I'm afraid to sleep after experiencing sleep paralysis.

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dossa
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14 Feb 2010, 7:00 pm

I have sleep paralysis episodes. They are something, no? Mine are stress triggered. The last one I had was a few weeks ago... I forgot all about it until my husband asked me what was going on with me the night before. For me, I get stuck in my body awhile, try to move, scream, something, and after awhile I manage to fight gravity and pull up an arm to swat my s.o. so he can help me get some kind of grip on reality or I manage to make a sound and that helps pull me back. This last time I managed to throw my arm into him and that woke him up enough to hear me say something like, "put your arm on me". I know it seems silly, but when I get like that, I want him toughing me... it is like he is going to keep me from getting sucked up and lost in my head. I used to think when I was a kid, that when that happened, something was coming to get me and spit me out on the other side. I have had other ones where I get to 'head trippin'. Those are wild. I am terrified of them, but fascinated by them at the same time. Sleep... weird stuff sometimes...


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Spazzergasm
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14 Feb 2010, 7:25 pm

dossa wrote:
I have sleep paralysis episodes. They are something, no? Mine are stress triggered. The last one I had was a few weeks ago... I forgot all about it until my husband asked me what was going on with me the night before. For me, I get stuck in my body awhile, try to move, scream, something, and after awhile I manage to fight gravity and pull up an arm to swat my s.o. so he can help me get some kind of grip on reality or I manage to make a sound and that helps pull me back. This last time I managed to throw my arm into him and that woke him up enough to hear me say something like, "put your arm on me". I know it seems silly, but when I get like that, I want him toughing me... it is like he is going to keep me from getting sucked up and lost in my head. I used to think when I was a kid, that when that happened, something was coming to get me and spit me out on the other side. I have had other ones where I get to 'head trippin'. Those are wild. I am terrified of them, but fascinated by them at the same time. Sleep... weird stuff sometimes...


Crazy! I wish I had a bedmate.



whatamarshmallow
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16 Feb 2010, 2:34 am

Spazzergasm wrote:
I had a really terrible, irregular episode last night. It was hypnagogic, which means I experienced it before I fell asleep. And I felt the "attack" from numerous positions. At first, I was in the fetal position, and then something heavy started ramming against my side. Like a heavy person. I heard my bed creaking and everything. It kept ramming into me, sort of like CPR, with the two hands. So I turned over, and lay on my back. I've had hypnagogic hallucinations before..This one was so intense. It kept pressing on me, and the paralysis kicked in. I was really panicking by now, so I started praying in Jesus's name that he'd send it away...It worked! I don't know if it was a psychological thing, or something spiritual...But it scared the crap out of me!
Anyone else ever experienced this? I wish I had someone to share my bed with XD


I wonder if this is similar to what i've experienced? Is sleep paralysis where you try to move, but feel weighted...to the point that you need to use another limb to move yourself? For example, if it's not TOO bad it'll be where my one arm feels pinned to the bed, and only if I use my other arm can I get out of it... it also feels like i'm somewhere stuck between awake and asleep, and it either happens shortly after i fall asleep or when i should be waking up?


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Arcanyn
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16 Feb 2010, 3:14 am

I've had a few sleep paralysis episodes, all of which being a side effect of lucid dreaming.

The first one I had, I "woke up" in my bed, completely unable to move, and I could sense an evil presence in the ceiling, watching me. While I was unable to move, thanks to my lucid dreaming I was able to attack it with lightning bolts, Emperor Palpatine style. However, when I did that, it simply started laughing at me, and I got this very strong feeling that this was no mere figment of my imagination, but some malevolent entity intruding in my dream, and if I didn't wake up right now it would find me. So, I managed to force myself to wake up. Then when I woke up I realised that it really was all in my head, and I was rather annoyed, because while the experience was rather scary it still was in its way rather exciting.

Another more vivid one I had after a series of lucid dreaming which was particularly fun, where I was completely aware of the fact that I was dreaming and went around being all god-like. Then I 'woke up' to find myself paralysed, to see a tall, dark skinned man standing at the end of my bed, who I instinctively knew to be a god. Unable to do anything, I asked him who he was. He simply laughed and flew through the air towards me, at which point the bed started shaking like that scene in The Exorcist. I was unable to get him off me, so in panic I told him that I was sorry for going around being god-like in my dream, in which point he relented and flew back to the foot of the bed, before disappearing. As he disappeared, his face turned into a grinning skull, as he revealed himself as Thanatos, the Greek god of death. Around that moment I woke up, although I'm pretty sure I could still see his skull burned into my vision for several seconds afterwards.

