I tend to have a lot of hallucinations that are very vivid, both auditory and visual. They sometimes happen when I am falling asleep and sometimes when I am waking up. And at times I may not even be tired and I still hallucinate. If it is a visual hallucination, it is usually me seeing someone that is not really there standing next to my bed or close to the door, or something else is in my room that shouldn't be there.

If it is auditory, I will hear random sounds that I know aren't there. Sometimes they are soft and neutral but other times they are loud and ominous. Like a persistent loud sound that just won't go away. Sometimes I will even hear whispering and if I am trying to fall asleep and I stop breathing, I will hear a voice tell me to open my eyes, call my name, or just shout hey. Some of these hallucinations, especially the voices talking to me, are my brain's attempt to wake me up once it realizes I stopped breathing for a certain amount of time.

The random sounds happen constantly even when I am alert and think it has to do with my hearing impairment. The visual hallucinations are always the worst. I may close my eyes and if I can't seem to far asleep, I will open them and see something or someone right there and at times it will appear to stay there for a bit before disappearing. It always disappears when I turn the light on though. Also I hallucinate when I am having an episode of sleep paralysis, which is common among people who have it.

Does anyone else have vivid hallucinations before or after sleep? What are your hallucinations like? I used to be very afraid of them when I was little but not really anymore since I am so used to it. I still get startled, especially when I hear voices, loud sudden sounds that I know aren't there, or visual hallucinations of people that aren't there. I believe part of it is from sleep apnea which is what I have, some of it is due to being in a foggy sleepy state, but the hallucinations that happen when I am fully alert, usually the auditory ones, are the ones I don't know what causes them. I am hearing impaired so most likely that is what it is, but most of them revolve around sleep, especially if I have a panic attack when waking up too.