unusual 'fast feeling' in my head

OMG I KNOW RIGHT!

My 12 year old daughter just started getting these about a month ago. They started with a fever and a nightmare. Now she gets them when she is in quiet (i.e. a shower, or getting ready for bed). Some episodes are worse than others. They last about 5 to 30 minutes. I found out my niece, who is an adult now, also had them as a child but they went away as she got older. The weird thing is that they came back when she was pregnant with her first child. Then, they went away again. My daughter is having about 1-2 per week. I have found they happen more frequently when she has had a lack of sleep or if she is under a lot of stress with school and social situations. Sometimes eating a banana or changing activities helps. My niece suggested to try writing or reading and that would help them to go away. Our doctor thought it might be related to an anxiety disorder. I am not so sure, maybe, but I am not convinced of that dx. I would love for someone to be able to study the brain waves when one of these episodes takes place. It is an alteration or misperception in the visual and auditory modes. I can't figure it out and it is very scary for her.

I am the '39 year old daughter' of this said post. I personally have not gone to a Dr about this, nor has my Mother. But after reading so many posts about them saying their Drs say its just anxiety/ or stress.. They are far from the truth. Unfortunately there is so much more to this and unless a Dr has experienced this there will not be any new information. My Mother and I have searched all these symptoms. Read about brain activity. I had tried to post a link but this site removed it.. Seems the dopamine levels is a big factor in this.. please look it up!!!!!!!
Since my mother and I have both experienced this I often check with my kids if they have any of these feelings. Right now maybe they don't realize its anything 'different'. I never said much when I was younger not realizing it wasn't something that everyone experienced. I just wish a professional would look at this site and study it.
I still have these episodes. Normally when I am alone, cleaning, showering, washing dishes. The sound of water running seems to increase these episodes. How I get it to stop is I will start singing to myself, talk about what I'm doing in that moment.. or even start watching a tv show. Seems it gets my mind off of it.

What should I look up to research the dopamine levels? I am very interested in looking further. It is interesting that you tie it to running water, because my daughter often gets them in the shower or bath. She is deaf so she cannot hear the running water. She wears cochlear implants so I thought it had something to do with her hearing loss, but I am not finding any correlation. Some people have ringing in their ears, but she does not. I am not even sure what type of researcher to go to or what type of doctor to go to for them to look at this information. I want an answer other than 'anxiety'. She also had sensory integration disorder as a young child and she has a very high degree of pain tolerance. I thought it might be related to this issue with the auditory and visual perceptions being so off during the episodes.

 

Here is a post my mother made earlier on. " I am 61 years old and have had these episodes since I was a preteen, although they now have lessened to only a couple of times each year. My daughter is 39 and also experiences these same symptoms. They seem to occur when I'm alone and there is no external stimuli for my mind to focus on. I've always felt that I possibly had ADD but it was not something that was ever pursued. I've read that low levels of dopamine are associated with ADHD/ADD. Since dopamine is the "feel good" chemical in your brain, there may be some type of mild depression causing these episodes to occur. I've always had to have some kind of noise before I can shut my brain off to go to sleep. I've slept with the TV on for many years. The association of noise and function has been studied and people with low dopamine levels have improved cognitive performance when there are certain levels of noise. A previous post stated that they were prescribed Topamax which caused an increase in these episodes. Since Topamax decreases the release of dopamines, and if the person is "hypodopaminergic" (low levels of dopamine), this could indeed increase the episodes. I'm not in the medical profession but in my case I believe that the possibility of ADD (which can indicate low dopamine levels), and the association of a hypodopaminergic state and no noise may be what has caused my episodes. Perhaps this is something that the schools should take into account. Some students may need the noise to be at peak performance, while others with higher levels of dopamine need silence." It will not let me share web sites.. So I would just start by looking up effects of background noise.. read up on what low levels of dopamine will do.. and high levels.. What brought us to looking up about Dopamine was a recent post about someone being prescribed topamax and it made these episodes come more frequently because Topomax will decrease dopamine levels. Search sensory integration disorder and dopamine, lots of info there as well. On a lighter note, I have had this my entire life as well as many on here posting. It is a nuisance but has not caused any problems. I guess I have just learned how to get rid of it when it starts. I will say this.. I am not a professional just someone curious to finding the cause.

Wow, it seems that were all suprised were not the only ones who have it. I'm having it right now, Im 15, and now Im so used to having them Im much more calm when it happens. But Ive also noticed that it happens more often when Im tired(like now), sick, or when Im dizzy. But apperantly Its some sort of small seazure thing, but I dont think it's much to worry about.

