Doctor in the house? Buzzing in my ear and feel "electrical shocks" when asleep. Help

[austinite]

The hardest part of this post is going to be explaining what is happening to me. But here it goes...

Over the past week I've been experiencing a problem that occurs when I sleep. This seems to happen at the exact moment that I fall asleep. I hear buzzing in my both my ears. Not ringing, not a constant hiss, but a buzz, like there's a bee in each ear. It start out low and gets really loud. The moment it get's loud I feel a shock in my body. Almost like an electrical shock. This shock seems to be in 2 different spots. Sometimes it's in the center of my back, other times it's in my neck. Or both. This shock wakes me up but I go right back to bed and it happens again about 6 or 7 times before I can fall asleep and stay asleep.

One thing that is odd, is that I begin to dream something. And not even (what seems to be) 2 seconds into the dream that this occurs. Last night, it was so forceful, that I got up and stayed up in fear of experiencing that again. Spent hours online and having a hard time finding anyone with similar symptoms. I don't get it. I should mention that sometimes during the day, I sometimes do experience that constant "hiss" or ring in my ear. But never at night. So I don't know if there's a relationship here.

Any leads or direction?

[DSM4Life]

I think I should sleep with you tonight to get a better understanding of the problem.

[austinite]

I think I should sleep with you tonight to get a better understanding of the problem.

This is not a source board. But yay....

Austinite 1
Hazard 0

[Cuz]

wow no idea whats going on with you. Shock in your neck and back looks like you got some nerve issues going on with your spine just a suggestion but I have no medical knowledge. Hopefully someone can diagnosis you soon so you can take care of it.

[DSM4Life]

You are going to make Haz jelly.

[AD]

Spent hours online and having a hard time finding anyone with similar symptoms. I don't get it.

based on your attention to details and your research skills, this can only mean one thing: there isn't one single condition that can explain all your symptoms. most likely they are coincidental and totally unrelated.

which means, you will need an ENT, Neurologist, Spine Orthopedic surgeon...
get: audiogram, MRI brain, MRI inner ear, MRI spine.

in the end, one possibility is that you'll find nothing wrong


hey, is this a trick question just to get DSM's attention?

[Cuz]

based on your attention to details and your research skills, this can only mean one thing: there isn't one single condition that can explain all your symptoms. most likely they are coincidental and totally unrelated.

which means, you will need an ENT, Neurologist, Spine Orthopedic surgeon...
get: audiogram, MRI brain, MRI inner ear, MRI spine.

in the end, one possibility is that you'll find nothing wrong


hey, is this a trick question just to get DSM's attention?

was wondering this too...

[austinite]

Ha! No tricks.

Yeah it certainly seems to be nerve related. I'll go ahead and schedule an appointment. This sucks really. I also get random muscle spasms during the day. Namely, the right quad and the right delt. Nothing extreme at all, just random and minor pulsing.

[ironbeck]

Wholly sheep shit my friend!!! I have never put it into words before but its like you almost explained word for word what I tried to explain to my wife and she thinks I'm nuts!! Sometimes at the momement of almost sleep in almost "paralyzed" sleep state its can get so 'full' body loud it scares the shit out of me like something? is going to happen and I fight to wake up and on many occasions I'll get up walk around then I can go to sleep "normally"

[ironbeck]

Let me ask you this one, can you open your mouth then tighen the muscles in your head above your ears and this causes a loud rushing sound? you dont even need to open your mouth.

[ironbeck]

on the original post does the buzzing rushing sound get so loud as to be almost violent to where you fight to wake because you don't want to find out what will happen if you just ride it out and see what happens.

[JinNtonic]

WTF... Freaky, I hope everything is ok.

[austinite]

Wholly sheep shit my friend!!! I have never put it into words before but its like you almost explained word for word what I tried to explain to my wife and she thinks I'm nuts!! Sometimes at the momement of almost sleep in almost "paralyzed" sleep state its can get so 'full' body loud it scares the shit out of me like something? is going to happen and I fight to wake up and on many occasions I'll get up walk around then I can go to sleep "normally"

Yes, that sounds about right.

Let me ask you this one, can you open your mouth then tighen the muscles in your head above your ears and this causes a loud rushing sound? you dont even need to open your mouth.

I don't know about moving the very moment it happens. I'm kind of "out of it" at the moment it happens so memory is vague. When the shock happens, all I can think of is if I don't move, it may become permanent. Obviously if anything was going to become permanent, moving isn't going to help, but that's what occurs in my brain. So I wake up, flip the pillow over and turn to the other side. Every Time, same thing. So at the moment of shock I certainly do feel paralyzed, then the dream goes away, then I move.

on the original post does the buzzing rushing sound get so loud as to be almost violent to where you fight to wake because you don't want to find out what will happen if you just ride it out and see what happens.

