A relationship between migraine and out of body experiences? Really?
You may be wondering if I’m serious – or if I’m that desperate for topics that I’m reaching for some that are a bit on the bizarre side.
The truth is, no, I’m not in any way at a loss for things to write about. I’ve chosen this one on purpose – I am serious, and I have a feeling there are a number of migraineurs out there that are thankful someone is talking about this.
Our of Body Experiences – a Symptom of Migraine?
It has been known for some time that out of body experiences, or OBEs, are a possible symptom of migraine. This is not to say that all OBEs can be attributed to migraine. But I have a hunch (and I’m not the only one) that this symptom is more common than we think – that it’s under reported.
I was recently reading a discussion of migraine and OBEs from the 80s. And back in 1999, Derek Robinson and Dr. Klaus Podoll suggested that OBEs were a migraine symptom, based on their observations of migraine art (see Out-of-body experiences and related phenomena in migraine art.). An example of this migraine art can be seen online here.
And as they demonstrated in their recent book Migraine Art, this doesn’t just come from observations of the art but from testimonies of patients themselves. In fact, they list 17 medical case reports (about 70% female, 30% male, between the ages of 17 and 66) of out-of-body and related experiences in migraine patients. Most of these patients had repeated OBEs.
Under reported?
Why this would be under reported is obvious. As one patient put it:
I have never told anyone else, as I have not wanted to be called or thought of as queer, and even a supposedly understanding doctor might lift his eyebrows at some of the happenings of a migraine victim, who learns to keep things strictly to herself, excluding both family and physician from her confidence.
-from Hallucinations of physical duality in migraine by Dr. Caro W Lippman, quoted in Migraine Art.
What is an Out-of-Body experience?
You probably already know that there’s a lot of controversy about what exactly OBEs are. There’s those who believe the soul actually leaves the body, of course, but there is also a great deal of discussion in the medical community about what may be going on neurologically – physically – in the brain.
Because hallucinations of various kinds are common in migraine attacks, a strong theory is that there is a relationship between migraine and OBEs, and that these OBEs are another type of hallucination coming from memory and imagination.
But we’re putting a lot under this category – let’s look at how some patients described their symptoms (mostly from the book Migraine Art):
- the feeling of my transparent body leaving my physical body
- toward early morning I woke up, and instead of being in bed I was suspended in the air halfway toward the ceiling. I looked on the bed and saw myself lying asleep
- one patient reported the extraordinary sensation of being drawn out horizontally through a small hole in the centre of the skull
- Some patients are simply aware of the presence of an invisible double
- One male patient says, suddenly I would become aware of a ‘second self,’ vaguer than and more tenuous than the original ‘me.’ I felt just like a double exposure looks.
- Like I’ll feel like my hands are at my sides, but they’re folded in my lap. It’s real bad when I feel like I’m sideways, but I’m sitting up in my chair. (quoted here)
Sometimes these experiences last a split second, sometimes longer. Sometimes they happen in bed, sometimes while going about normal daily activities.
And this doesn’t even take into account other bodily hallucinations felt by migraineurs – for example, the awareness of another ‘presence’ in the room, or the feeling that one part of your body has ‘stretched’, or that your head is actually splitting open, and so on and so on. There are so many variations it’s hard to know how to categorize them.
But is it really a migraine symptom?
We don’t know – and the reason is that many people report OBEs, and many people are migraineurs. You would expect that there would be overlap. Also, is the OBE actually a symptom of migraine, or a symptom coming from a common cause? And what part does medication play?
But there are good arguments in favour of considering OBEs a real migraine symptom. For example:
- Hallucinations of various kinds are very common in migraine
- OBEs in migraine patients often go along with other better-known symptoms of a migraine attack. In other words, the OBE comes along at the same time as the attack, and often is intertwined with other symptoms.
Why this article is here
We’re talking about this today because
- It shows once again how unique migraine symptoms can be
- We need to get this information out in the open because people do need to talk to their doctors about it.
- There are some of you out there with these symptoms who are afraid to share with anyone – you’re not alone.
- For those that have these symptoms, you need to know there is research being done. This is not an unheard of symptom, although we certainly understand very little about it.
