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Show HN: Bodily Oddities

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Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#101

Post by hermitcrab »

all2 wrote: post #97
Rendello wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen someone miss sleep paralysis before. I get it, but the hallucinations that people describe never happen to me. I just become aware that I'm about to wake up, but I can't yet control my body or even breathing. I always know not to panic, yet I always panic and try desperately to start moving. I can always see the room, but it's a dream version because my eyes aren't really open and it looks different o…

Mine was always accompanied by the sensation of being watched. I could 'see' where the watching was happening, but not the actual thing watching me. Also always accompanied by fear.

I believe sensation of a presence in the room is very common in sleep paralysis.

Interestingly the belief of what the presence is has changed with culture. It used to be demons, now it is more likely to be aliens.

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#102

Post by hermitcrab »

jwrallie wrote: post #44

Something not mentioned that I’m curious about, if I’m about to fall asleep and I happen to hear a loud noise nearby, I also see a flash of light with my closed eyelids.

>if I’m about to fall asleep and I happen to hear a loud noise nearby,

https://vester.si/bodily-oddities/oddities/hypnagogic-halluc...

>I also see a flash of light with my closed eyelids.

You might want to talk to a optician about that. It can be a sign of issues with your retina.

I see flashes in a dark room when I wake up, because I have PVDs (posterior vitreous detachment) in both eyes.

Edit: I just re-read your post. If they both happen together, I think it is something different.

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#103

Post by lpghatguy »

The artifacts from some of the AI-generated images are a pretty significant detraction. For a site with so many pictures of hands, so many of them being malformed or having the wrong number of fingers (hithhiker's thumb, palmaris longus) is really off-putting.

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#104

Post by guessmyname »

ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #85

The geometric nightmares! I had those as a kid whenever I was very tired or had a fever, and kept having them until my late teens. Never seen them described and didn't know it was a thing.

Same here. I also recall them when I had fevers in my childhood.

I attribute them to the fact that, while trying to sleep with a fever, my eyes are half-open, and any sharp object becomes a visible geometric shape that my brain attempts to comprehend but almost fails to. I still experience them in adulthood. I’ve never had sleep paralysis, but whenever I think of people who have it, I imagine it feels as debilitating as these half-sleep experiences where you’re unable to move while your brain processes distressing memories.

“Geometric Nightmares” is not a scientific name. It is simply the name given to this phenomenon in forums [1][2] where people discuss and share their experiences.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Dreams/comments/7ofu86/x/

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/geometricnightmares/

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#105

Post by kraquepype »

robotnikman wrote: post #78

Random chest pains like you describe cause so much anxiety for me. And yet every time it turns out to be nothing.

I would get that as well - I ended up at the urgent care a few times just because it was so painful and unsettling.

It was never diagnosed but I'm pretty sure it was costochondritis - something in my sternum area was inflamed and would give off this awful shooting chest pain.

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#106

Post by kraquepype »

alexpotato wrote: post #42

An interesting story about the Photic Sneeze Reflex [0]: it's one of the things that fighter pilots are screened for. The reasoning is that they can't have a pilot looking down and dark ground, look up to scan for enemy fighters and start sneezing. Some people with the reflex can also have multiple sneezes in a row. I find this all fascinating as: - I have this - I was also born with no sense of smell 0 - https://en.…

I have this as well, and all my kids seem to as well.

Never knew that it was part of fighter pilot screening, that is interesting.

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#107

Post by Alex-Programs »

ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #85

The geometric nightmares! I had those as a kid whenever I was very tired or had a fever, and kept having them until my late teens. Never seen them described and didn't know it was a thing.

Interesting. I recently discovered that my sister and I have identical geometric nightmares, down to every detail, while everyone else I mention this to thinks it's insane. I wonder whether there's a genetic aspect?

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#108

Post by NoImmatureAdHom »

alexpotato wrote: post #42

An interesting story about the Photic Sneeze Reflex [0]: it's one of the things that fighter pilots are screened for. The reasoning is that they can't have a pilot looking down and dark ground, look up to scan for enemy fighters and start sneezing. Some people with the reflex can also have multiple sneezes in a row. I find this all fascinating as: - I have this - I was also born with no sense of smell 0 - https://en.…

Do you like to eat? Or do it out of a sense of duty?

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#109

Post by K0balt »

hermitcrab wrote: post #98

Interesting site. I get the occasional Hypnopompic auditory illusion ( https://vester.si/bodily-oddities/oddities/hypnagogic-halluc... ). This is when you think you hear a sound as you wake up. For me it is normally an illusory door bell. It is very convincing. You rush down to the door and there is no-one there and my wife heard nothing. Maybe happens 2 or 3 times a year. I also get the occasional weird nerve shock.…

I get the someone pounding on the door at night thing, wakes me out of a heavy sleep. Never anyone actually knocking.

Re: Show HN: Bodily Oddities

#110

Post by chaps »

ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #85

The geometric nightmares! I had those as a kid whenever I was very tired or had a fever, and kept having them until my late teens. Never seen them described and didn't know it was a thing.

Last time I stopped smoking cannabis I got these for a couple days. They are intense. The most recent was kind of like taking a slow rollercoaster ride through three black hole sized perfect spheres orbiting nothing. Another one was less geometric but was basically me getting sucked into a black hole. Both had this almost lucid dreaming feel where my entire sense of self became condensed into a single point... but I was still there, aware of what was happening... it was incredibly memorable.
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