flashing lights while trying to sleep

[mindfray]

I'm trying to see if this is a physical problem, or something else. here goes.

this happens only when im laying in bed with my eyes closed trying to sleep.

i get these blinding white flashes of light when my eyes are closed.

they are bright beyond anything i have seen , brighter than looking directly at the sun.

a few weeks ago the color was not white this time, it was yellow/gold.

that was the first time it was not white. i don't get the burn in effect you get when you stare at a lightbulb.

but when it happens it alarms me quite a bit.

[Vampwitchenstein]

I'm trying to see if this is a physical problem, or something else. here goes.

this happens only when im laying in bed with my eyes closed trying to sleep.

i get these blinding white flashes of light when my eyes are closed.

they are bright beyond anything i have seen , brighter than looking directly at the sun.

a few weeks ago the color was not white this time, it was yellow/gold.

that was the first time it was not white. i don't get the burn in effect you get when you stare at a lightbulb.

but when it happens it alarms me quite a bit.

I have this too. I was told it's something either psychological and/or physical, a brain thing. I have no links for info, but I'll go look.

They wake me up. Mine are always brilliant white.

[ROGER]

I my be wrong but I assumed this is your brain trying to make sense out of the nerve signals still being sent to the brain. The Neurons appear as flashes. Most people see them and learn to ignore them.

[Vampwitchenstein]

I my be wrong but I assumed this is your brain trying to make sense out of the nerve signals still being sent to the brain. The Neurons appear as flashes. Most people see them and learn to ignore them.

Yeah, that sounds familiar to what I was told. because your brains electrical impulses and all. There's also an association with some ppl and mental illness with the flashes. I think I read it can also happen with certain (not all) brain tumors.

Edit: Spelluns!

Edited August 22, 2008 by Blondigeist

[mare]

hi,

i also had this problem for quite a few months, it was like a very very bright photo flash, it used to wake me up!! also had this during the day.

it stopped about 3 years ago after i had 2 prolapsed discs in my neck. i think that if i had gone to a gp they may of picked up that something was touching on the nerves in my neck befor it got so bad, i ended up in bed for 7 months. i would advise you to seek medical advise.

[Rich1984]

Hi,

I have experienced the same blinding white flash when falling asleep, I recall about 3-4 times since end of last year with the most recent being a couple of weeks ago.

The first time I experienced it was while trying to fall asleep one night, I saw what I can best describe as a very bright pure white flash of light, and then I opened my eyes and there was nothing, just the dark room. When it first happened I didn't think much of it, I just thought it was me dreaming whilst nodding off.

My bedroom has 3 lights, one either side of the bed on side tables (low light LED 5W each) and the main light in the centre of the ceiling (bright LED 20W 4000k). There is one window with a black out blind and also a curtain covering that, so my room is very dark. The bedroom door is always closed too.

The light I saw was not from any of the bedroom lights because when I turn them on with my eyes closed I don't see such a pure white light, but instead it's more red due to seeing it through the eyelids. The light couldn't have come from the window either because of the blind and curtain, it lets a little indirect light in around the edges but hardly noticeable.

The strangest thing was when it happened the second time, there appeared to be two flashes and the second lingered longer than the other but was gone once I opened my eyes. My wife sleeps next to me, and we were sleeping back to back facing opposite walls. I was facing the window direction, my wife suddenly sits up, she is a little freaked out and says "Did you see that light?!"

I was also freaked out now because I thought it was in my mind, but now that my wife also saw the same thing at the same time made me feel uneasy because I can't see how it's possible. We can't reproduce what we saw using only the light sources in the room and have no idea what it is.

I searched google and came across some articles of similar experiences, but they were individual and mind related, which I could believe if my wife didn't experience exactly the same thing at exactly the same time, and there has been other occurrences since then which again we both saw at the same time.

We are still struggling to explain the source/reason for seeing this light. We live close to high voltage power lines about 60-70m away, although any light generated wouldn't penetrate the blind and curtain, do you think it could be emitting an invisible frequency, electromagnetic pulse that could make us "see" the white flash in our mind?

I know it's highly unlikely that it's caused by power lines, but I can't think of any other reason for seeing this light.

[Timothy]

Hi @Rich1984, it’s likely https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia

Also, you’ve done well by resurrecting a 13 year old thread! 

