Sleep paralysis... I haz it.

[Lavender__]

So do any of the rest of you suffer from sleep paralysis?
For those who do not know, sleep paralysis is when you wake up & you're unable to move or speak.
I experience it quite often and in all honesty it's starting to happen enough to the point that I think... "What if one day I'm permanently stuck in my sleep paralysis...forever?"
I researched it a little on the interwebz & I found that most people who experience it feel a dark presence in the room during the panic of the paralysis.. such as a spirit or alien (normally in the form of a large dark figure in the room).
I don't necessarily believe in either of those beings, but it IS quite strange that most people notice such a presence while experiencing the paralysis...


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[southsamurai]

sleep paralysis happens when the brain's function that keeps us still while we sleep doesnt shut down upon awakening. sort of (though not truly) the opposite of sleep walking. not fun at all from what i understand. supposedly it isnt dangerous or harmful in any way to the sufferer beyond the psychological impact. the dread and sense of presences is attributed to the sensation of paralysis itself combined with the shift in chemicals such as norepinephrin, seratonin, melatonin and a few others that are in rapid flux just before and after waking. this phenomenon is what some folk say is the real cause of alien abduction memories (not commenting on the veracity of that hypothesis). ive heard of several ways to handle the stress of the sensations when they happen, though since i cant verify that they apply i wont go into them unless asked to.

i have night terrors (not common in adults) which are basically very intense nightmares that are accompanied by unrestrained physical movement. this can be dangerous for bed partners. hence i have a bit of interest in sleep disorders in general lol.

 

[Nordling]

I used to suffer sleep paralysis fairly often...like several times a year (often enough! lol) The worst was a time when I was in the Navy and woke up in the middle of the night with an intense cramp in my calf..but couldn't move, so I couldn't massage it out. Finally, I was able to squeak out in a tiny voice: "help!" lol no one heard me.

 

[JoleneBrody]

I've had Sleep Paralysis my entire life. It kinda sucks.

 

[Lavender__]

i have night terrors (not common in adults) which are basically very intense nightmares that are accompanied by unrestrained physical movement. this can be dangerous for bed partners. hence i have a bit of interest in sleep disorders in general lol.

That really does sound a lot worse than my sleep paralysis. I have a lot of nightmares, but I find them kind of entertaining.. I like horror movies a lot so maybe that's why I don't mind the nightmares, but I can't imagine doing physical things as a result of my nightmare!!​

 

[Lavender__]

I used to suffer sleep paralysis fairly often...like several times a year (often enough! lol) The worst was a time when I was in the Navy and woke up in the middle of the night with an intense cramp in my calf..but couldn't move, so I couldn't massage it out. Finally, I was able to squeak out in a tiny voice: "help!" lol no one heard me.

I've been trying to think of ways I'd singal someone to help me, but it seems so hopeless!​

 

[Lavender__]

I've had Sleep Paralysis my entire life. It kinda sucks.

I remember a few times experiencing it at a younger age, but here recently it's very often, so that's why it's making me so nervous. Just such a sudden extreme change!​

 

[Red7227]

I've had it very rarely had it when I was younger (um... pre-40...) and as Samurai says, its not in any way dangerous or is it ever going to be permanent.

Basically when you are in deep REM sleep your brain switches off your body so you don't hurt yourself. What is happening is that you are waking from deep REM sleep so you catch the back end of the paralysis as you wake. You are supposed to drift into normal sleep and then wake from that rather than get scared to death by the paralysis.

Its natural and normal. Hopefully whatever is waking you from REM sleep will stop interfering at some point and it won't happen to you any more.

 

[southsamurai]

yeah i forgot to mention that for some people having white noise going reduces the frequency of sleep paralysis wake ups.

 

[Protocosmo]

I've only had sleep paralysis once. And yes, I felt the presence of something in the room with me along with panic and being able to see and hear the tv in the other room. It was good that I knew what was happening and managed to calm myself back into unconsciousness!

I don't really have nightmares. The closest I have are intense expressions of certain anxieties I have. Mostly involving school buses and public restrooms...

 

[Poker_Babe]

I don't suffer from sleep paralysis but I do suffer from something similar. I get nightmares where I know I'm dreaming and wake up, but I'm only waking up in my dream, I realize I'm still asleep and try to wake up, only to wake up in my same dream again. Those dreams take me damn near to the brink of madness, and I hate it when that happens.

 

[Red7227]

I don't suffer from sleep paralysis but I do suffer from something similar. I get nightmares where I know I'm dreaming and wake up, but I'm only waking up in my dream, I realize I'm still asleep and try to wake up, only to wake up in my same dream again. Those dreams take me damn near to the brink of madness, and I hate it when that happens.

That sounds horrible! I have the occasional anxiety dream but nothing like that. Most of my dreams are more adventures than actually scary. I have hit 50 though and life is very stable and carefree at the moment, which helps.

