Spinning head when I fall asleep...?

Question

Sometimes, when I am falling asleep, I feel like I'm spinning - a feeling coming from my brain. Is this normal, and what is it?

Answer 1

It's fairly normal. It's your inner ear, a key element in maintaining balance, settling down. The feeling should fade away in no more than 15-30 minutes. If it doesn't -- if it persists for a long time and recurs regularly, see a doctor about it.

Answer 2

If you can't sleep, get up and do something useful like clean the bathroom and soon you will be so tired, you can't keep your eyes open. I have difficulty sleeping more than 4 hours a night now that I am not working 80 hours a week. I don't worry about it. I have adapted to the extra hours and use them for reading or playing on Yahoo answers. If I happen to get tired in the middle of the day, now I can rest. When I was working, I had to be on-point every minute. I was responsible for the welfare of others and couldn't slack off for even a minute. There is a firm rule: Your body will get as much sleep as it needs. It has nothing to do with your beliefs or your boredom when you are awake with nothing to do.

Answer 3

I know this happens if you've been sailing for instance. In order for you to estimate your location, your brain combines information from a variety of sources, including sight, touch, joint position, the inner ear and its internal expectations. Under most circumstances, the senses and internal expectations all agree. When they disagree, there is imprecision and ambiguity about modern estimation, which can result in loss of balance and motion sickness. A few unfortunate people experience persistent symptoms lasting months of even years. This is known as mal de debarquement syndrome. Exactly why their symptoms persist so long isn't understood, but they can be treated.

Answer 4

Its not unusual. It may also be a mild case of vertigo, which believe me, you don't want! That spinning, falling feeling is caused by the fluid in your inner/middle ear swishing around, hence the feeling improves when you remain still.

Answer 5

I wouldnt say this was normal. Has it been happening for a while or is it a recent occurance? It sounds to me like there is something going on in your middle ear which controls balance. I would mention it to your doctor or see if you can get some answers from www.nhsdirect.com.

Answer 6

I have the same, apparently its vertigo. I saw a consultant who advised me to prop myself up on a few more pillows and that works.(He said we have crystals in our middle ear or something like that!) and when they come out of place we experience vertigo.When they go back in place it stops and by not laying completely back we can help them fall back into place.
Sounds a bit weird but it worked for me.
You can also get drugs for it but that doesn't put the crystals back in there place!
Good luck, hope you manage a good night sleep soon.

Answer 7

Probably Vertigo. Very common when people get into bed and lay down. Try using an additional pillow and dont just dive into bed! Slowly!

Ear infection or fluid inbalance.

Answer 8

It really depends how bad the spinning is, if its very bad then you needs to see a doctor, there are medical conditions that can cause this. Ifs its fairly mild its nothing to worry about...;

Answer 9

You could have a low blood sugar level...and when you lay down you will fell light headed.....Try drinking some high sugar drink like Coke / Pepsi about 30min before you go to bed..

Hope this helps.

Answer 10

Oh my gosh this happens to me almost every night too since I was a teenager. I dont want to sound strange but it does happen to me alot when I think about astral travel, but I'm really not sure about that .