Weird Sensations Upon Waking

[pianoperformer]

I've been having this one thing happen to be recently, and I don't even know if it is normal, or what it could be.

When I wake up quickly, I often get this feeling. It's like my bed is on the ocean or something, dipping this way and that, calmly but noticeably. I also feel tingly. I don't think it's that sleep paralysis because I am able to move. One time when it happened it scared me so much that I sat up to make it go away. I am also not imagining anything, except for that sensation.

Alternatively, sometimes it won't be that bad, but instead it will just be one quick flick from side-to-side. I usually sleep on my side, so it has the effect of making me roll over partially, and then back to my original position. It feels like some force hits the bed to create this effect.

I've never heard of such an experience, but it happens quite frequently to me.

Sorry if this is out-of-place, but I wasn't sure where to put this, because I'm not even sure of the cause.

[Erin Pavlina]

I know what you're describing. Often in my teen years I would tell my friends that it felt like right before I woke up my bed was moving, shaking or rolling but just as I woke it was settling so I couldn't notice it well enough to see what was happening. I had that sensation many times. I don't think my bed was actually moving though, but I don't really know what it was.

[pianoperformer]

Erin, that's exactly it! When it happens to me though, it can sometimes go on for a minute or two if I don't interfere by rolling over or sitting up.

I also obviously don't think it is physically moving. Oddly, though, with the second thing I described, I am fairly certain I am physically rolling partially over and then back from the imagined? force.

something else that used to happen a lot (but not for a while thankfully) is that I'll be going to sleep, and then I'll have the horrible sensation of a very large wall or something rushing towards and running into me, of course startling me awake.

[Mato Kinze]

I felt this all the time as kid. It would feel like I was in a hammock or on a boat. I complained about it to my Neurologist mother and this is the explanation she gave me:

During REM sleep, your body functions are elevated. This includes blood pressure. If you go into a conscious state straight from a REM state, your body adjusts to the new state and tries to settle things down. Sometimes, your blood pressure drops too quickly or too much and you get a "dizzy" sensation that actually feels like you're "bobbing" or "swaying."

As long as it doesn't last more than a minute or two, it's normal and not something to be concerned with.

[pianoperformer]

Mato Kinze, thanks for the explanation. That makes sense.