unusual 'fast feeling' in my head

As many of the posters have mentioned previously, I have gone years with the thought that I was the only one who had this. I'd mention it once in a while to friends and they would at me like I was crazy! My dad told me once that my sister would have it, but I can't remember if I ever asked her about it.

Like most of you, I used to have it a lot as a child (can't remember the age), but has become almost nonexistent today...until about 40 minutes ago. I haven't had one in ages and I always hate it when it happens because I feel so utterly out of control. I'm 23 now and it happens maybe 2x a year?

I can't ever remember getting the big/small perception, but the racing thoughts was the big one for me. I knew as it was going on that everything was moving normally, but it wasn't....ya know (which caused much confusion to the people I was trying to explain it to)?

Sometimes it would happen randomly (in the middle of a geometry test in 9th grade) or right after I woke up. In a dream that I had when I was little, I'd be in my bedroom and this empty square spool would be floating in the air. It'd start turning normally, but then speed up faster and faster until I'd wake up. When I did wake up, I'd get the rushed feeling and racing thoughts. Apparently it was such a prominent dream to me that I remember it to this day.

Migraines run on my dad's side of the family. My dad and siblings get them and my grandmother had them as well. As long as I catch it within 5-10 minutes of onset, I'm okay. If I don't, then the migraine can last up to however long it takes for the meds to kick in (I find that advil migraine is the only thing that works...Excedrin Migraine makes me wired). Sometimes I have to leave my office for a quieter room, or if I'm home, go to bed (sometimes it'd hurt to put my head on a pillow).

My father has Pick's Disease, so nowadays anything that has to do with the brain makes me worry. I personally don't feel that the AiWS is the right one for me. The only symptom is the racing thoughts.

I'm not as worried about it as I was when I was younger, because it happens so infrequently. But it does make me nervous when it just comes out of nowhere. I'm generally a stressed person and have "self-diagnosed" myself as having OCPD (yes, I know it doesn't really count).

I felt like putting my 2 cents in after reading everyone's experiences with this weird thing. I am glad that I'm not the only one.

yes! this has been happening to me on the regular since i was a child. it used to scare me when i was a kid but then i got used to it as i got older. somebody said it was linked to low blood sugar and that makes sense since my mother has low blood sugar and i suspect that i have it as well (although i've never gotten tested for it). anyway, i'd love to learn more about this condition because for the longest time i thought that i was the only one suffering with it!

Wow, Just had to reply to this; its amazing to finally find people who can describe the experience 100% accurately! Ive had this since childhood and have never been able to explain it.. the fast thoughts, far away sensation and moving quickly... I still get the 'near/far' feeling at night frequently (am now 21), but its definetly all become less frequent in the last few years. Id love to find out the reason for this.

I have been experiencing this ever since i was seven years old (I'm almost 19 now), the first time it happened i awoke from a horrible nightmare and i specifically remember feeling my blanket, and it felt very thin. my fingers also felt like they were abnormally large, these cases would happen irregularly sometimes a few a day sometimes a few a year, but it happened to me a few times the other day so i did some research and i found a few links:
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/macropsia
or it could also be
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_syndrome
I hope this helps anyone who reads this

Im a 41 yr old male from the UK, I had the "Fast Feeling" as a child, i must have been aged about 8 the 1st time i remember it, it used to occur quite regular, the reason i'm posting now is it happened again about a week ago whilst at work, I'm a painter and decorator and had just started work in a kitchen, must have been approx 8-9am, no one else was about, the room was quiet with no music on etc, just a window open with cars going by, all of a suddon it started, everything i did seemed to be with lightening speed, yet i knew i was moving at normal pace, every movement i made seemed to be with such urgency, i went to my van to get a radio and i switched it on, all of which seemed to take me about 10 seconds, although it must have been a couple of minutes, i knew what was happening and realised i hadnt had this feeling for years, the music on the radio was just noise, (not in a heavy metal way..lol) words were indistinguishable, it was just a noise, i never had the sense of things being bigger or smaller like others have mentioned, its just the fast feeling i get.
I remember as a child being ill with a bad cough and cold and being in bed , and feeling a fuzziness in my head and things moving fast, all i could hear was the muffled sound of my heartbeat, strange i know, but thats the 1st time i remember having this feeling.
I asked my wife if she had ever sensed this and basically laughed and said i was wierd...lol.
I inturn asked each of my 3 sons if they had ever experienced it, they are twins of 14 and my eldest son is 18 and they all said no they had not ever had this feeling they too laughed, not in a bad way, just that they thought it strange and at the same time funny, that is the reaction i have had from everyone i mentioned it too.
As i said, im now 41, i dont smoke, i drink alcohol occasionally (maybe once a month) but i do suffer from migraines, although i've not had one for some time, i am wondering if its related?.
My mother is a diabetic but have not asked her about this feeling yet, as i have read it could also be blood sugar related. I decided to google after having this feeling last week, but there is just no info on the web that i found, just people like us on various forums.
Would be interested to find out what it is, or what causes it though.
Maybe we are all Aliens..or we are all just superior beings, but at least we all share something that seems quite rare and unexplained.

