Exploding Head Syndrome

What a great name for a disease.  This is an actual phenomenon.  Believe me,  I'm not clever enough to come up with this by myself.  Its a condition where people will experience a loud noise that seems to come from within their own head that lasts for only a second.  Usually at night as they're drifting off to sleep, it will jolt them awake. It isn't usually painful, but it can be very alarming and unnerving.  Some people hear an explosion, roar, gunshot or someone screaming.  For me, its the sound of a buzz saw going through my skull.

I really thought I was alone with some strange condition that no one understood.  After my doctor looked at me like I was from Mars, he said it was probably a mini seizure.  Great.  So I did some searching and after a month or so I started finding out that others have had what they call a vibrating or buzzing brain.  Last night, I found out that there's a name for it.  There's even a wikipedia page about it. 

The first time it happened, I woke up terrified wondering what was outside my window making that noise.  I drifted back to sleep and again, it jolted me awake.  "Gary???  Was that you?"  Sound asleep.  The third time I realized it was coming from inside my head.  I was so afraid to fall asleep again that I kept myself awake for an hour playing solitaire on my Ipod. 

No one knows what causes it but apparently it can be brought on by stress and fatigue.  I'm not stressed.  Not in the least.  (@_@)  It hasn't been as bad as that first night, but I've found that sleep aids (benadryl) will keep it from happening.  With time, it supposedly goes away by itself, which remains to be seen. 

Quoting someone named James from his blog Disease Prone:

'So what’s happening?  Nobody has any idea.  It isn’t auditory because deaf sufferers have been reported.  It’s not linked to random nerve firing (often reflected in a condition called myoclonic jerks).  It’s not linked to epilepsy.  It’s not linked to migraines.

So we can’t understand what causes it, we have no idea what’s happening, we can’t say what might trigger it, it doesn’t seem to correlate with any associated conditions, apart from sleep – there’s only one thing missing here.  Can we cure it?  Of course not, what are you, stoopid?'

Thanks, James.  You made my day.  ;-)