Almost painful awakenings

Wasn't quite sure where to post this, thought this board was good enough.

Anyway, usually when I find myself aware that I'm in a dream (almost a DILD, I guess) I feel myself almost being pulled out of the dream. It's sort of expected, as I don't have a lot of practice in LDing, but the issue is that it's very disturbing when it happens. Not so much painful, but almost similar to shaking your head violently, and hearing an incredibly awful cacophony, which sounds somewhat computerized. I've had these several times before, and there may have been a couple times when I wasn't completely aware (or not aware period) that I was dreaming.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? It's not sleep paralysis, as I've experienced that once or twice before, and this is not it. It happens between the dream and waking up, sort of.

Also, unrelated, but often when I'm lying down, I get these sharp, somewhat painful, uh, well it's hard to describe, sort of like a small shock inside my head. It's almost what you'd expect a fly buzzing around in your head to sound like. They're more common than what I've described above. Anyone else experience these, also?

Sounds like Hypnagogia, or Hypnapompic Hallucinations. Haven't really heard of them being exactly like this...

Check out the WILD subforum and look for the tutorial on HH and Hypnagogia. See if that describes what you experience.

Welcome to Dreamviews! I have experienced this small shock/insect buzz you feel. I often times feel it just before I hit SP and it lets me know that I am indeed about to enter SP. It seems to kind of pulse in my head every few moments. The other problem sounds like you are witnessing the hypnopompic state. It occurs as you wake from a dream and is often paired with sleep inertia.

Yeah, it pulses multiple times for me as well, though it occurs to me whenever I wake up, not when I'm going back to sleep. I'm glad I'm not the only one, or I'd think something's wrong with me.

Anyway, it seems it doesn't happen all the time, because I had a short DILD tonight, and it wasn't painful at all. I'm very thankful for that, I suppose I'll be adding it to a dream journal, as well. Thanks for both of your responses.

Hmm, I had a painful awakening accompanied with sort of static-looking HH a while ago, like if I was trying to tune an old TV. Very weird. It was non lucid, though. I mean, before the awakening.

Maybe there was an electrical short in your section of the matrix ; )