[Raven1976]

I was listening to the TV with my eyes closed trying to fall asleep and thinking about the day. All of the sudden I felt like a rag was being stuffed in my mouth. It was the realist experience I have ever had that was not real. At the same time my heart felt like it had stopped for a couple of seconds and rebooted with sporadic beats. I was only scared because of my heart. I just told myself it would pass as I sometimes have palpitations. Does anyone know what I could of experienced?

[downandlonely]

I'm not a medical expert, but I wonder if it could be something like sleep apnea? I would talk to your doctor about it.

[Raven1976]

No, it wasn't sleep apnea. I wasn't asleep. I was fully awake.

[downandlonely]

Were you feeling anxious?

[Raven1976]

Nope, I was just relaxing. It was just a sensation in my mouth. I could feel it like it was real like something was being placed in there like a rag or cloth I could feel it like it was entering my mouth. I could feel it on the inside of my mouth. At the same time my heart started acting strange.

Maybe it was a hypnagogic hallucination.
Hypnagogic Hallucinations

[Raven1976]

I wasn't even on the verge of sleep. I was listening to the TV and thinking. Plus I have a sleep disorder where I never feel sleepy. Just have to close my eyes and hope for the best. I have had those before. It wasn't anything close to that. I think what I experienced was a body memory.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Raven1976

I wasn't even on the verge of sleep. I was listening to the TV and thinking. Plus I have a sleep disorder where I never feel sleepy. Just have to close my eyes and hope for the best. I have had those before. It wasn't anything close to that. I think what I experienced was a body memory.

maybe you can find another way of relaxing. body memories are when a person is doing something or experiencing something that reminds them of the past, then the body reacts by connecting to that past memory.

example I cannot brush my teeth with a certain kind of toothbrush because it reminds my body of when I fell with a toothbrush in my mouth as a child. my mouth nerves, taste buds and muscles react the same way I did when I was a child.

another example of a body memory is when I was abused certain things happened therefore today in the present if my wife and I do those things my body connects to the past memory.

body memories are trigger related, they don't just happen when someone goes to sleep, you do something that reminds the body of the past then the body reacts with a "flashback" of reliving that past trauma or event.

so maybe there was something in your mouth when you closed your eyes that your taste buds, nerves and mouth muscles connected with here in the present that reminded your body of the past.

for example, I know someone who cannot hold lollypops in their mouth, they have to lick their lollies because holding one in their mouth connects to a past memory.

in other words, maybe you can figure out what you were doing with your mouth while relaxing, now in the present that reminded your mouth of that past traumatic memory that you this this may be from-

examples - were you eating something that reminded you of a rag, did you eat something right before relaxing that reminded you of the taste of a rag, shape of a rag, and so on and so forth.

once you know what triggered that body memory you won't have it anymore because you can avoid doing whatever it was that triggered the memory.