Hello forum, I'm new here and signed up for the sole reason to ask about this and to see if anyone else experience the same thing as me!

I came across the symptoms for Exploding head syndrome today while researching something else and it seems very much like something I experience once in a while, however, I don't seem to experience the auditory explosion that everyone describes.

What happens is basically this:

I find myself waking up or having almost fallen asleep and I start having strange thoughts, or at least my brain feels like they are strange. It's hard to explain but the thoughts feel really strange and I just know that whatever this is, it's going to escalate. What happens then is that I get a feeling of sheer terror and increased heart rate. It is completely impossible for me to go back to sleep and nothing I do seem to make me less terrified. I will usually get up, turn on all the lights and cry while this is going on. I'm not sure how long it lasts but I assume no more than 10 minutes, then I'm back to normal and can go to sleep without any problem.

Is this Exploding head syndrome or is it something else?

Thanks in advance for all responses!