Sleep paralysis - Have you experienced it?

[anthoskate]

Last night I woke up paralized with the audio from my dream still playing (it was two people having a conversation) but I wasn't scared because I have already experienced it twice and I knew that it would finish after 5 minutes. The first time it happend to me I freaked out because I felt a painfull vibration in my spine and there was the voice of a demon telling me horrible things in my left ear and I couldn't even shout for help because I was paralysed.

The second time that I had it I didn't get any hallucinations but it was still very scary.

I have only had audio hallucinations when I have sleep paralysis but they are so real that it took me a while to believe that they were hallucinations.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Vanilla]

I myself haven't, though I did just meet someone recently who does experience it. They said they had never experienced it, until they had had a recent injury. Now it happens fairly frequently. I've heard it can be quite scary to experience.

 

[anthoskate]

I myself haven't, though I did just meet someone recently who does experience it. They said they had never experienced it, until they had had a recent injury. Now it happens fairly frequently. I've heard it can be quite scary to experience.

The first time that it happened to me I almost needed to go the the bathroom but last night I thought that it was slightly funny because my brain was sending signals for my arm to move and I could see that my arm was only moving a couple of millimeters each time.

Did they tell you anything about hallucinations?

 

[GoofKing]

This happens to me a lot but mostly when I've had an up-all-nigher and is backwards on my sleeping schedule :/

It's funny how I can almost control the fear I have during sleep paralysis and can almost think logically. I'm learning to control my breathing and what I think during this and usually sort of wait for it to pass.

There was one site that had a great pointer on moving your eyes I think during sleep paralysis, which is suppose to break you out of it ...

 

[GoofKing]

As for the hallucinations, I would hear a bear moving around me which causes me to really panic and try to move my body awake because of fear of being eaten alive.

Another time I was in car and though that I was the driver :/

 

[anthoskate]

This happens to me a lot but mostly when I've had an up-all-nigher and is backwards on my sleeping schedule :/

It's funny how I can almost control the fear I have during sleep paralysis and can almost think logically. I'm learning to control my breathing and what I think during this and usually sort of wait for it to pass.

There was one site that had a great pointer on moving your eyes I think during sleep paralysis, which is suppose to break you out of it ...

All of the times that I have had it I was exausted so I think that you're right about that.

I have only had this happen about 3 times in the last 2 years so I don't know when I'll have it again, but the next time it happens I'll try the eye thing that you mentioned.

 

[Judge]

Posted from another thread...

Another interesting thing about dreams to me involve hypnopompic hallucinations. That transitional state you may be in between REM sleep and approaching consciousness. Where the outside world can influence the inside of your mind. Just waking up in the morning can be pretty weird.

One of mine involved dreaming of being chased by vicious dogs. The thing was though, my cousin's two adorable doggies were barking right outside the bedroom door. Pretty scary and vivid dream until I completely woke up. Then I thought it was rather funny.

 

[Vanilla]

The first time that it happened to me I almost needed to go the the bathroom but last night I thought that it was slightly funny because my brain was sending signals for my arm to move and I could see that my arm was only moving a couple of millimeters each time.

Did they tell you anything about hallucinations?

They mentioned they once felt they were being approached by figures, but said that most of the time they rarely saw anything.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Not me. I seem to move just as well asleep as I do awake! Much to the painful experience of those who have had the misfortune of sharing a bed with me.

I did once get caught between the waking and dream world and had some little varmint crawl up my bed and sniff my ear. I felt every step on the covers, the pressure on my pillow, and each breath and sound in my ear. I sprang right up and turned on the lights. I wanted to make sure it wasn't real.

 

[Christopher Nicholson]

I have sleep paralysis big time. In fact if I have a stressful day and I am really tired there is a 75% that it will have it.

 

[Christopher Nicholson]

What really helped it was being diagnosed with sleep apnea and getting a cpap machine.

 

[Berianireth]

That's really horrible! I actually have the opposite problem. I'm nearly awake all of the time and moving. 0.0 I turn around (from one end of the bed to the other), walk back and forth around the room, etc while I'm "sleeping" and I'm often able to remember it. Funny right?

 

[Christopher Nicholson]

To explain my experience with this, it was very scary. First I would hear this loud sound in my head, also known as exploding head syndrome, and I couldn't move at all.

I was in a complete feeling of dread and like I was going to die. Sometimes there would be a dark figure that enter my room and grab me, other times something would grab my feet and start pulling me off my bed and on to the floor.

The only way I could stop this was to move my eyes. The more stress and tire I am the more likly this will happen.

I have found out that it's not a big deal, your body sleep cycle is out of sync. It won't harm you, the fear you feel is normal because you are reacting to the inability to move. Kind of like flight or fight mode.

Since I have been using the c-pap machine for sleep apnea I rarely have an episode.

 

[Shalott]

I've read that anyone can experience sleep paralysis at least once in a lifetime.
It happened to me once: I dreamt I was sleeping in the same exact place as I really was (same side of the bed, same posture) and a dark shadow entered the room and exerted pressure on me as if he wanted me to "sink" in my bed. Pretty weird considering I'm what they call "a lucid dreamer" haha.

But people that suffer sleep paralysis regularly must have a terrible time. My partner does and the first time I saw him completely stiff and breathing heavily, it scared the **** out of me.

 

[Shalott]

By the way, those of you who suffer it: have you been told it is somehow related to AS? Or is it just a coincidence?

 

[royinpink]

I used to have it more often. I only had a really scary episode with hallucinations once. You know, the kind with dark shadowy figures that lie right next to you in bed that happen cross-culturally in sleep paralysis episodes (there was actually a lot more detail since it was the continuation of a nightmare with demons all around--so I was surprised to learn it was technically a hallucination). I banished all pillows from my bed after that (and spent awhile in the bathroom too afraid to go back to bed...). But I think if I keep a regular sleep schedule, it doesn't happen.