Sleep Paralysis Issues

Brave Vesperia

Brave Vesperia

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A little background: Several times a week, for several years I have undergone an issue known as sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis occurs when you suddenly wake up during a deep sleep and are unable to move or speak. Only think, hear and see. It can happen for any number of reasons; such as someone coming into your room, you being startled, a bad dream, etc.

As if it weren't bad enough, waking up from it feels strange in a bad way like waking up while being awake. (that's the best way I can describe it) You know how when you wake up you kinda just open your eyes and try to get out of bed? Well imagine a really fast paced version of that where your body suddenly springs up from being immobilized. It's a little bit like getting shocked.

This morning one of the times I woke up I kinda was just there in sleep paralysis for 17 minutes. I know it was 17 minutes because I watched the clock on my "press okay to watch TV" screen go from 4:00 AM to 4:17 AM. I sleep with my TV on because my other problem is if there's no light and sound in my room when I sleep I get panicky. I've had that issue since I was really young. In my experience the best thing to do is scream inside your head until you actually wake up which can be anywhere from 5 minutes to as long as nearly two hours (in extreme cases) for me. Also, it helps if someone is there to wake you up. As far as I know the only way to be woken up externally from sleep paralysis is to be shaken vigorously.

Such a horrible feeling... I wish it wouldn't keep happening. Does anyone else have issues like this or is it just me? I read that normally people only get this 2-5 times in their entire life!
 
I do not envy anyone that suffers from sleep paralysis or night terrors and I'm thankful I don't. You should be glad you don't hallucinate during these to any extremes. (Hallucinations can often depend on culture. A lot of alien abductions are attributed to this reason in the west, while old witch sightings are more common in eastern parts of the world. Small 'demons' of biblical description were also reported hundreds of years ago also thought to be side effects of sleep paralysis.)

I find it a pretty interesting subject. From talking with friends, and listening to people online, that have this problem the main cause seems to be lying on your back. As you said it's a sudden awakening from a deep sleep when every other part of the body is still in a form of paralysis because of the chemicals released. Lying on the back, while being concious, encourages that kind of behaviour from the body. Having someone help you out or through it is a good idea but the only problem with that is communicating with them in the first place.
 
Wow 17 minutes is pretty long! I can usually only stay conscious for about a minute. Usually, I'll either panic and wake up or just fall back asleep. And usually when I panic, it's because I start to hallucinate and hear things. Do you have hallucinations? You didn't mention having any. Is that just me? I've heard some weird things, including my mom's voice (we weren't living together during this particular instance), a radio playing really old music (the kind that's creepy), and footsteps coming up the flight of stairs right outside my room. One experience I had was really weird. There was something floating above me. I half saw it, half felt it. Not sure how to describe it, but it was black and it felt like it was pulling me towards it. Another time, I felt as if something had climbed into bed with me, which really freaked me out, but when I woke up, I actually found it funny. And then there was another time where I saw something right in front of my face, and it scared me because I didn't know what it was, but it looked really weird, and it felt like it pushing down on me. As I started to wake up, I realized it was just my own hand. I also get that buzzing sensation from time to time, and one time, it was so strong that it actually hurt, kind of like a headache. Call me crazy, but all in all I kind of enjoy the experience. It's like a dream, but way more interesting, though it sucks when you encounter something scary because you can't even run from it.
 
Mora said:
Wow 17 minutes is pretty long! I can usually only stay conscious for about a minute. Usually, I'll either panic and wake up or just fall back asleep. And usually when I panic, it's because I start to hallucinate and hear things. Do you have hallucinations? You didn't mention having any. Is that just me? I've heard some weird things, including my mom's voice (we weren't living together during this particular instance), a radio playing really old music (the kind that's creepy), and footsteps coming up the flight of stairs right outside my room. One experience I had was really weird. There was something floating above me. I half saw it, half felt it. Not sure how to describe it, but it was black and it felt like it was pulling me towards it. Another time, I felt as if something had climbed into bed with me, which really freaked me out, but when I woke up, I actually found it funny. And then there was another time where I saw something right in front of my face, and it scared me because I didn't know what it was, but it looked really weird, and it felt like it pushing down on me. As I started to wake up, I realized it was just my own hand. I also get that buzzing sensation from time to time, and one time, it was so strong that it actually hurt, kind of like a headache. Call me crazy, but all in all I kind of enjoy the experience. It's like a dream, but way more interesting, though it sucks when you encounter something scary because you can't even run from it.
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I don't think I have any hallucinations, or I don't remember any. Sometimes I wake up because it feels like something jumped onto my bed but that's usually separate from the sleep paralysis.
 
