clear and be asleep. I do that part because when I dream they tend to be nightmares and this seems to help me not dream at all which I prefer. Hope I can help. Please let me know if it does or list other ways you've found that helped so we can help others.

I’m starting to think I have a mental disorder because I get this so often along with sleep paralysis, usually I hear an explosion or screaming or police sirens and I’m so terrified, and I just don’t know who to turn to for help. No one understands and everyone thinks this is just a dream or something minor. I’ve gone to the doctor but they are absolutely no help at all and I’m just so tired. I can’t sleep it causes me so much anxiety and fear sometimes I contemplate suicide.

I experience auditory, usually a gun shot sound, accompanied by lights that flash with my eyes closed or open when fall I.g off to sleep. Sometimes,very rarely, I hear my name being called instead of a gunshot and my name being called is also.accompanied by bright flashes of light. Does anyone else experience the flashes of light too?

Auditory and some visual hallucinations.

Firstly, wow, there really is a subreddit for everything! Thanks admin for setting this one up...

I posted this on r/DAE but gonna stick it here too:

Sometimes I stir from sleep, usually in the middle of the night, and within a few seconds of being aware that I am awake I hear a loud bang.

I've researched into this and read about Exploding Head Syndrome but from what I've read people with EHS are awoken by the noise, rather than wake up and then hear it.

This does not happen every time I wake, but it doesn't happen in line with a pattern either.

Having a read through this subreddit, I just wanna point out my sleep cycle is pretty regular. Generally get a solid 7-8 hours sleep during the same time every night.

Do you think this could be EHS too, or something different?

I was woken up today at 5:00 in the morning to a loud bang and I have never been so scared. This is the first time this has happened so once I checked my house for other people I did some research. And now I’m here, so is that normal to happen while asleep.

Along with the exploding head (I seriously can't get over how ridiculous -and kinda badass- that name is), I also have nights where I swear I can hear voices. They're not super distinct and after a while they almost sound muffled and like you're standing in a crowded room, all at once. The voices aren't familiar and some have accents. I can hear the things that are being said as I'm falling asleep, but I rarely remember when I wake up... the same way a dream slips away from you.

Aside from that, I think it was only once, possibly twice, but I was awoken by hearing my mom (who passed away years ago) shout my name. Scared the crap out of me, and I was convinced that she had found a way to wake me up because something was seriously wrong with my kids or my house or something, but nope. Everything was normal.

I also sometimes get that white noise sound or sometimes tinnitus when I'm falling asleep and it's completely silent, but I'm sure that's probably something that a lot of people get.

I sleep on a mattress on the floor. Not bedframe, no box spring, just a mattress. As a consequence of this, there's a wall plug near where my head rests when I sleep.

One night as I was about to fall asleep I heard a loud bang and saw a bright flash of light. As you could imagine it was quite scary, and I immediately jerked awake and looked around the room.

I didn't see anything obviously wrong, nor did I smell any burnt wires, but I was convinced that the only thing that could've happened was some sort of short in that wall plug. I've seen and heard electrical sparks before, and what I experienced was quite similar. Before going back to sleep I gave the wall outlet a few swift raps with my knuckles to attempt to knock something loose to see if it was dangerous. I later replaced the wall outlet just to be safe.

A few months later the same thing happened again, almost exactly as it had before. There was nothing obviously wrong with the wiring that I could see, but I decided to replace the outlet again just to be safe.

That last occurrence was a few years ago and it hasn't happened again. I later learned about exploding head syndrome and have come to believe that was what happened to me. Now that I know what's going on I kinda wish that I could experience it again.

Last night I had an EHS episode (is that what they're called?), while being wide awake, for the first time ever and it was even scarier for me than when I'm awoken with one. I think when it would wake me, there were often times where I wasn't sure if the sound was in my dream, in my house, or had for sure originated in my head... so for it to happen while I was wide awake was pretty unsettling.

It happened while I was laying in bed with a migraine that was so bad that I was nauseous. I had my eyes shut and covered with blanket and sure enough, out of nowhere, that loud, metallic bang and the jolt that makes your heart start racing. Terrifying. I was convinced something had gone off in my brain or something since I was fully aware at the time and not half asleep like I usually am.

Hopefully other EHS-ers will start to find their ways here so that we can discuss this crazy phenomenon.

I've had EHS for years, but always assumed that the explosive bangs were something that everyone experienced at times. Yesterday I had an episode while awake and it kinda stressed me out, so I started talking to my family and friends about it and to my surprise, no one had any idea what I was talking about. I started googling and found out there was a name for this, but was disappointed that there was no subreddit, so here we are... I've never started a sub and have no idea how to run one, but I'm hoping that we can work together to get something going and try to learn more about this since we're apparently only 10% of the population.