I used to have the fast feeling everybody is talking about alot from age 8-13 and when i was 10 I went to a psychiatrist and he said it was anxiety attacks. I am now 19 and have them maybe 3-6 times a year but I don't think they are anxiety attacks. Because the definition of anxiety attacks include pulsing heart, sweaty hands, blah blah blah. Web MD the side effects. But mine are different. I get a sense of euphoria and everything moves fast and noises are very clear. Kinda like if you smoke a joint lol. Anxiety medication seemed to work for a while but by the definition of it I'm skeptical it was an anxiety attack.

I was so excited when I found this as I've wanted to know for ages, thing is I really like the feelind - I'm 23 and don't get it so much now, but I htink its amazing!!!

I'm 13 years old and I get that same thing!!!!!!!! I can't believe there are other people thy get it also. When I get it, it scares me. Sometimes makes me
cry an I don't know why. I hate it.

I had one last night. I hate them. For me it's
scary. I'm 13 an I hve them all the time and whenever I tell someone about it I say it feels like I'm
moving really fast. No one that hasn't experienced it can't understand it . It's so hard to explain. Whenever I get them I
just start crying. And I only
get them in the middle of the night. I would love to know what it is so if anyone finds out post it.

I am 26 years old now and I had the same thing growing up. The very first description in this forum is exactly how I would describe it.

I thought I was the only one...this is so cool to find others. Probably not related, but I recently had my first and second seizure. I havent had one since 2009, but I am on meds for it. Anyone else have seizures?

Cheers,

Mike

I GET THIS TOO!
i've had it after this one nightmare like one of the guests comment.
it was a dream about a rocket ship... and the timer was ticking... slowly getting down to zero. i would get the fast feeling in my head more so the closer i got to zero. the way i describe it is like crushing two things (particles?) together with extreme force...

but when i had it during the day it would be fast. i wonder what it is. .. . . what makes us different? and does everyone get this hard to describe intense feeling?
its not scary, but im curious to understand why i felt that way..
it came back one day when i was creating something with clay.. . every movement that i moulded felt ... . . more.
hard to describe.!


p.s. i searched into googled 'feeling everything speeding up" and this was the first one i clicked.. oddly enough i wasnt even looking for this
peace and love all
matt

I too suffered with similar symptoms mainly as a child and now once or twice a year (now 27)

I'm currently on a business trip and before going to sleep had an argument with my wife. When trying to sleep the feelings started. One symptom that not many people described is that sounds are amplified. The ticking of my watch was extremely loud, together with heavy limbs and the mind racing feeling.

Leads me to believe that it is brought on by stress, anger or anxiety.

A colleague suggested googling it so now I know I'm not alone!

Does anyone get the amplified sounds symptom and has anyone seen a doctor?

i FIND IT INTERESTING TO KNOW THAT ANY ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD EXPERIENCES THIS. i NEVER TOLD ONE SINGLE PERSON BECAUSE i DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT. i DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO TYPE IN ONLINE. i'M AN 53 YEAR OLD AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN WHO HAS EXPERIENCED THIS SINCE i WAS A TEENAGER HOWEVER, I have never noticed things seeming far away (or small). I only notice this FEELING OF URGENCY (or rushing), but then I notice that I'm not moviong as fast as I seem to be (IN MY HEAD). Very, very wierd. i would certainly l;ike to know more about it.

i think i have exactly what you are all talking about. dose it also seem like everything is really loud and all your thoughts are like congested in your head. like everything sounds like your holding a megaphone next to it?

I, like most people here, used to get these a lot as a kid, probably started when I was 7. They would happen every once and a while and then went away for a bit. Then, in high school i found a way to trigger the fast feeling, and that was by squeezing my fingers together and holding it. I did it accidentally by squeezing a pen between my fingers in class. It would always come about if I was squeezing a pen too hard, and I tried it a few times to see if I could actually trigger it myself, and it worked. The feeling never bothered me, it just felt like I was moving at 100 mph even though i knew I wasn't, things appeared to move faster and the biggest thing was that everything got exponentially louder. I wonder if this fast feeling is just an overload of our sensory systems? I'm 22 and just had this happen for the first time in a while, but the weirdest thing is that I can control the onset, and it lasts anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour. I don't do drugs, I smoked cigs lightly for a couple of years in college but quit a year ago and have stayed off of them since. I do drink but I highly doubt its related to alcohol (last I checked I wasn't boozing at age 10). I've been having some health problems recently specifically with my respiratory/nervous system and this fast feeling episode I just had was one of the most intense I've ever had, I'm wondering if everything's related? I'm seeing a new doctor soon and plan on asking, I'll check back in with the results (if there are any)