 

[ScarlettLeigh]

I'm glad to read this thread. I've only had an episode of sleep paralysis a couple of times in my life but the first time it happened I thought I had been paralyzed and was terrified I would never walk again. Panic totally set in. I cannot imagine having to deal with it on any kind of consistent basis and really sympathize with those who do.

 

[Kunra9]

I've had it a couple times. The first time it scared the shit out of me. I woke up and couldn't move but my eyes were open and I could see. It felt like I was being held down by something, and I kept seeing dark shapes moving at the edge of my vision. Then after a few moments I could move again.

My big sleep issue is sometimes I have really intense dreams and I wake up, but still think I'm dreaming. I've never done anything crazy like walk outside and jump off a balcony trying to fly, but some weird shit will happen that has freaked out friends and family.

Just for example, I crashed at a friend's house one time and I was having a dream where I was talking to my grandpa who is deceased. He was just sitting at the foot of the bed chit chatting with me. At some point during the dream I woke up but could still see my grandpa and was still talking to him, but didn't realize I woke up. My friend came into the room and asked who I was talking to. I saw my friend and started talking to her as well and even tried to introduce her to my grandpa thinking I was still dreaming. She ofcourse thought I was hallucinating or saw a ghost or something and kinda got freaked out.

Good times.

 

[Poker_Babe]

I've had it a couple times. The first time it scared the shit out of me. I woke up and couldn't move but my eyes were open and I could see. It felt like I was being held down by something, and I kept seeing dark shapes moving at the edge of my vision. Then after a few moments I could move again.

My big sleep issue is sometimes I have really intense dreams and I wake up, but still think I'm dreaming. I've never done anything crazy like walk outside and jump off a balcony trying to fly, but some weird shit will happen that has freaked out friends and family.

Just for example, I crashed at a friend's house one time and I was having a dream where I was talking to my grandpa who is deceased. He was just sitting at the foot of the bed chit chatting with me. At some point during the dream I woke up but could still see my grandpa and was still talking to him, but didn't realize I woke up. My friend came into the room and asked who I was talking to. I saw my friend and started talking to her as well and even tried to introduce her to my grandpa thinking I was still dreaming. She ofcourse thought I was hallucinating or saw a ghost or something and kinda got freaked out.

Good times.

IDK if this is true or not, but I like to think that sometimes when are loved ones who have passed, come and talk to us in our dreams, that it's their way of actually talking to us from "the other side".
Either way it usually brings me comfort whenever I have a dream like that.

 

[pg240]

Ah, the things one learns hanging around this forum. I hadn't even heard of sleep paralysis, but judging from the few comments here it must not be all that rare. I find that "dark presence" reference to be quite fascinating and also find southsamuai's explanation for it credible.

What's the time element? Just a few seconds (which probably feel much, much longer)? Or minutes?

 

[Rose]

I don't suffer from sleep paralysis but I do suffer from something similar. I get nightmares where I know I'm dreaming and wake up, but I'm only waking up in my dream, I realize I'm still asleep and try to wake up, only to wake up in my same dream again. Those dreams take me damn near to the brink of madness, and I hate it when that happens.

Ever since that awful K2 incident that I had, I get dreams like this sometimes. Surprisingly it doesn't happen if there is another body in the bed with me. It only happens when I'm sleeping completely alone and in the dark. If I keep a night light on, white noise and have someone to grab onto then it just doesn't happen. It's fucking terrifying when it does happen though, just because it's so close to what I felt during that K2 shit. :?

 

[southsamurai]

well pg, it varies time wise from person to person. anywhere from a few seconds, to as long as five minutes (that ive ever heard of anyway) with the typical event being from 30 seconds to a minute or so. this is from sleep studies rather than anecdotal evidence since, as you surmised, time dilates significantly for the sufferer during an event.

 

[VeronicaChaos]

This is my thread! :lol:

I get sleep paralysis a lot. A couple of times a month when I'm waking up I remain paralyzed and still dreaming, even though I'm awake. It's really scary because you can't look and see what it is that is there in the room with you.

I actually just now had one, and I was trying SO hard to move my head to look at the figure and I couldn't, and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't. I thought that it was fear keeping me from looking at first, and then I thought maybe some sort of perception filter, and then I thought maybe I HAD moved my head and forgotten ala The silence from Doctor Who. Since I was still dreaming, I dreamt that I could look around everywhere else but this ONE spot.

It seemed like a wooden figure though. Some sort of statue.

Usually what happens when I get these is that I become blind in my dream and can't open my eyes. It's like I become awake enough to be aware of being paralyzed and that manifests itself in the dream and then I'm locked in my own head and can't see or move or do anything.

Sometimes I will sleep like this for hours without ever waking fully. It's fucking terrifying.

 

[Lavender__]

Ah, the things one learns hanging around this forum. I hadn't even heard of sleep paralysis, but judging from the few comments here it must not be all that rare. I find that "dark presence" reference to be quite fascinating and also find southsamuai's explanation for it credible.

What's the time element? Just a few seconds (which probably feel much, much longer)? Or minutes?

For me, It's about 30-45 seconds of me struggling to move or make a noise. :S​