sleep paralysis

Status
Not open for further replies.
#1
I cant see a thread about this

Does anyone get/had this? i get it quite regualry. the last time was last week. my sleep was all over the place. my brain woke up but my body was just paraylsed. i could hear someone walking round my bed towards me. im screaming to myself to wake up. i usually have to wiggle my toes for about 10 seconds till i fully wake up. it can be well scary though when your not aware. once i kept drifting in and out of mini nightmares along with the sleep paralysis at the end of each nightmare, and then to finsh it off i hallucinated and saw a man on my wall staring at me

i also hear conversations between people ive never met, hear music, screaming, and see people, as im drifting off to sleep. everyone does i think. im quite aware of it so its cool when i suddenly realise and wake myself up and rememeber in the morning, i never usually do in detail though
 
S

StarFish

#2
I have it too. But less than I used to. It's terrifying isn't it. When it happens to me I generally pray desperately in my mind and that can help to calm me. Sometimes I can break out of it but most often I fall asleep again, sometimes I go straight into a dream or nightmare. Usually I just try to calm my breathing and my heart beat and try to tell myself that it's just a physiological phenomenon.

A sleep doctor told me that it happens when you are in deep REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and something partially wakes your mind, but the chemicals in your body that stop you sleep walking while in that deep REM sleep are still in effect and haven't had time to gradually decrease. Usually in the morning when it gets light outside gradually the chemicals have time to subside so that by the time it's light enough to wake you up your body is ready for it.

Was that too convaluded? Hope this helps hun. I know how frightening it can be.

Another thing: I'd suggest asking your doctor to refer you to a sleep clinic which studies sleep disorders. :) They may well be able to give you some ideas to cope with it and to explain it much better than I can:)
 
Last edited:

raw

Senior Member & Antiquities Friend
#3
I dont have sleep paralysis, but have a good friend who had it. She was quite frightened by it. Strangely all it took was touching her to stop the paralysis. She had a horrible car accident prior to the sleep paralysis starting. Her doctor said it was an after effect of the accident and might go away over time. Much to her delight, the sleep paralysis has all but disappeared.

It seems rare that anyone speaks of sleep paralysis. It is an interesting thread.

Rick
 
#4
I don't have this but I know of someone who does. they were telling me their experiences and they described it as something else, not sleep paralysis (although I'm not saying sleep paralysis doesn't happen; 'cause it does) it has another name, something I can't think of right now... They described the experience as you wake up paralysed, unable to move, you feel a weight on your chest and a dark presence in the room, you can't shout out, but you can hear, feel and smell. During this short time they are terrified and are panicking because they cannot do anything. Statistics say this experience happens to approximately 15% of people at least once in their lifetime.
 

LetItGo

Staff Alumni
#5
I have this experience kind of.

What happens to me is, I get into a dream like state and suddenly I feel like I cant breath, and I cant move, I still have my senses, but I have to physically struggle to get out of it..to snap myself out of it. It can be pretty scary if you struggle and struggle and its taking a while. I think it might have to do with pressure on my brain or something lol, and a lack of oxygen. Because when I get it...im lying on my back and I think theres pressure on the back of my head, and im also cutting off my windpipe..

I use to get it a lot more often than I do now...at least a few times a week.
These days I always try and sleep side on, and with my head raised to avoid this problem.

It only really happens as im going to sleep, when ive been in sleep for a few hours, I can lie on my back not a problem.

Its strange, and hard to explain, but it is very scary.
 

GhostOfYou

Well-Known Member
#6
I don't have it, but my mom's boyfriend does.
It's a real problem for him, or, it has been in the past.
He had problems with it all his life.
2 years ago, when he meet my mom and started living in the suburbs, he started not to be so streesed and for some reason his disorder started to get better...
kind of weird how it worked out.
 

eih

Well-Known Member
#7
:ohmy: I had that happen to me last year!! It was sooo frightening!!.. not being able to move in itself is so terrifying and it usualy makes you dilussional so that wasnt very fun... it was really very odd.. I'm lucky enough to just experice it once though

.. it was so odd.. I thought I heard a ghost or something:tongue: it was soo scary.. when I finally was able to move I ran outside in my sleeping clothes to my brother who was outside.. weird stuff right there:ohmy:
 
A

Always Alone

#8
Just out of interest, can you move your eyes? and how do keep breathing? dose breathing just carry on but you can't control it?
 

netean

Active Member
#9
sleep paralysis is really quite common and can be really upsetting and frightening if you dont' realise what it is.

basically it's your body doing what it's supposed to do.

everyone has sleep paralysis, especially during their dream phase of sleep, we need to be paralysed so that we don't get up and act our dreams -like sleepwalkers do - they don't have this natural sleep paralysis when they sleep walk.
some medications help this problem and some other medications make this worse (ie. it can be a side effect).
it's often worse for people during times of stress or duress - basically because you're body realises that you need to rest and it's trying to help you :)

When people wake up paralysed it's actually because they're still partly asleep.
If this happens to you you can do either of these..

1 -
remind yourself.. this is just sleep paralsis, I'm not really totally awake yet.
relax... it will wear off in a minute or two

just close your eyes, and count slowly backwards from 100. Each 10 numbers... i.e. 90, 80, 70 etc... tell yourself that you're body is coming more and more away with each number.

when you get to 20 imagine waking up with the sun shining through your window and you're going to have a big stretch and a yawn.

at 10, open your eyes and when you reach 1, take a big yawn and stretch.

2 -
stay calm, and remind yourself that this is a natural process, you'r body is helping you and doing what it thinks it best.
remember, that you're perfectly safe, you can still breathe.
Close your eyes and tell yourself that you're still partly asleep, tell yourself that it's ok to go back to sleep and sleep soundly (you're body is already sleeping soundly LOL)
use the voice in your head and make it sound sleep and tired, imagine yourself yawning, hear the voice in your head yawning and sounding more sleepy and tired.
remind yourself (using your tired sleep voice) that it's good to have really nice enjoyable dreams - seriously, tell yourself what kind of dreams you want - not what kind of dreams you don't want!
relax and let yourself dream and drift off to sleep.

these work for me :)
 
#10
i've had so many paralysis dreams that i'm practically an expert on it by now... in fact it's gotten to the point where, even if it's scary, i realize it's only a dream. but oh man, the first few times is so scary... where you can't move, and there's something coming to get you... *cries*
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Please Donate to Help Keep SF Running

Total amount
$70.00
Goal
$255.00
Top