Atheism and the Unexplainable

HughFreakingDillon

Ok. This kind of fucked me up over the weekend. I do not believe in the afterlife or god, etc.

I have been snoring a lot lately, so my wife has been sleeping on the couch here and there. She now tells me the other night she noticed my breathing was rhythmic, but then stopped, then started abruptly again. Sounds like sleep apnea, which can be fatal if your breathing doesn't start up again, obviously. So I sometime during the night I awoke, absolutely frozen in terror. I had heard a soft voice saying "hello paul". I swear it wasn't a dream. it sounded as if this "woman" was in my room. It took a moment to register, and I then realized what had happened and all of a sudden I took a big breath and let out a "HUH???" and then just lay there. i couldn't move. I was terrified. Not sure why. it wasn't a threatening voice. But I didn't want to look.

A near death experience? not likely
A dream? probably (hopefully)

Either way, it seemed incredibly REAL. had a very difficult time sleeping last night.

josevolution

Eating good cookies before bed make me sleep like a baby , and why is she on the couch if your the one making all the noise you should let her go to sleep 1st and then you !

pjhawks

HughFreakingDillon said:

Ok. This kind of fucked me up over the weekend. I do not believe in the afterlife or god, etc.

I have been snoring a lot lately, so my wife has been sleeping on the couch here and there. She now tells me the other night she noticed my breathing was rhythmic, but then stopped, then started abruptly again. Sounds like sleep apnea, which can be fatal if your breathing doesn't start up again, obviously. So I sometime during the night I awoke, absolutely frozen in terror. I had heard a soft voice saying "hello paul". I swear it wasn't a dream. it sounded as if this "woman" was in my room. It took a moment to register, and I then realized what had happened and all of a sudden I took a big breath and let out a "HUH???" and then just lay there. i couldn't move. I was terrified. Not sure why. it wasn't a threatening voice. But I didn't want to look.

A near death experience? not likely
A dream? probably (hopefully)

Either way, it seemed incredibly REAL. had a very difficult time sleeping last night.

sleep paralysis? i know there was a thread in here about unexplained things like this. weird shit can happen in your dreams/unconsciousness. when i am really tired i tend to get some weird dreams. definitely had an episode of sleep paralysis once which was crazy and seemed totally real as it was happening.

oftenreading

Sounds much like pjhawks says. Things like this are called hypnopompic hallucinations (just as you wake up) or hypnagogic (just as you fall asleep). They can be incredibly vivid and, yes, frightening. They're basically when you still have some awareness but your brain is basically in the early stages of sleep. Well characterized, scientifically, and very common. And no need to worry you are dying.

PJPOWER

HughFreakingDillon said:

Ok. This kind of fucked me up over the weekend. I do not believe in the afterlife or god, etc.

I have been snoring a lot lately, so my wife has been sleeping on the couch here and there. She now tells me the other night she noticed my breathing was rhythmic, but then stopped, then started abruptly again. Sounds like sleep apnea, which can be fatal if your breathing doesn't start up again, obviously. So I sometime during the night I awoke, absolutely frozen in terror. I had heard a soft voice saying "hello paul". I swear it wasn't a dream. it sounded as if this "woman" was in my room. It took a moment to register, and I then realized what had happened and all of a sudden I took a big breath and let out a "HUH???" and then just lay there. i couldn't move. I was terrified. Not sure why. it wasn't a threatening voice. But I didn't want to look.

A near death experience? not likely
A dream? probably (hopefully)

Either way, it seemed incredibly REAL. had a very difficult time sleeping last night.

Interesting, there are countless stories of near death experiences out there and we've all had vivid unexplainable dreams. An athiest would argue that is an experience beyond the comprehension of our known science or that it is all the result of electricity in relation to neurons firing and possibly how lack of oxygen effects our perception...possibly a hallucination. A religious person might say that the experience could be beyond the comprehension of our physical human mind or glimpses of an afterlife. You are the only one that knows how real or unreal it was and what to takeaway. My name is Paul as well, nice to meet you!

Shawshank

Ugh, I can't even believe I'm going to tell this story, but here goes. I had a dream almost 14 years ago...I remember it vividly. From off to the side I could see myself standing in front of this table with three figures that appeared to be men on the left and right, but the one in the middle I could not see the face. It was blinding white in the middle. I could see myself talking though, having a conversation. The room was not ornate, but I guess the best way to describe it was...it was clean. Pure. Everything seemed to be absolute perfection.

I could not hear anything. I could not hear a word that I saw myself saying, and I could not hear anything that was being said to me. The conversation seemed to be serious in nature. The demeanor just seemed to be stern I guess.

Suddenly it vanished and this booming voice in my right ear rang through my head. I know this sounds stupid, but it resembled James Earl Jones...didn't sound like him, but that is as close as I can come to having heard something similar. If you have seen the Lion King, when the cloud appears...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCXEO1N5ijQ

...that is almost exactly how it sounded as far as tone goes. It was authoritative, booming, and deep...it echoed...almost like the sound reverberated through my entire body.

All it said was Matthew 10:27. That was it. But it was like someone was lying right next to me saying that to me in my right ear, and I always slept on the left side of the bed. My eyes instantly opened, as if I hadn't even been asleep. I looked over just knowing someone had to be next to me, but no one was there. It was sunny out, no one else was around, no TV on, nothing. I was scared at first, thinking someone was in my house. Then I thought I was crazy. Then I figured well, there was probably no verse like that in the Bible. Then I went to my wife's Bible and opened it only to find that verse.

" 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. "

That's my weird experience.

Degeneratefk

I don't know what you weigh, but I know a few people that lost weight and their apnea and snoring seemed to be much less prevalent.

