Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. Or, Fat/Big Hands. Anyone have this?

[Horrace]

It's a thing. It's real. I've had it since I was a child. A feeling when I'm relaxed or trying to sleep and the only way I can describe it is that my hands/fingers are huge and everything else is small.
I only experience it with my hands and it's not visual with me, but there are people who have visuals and experience the feeling in other body parts and objects around them.
I've never met anyone else who feels this.
It's really horrible.
I'm laughing typing this, it sounds so bonkers. I suffer with migraines so think it's related.
It's a real thing I promise.

I really want to know if others have this.

Big little feeling

That's such a good description. As a child I could never tell if I felt big or little but as an adult I call it fat fingers.

I had it for hours on Saturday as I lay in bed feeling unwell and I really concentrated on whether my hands were big or small.
I'm sure they were big, picking up small things.

I don't know anyone in real life with it. Everyone thinks I'm nuts.

I have this! Have experienced it since childhhood. I have migraines and I'm autistic and I thought it might be related to autism, not giving a thought that it might be to do with migraines, so it's interesting to see fellow migraine sufferers on here.

I experience big hands and big arms, and also my tongue can feel huge. I also experience feeling tiny in perspective to my surroundings. I also have 'Exploding Head Syndrome' which is horrendous and very painful.

I get this, and I get migraines too. I used to get it more as a child, just as I was falling asleep. I find it a nice feeling, just as I'm floating off to sleep. I'm always reminded of it when I see those photos of Kenny Everett with the big hands! Tried to include a picture but couldn't get it work!

Oh my goodness! I get this! When run down or feverish and trying to get to sleep, exactly! Anyone know why it happens??

Yes! I used to get this a lot as a child. Everything close seemed far away and everything far away seemed close. All proportions were completely out, even if I closed my eyes, everything in my thoughts was weird. Docs said it was a form of migraine and I was probably sensitive to an ingredient in food. I remember being very disturbed by it, but it, thankfully, went away in my late teens. Only recently found out what it was called.

Indeed it is related to migraine - I have had it and so has my DD. In my case it is a sensation of being shorter - or the floor being nearer, depending on how you look at it!

I sometimes get this before and during a migraine, not usually both parts but even there the room or my whole entire body seems to change size. I have been in already quite long corridors before whreni it's s happened and they seem to stretch out infront of me and going on forever...it's so weird!

@clarice99

There are some good videos on YouTube about it including Exploding Head syndrome. That was a new one on me.

I had this as a child and also have exploding head syndrome as an adult, mainly when I'm stressed. I get vestibular migraines from certain lights - yellow ones in particular, and have also had retinal migraine. I didn't realise there could be a link.

Yes! I posted about it on a thread a while ago, I think the OP was about sometimes going into a trance like state sometimes and wondering if anyone else had off feelings. I hardly ever get Alice in Wonderland syndrome but when I do it's quite pleasant. I can never decide if my hands are very large or everything around me is small. Also a migraine sufferer.

Interesting to hear about exploding head syndrome. I woke up not so long ago swearing blind that I’d heard a huge explosion or thunder. My DH was sound asleep though and even my nervy dog was still snoring. I thought I must have dreamt it.

Whilst we’re discussing things that could be linked to migraines, does anyone get a strange overpowering Deja Vu feeling that is quite lengthy and so powerful that it makes you dizzy and sick to your stomach?

I used to get this when I was stoned (not had a spliff in 20 years now mind you!). My fingers would feel huuuuge as I was dropping off to sleep, but it wasn't scary or even unpleasant, just weird. Never knew what it was called so I used to mentally refer to it as "sausage fingers" 😂

@Bleachbum

I do get long long deja vu of deja vu of deja vu moments though.
And I know what is about to happen and how many times it will repeat.

That's the only way I can explain that one

@Bleachbum yes! Me! I've always thought I was weird. It's such a strong sense that the place / situation has happened before and I can get really scared and freaked out

Not pleasant

Yes! I feel like I'm really tiny, but my hands (and especially my thumbs) are huge. I actually find it quite comforting as I remember the same sensations as a child, and I'm transported right back to my childhood bedroom.

I used to get this so much as a child, when my mum would come to say goodnight, when I was laying in bed, she would look as though she was down a tunnel.
I'd also get this feeling as though my hands were huge cartoon hands.

I have gone on to suffer aura migraines as an adult so maybe that's connected.

I have always had a weirdly functioning brain. I have experienced very weird dreams and now have false awakening dreams which bug the hell out of me. I am also awaiting an ADHD assessment. Not sure if any of this is connected?

Yep, used to get this as a child too. Terrified me and could never explain it to parents, as they'd think I was mad.

Also a chronic migraine sufferer for over 20 years - there's definitely a link.

I have only had it a handful of times as an adult, which is a shame, as it's truly mind boggling and wacky!

I get this every now and again, it's infuriating and every surface I touch and everything I try to focus on feels "wrong" and weird!

It's so hard to describe, but I am sure it's what you're talking about.

I also get migraines sometimes (not dramatic ones, just nagging headaches and a weird nauseous "out of sorts" feeling - they are not severe, but somehow different in quality to a normal headache). I am sure the two things are related.

Two or three times as a kid, usually when coming down with something. Had completely forgotten about it until now. Was terrifying.

I've had it often when I feel super tall! I'm only 5'2". It's a weird feeling and doesn't last long. I've read it's part of this Alice in Wonderland thing.

I had all of this plus the hands as a child over 50 years ago. Have never spoken about it to anyone!

My son had this when he was being bullied he came out of his room talking to us about the giant numbers, they won't go small, and his huge hands and feet.

We put him back to bed and thought what weird nightmare was that?

But I happened for almost a week solid, so I spoke to a friend of ours who's a GP and she told us to look this up.

As soon as the bullying resolved he was fine.

I had it as a child when I was falling asleep and would tell my mum “the room has gone big”. I felt like the window was suddenly tiny and really far away.
I also felt like my teeth were big. I can almost summon the feeling back but not quite.
I also had it occasionally when I was hungover, but more the body parts feeling the wrong size than the room feeling big.

No migranes or anything else though.

Ha! So I just said to my 14 year old “do you ever get a weird sensation when you’re falling asleep, like the room is big?” And he said “NO but what I get is that I’m big and the room is small and my hands feel weird. I get this once a month or so but not as often as when I get a massive loud noise in my head!”
So I was able to tell him about exploding head and Alice in Wonderland.
He doesn’t get migranes or even headaches either so I guess it’s just one of those weird things.

I've always kind of liked it, in an isn't-this-interesting sort of a way. I suppose my guess was always that it was possibly something to do with the huge number of nerve endings in those parts of the body — maybe something like, I dunno, the part of the brain that manages the re-scaling of body part sizes having fallen asleep before other parts of my brain. Like, with your brain falling asleep, it starts to have a body image that is more like the sensory homunculus, with the parts with more nerves being represented as bigger than they are. Or maybe it's more related to the cortical homunculus, representing how much brain space is dedicated to each body part.