I did have one incident of distinctly non-scary sleep paralysis, in which I was completely paralysed and helpless while . . . a whole bunch of cyclists from the Tour de France bike race rode past my bedroom window (didn't they know that Adelaide is on the opposite side of the world?). That was somewhat amusing.



roadracer
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16 Feb 2010, 5:10 am

sleep paralysis is always fun, but something that bothers me is I get "myoclonic twitches", around 4-5 times a night. This is when your body jumps, you will be sleeping and your body jumps awake. Sometimes I bite my tounge, and sometimes I dream I am falling off a cliff then jump awake.
My understanding that it is pretty common like sleep paralysis, and no reason to worry, but can happen more often in people with neuro issues.
I also sleep walk, and it bothers me also, because I usually end up tripping and falling :roll: Its always nice to wake up from hitting your head off something, wondering wth just happend



EnglishInvader
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16 Feb 2010, 5:37 am

I've had issues with sleep paralysis since I was about 13. It always scares me when it happens, but my neurologist said it was harmless.



EnglishInvader
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16 Feb 2010, 5:38 am

I've had issues with sleep paralysis since I was about 13. It always scares me when it happens, but my neurologist said it was harmless.



whatamarshmallow
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16 Feb 2010, 6:26 am

EnglishInvader wrote:
I've had issues with sleep paralysis since I was about 13. It always scares me when it happens, but my neurologist said it was harmless.

That is really great to know. When I started experiencing this (I guess you could say again, even though when I was younger and it happened I didn't know what it was), I really was frightened and when I tried to explain what happened to a few people they had no clue what I meant/what it was. For a short while I even worried I was having seizures of some sort, and that this is how they felt.


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Spazzergasm
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16 Feb 2010, 3:02 pm

Arcanyn wrote:
I've had a few sleep paralysis episodes, all of which being a side effect of lucid dreaming.

The first one I had, I "woke up" in my bed, completely unable to move, and I could sense an evil presence in the ceiling, watching me. While I was unable to move, thanks to my lucid dreaming I was able to attack it with lightning bolts, Emperor Palpatine style. However, when I did that, it simply started laughing at me, and I got this very strong feeling that this was no mere figment of my imagination, but some malevolent entity intruding in my dream, and if I didn't wake up right now it would find me. So, I managed to force myself to wake up. Then when I woke up I realised that it really was all in my head, and I was rather annoyed, because while the experience was rather scary it still was in its way rather exciting.

Another more vivid one I had after a series of lucid dreaming which was particularly fun, where I was completely aware of the fact that I was dreaming and went around being all god-like. Then I 'woke up' to find myself paralysed, to see a tall, dark skinned man standing at the end of my bed, who I instinctively knew to be a god. Unable to do anything, I asked him who he was. He simply laughed and flew through the air towards me, at which point the bed started shaking like that scene in The Exorcist. I was unable to get him off me, so in panic I told him that I was sorry for going around being god-like in my dream, in which point he relented and flew back to the foot of the bed, before disappearing. As he disappeared, his face turned into a grinning skull, as he revealed himself as Thanatos, the Greek god of death. Around that moment I woke up, although I'm pretty sure I could still see his skull burned into my vision for several seconds afterwards.

I did have one incident of distinctly non-scary sleep paralysis, in which I was completely paralysed and helpless while . . . a whole bunch of cyclists from the Tour de France bike race rode past my bedroom window (didn't they know that Adelaide is on the opposite side of the world?). That was somewhat amusing.


s**t, man! That sounds awesome. But really freaking scary... 8O



LoveMoney
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16 Feb 2010, 4:09 pm

I have it sometimes 'sleep paralysis'.

Don't listen to irrational ideas, its scientific explained.

When you try to sleep, some people with SP fall into the REM sleep far too fast.
The REM sleep blocks your ability to move. Or else you would do everything you dreamed in your room. REM=Dream Sleep.
Because you are afraid of the paralysis and the whole feeling, you get sometimes negative hallucinations: visual, tactile and sometimes audio..
I'm not afraid of the SP anymore, so I never have disturbing hallucations anymore.
The around the 30-50 episodes I had in total in my life. (I'm only 16 now) I only had the first 20 or something like that who had aliens (actually an ufo outside of my window), something that attacked me (more tactile), a shady person in my room (just looking at me).
Now I usually hear music when I have it.