Let us know what you think of hypnagogia or otherwise. 

[Duke Wellington]

On 8/22/2008 at 6:12 AM, mindfray said:

I'm trying to see if this is a physical problem, or something else. here goes.

this happens only when im laying in bed with my eyes closed trying to sleep.

i get these blinding white flashes of light when my eyes are closed.

they are bright beyond anything i have seen , brighter than looking directly at the sun.

a few weeks ago the color was not white this time, it was yellow/gold.

that was the first time it was not white. i don't get the burn in effect you get when you stare at a lightbulb.

but when it happens it alarms me quite a bit.

Its called exploding head syndrome.

Is when one hears explosions or sees bright flashes while falling asleep. What it means is that the different areas of your brain involved in sleep are out of sync with each other. The cure is less caffeine, less stress, less anything that causes insomnia.

[the13bats]

On 7/11/2022 at 11:25 AM, Cookie Monster said:

Its called exploding head syndrome.

Is when one hears explosions or sees bright flashes while falling asleep. What it means is that the different areas of your brain involved in sleep are out of sync with each other. The cure is less caffeine, less stress, less anything that causes insomnia.

Still it could be something worse soget it checked out.

 

On 6/6/2022 at 5:40 AM, Rich1984 said:

Hi,

I have experienced the same blinding white flash when falling asleep, I recall about 3-4 times since end of last year with the most recent being a couple of weeks ago.

The first time I experienced it was while trying to fall asleep one night, I saw what I can best describe as a very bright pure white flash of light, and then I opened my eyes and there was nothing, just the dark room. When it first happened I didn't think much of it, I just thought it was me dreaming whilst nodding off.

My bedroom has 3 lights, one either side of the bed on side tables (low light LED 5W each) and the main light in the centre of the ceiling (bright LED 20W 4000k). There is one window with a black out blind and also a curtain covering that, so my room is very dark. The bedroom door is always closed too.

The light I saw was not from any of the bedroom lights because when I turn them on with my eyes closed I don't see such a pure white light, but instead it's more red due to seeing it through the eyelids. The light couldn't have come from the window either because of the blind and curtain, it lets a little indirect light in around the edges but hardly noticeable.

The strangest thing was when it happened the second time, there appeared to be two flashes and the second lingered longer than the other but was gone once I opened my eyes. My wife sleeps next to me, and we were sleeping back to back facing opposite walls. I was facing the window direction, my wife suddenly sits up, she is a little freaked out and says "Did you see that light?!"

I was also freaked out now because I thought it was in my mind, but now that my wife also saw the same thing at the same time made me feel uneasy because I can't see how it's possible. We can't reproduce what we saw using only the light sources in the room and have no idea what it is.

I searched google and came across some articles of similar experiences, but they were individual and mind related, which I could believe if my wife didn't experience exactly the same thing at exactly the same time, and there has been other occurrences since then which again we both saw at the same time.

We are still struggling to explain the source/reason for seeing this light. We live close to high voltage power lines about 60-70m away, although any light generated wouldn't penetrate the blind and curtain, do you think it could be emitting an invisible frequency, electromagnetic pulse that could make us "see" the white flash in our mind?

I know it's highly unlikely that it's caused by power lines, but I can't think of any other reason for seeing this light.

See my reply to CM.

I will start by saying i do not think its paranormal and not just one thing, i get optical migrains, and other such nerve wrecking horrors, when in bed trying to sleeping or waking all bets are off.

Ive seen weird bright light but i am also very OCD due to mental nervious issues im convinced some lights i see are not of the eye and maybe not of the brain except that they are just dreams.

The fact you and your wife believe you see the same lights is either BS i mean no offense or a real light source, but that shouldnt be hard to figure out.

LED are odd creatures did you know its not steady light but rather flashing and so fast humans arent suppose to detect the flashing well i do some far worse than others but i sure wouldnt use LED as night lights.

And as we age the fluid in the eye goes from jelly to more watery and during that can cause light shows in some people as it teases the retinas.

Yeah, EMFs can do stuff doctor Michael Persinger was using his god helmet to make people see odd stuff but i believe it was like acid trip.

Be safe get it checked out and if you are good then enjoy the show.