I can predict the moment the sound gets too loud. But for some reason, I feel useless, because I can't stop it. Surely it's because I'm also dreaming at the same time so I can't control it. But I remember saying in my head "Here it comes, is it going to hit my neck or my back?" And then... zap. And yes, the feeling is VERY violent, to the point that I am concerned about sleeping. I'll probably force sleep tonight to avoid this, hopefully it works.

[DSM4Life]

I honestly use to get this sometimes but I found out my problem. I told the other guy to stop using my ears as handles and it has been fine ever since.


Is there something you want to tell us Aust?

[Hazard]

http://forums.bettermedicine.com/sho...hock-sensation

[Hazard]

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Neurolo...ss/show/297737

[Hazard]

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hear.../tinnitus.aspx

[Hazard]

http://symptoms.rightdiagnosis.com/c...uscle-desc.htm


These links should get you started. See if anything sounds familiar and then make an ent appointment

[DSM4Life]

You know you can post multi lines in one post right?

[Hazard]

You know you can post multi lines in one post right?

Yea.... I didn't intend on finding a bunch lol. So I just posted it and found another. Searches again and found another.....

[--->>405<<---]

LOL!! well i know ur situation is not funny but i had the EXACT same thing happen to me about 10 years ago! back then i was taking a fair amount of xanax and some other script drugs (not by script mind you) and i remember inquiring if that could be the cause. it eventually went away.. it didnt happen persistently but occasionally.

i actually think what was happening is i was dreaming. it seemed to occur at the moment i fell asleep (or thereabouts). sometimes this was accompanied by paralysis.. i can remember trying to move and not being able to.

personally IMO i think there is NOTHING wrong with you. i would bet it goes away. your worry or obsessive thinking about it along with dread of it repeating could be the very thing that perpetuates it.

this was my experience anyways and i have n ev er met anyone else who experienced it and forgot about it until this moment! it is very weird! dreaming can be very real as i know u know..

hope this helps buddy!

[Java Man]

The hardest part of this post is going to be explaining what is happening to me. But here it goes...

Over the past week I've been experiencing a problem that occurs when I sleep. This seems to happen at the exact moment that I fall asleep. I hear buzzing in my both my ears. Not ringing, not a constant hiss, but a buzz, like there's a bee in each ear. It start out low and gets really loud. The moment it get's loud I feel a shock in my body. Almost like an electrical shock. This shock seems to be in 2 different spots. Sometimes it's in the center of my back, other times it's in my neck. Or both. This shock wakes me up but I go right back to bed and it happens again about 6 or 7 times before I can fall asleep and stay asleep.

One thing that is odd, is that I begin to dream something. And not even (what seems to be) 2 seconds into the dream that this occurs. Last night, it was so forceful, that I got up and stayed up in fear of experiencing that again. Spent hours online and having a hard time finding anyone with similar symptoms. I don't get it. I should mention that sometimes during the day, I sometimes do experience that constant "hiss" or ring in my ear. But never at night. So I don't know if there's a relationship here.

Any leads or direction?

Wholly sheep shit my friend!!! I have never put it into words before but its like you almost explained word for word what I tried to explain to my wife and she thinks I'm nuts!! Sometimes at the momement of almost sleep in almost "paralyzed" sleep state its can get so 'full' body loud it scares the shit out of me like something? is going to happen and I fight to wake up and on many occasions I'll get up walk around then I can go to sleep "normally"

LOL!! well i know ur situation is not funny but i had the EXACT same thing happen to me about 10 years ago! back then i was taking a fair amount of xanax and some other script drugs (not by script mind you) and i remember inquiring if that could be the cause. it eventually went away.. it didnt happen persistently but occasionally.

i actually think what was happening is i was dreaming. it seemed to occur at the moment i fell asleep (or thereabouts). sometimes this was accompanied by paralysis.. i can remember trying to move and not being able to.

personally IMO i think there is NOTHING wrong with you. i would bet it goes away. your worry or obsessive thinking about it along with dread of it repeating could be the very thing that perpetuates it.

this was my experience anyways and i have n ev er met anyone else who experienced it and forgot about it until this moment! it is very weird! dreaming can be very real as i know u know..

hope this helps buddy!

All of the above. Yep, yep, yep.

I tried to explain this to my doctor. He had never heard of it. I was taking a benzodiazepine too (lorazepam , generic ativan) like 405 was. I was also on an anti-depressant at the time (venlafaxine - Effexor™). I was being titrated off of both by my doctor.

