Let's use this time to do a bit or research.

Is work or family stress causing loss of sleep? Hopefully it will resolve itself. I get spells of it during a typical year.

Big Clive

Wow. Ok, yes aware of hypnagogia for a couple decades, but narrowly define as the in between period of wake to sleep that can consciously recognize or acknowledge the dream and sleep sensations. I've had this my entire life to various degrees of regularity and intensity. I thought it was a regular part of falling asleep. Skipping around the wiki article, I'm now a bit frightened of it; I wasn't prior to the expanded knowledge. I'd not considered it much since... last I recall actively thinking about it was about 28-30 years ago. My experience has changed in the last ten years or so. This is unsettling from the bits and pieces I read in the wiki article. Little knowledge potentially being a dangerous thing, I will try to read the full article. Idk if this, hypnagogia, is a phenomenon or phenomena (variously both) but whatever. My experiences of it are now, last ten years, more along what I would have to call wakeful states for me. States intended to be awake and should be awake, but maybe not so much? I carry a tremendous sleep debt now, and have wondered about my brain (mind, etc.) and body's ability to cope and remain healthy. the speaking out loud of my name by various people in my family while standing at table working on a project. I surmise that the already overlapping and blurred transition period of hypnagogia has shifted more into wakeful times out of necessity. Almost 44 and experiencing zoning out, thousand yard stare periods of time. That would indicate much of what I believe to be wakeful and focused times are arguably far less wakeful than I had hoped (yes, hoped). sigh I have been semi-consciously aware of the increased overlap in states. I'll try to read entire wiki article; little knowledge has been an uncomfortable experience for me here.

The only loud bang I’ve heard when asleep was the B*****d that was trying to break in my downstairs window. My torch/flashlight sent him on his way. I phoned the police and they did catch the swine trying to get in a house up the road. Otherwise, nothing just in my head.

Wow, that sounds bad Mike, was that Flu, or something else? Glad you survived it. :)

Yes, extremely high fever! Been there in hospital. Took a refrigerated circulating water machine to get the numbers down. Ice packs alone couldn't do it.

Mike Cowen

Every few months or so. As im just falling asleep it seems. I hear a loud noise that wakes me up. But i am a very sound sleeper, but the woman is not. Damn near just a pin drop wakes her up. When ever it happens. I look over and she is still asleep. So i assume it never happened, when i use to live alone. I would sometimes keep me up for an hour or more after wondering what it was. The last 6 years i have not been single and every time it happened she does not wake up so now i know its just in my head and usually fall back asleep much easier knowing that its just me.

I'll see vague patches and patterns if I choose my eyes in the dark, but I think it's just sensor noise showing up when my brain turns the gain up all the way.

Paul Ste. Marie

I sometimes hear very loud noises just as I start to fall asleep that wake me up.

Once I cooled down and became more aware of reality, yes I was glad none of the "visions" were real. I was told by my excellent doctor, I was a wisker away from hospital. Sponging me down with cold water reduced my temperature very rapidly. Now at nearly 69 years old, I doubt if I could survive Flu again and I have a bad reaction to vaccinations.

No effect my audiologist tried it.

Charles Bruckner

Have you investigated the practice of tapping on portions of your skull to reduce or stop completely the tinnitus for any length of time?

Cerity

At 40 C heavy fever can lead to organ failure if not reversed immediately. However 38 appears to be the threshold for ‘fever’. I never did run the average temperature Did you feel better or worse after seeing there was no actual loss of life you experienced while fever dreaming?

Cerity

Sorry, 40C is around 104F.

Clive, you must stop drinking that sanitising fogging liquid! Seriously though I only get hallucinations when my temperature goes above 40.C That's what happens when I get Flu, much above that, it's time to call an undertaker. I was seeing a cat with its throat cut, which turned out to be a soft toy white cat with a red ribbon around its neck. All sorts of horrors, all visual, until a rare good doctor sponged me down to reduce my temperature. NOT FUNNY.

It can be great, but imaginary knocking and the house doorbell ruin it sometimes.

I experience these things, although I'm ADHD, not autistic (but there's a lot of crossover between those things). Also I'd always understood that this was linked to narcolepsy and had never heard of an autism-spectrum link before, although I'd been tested for narcolepsy (due to hypnagogia + ongoing sleep/fatigue issues) and that didn't turn anything up.

fluffy

Yes I have. Much preferred over sleep paralysis. That is scary.

David Turmelle

I've only had images of geometric shapes morph into other shapes. And some times the sensation of weightlessness. Never sounds when I was young. but now with 40% hearing loss and tinnitus that is all I hear.

Charles Bruckner

Great that you document this "in your current state" so you can look back later. Last time I got a serious bug from someone I was feverish for two days and can't remember anything of them.

The Tetris effect is probably the more common variety I've encountered either for myself or my friends. Pretty much happens all the time for me as I tend to devote myself to one activity for long periods of time.

Randi Tastix

I'm not sure where you're getting the assumption that it's mostly autistic brains... Very occasionally I see these flashes of white light. When I was younger I would hear an incoherent voice for a second. More commonly, I have the hypnogogic jerk. Lately, I'm half-asleep, dreaming, and I trip on something. Then I reflexively try to catch myself but it happens in real life.

benrr101

As a kid I would be an inch tall and surrounded by boulders and sinking into my bed . I still get this from time to time but more often I’m awoken by fantom noises . Having all the sign of autism I’m not surprised that this is common.

It was an interesting Wikipedia article. It told me I don't have this but I do seem to have Hypnopompia, the equivalent when coming out of the sleep state. I find it very disruptive, and not helpful when I also have severe sleep apnea.

AlfaGuy

It's always interesting to me to hear about experiences like this. Hypnagogia seems very similar to what people can experience on drugs like LSD. I didn't know that it could happen without mind altering drugs, but it does make sense that it can, since LSD does kind-of unlock a dream-like state.

William Gray

I'm not autistic but I am an engineer. Maybe those are synonyms, lol. I've had a few of those symptoms, but I just figured it was because I'm fighting my natural tendency to want to sleep late. The mind tends to rev up again around bedtime

well i remember a long long time ago i had the flu i think it was LOL but when i fever was at its worse i was awake and still dreaming at the same time i could see my room and every thing in it but all so had this weird other stuff going on at the same time did not know were the hell i was LOL .

Mort

While I don't experience the hallucinations, I definitely experience lucid dreaming. I'm usually fairly lucid enough during any of my dreams to be able to wake myself up if I realize I'm having a bad dream, etc. I've only had the loud noises a couple times that I can think of.

I firmly believe that autism is just a human optimised to design, build and maintain society.

Big Clive

I remember waking up surrounded by snails once, shapes in the darkness that seemed very real for a short period of time. My portals of bright light, on the other hand, are migraines...

Matt Tester

Yep, and it may become comfortable if experienced benignly and consciously

Yes, this. Didn’t realize there was a name for it or that it happens in autistic people mostly. I might have autistic tendencies but not enough of the symptoms to get it fully checked out so no point in a diagnoses....

Michael Gilchrest

I remember having the flu as a kid and trying to read a book. I gave up because I kept seeing myself reading. Twas odd

Michael Thompson