Qausi-dreaming

Last night, I went to bed around 12:30PM and awoke at 3AM feeling rather uncomfortable. I had little dream recall, but I remembered thoughts running through my head, often accompanied by images. These “flashes” of thoughts and images and more thoughts took place at breakneck speed. I have noted this occurring to me several times in the past, usually very early in the morning, but sometimes later too. I am not awake, but I am not dreaming (or am I?). Waking up from this type of “dreaming”,I often feel uncomfortable.

Is this perhaps what dreaming looks like in certain periods of sleep not conducive to typical dreaming?

Anyone have similar experiences?

That sounds like hypnagogic imagery, or HI. It’s perfectly normal, and it occurs during hypnagogia, the onset of sleep. HI can develop into a full-fledged dream; this can be taken advantage of for the WILD method.