So please share your comments and thoughts if you’re willing – let’s learn more about this aspect of migraine, which may be more common than most people think…
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I find this to be very interesting. I have been curious about many of the more isoteric symptons that come with migraines. I am a man with a very strong belief in the meta physics and paranormal stuff. I have been interested in this sort of thing for just a little longer than I have had migraines (I have had a constant migraine for nearly 15 years now). I have had many OBE experiences and many other the other things that were mentioned above. My curiosity had always been that the migraines were more caused by the OBE’s and what not. Not the other way around. That I am not in any way an isolated case is fascinating to me. It never ceases to amaze me that the more we study the body, particularly the brain, the more we find questions that many of us do not really want to except the answers.
My wife has suffered with aura migraines for 25 years. In the early years she would have several aura episodes a year, then went for many years with just 3 or 4 episodes a year. Now, she is have these aura experiences just about every week with the headaches to follow of course. Here in the last couple of years she has been experiencing what she describes as a “disconnected” feeling at times and sometimes she says it feels like a rubber band has just been popped in her head. Of course these episodes are very frightening for her. I’d be very grateful to anyone who could point me in right direction to get my wife some relief.
I hope this makes sense. I have had the feeling of flying out of my body during some migraines. I found that holding my husband’s hand or arm made me feel more grounded. Holding certain stones also seemed to ease the feeling that I am being pulled out of my body.
I began taking medication for migraines at age four. They diagnosed me with migraines without aura, but I realized much later in life I just thought aura symptoms were normal, and at that point didn’t want to mention them as they would just disturb my parents and not me. I remember often feeling as if I was about 3 inches above and to the left of my body, except for my head which seemed attached. I would also frequently cling to covers of my bed to avoid falling off, as there was no amount of reason that could convince my mind it wasn’t turned sideways; alternatively I would black out and then see pretty yellow lights floating round and get this incredible fuzzy feeling that I dearly miss to this day since my migraines went away in adulthood. I thought I could feel the world turning lol; I can easily see in more life threatening circumstances with adrenaline and other things playing part people believing they’re on the way to heaven/ hell and leaving their body behind
Thank god i’m not the only person experiencing this strange feeling, after every migraine attack i have there is a period of time where its as though there are two of me in the same body or maybe a better way to explain it is that my soul hasn’t re-attached to my body properly?!? when i move a part of my body it’s like another part of me is trying to catch up with that movement in slow motion, like a double exposure. Its the strangest feeling. I would love an explanation for this.
I can’t explain why, but I experience the same thing. I have to move very gingerly because some of my energy flaps around like long hair. I find it comforting to sit on the ground or walk barefoot outside.
I was diagnosed with migraines when I was about eight years old after seizures were ruled out. I can remember lying in bed, and having the feeling of being on a merry-go-round above my bed. It was a fantastic sensation of peace and calm; it alerted me that I was about to fall asleep. I can’t in all honestly, say if a migraine ever followed or preceded.
It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I even heard of an OBE, let alone associated the two. I’d always assumed that it was a normal experience that no one ever talked about.
telling this kind of experience even to the most understanding doctor can be very sobering. I have migraines in which I begin to be aware of various different realities. They are very real and happen simultaneously. But when I try to follow them, I realize that it is not a concrete reality. I try hard to hang onto what I know is a reality, but sometimes the other streams of reality invade and you don’t realize it. And then after 4 hours or so it is over. Very alarming and frightening. I have just gone through extensive tests including 4 MRIs which showed that everything is totally normal. A very healthy guy with strange migraines. I have recently started using an NTI device and I think it is helping a lot. So interested in others experiences.
I myself experience such things along with my frequent (& severe) migraines.
Oftentimes the people around me will ask “what are you looking at? are you okay?” and I have the strange sensation that I’m not inside my body at all, but in a sort of tunnel in front of myself.
I also have NOT told people about this, because I was worried of their reaction. I tell those who ask me if I’m ‘ok’ that I’m *zoned out*.
Maybe it’s a pain response? Or perhaps the pain is a response to this occurance?
Wow. Years ago I asked my doctor if one migraine symptom was feeling like there was a dream world going on right next to me, or behind a closed door. It’s happened a few times in the intervening years, as if another reality is operating very close by.
In recent years, persistent deja vu is one of my signals that a migraine is imminent in the next couple of days. I will feel constant deja vu for several minutes.
and I have to say wow, too, Heather. I know exactly what you are talking about. It came to a crisis situation for me last year on Christmas day and continued for months after that. For that reason I am working hard on myself not to dread this season. But is was scary.I am working on a book in which that period is a major piece. If you want I will send it to you. Let me know. My email: josephmcclain2@hotmail.com. EVERYONE LET’S KEEP COMMUNICATING…AT LEAST FOR ME THIS IS IMPORTANT.