Haven't used any substances, besides small amounts alcohol socially, in over a week. Last night I was going to bed and noticed I could see faces and figures when I closed my eyes. They were not very clear but were moving and obvious. They seemed very angry as if screaming and were only in shades of black and gray. Not very pleasant to say the least. Upon opening my eyes they were still visible in the dark room.

Long story short I was not able to sleep, became mildly disturbed by the unwanted visuals, and had to take a sleeping medication in a room with only dimmed lights in order to get any rest.

Anyone else experience this? Any advice?

I've had some issues with sober hallucinations, although mine have been primarily a result of a too-quick tapering of SSRI medication, as well as some intense Buddhist meditation that I wasn't really ready for.

If this is a recurring problem, I've found the best thing to do is to try not to worry about any visual disturbances you may experience, since if you stress about them, stress will become a trigger, and you'll experience them even more. Try to enjoy them if you can, or if not, try to ignore them. Also, you may be able to figure out what thoughts or situations are triggers, and try to avoid them or deal with any issues that underly them.

Hopefully, this was just a one-time thing for you

That's pretty strange. I've been know to have sober hallucinations before sleeping but I've usually smoke DMT the day before. You could have have an endogenous experience.

Most importantly... DO NOT PANIC!!!!

When I was a kid, I used to let my body fall asleep before my mind and I entered some pretty powerful trance states (that ended in sleep paralysis and other weird states of consciousness that scared me to death, because I had no idea what it was). Many things are possible with the mind alone, especially when relaxing, drifting in and out of sleep, etc. Have you ever experimented with meditation? Lucid dreaming? (Spice obviously. ) It might be worth reading about some of these so you can gain more experience, and understand these things as they happen.

Also, my yoga practice has gone MUCH deeper after spice, so it is possible that you are more connected with other parts of yourself you normally were unable to see.

Wishing you blissful sleeps!

I would try and ignore it as much as possible. Iv never had powerfull sober hallucinations, apart from 1 flashback, but i had mild HPPD for a while. mainly consisting of objects breathing and distorting slightly. This started after a period of using lsd and mescaline a little too frequently.
At first i enjoyed it and tryed to control it. Pulling walls towards me and making paterns move about was realy fun but the more i tryed to make it happen the more often it happened and the more intense it got. After a month of so i was getting it whenever i wasnt focussing on something, so i stopped making the walls move whenever i was bored, and it took another couple of months of ignoring it for the effects to go away completely.
What your describing sounds different, but i expect if you ignore it, it will go away. A week isnt a long time so dont worry about it.

One word: Imagination

Sounds very similar as I have noticed it once before and tried to focus on it. The first time I just barely saw it and was able to focus on it until it got very clear. Now it seems to just come out at me even if trying to ignore it. Even though I want to ignore it its hard to do while staring at the insides of my eye lids.

Ive had very strange things happen since opening my mind with spice. Ive been just smoking weed with some friends and i would cough and these black portals with an orange glow around them would slowly expand and contract.

then one time i was at work and i was cutting up some papers infront of a printer, as i was looking down at the papers i could see blue and white things dancing around in the top of my peripheral vision i looked up and it was nothing, just a printer.

I see a strange haze over things too... especially then i look at a clear sky. But its always been slightly enjoyable.

one time i did get a little scared, I was going to bed and i was starting to feel my self fall to sleep. as my eye lids got heavy I heard a female voice whisper in my ear she said my name gently.

This freaked me out for about 5 mins then i realized, nothing is going to hurt me. Ive heard my name being called out in the same way when i was a child in an empty house though so its nothing new really.

For some reason something makes me feel like i shouldnt worry about it.

I saw exactly the same things as a (christian) kid and thought the devil was after me.
Now, i find them interesting. And the devil can drink some tea. I think overdramatization is a problem. You're not sick, don't search for an illness.