Sometimes I would experience 'waking paralysis' accompanied by the buzzing austinite describes. The buzzing would get louder until it 'snapped' in my brain. Very scary since I was laying there with my eyes open and fully aware but unable to move. I would try to yell out but nothing would come out. Its a helpless, scary feeling man.

Even if youre not on an SSRI, SNRI, or benzodiazapines these links may help describe your symptoms. Its the best documentation I could find on this phenomenon.

SSRI discontinuation syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Stopping Brain Zaps caused by Effexor XR Withdrawal": Anxiety & Panic Community - Support Group

Malic Acid Cure for Withdrawal Brain Zaps! - Topix

Fireworks or Brain Zaps? | Psychology Today

Brain zaps theories/cure?

5-htp is supposedly useful. I had my doc put my dose back up a little and we titrated it down slower than the first attempt. I haven't been able to get completely off the effexor. I'm stick at 75mg daily (down from 300). If I try to drop it to 50 even, brain zaps and waking paralysis return. I may try this 5-htp solution. If love to be free of the SNRI.

GL austinite. Let me know if you.find something that works to get rid of this please.

[Hazard]

All of the above. Yep, yep, yep.

I tried to explain this to my doctor. He had never heard of it. I was taking a benzodiazepine too (lorazepam , generic ativan) like 405 was. I was also on an anti-depressant at the time (venlafaxine - Effexor(TM)). I was being titrated off of both by my doctor.

Sometimes I would experience 'waking paralysis' accompanied by the buzzing austinite describes. The buzzing would get louder until it 'snapped' in my brain. Very scary since I was laying there with my eyes open and fully aware but unable to move. I would try to yell out but nothing would come out. Its a helpless, scary feeling man.

Even if youre not on an SSRI, SNRI, or benzodiazapines these links may help describe your symptoms. Its the best documentation I could find on this phenomenon.

SSRI discontinuation syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Stopping Brain Zaps caused by Effexor XR Withdrawal": Anxiety & Panic Community - Support Group

Malic Acid Cure for Withdrawal Brain Zaps! - Topix

Fireworks or Brain Zaps? | Psychology Today

Brain zaps theories/cure?

5-htp is supposedly useful. I had my doc put my dose back up a little and we titrated it down slower than the first attempt. I haven't been able to get completely off the effexor. I'm stick at 75mg daily (down from 300). If I try to drop it to 50 even, brain zaps and waking paralysis return. I may try this 5-htp solution. If love to be free of the SNRI.

GL austinite. Let me know if you.find something that works to get rid of this please.

I used 5-htp A LOT when I was partying. Ill tell you this..... When ur serotonin is crashed in the dirt..... 5-htp got rid of the hangover/depressed state. The stuff works

[Java Man]

I used 5-htp A LOT when I was partying. Ill tell you this..... When ur serotonin is crashed in the dirt..... 5-htp got rid of the hangover/depressed state. The stuff works

In the case of withdrawal from ssri's and benzodiazapines it is serotonin syndrome that causes the brain shocks according to what I've been able to find so that makes sense. Off to get some 5htp then! IDK if austinite is on any of these but either way the symptoms sound the same.

[Hazard]

In the case of withdrawal from ssri's and benzodiazapines it is serotonin syndrome that causes the brain shocks according to what I've been able to find so that makes sense. Off to get some 5htp then! IDK if austinite is on any of these but either way the symptoms sound the same.

I used 100mg when I got home around 9am and 100mg when I woke up. Idunno how much to take in your case but I remember reading that supplementing daily could cause some really vivid dreams.

The dosing protocol for partying was 100-200mg daily for 2 weeks prior to ur fun night.

[austinite]

Temporary paralysis, buzzing in ear, electric shock sensation

Muscle tremors/shakes, "electric shocks" before sleep, constant ear ringing, memory loss - Neurology - MedHelp

Tinnitus [NIDCD]

Buzzing or ringing in the ears and Sudden shock-like contractions of a single muscle - Symptom Checker - check medical symptoms at RightDiagnosis


These links should get you started. See if anything sounds familiar and then make an ent appointment

Thanks for the links, Haz. I'll go through these over the weekend. Much appreciated brother.

LOL!! well i know ur situation is not funny but i had the EXACT same thing happen to me about 10 years ago! back then i was taking a fair amount of xanax and some other script drugs (not by script mind you) and i remember inquiring if that could be the cause. it eventually went away.. it didnt happen persistently but occasionally.

i actually think what was happening is i was dreaming. it seemed to occur at the moment i fell asleep (or thereabouts). sometimes this was accompanied by paralysis.. i can remember trying to move and not being able to.

personally IMO i think there is NOTHING wrong with you. i would bet it goes away. your worry or obsessive thinking about it along with dread of it repeating could be the very thing that perpetuates it.

this was my experience anyways and i have n ev er met anyone else who experienced it and forgot about it until this moment! it is very weird! dreaming can be very real as i know u know..

hope this helps buddy!

