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Exploding head syndrome is a rare parasomnia that causes a loud noise in the head as people fall asleep, potentially causing panic. It is more common in women over 50 and can be treated with clomipramine. A visit to the doctor is recommended for diagnosis and specialized care.
Exploding head syndrome is an unusual and fairly rare condition that is often described as parasomnia. A parasomnia is any event that disrupts sleep and can include things like sleepwalking, myoclonic jerks, or night terrors. Although some cases of this condition have been described when a person is awake, very often this unusual circumstance occurs just as people are falling asleep. What follows is a loud bang, crash, ringing, or blasting noise, which appears to occur in the head and usually results in total wakefulness, potentially upset, and some panic.
Most people who have exploding head syndrome feel no pain when they hear the loud noise. Some have described seeing flashes of light with the blast, and as mentioned, some have experienced these symptoms during the day. While this parasomnia is relatively rare, the medical community has some information about it.
First, predicting how quickly “explosions” occur is not easy. Some people have them frequently, up to a few times a week, and others will experience them less than once a month. The syndrome can also disappear for a long time or forever without treatment. Medical researchers also suggest that women are more than twice as likely as men to get exploding head syndrome, and that the average age of onset is in the late 50s. No stable connection is established between conditions such as migraine and exploding head syndrome, although some people who have reported the syndrome have both.
There is some controversy about how to treat exploding head syndrome. If the condition doesn’t disrupt sleep or create significant alarm for the affected person, no treatment may be needed. Those interested in making symptoms go away quickly might find help with the drug clomipramine. This drug is a tricyclic antidepressant that is used to treat a variety of disorders, including bedwetting and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Some studies suggest that clomipramine may prove effective in ending symptoms.
While research into this syndrome has thus far indicated that it is bothersome but benign, it is still recommended that anyone who suspects exploding head syndrome pay a visit to their doctor. Doctors may recommend a sleep study or visit a neurologist for more specialized care and to give patients the best access to advice and treatment. The diagnosis should be confirmed particularly if the symptoms are atypical, as this may indicate other conditions instead.
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