Richard Moore

For some time now, I've been experiencing "brain zaps" on occasion. They were much more common a few months ago, once occurring around 10 times in one go. I've just had another, and I'd like to describe it while it's fresh in my mind.

The sensation is best described as a jolt of electricity being shot through my brain, sometimes spreading to include my neck back. The worst of them can affect my entire upper body, right down to my fingers. They happen most often when I'm half asleep or just waking up, but they can also happen while fully asleep or awake. The surges tend to be followed by any or all of these aftereffects: lightheadedness, chest pain, headaches, slight discoordination, disorientation, and tiredness. The more surges I have in one set, the stronger these symptoms become.

This has been going on for several years. For a long time, I associated the sensation with astral projection, since it seemed to occur just before I succeeded in leaving my body. Then it started happening without astral projection, and it began to upset me when the side effects kicked in. On the occasion during which I had 10 surges in rapid succession, I was being shown my past, present, and future selves in a dream during Physics class. Upon waking, I found myself unable to walk in a straight line without considerable concentration for a few hours, it was difficult to focus on anything for the rest of the day (which made that first bit a real pain), my head felt like a burned-out lightbulb, and I was a total ditz all day.

I did some Googling on this, and I found that it is a symptom of withdrawal from medications, particularly antidepressants, but I haven't taken medication in 14 years (I'm 18 now). If it's not withdrawal, what do you figure it might be?

IF YOU DON'T KNOW, DON'T ANSWER. SPAMMERS, POINT-HUNTERS, AND OTHER USELESS ANSWERS WILL BE REPORTED.

As a future genetic engineer, I should know about this, but I haven't been able to find any information about it. Is there already a branch of genetic engineering dealing with post-natal (after-birth) genotype alteration, preferably that which noticeably alters the phenotype of the organism? If so, what is the official name for it, and where can I find further information? Do you know of any past successful experiments in this field?

Spammers, moral debaters, point-hunters, and useless answers such as "no, I don't know anything" will be reported.

Out of curiosity...if you write the story of your own past life (and I do mean reincarnation), would it be considered a biography or an autobiography? On one hand, it could be an autobiography, because it's who you were. On the other hand, it could be a biography, because it is no longer your identity. Try to put aside your own beliefs for a moment before answering this, because frankly, I don't care whether or not you believe in past lives. So don't give me an answer like "It doesn't matter, because there's no such thing as past lives" or "Reincarnation isn't real." I want a real answer, coupled with an explanation of your answer. Please, be intelligent about this.

*Growls* I already asked this in the Religion & Spirituality thread. Should have expected what I got. Damn Christian skeptic takeover...I just got a bunch of crap about using more or less of whatever random hallucinogen they could think of. We really should take that thread back, get ourselves accepted there again. There is more to religion than Christianity and God, and anyone who tries to claim otherwise is an idiot. Anyway, mini-rant over. On to the explanation.

I've been on the Astral Plane multiple times, and I was beginning to gain a mastery of it. I was already controlling my location, astral body, and leaving or returning at will. On my last visit to the Astral, which was over a month ago, I left my body to find someone waiting for me in the Astral. She spoke to me, and when she left, I found myself caught in a sort of Astral Flicker. I was returned to my body, and when I tried to leave my bed, my body didn't come with me. I returned to my body again with the same result. After repeating this a few times with growing frustration, I forced myself to stay in my body and left my bed. For the rest of the day, I felt as though I could leave my body at any given moment, even while standing up. I prevented myself from doing so, fearing that my body would fall and harm itself. When I returned to bed the next night, I attempted another visit, thinking she might be there again. I failed to project, instead falling asleep. This has happened every night since then. A few times, I managed to get the right vibrations for leaving my body, but I still couldn't leave. It's as though I've been locked out of the Astral Plane. I've gone through all the exercises to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything, and though my life has been stressful since that last visit, I haven't been letting it affect me, and I'm good at clearing my mind. I suspect a blocked chakra might be to blame, but I'm hoping for suggestions.

I've been on the Astral Plane multiple times, and I was beginning to gain a mastery of it. I was already controlling my location, astral body, and leaving or returning at will. On my last visit to the Astral, which was over a month ago, I left my body to find someone waiting for me in the Astral. She spoke to me, and when she left, I found myself caught in a sort of Astral Flicker. I was returned to my body, and when I tried to leave my bed, my body didn't come with me. I returned to my body again with the same result. After repeating this a few times with growing frustration, I forced myself to stay in my body and left my bed. For the rest of the day, I felt as though I could leave my body at any given moment, even while standing up. I prevented myself from doing so, fearing that my body would fall and harm itself. When I returned to bed the next night, I attempted another visit, thinking she might be there again. I failed to project, instead falling asleep. This has happened every night since then. A few times, I managed to get the right vibrations for leaving my body, but I still couldn't leave. It's as though I've been locked out of the Astral Plane. I've gone through all the exercises to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything, and though my life has been stressful since that last visit, I haven't been letting it affect me, and I'm good at clearing my mind. I suspect a blocked chakra might be to blame, but I'm hoping for suggestions.

On Yahoo! News today, my eye was caught by a peculiar story related to the legendary Chupacabra, whose name literally means "goat sucker," famous for draining the blood from livestock, particularly goats. I'd heard of the Chupacabra before, so I clicked the link to the video, in which the carcass of a Chupacabra, killed with rat poison in Blanco, Texas, was shown off by its killer. If, indeed, this is a genuine Chupacabra, which seems rather likely...no longer can anyone say dragons, mermaids, unicorns, and other such creatures are not real. If one of the least known mythical creatures has been proven to exist, older and more popular creatures are almost guaranteed to be real.

If you doubt the Chupacabra, watch the video and note the fangs. Not only are they abnormally long, but they are also tilted outward, which is also a trait of vampires. This tilting of the fangs actually serves a purpose for such blood-drinking creatures, as it increases blood flow. That alone adds credence to the story.

For those who have watched the video and read the news story, what do you think of it? If you haven't seen the story or video, I don't want to hear your opinions, because I know all I'm going to get is a bunch of *** holes telling me Chupacabras, dragons, and phoenixes don't exist, just like the platypus didn't exist 50 years ago, and I'm an idiot for even considering the possibility that something science has proven is true. Get a clue. If you haven't seen the news story, you have no business commenting. I asked about the news story, not the legend.

If you haven't seen it, but you are interested, here's the story:

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92971?fp=1

And the video:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2009/09/0...