Sleep Paralysis

[Béla Kiss]

Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon in which a person either during falling asleep (Hypnagogia) or awakening (Hypnopompia), temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak, or react.

This happens to me a few times a year and it's pretty scary. I've always experienced it and for me it only ever happens in the transition of waking up, never when I'm going into r.e.m. It's always the same thing; I wake up but I can't move. I get panicked but at the same time I'm still extremely tired, and for some reason I feel that if I allow myself to fall back asleep a demon will kill me. Every time this happens I fight to wake up and sometimes wake up screaming. (Once my upstairs neighbour came down to see if I was okay, that was one of the worst episodes). Anyways, it happened again last night but I couldn't stay awake this time. I woke up again within a few seconds -at least that's my guess- this time when I woke up there was something walking on my bed. I thought for a second it was one of my cats but consciously I remembered I hadn't let them in my room (so was I asleep or not, I have no fucking clue.) I started trying to punch whatever was circling around me but I still couldn't move. This is the first time I've ever had a hallucination while having sleep paralysis.

I'm wondering if anyone else ever gets this considering how many members here have claimed to have sleep disorders. I'm curious to hear different experiences some may have had.

Or maybe I'm going mad.

 

[D.N.R.]

It is usually due to medication.

 

[Béla Kiss]

It is usually due to medication.

That's not surprising. I did read that it can be treated with anti-depressants too, tho. Seems one drug fixes one problem while causing another.
If I believed in god I would be horrified a few times a year.

 

[Yumisan]

It used to happen to me and I was not medicated or it's because of lack of medication? Anyway, I don't know why this ocurred but the same way it started, it stopped, there's a long time since I don't have one of this episodes, I think more or less since I moved away from my family home.

 

[Béla Kiss]

It used to happen to me and I was not medicated or it's because of lack of medication? Anyway, I don't know why this ocurred but the same way it started, it stopped, there's a long time since I don't have one of this episodes, I think more or less since I moved away from my family home.

Was it just paralysis or did you feel like there was a sinister presence there too?

 

[Nex]

I'm not on any medications and It happens to me every once in a while, for no apparent reason. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night unable to move and feel an initial wave of panic than I realize what's happening and breathe, relax and end up falling right back asleep. If it is dreams that trigger this, I'm unaware because I don't remember them.

It tends to happen more in the mornings when I wake up for the first 30-40 seconds lying there.

 

[Béla Kiss]

I'm not on any medications and It happens to me every once in a while, for no apparent reason. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night unable to move and feel an initial wave of panic than I realize what's happening and breathe, relax and end up falling right back asleep. If it is dreams that trigger this, I'm unaware because I don't remember them.

It tends to happen more in the mornings when I wake up for the first 30-40 seconds lying there.

You seem to have a good grasp on it. I go right into panic mode and scream like a murder victim lol.

 

[Yumisan]

Was it just paralysis or did you feel like there was a sinister presence there too?

Most of the time was a sinister presence, sometimes I felt was lying next to me, but I couldn't turn to check if it was really there, I was freacking scared, sometimes it was a man's shadow standing in a corner, I even felt they touched me but I couldn't move or scream. It happened very often so I started looking for information about it and I learnt what it was. I don't know how but I reached the point that I could recognize when this was happening again so I just layed and waited to be over.

 

[Mental Puppy]

I get it too, there's a documentary on YouTube called "the old lady and the hatman shadow figure" that's the entities people have experienced through sleep paralysis, but it's caused by your brain which paralysis your body during sleep not to move around or fall off the bed. It's actually natural, you only wake up before your limbs which causes panic obviously. I used to get it a lot when I kicked my habit. It doesn't happen that often anymore but when it does I try to talk but only garble. I have halucinated before but only saw the shadow figure every time.

 

[LilyCuster]

aRyan has talked about this before. His were pretty bad too. Can't remember the thread though.

 

[TehBitch]

Reminder:

This is not flh..keep your bullshit there.

 

[McM]

It is usually due to medication.

I have something similar, because the opiates. I don't know if I'm awake or dreaming. But no paralysis.
But very scary and weird hallucinacions (tactile, audible and optical) can happen.

 

[aRyan]

aRyan has talked about this before. His were pretty bad too. Can't remember the thread though.

Luckily it doesn't happen as often anymore.. it seemed to happen more when I would stay up for a very long time and then just finally crash.. also, opiates didn't help things out. I have a pretty normal schedule now and off of everything, and I still get it sometimes, but not as often, and def not multiple times a night. But yeah, when it was bad, it was really bad.. I wouldn't wish that shit on anyone.

 

[Mental Puppy]

I have something similar, because the opiates. I don't know if I'm awake or dreaming. But no paralysis.
But very scary and weird hallucinacions (tactile, audible and optical) can happen.

I had the same shit, for some reason then my grandmother and would come into my room, when I eventually got up there was no one, but they talked to me and all that shit. It was creepy.

 

[Vita Von Dahmer]

I get it too, there's a documentary on YouTube called "the old lady and the hatman shadow figure" that's the entities people have experienced through sleep paralysis, but it's caused by your brain which paralysis your body during sleep not to move around or fall off the bed. It's actually natural, you only wake up before your limbs which causes panic obviously. I used to get it a lot when I kicked my habit. It doesn't happen that often anymore but when it does I try to talk but only garble. I have halucinated before but only saw the shadow figure every time.

Out of the 20 or so times it's happened the "shadow thing" was standing in the my periphery twice. I assume my brain just thought It'd be a nice addition to my horror.
I can't say what or why I just usually TRY to scream at till someone boyfriend or Mom's voice sort of breaks the spell of it. Meds or not it's happened. There was a documentary on it on Netflix last night. No idea, no warning, it happens.

 

[D.N.R.]

I wasn't saying that it is always caused by meds.

 

[snatch]

the time between waking/sleeping and sleeping/waking is a time when the brain is highly open to suggestion. indulging a fleeting fear can manifest itself into a chronic full body, repetitive idea that results by building onto the ongoing fantasy/manifestation of symptoms. each person,s unique. some with similar thoughts/feelings/threads of fear.
you have an amazing amount of control over your mind. there,s a lot of stuff written on the subject. behavioral retraining. facing fears is easier than living with them/

bill is in da mail

 

[zinfandel]

It has happened to me twice. The first time was when I was waking up after a weird dream and it scared the living crap out of me. I was lying on my belly and had my face halfway into the mattress and was certain I was going to suffocate. Before I knew it, though, I fell back to sleep. The second time, I was able to calm myself enough to fall back to sleep. Neither time did I have a hallucination.

I wonder if something like this causes babies to die of SIDS?

 

[Vita Von Dahmer]

I wasn't saying that it is always caused by meds.

yeh, I know , you don't seem to be of that sort anyway but I never tell anyone because I feel like If I do anyone that knows me will dismiss it as such. As a known borderline atheist people will use that against me too.

 

[PowerDrill]

I was lying on my belly and had my face halfway into the mattress and was certain I was going to suffocate. Before I knew it, though, I fell back to sleep.

I've had similar events like this too. I had one very recent where I woke up not being able to breath, I was too scared to go back to sleep, what's even worse is that I sleep on my belly, every night.