Brave Vesperia said:
I don't think I have any hallucinations, or I don't remember any. Sometimes I wake up because it feels like something jumped onto my bed but that's usually separate from the sleep paralysis.
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You'd know if you had hallucinations. Sometimes I'll be dreaming (or half asleep or in sleep paralysis), and in the dream I'll fall or twist my ankle or something like that, and it'll make me flinch irl and wake me up.
 
I remember once when I was younger I had sleep paralysis. It was horrible because my Dad was panicking about me not being able to move telling my Mum that I had a brain tumour and I was gonna die (which was lovely) but my Mum's a nurse and said that it was probably sleep paralysis. It didn't last very long but it's one of those instances from a childhood you feel like you'll remember for a long time to come.

That said I'm sorry that you suffer from it often. Sleep paralysis is a horrible thing, especially if it can be triggered by someone else entering your room. The helplessness you could feel while someone else is rummaging around in your room could be extremely traumatic, especially if you can't turn your head to see who it is. Any trigger of it will be really uncomfortable and horrible to go through though.
 
Yikes, sleep paralysis. I used to get this a lot a couple of years ago, paired with some really vivid hallucinations. For me when I fell asleep they would almost always be triggered by this incredibly intense rumbling static/buzzing sound in my dream, that started very quietly but then grew into this huge cacophony that seemed to shake the entire dream and rip it apart, after which i would abruptly wake up and very often immediately see someone or something in my room, paired with the most intense feeling of dread. One particularly vivid one was one of the first, a shadow man stood over my bedside with a briefcase, just watching me in complete silence as I couldnt move. When I wanted to get up, he pushed me down with his case. I remember feeling actually pressed down by him. Another one I awoke during a thunderstorm and saw a figure in a helmet with two large curved horns standing in my open doorway, just watching in the corner of my eye. There were some other very strange characters too, some less human and others that were less scary also.
My advice would be dont sleep on your back! It makes it wayy more likely to happen.
 
Celever said:
I remember once when I was younger I had sleep paralysis. It was horrible because my Dad was panicking about me not being able to move telling my Mum that I had a brain tumour and I was gonna die (which was lovely) but my Mum's a nurse and said that it was probably sleep paralysis. It didn't last very long but it's one of those instances from a childhood you feel like you'll remember for a long time to come.
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I've heard that sleep walking is a lot more common in children because their nervous systems are still developing. It could be the same thing with sleep paralysis. They're basically the same thing, but reversed.
 
When I go through it, it normally happens when I sleep on my back. In some cases when I sleep on my side I can 'feel' it coming on and I wake up. The thing with this is I can control it. Normally sounds get muffled and very loud and echos and I can focus on it. It just feels very odd so I dont try to prolong it but lately i've tried to say in for as long as I could.

Sorry to hear this is happening to you but if you sleep on your back, try sleeping on your stomach and see if that works.
 
I'm no expert but I've heard that wiggling your tongue, if you can, brings back the sensation in your body :)
 
While I can't offer any concrete solutions to eliminate your sleep paralysis issue, as I'm not really expert on the subject, have you ever considered attempting to use it as a gateway to lucid dreaming? Inducing sleep paralysis to enter a lucid dream is a common technique used by lucid dreamers, since you're already physically asleep but still mentally conscious. If you were to have some success with that, it could potentially be a nice trade-off for your problem, even if it doesn't solve it.
 
The weird thing is I don't sleep on my back all that much, I actually find that to be the least comfy of sleeping positions :p

@TwistedTurtwig I've tried lucid dreaming via multiple methods and failed at it. :/ Ty though!
 
FWIW, I lucid dream. I almost never dream though, so it only happens once or twice a year.

However, I wouldn't wish a lucid nightmare on my worst enemies. It sucks. Imagine being stuck in a horror film and futilely trying to escape. Luckily my wife is a light sleeper and can wake me from it most of the time.
 