Interesting. Well, I did start taking Hydrocodone, but if I recall correctly, I started a day or 2 after this started happening. I Hope it does go away. Last night I took a ridiculous amount of Magnesium and had no issues.

All of the above. Yep, yep, yep.

I tried to explain this to my doctor. He had never heard of it. I was taking a benzodiazepine too (lorazepam , generic ativan) like 405 was. I was also on an anti-depressant at the time (venlafaxine - Effexor™). I was being titrated off of both by my doctor.

Sometimes I would experience 'waking paralysis' accompanied by the buzzing austinite describes. The buzzing would get louder until it 'snapped' in my brain. Very scary since I was laying there with my eyes open and fully aware but unable to move. I would try to yell out but nothing would come out. Its a helpless, scary feeling man.

Even if youre not on an SSRI, SNRI, or benzodiazapines these links may help describe your symptoms. Its the best documentation I could find on this phenomenon.

SSRI discontinuation syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Stopping Brain Zaps caused by Effexor XR Withdrawal": Anxiety & Panic Community - Support Group

Malic Acid Cure for Withdrawal Brain Zaps! - Topix

Fireworks or Brain Zaps? | Psychology Today

Brain zaps theories/cure?

5-htp is supposedly useful. I had my doc put my dose back up a little and we titrated it down slower than the first attempt. I haven't been able to get completely off the effexor. I'm stick at 75mg daily (down from 300). If I try to drop it to 50 even, brain zaps and waking paralysis return. I may try this 5-htp solution. If love to be free of the SNRI.

GL austinite. Let me know if you.find something that works to get rid of this please.

Well, I take tryptophan daily, which converts to 5-HTP. But I avoid it at night because at night it takes one more pathway and converts to melatonin and gives me nightmares. So only in the morning.

Thanks for he links, Java!

[austinite]

On a side note... keep in mind that increasing serotonin secretion does not mean you'll feel better. It's serotonin reuptake that's more important. The more reuptake, the less serotonin left behind for you to enjoy. This is what makes Tryptophan superior to 5-HTP as it slows reuptake prior to conversion.

[FRDave]

I use to get sleep paralysis on a regular basis, but never the ear buzzing or shock. It use to happen so often I could trick myself into thinking someone touched me which would allow me to snap out of it. In the beginning all I could do was heavy breathing which my girl knew to touch me, allowing me to snap out of it. Crazy shit, hated it and scared me every time since I always felt like someone was watching or trying to get me, yet even though awake, everything seemed real and vivid. After doing some research, many get it when sleeping on their back and/or heavy stress or little to no sleep. I even experienced 'out of body' experiences several times during the paralysis. Best thing I found to do once I snapped out of it was to get up and walk around a bit. Flip on light switch and what not. If I just turned over and would go back to sleep without doing the above, it would happen again, multiple times per night.

Another interesting fact I read was that almost also cases of supposed alien/UFO abductions were merely cases of sleep paralysis. The brain can not tell what is real or not, although you are awake. I have even vividly seen someone choking me out, and in my head I knew it was not really happening, yet I could not breathe. I get chills just thinking about some of the episodes I had.

Good read here (describes every symptom I had to a T): http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

[bass]

hey Austinite, sorry to hear this happening to you. a while back I was taking way too may supplements and got buzzing and ringing in the ear similar to the one you're experiencing. the buzzing kept switching from one ear to the other, but the most annoying thing was the ringing ion the ear like tinnitus, it was so bad it made me feel claustrophobic and had to get out of bed in the middle of the night and go watch TV or listen to other noises just to cancel out the tinnitus. anyway, after stopping all supplements it went away in couple of days or so, now I am back on all kinds of supplements and so far so good. check and see what you have added in the last couple of weeks or so and stop taking it until the problem goes away. I am sure its temporary, but still annoying and don't wish it on anyone. get well soon, we need you in perfect health!

[DSM4Life]

[AD]

^^^Aren't you going to give aus a hug to make him feel better?

[austinite]

Well, it turns out to be Hydrocodone that's doing this. I stopped use and it went away, then I started back up again and sure enough, zapping the hell out of me all night.

Pretty interesting really. I've used Hydrocodone for as long as I remember. Not sure what happened at this stage of my life that I'm suddenly having this reaction. Anyway, it doesn't happen during the day for some reason. Only when I'm tired and sleepy. Sucks because that's when I normally need it. I guess I'll be trying some alternatives. Morphine sounds interesting.