How to cure it?

You get it when you don't sleep at regular times.
So when you sleep to early or too late.
Or when you're too tired, you can have it too.
I actually always get it when I don't take my Ritalin. (Its maybe weird, Ritalin is a stimulant, but I actually sleep better with it and without SP)
I remember in the times before Ritalin I would also get SP when I'm sick (headache or fever) or stressed.


Some people from this forum would be good comic book makers or headbangers in very white rooms.


Btw sorry for my English, I'm 16, my mother tongue is French, and Dutch at school.



Spazzergasm
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16 Feb 2010, 5:09 pm

LoveMoney wrote:
Some people from this forum would be good comic book makers or headbangers in very white rooms.


Sorry, what's that mean? :)



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16 Feb 2010, 5:52 pm

Man, being afraid to go to bed would be a nightmare for me sleeping is one of my most favorite things to do. I have awesome dreams



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16 Feb 2010, 6:15 pm

Ebonwinter wrote:
Man, being afraid to go to bed would be a nightmare for me sleeping is one of my most favorite things to do. I have awesome dreams


When I was in 9th grade, I had so many nightmares and night terrors followed by hypnagogic hallucinations I became afraid to go to sleep. So I would lie there until 3 am when I would fall asleep from exhaustion. They put me on Thorazine, I'm not sure of the dosage but I know now those kinds of meds are used in lower dosages for anxiety. Somewhere along the line I decided to deal with it myself and took myself off without telling my parents. Then my shrink put me on Valium to taper me down (I wasn't on anything at that point) and I took a those for about 3 days and then quit. I just got so sick of it I decided whatever is going to get me is going to get me and it's out of my control. Of course nothing ever got me. It may seem silly to some but the best way I can describe it is waking up suddenly and feeling the air around you is thick with evil intent. You feel your death is imminent and you don't know where it's going to come from. I think of that scene in Silence of the Lambs when agent Starling is in the basement in pitch black darkness and the killer has on night vision goggles. Kinda like that.


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16 Feb 2010, 6:27 pm

I only have sleep paralysis when I wake up after sleeping following a ridiculous amount of time awake.

Once, I dreamt I was drowning, and I woke up face down in my pillow in a drool puddle. I couldn't move or breathe because I was smothering in my pillow, which was the most frightening experience I ever had. I managed to move, most likely because adrenaline kicked in.



whatamarshmallow
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16 Feb 2010, 11:04 pm

LoveMoney wrote:
I have it sometimes 'sleep paralysis'.

Don't listen to irrational ideas, its scientific explained.

When you try to sleep, some people with SP fall into the REM sleep far too fast.
The REM sleep blocks your ability to move. Or else you would do everything you dreamed in your room. REM=Dream Sleep.
Because you are afraid of the paralysis and the whole feeling, you get sometimes negative hallucinations: visual, tactile and sometimes audio..
I'm not afraid of the SP anymore, so I never have disturbing hallucations anymore.
The around the 30-50 episodes I had in total in my life. (I'm only 16 now) I only had the first 20 or something like that who had aliens (actually an ufo outside of my window), something that attacked me (more tactile), a shady person in my room (just looking at me).
Now I usually hear music when I have it.

How to cure it?

You get it when you don't sleep at regular times.
So when you sleep to early or too late.
Or when you're too tired, you can have it too.
I actually always get it when I don't take my Ritalin. (Its maybe weird, Ritalin is a stimulant, but I actually sleep better with it and without SP)
I remember in the times before Ritalin I would also get SP when I'm sick (headache or fever) or stressed.


Some people from this forum would be good comic book makers or headbangers in very white rooms.


Btw sorry for my English, I'm 16, my mother tongue is French, and Dutch at school.


That's pretty interesting. I'm always lacking sleep so this is so fitting. And I've observed that it's either more likely to happen when, or just coincidentally happens when I need one of my asthma inhalers shortly before I sleep. I don't know if there's a correlation there.


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LilZebra
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11 Sep 2015, 2:53 am

I'll make this real simple.

If you sleep on your back (supine), then you're almost 100% chance of getting sleep paralysis.

So to "cure" this, please sleep on your side or your tummy.

--END--


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