As far as the "afterlife" thing, the brain does odd things when it lacks oxygen.

HughFreakingDillon

Degeneratefk said:

I don't know what you weigh, but I know a few people that lost weight and their apnea and snoring seemed to be much less prevalent.

As far as the "afterlife" thing, the brain does odd things when it lacks oxygen.

I lost a bunch of weight about a year ago through severe anxiety, and my snoring stopped completely. I gained it all back and then some, which, in my opinion, is what is causing it again. Time to lay off the doritos!

chadwick

a sleep study should be in your near future to see how severe your apnea really is. it's a ball of joy for sure. lots of wires hooked up to your head, legs, arms, torso & where ever else. you'll be staying overnight in a sleep study clinic as a medical team watch & video you sleeping or what would be trying to sleep/breathe. you should look into this asap.

HughFreakingDillon

josevolution said:

Eating good cookies before bed make me sleep like a baby , and why is she on the couch if your the one making all the noise you should let her go to sleep 1st and then you !

she goes when I'm asleep. so she isn't giving me the choice. the other part of it is, I slept on an air matress in the basement for over 2 years because of it. then I got a snoreguard and moved back into our room. Then I lost weight and didn't need the thing anymore. Now I've gained it back and the problem has returned. she knows it sucks for me being on the couch, as I'm 6 feet and don't fit. she's 4'11" and fits easily, so it's not as much of a drag for her.

HughFreakingDillon

oftenreading said:

Sounds much like pjhawks says. Things like this are called hypnopompic hallucinations (just as you wake up) or hypnagogic (just as you fall asleep). They can be incredibly vivid and, yes, frightening. They're basically when you still have some awareness but your brain is basically in the early stages of sleep. Well characterized, scientifically, and very common. And no need to worry you are dying.

if sleep apnea gets bad enough, it can cause cardiac arrest. this knowledge is not helping my anxiety issue. so I'm just going to wear my snoreguard again until I lose the weight necessary.

chadwick

do you have morning headaches? after waking up are you tired as if you hadn't slept? do you fall asleep or doze off during the day as you are sitting there doing your thing? ever fall asleep while driving?

oftenreading

HughFreakingDillon said:

oftenreading said:

Sounds much like pjhawks says. Things like this are called hypnopompic hallucinations (just as you wake up) or hypnagogic (just as you fall asleep). They can be incredibly vivid and, yes, frightening. They're basically when you still have some awareness but your brain is basically in the early stages of sleep. Well characterized, scientifically, and very common. And no need to worry you are dying.

if sleep apnea gets bad enough, it can cause cardiac arrest. this knowledge is not helping my anxiety issue. so I'm just going to wear my snoreguard again until I lose the weight necessary.

You're correct about the link between sleep apnea and cardiac arrest. I just meant that the unusual experiences during waking or falling asleep aren't the same as near death experiences. Sorry for not being clear. I hope you do manage to get back into good enough shape that the sleep apnea issue gets resolved.

HughFreakingDillon

chadwick said:

do you have morning headaches? after waking up are you tired as if you hadn't slept? do you fall asleep or doze off during the day as you are sitting there doing your thing? ever fall asleep while driving?

I feel tired a lot of the time, yes. never fallen asleep while driving. never been that bad. but the last few weeks I have been incredibly tired at my desk at work no matter how much coffee I've had.

rgambs

Sleep paralysis is pretty well documented and you had a pretty typical presentation.
It used to happen to me 2-6 times a month! That is atypical lol

HughFreakingDillon

I'm not sure it was sleep paralysis. I recall having that once before, as a child (fucking clown dream, when I woke up, it was standing in my bedroom doorway). I tried to move but couldn't. This wasn't that. This was me choosing not to move, seemingly reverting back to my childhood theory that if you stay under the covers, the monsters can't get you (LOL). Or maybe I just thought I was choosing not to? Who knows.

Hope that shit doesn't happen again.

chadwick

besides all the sleep paralysis & unexplainable hocus pocus, sleep apnea is none of that & is a really serious medical condition that requires some work on your part, like for starters - getting an appointment at a sleep clinic. i've had three sleep studies done over the years in illinois, washington & iowa. it blows but it is what it takes to get you feeling wonderful again. i will bug the hell out of you in this thread until you get to a sleep clinic. by the way, you do not have to be heavy to have sleep apnea.

HughFreakingDillon

chadwick said:

besides all the sleep paralysis & unexplainable hocus pocus, sleep apnea is none of that & is a really serious medical condition that requires some work on your part, like for starters - getting an appointment at a sleep clinic. i've had three sleep studies done over the years in illinois, washington & iowa. it blows but it is what it takes to get you feeling wonderful again. i will bug the hell out of you in this thread until you get to a sleep clinic. by the way, you do not have to be heavy to have sleep apnea.

I know that, but it only affects ME when I'm heavy (a tall skinny friend of mine has it and uses a CPAP machine). I did the sleep clinic thing, well, I had to do it at home, as there is limited space in sleep clinics in Canada, a few years back. I had to hook myself up to this machine and attempt to sleep. I got all knotted up in the wires and shit. I took it off halfway through the night. They found no sleep apnea back then, only snoring issues. And as I said, the snoreguard stopped that completely (unless I had a night with too many beverages). So I'll use that again until the fat melts off.

chadwick

true, i did forget they have gear one takes home & hooks himself up to. you're doing ok with the snoreguard... still you should get a referral & have an appointment setup at a sleep clinic. you'll be a new guy & you'll do cartwheels.

Free

Dude, passed loved ones visit us when we are in dream state.

chadwick

& at other times