I get that as well too, except from what I read on the tutorials, I thought it was important to not focus too much on HI. And if you do that will ultimately keep you awake. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as the image swirling, happens to me whenever I try to WILD. Followed by what I think is sleep paralysis; I lose all feeling in my body, but if I try to move I still can, just the urge to move is supressed. Then its followed by more HI, and sometimes obscure noises?? Then I end up opening my eyes thinking I'm in a dream but I'm still awake.

Practice makes perfect, and it helps not getting discouraged as well
I think if I focus more on attaining good dream recall, before trying to WILD, that would help a lot. A dreamlog would also be useful Need to find those damned dreamsigns.. *sigh*