Apparently, this type of thing is quite common, whether you take any drugs or not. There's sleep paralysis, and sleep walking, most common is the thing you describe where you sort of have dream like images but you're not fully asleep yet. Just letting you know it's common and you're not insane.

This happens to me all the time, always has. Sometimes I even get to the point where I am basically doing what seems like remote viewing. I have visited other cities full of people, watching them walk by, get coffee and buy newspaper etc..all very down to earth everyday things..sometimes they even notice me..its all very weird.

I have seen a lot of faces. I attributed it to harmala use, or melatonin. However I do get OEV's sober and especially when stoned on cannabis now. Cherish it, your leaking light .

I wouldn't be too concerned.
Once i made vacation in amsterdam i heard speaking voices in dutch before sleep.
The brain is a receiver and a sender.
If you are open, you can receive more.

The more I meditate, do yoga, do spice/psychedelics, the more I get interesting things happening to me in my day/at night. I have seen wayy more tracers in the daytime (more rainbow colors too - if I'm a little high these visuals can increase by a ton). At night I get hypnagogic imagery and sometimes I have had really intense shit happen where I hear a ton of shit going on and the pressure in my ears keeps feeling strange and then I'll see like an orb of light in the corner of my room that dissapears. The other morning I woke up from my alarm and then laid back down to catch 10 more minutes of sleep and I heard a voice distinctly whisper my name. Honestly, after this started happening a lot more, I committed myself to no longer let myself get afraid of this shit anymore. I would rather die than be a slave to fear. I'm actually hoping at this point to go further with it and try to lucid dream or possibly even astral project after some practice. Just have a sense of humor about things and let go of those things that you have no control over. Once you've finished letting go, just let the good times roll =)

What you are seeing has nothing to do with drugs or you going crazy. It happens to a lot of people and is perfectly normal. Sleep paralysis also happens to a lot of people as well as hypnotic hallucinations and some people consider this a problem but really on average about 20% of all people experience this event especially when they are not getting enough sleep. To sum it up when you see images before you fall asleep its your brain saying its ready to go to bed. Why the scary faces? Well according to one of the leading sleep researcher in America, when you start to fall asleep your amygdala becomes hyperactive and often is a result of terrible feelings or visions. We could also take a note from Charles Jung and say that its possibly one of your many personalities expressing its feelings. Nothing is fully provable however this does happen to many people.

If you have any more sleep questions I highly recommend you visit www.sleepstudies.org as Ryan Hurd knows his stuff about sleep and what type of experiences are normal or abnormal during it. I for one have experienced sleep paralysis as well as hypnotic hallucinations for about 10 years now and though they may be terrifying on occasion, they have never caused me any harm and are often something I laugh about. What you guys do with aya is much more of a crazy experience.

You needn't worry, its a very common occurrence called hypnagogia. It occurs in the state between sleep and wakefulness.

Much love
Sally
xx

I sometimes get weird bubbling colors in my vision when trying to sleep (sorta like when you used to press on your eyes as a kid and patterns bleed into vision). If in complete darkness i get it with eyes open too. It increases when i've had a few bongs of mj. I wouldn't worry too much, unless it starts affecting your daily life.

I've experienced an array of states of this sort, and I do not see anything to be intimidated with, provided that you can keep the emergent imagery under control.

If the imagery is overwhelming, one should exercise moderation (not only in psychedelic substance use, but also in life in general) and try to get grounded.

It is reasonable to believe that the ancients saw this type of things (ghosts) all the time and everywhere, not separating them from what we call the physical world. It is only through the (rather artificial) construction of the "rational mind" that such imagery has been repressed. Better learn to control it and benefit from it than get scared (just because your school text books on natural science told you that there are no such things, and if you see them you are nuts; there are such things, they are in the mind).

Incidentally, my hypnagogic imagery (and my appreciation thereof) has enhanced considerably since my first psychedelic experiences, and, for all I can tell, this has been a very beneficial, enjoyable and enriching development.