My daughter is 10 and recently told me she had to tell me something.

I didn't know what to expect....then she said that it seemed like sometimes I was talking really loud and fast.

I said I don't know what you mean and she said never mind, but I was able to get her to describe it more.

She said sometimes all of a sudden people will sound really loud and like they are talking fast even if they are in another room.

Also that her thoughts in her head are really loud, almost like her mind is loudly narrating her thoughts and actions.

I asked her how long this has been happening. Her answer was always.

She never told me because at first she thought maybe everyone had it and then she was embarassed and not even sure how to describe it. She says it's very scary.

I typed in her symtoms and was shocked to see how many people seem to have similar symtoms.

Many say it's AIWS... others say it's not because they don't have the body size distortion, isn't it possible to have just the sound distortion issues and still be AIWS.

She has really bad headaches and stomache aches that her doctor thinks may be stomache and head migraines.

Her doctor just retired 2 weeks ago so I need to make an appt with the new peditrician and also discuss these "new" symptoms...

I wish I wasn't starting this out with a new doctor who doesn't know us.... especially  since many say they just get blank stares from their doctors.

Has anyone got a definitive diagnosis from a doctor or are most of you self diagnosed.

Also did any of you go to nerologists? What kind of tests did you have. Anything you wish your parents had done for you when you were younger that would have helped?

I know just telling her that others had the same experiences and nothing bad happened made her feel alot better.

Also the name Alice and Wonderland Syndrome less scary sounding then seizures and brain tumors.

Also someone mentioned thyroid issues being a cause.... anymore info on that, because that does run in my family.

Thanks for reading

 

I am 14 years old and having this 'fast feeling' right now.. its right freaky i get it a lot when im listening to music or on the way to school

im feeling weird right now..

OMG this literally sums me up. When I was younger I used to have these feelings where I was sped up and that my actions and thoughts and speech were faster. Like I was rushing and I couldn't stop, I would try and slow down what I was saying but it just felt wrong. Once I asked my sister if I was speaking fast and she said I wasn't. It would last about 5-10 minutes and would really freak me out. I also remember lying in bed at night in the corner of my room and having the feeling everything in the room was bigger and further away from me and when I lifted my hand up I felt really small compared to everything else. I've never told anyone because my family would just think I'm crazy and a hypochondriac. I've been recently feeling ill over the last couple of months with on and off it being worse, my mum is a nurse and thinks I have glandular fever/mono. Yesterday I woke up and breathing in gave me really sharp pain at the bottom of my ribs on the left and it still hurts, which now I'm thinking is a swollen spleen. People are saying mono is linked to these strange brain feelings, would the problems several years ago be related? Can someone have mono for that long? I'm 18 now and I don't remember having the distance feeling now but every so often I have the 'rapid thoughts' for a few minutes. So weird..

I just remembered something else that used to happen in these 'episodes', my rapid thoughts would also be really loud, like shouting. It contributed to the feeling of urgency.

i have all of these same symptoms everyone is posting, i am about to get tested for POTS syndrome, the laying down part also has something to do with it, and going from laying/sitting to standing.

Well, all these posts have reassured me a bit- my 8 year old son is having this type of problem. I have read through some of the posts and see some people say objects seem to become smaller- does anyone have objects appearing to get bigger? Also does  anyone have  any tips on how to help my son when it happens( the " everything is going so fast thing") especially how to bring  an episode to an end ( i hesitate to say quickly!). He gets so frightened by it sometimes- although I think he will be relieved to know he isn't alone!

 

I don't have the large or small distorted images.. mine is strictly the 'fast feelings'.. They are most caused from 'White sound'.. like when water is running..or If I'm cleaning and just the sound of scrubbing a sink .. all other surroundings are quiet.. I am most always alone and no one to talk to.. So I have to either turn on the tv.. sing to myself.. or even just talk to one of the animals.. Once my mind is off of it it goes away.. Ive dealt with this off and on for about 30 yrs.. maybe just once a month or so.

Hi I'm the post 2 and 3 before you :) I've read a lot of posts about this and I think it seems to go away as you get older. I'm 18 now and I haven't had a full fast 'episode' in quite a few years, sometimes it's for a minute or two but I'm fine with it, but that's very very rarely, maybe several months apart. It used to happen to me when I was alone and I'd try to sit down so I didn't feel so rushed and fast speak my thoughts out loud or go and find someone to just quietly chat to until I felt better.

has anyone found out what its called?