I have Sleep Paralysis combined with Hypnogogic Hallucinations. My therapist told me it's likely related to stress and lack of sleep. My hallucinations are spiders, i've on multiple occasions had my spouse get out of the bed in a panic because i've seen spiders that didn't exist. You're probably thinking i've actually seen a spider, but to that I say they're the size of golf balls to baseballs and they're spiny. I've also seen floating orbs and the oddest one of all I saw a stick man running in place on my wall for about 5 minutes.
 
Hi
I have had quite a few cases of sleep paralysis and I feel you.
I was still dreaming and was in a thing were I was gonna be executed(I don't know why)
I had some medicine (I think Tylenol don't take my word for it) given by somebody.
I felt better s I hope you are able to solve this
 
The only time I had an experience with sleep paralysis was when I was rather young. I think I must have been about 5 and I still remember the dream I had. Rather,just random moments from it. It was in black and white and there was someone who was chasing me. It was kind of Hitchcock-esque. Anyways,there was this huge looming shadow on the brick wall behind me,the shadow was holding a knife and I felt the knife blade stab into me in the dream. I woke up and my breathing was all weird and I tried to move but I couldn't,which ended up scaring me even MORE. I was so scared I started crying but I didn't make any sound. I again,couldn't. Which ended up confusing the hell out of young me.

Anyways,I've never experienced it since but I remember years down the road how absolutely terrified I was. Have you tried talking to your dr? Years is kind of a long time to let something like that go without treatment. I've read that in severe cases they'll prescribe antidepressants for their "secondary effects". I do hope you find something that works for you. Keep us posted :)
 
I've had one experience with sleep paralysis, and it was the most terrifying thing I've ever been through. It was last year, and I was sleeping with my head turned towards a wall. I just remember the feeling of someone standing behind me with a huge knife, ready to cut me open, and now matter how much I tried I could not kick my legs and swing my arms towards the "man." I was so relieved when it went away, and I could kick and swing my arms and there was no man in the room. Fun fact: Of the 4 people in my house, I'm the only one who has been through an experience with sleep paralysis, and my parents are both 44!

I hope you can find a solution that can stop the sleep paralysis from happening so often :)
 
Fusion said:
I have Sleep Paralysis combined with Hypnogogic Hallucinations. My therapist told me it's likely related to stress and lack of sleep. My hallucinations are spiders, i've on multiple occasions had my spouse get out of the bed in a panic because i've seen spiders that didn't exist. You're probably thinking i've actually seen a spider, but to that I say they're the size of golf balls to baseballs and they're spiny. I've also seen floating orbs and the oddest one of all I saw a stick man running in place on my wall for about 5 minutes.
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I can sometimes hallucinate too when I'm really really tired (I've had sleep paralysis once before as well, but I'm assuming that was an off case as it's not happened since and it was only for no more than half a minute), and they can really end up being some of the scariest of things or really weird things. Sadly as it's only when I'm ultra tired I only have one example, but one night I was insanely tired and woke up in the night to see an incredibly large spider directly above me on the ceiling; less golf balls and base balls in size and more the sorta length you'd get if you stretched your arms out wide. Of course that's incredibly unrealistic but when you're that tired and this stuff happens over the space of a few seconds you wouldn't be surprised at how fast I jumped up and flew out of the room.
 
steffenka said:
I've had one experience with sleep paralysis, and it was the most terrifying thing I've ever been through. It was last year, and I was sleeping with my head turned towards a wall. I just remember the feeling of someone standing behind me with a huge knife, ready to cut me open, and now matter how much I tried I could not kick my legs and swing my arms towards the "man." I was so relieved when it went away, and I could kick and swing my arms and there was no man in the room. Fun fact: Of the 4 people in my house, I'm the only one who has been through an experience with sleep paralysis, and my parents are both 44!

I hope you can find a solution that can stop the sleep paralysis from happening so often :)
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I know the feels. I get that feeling a good bit.

I've actually had a sharp increase in experiences recently. Last week, I was trying to get ahead on sleep because I knew in advance that I'd have to stay up all night the next day. I went into sleep paralysis three separate times that night, waking up after each one. The first one, it felt like I was in a glass case facing a wall. I couldn't move, and I wasn't 100% conscious of my surroundings. Then the case I was in started to rotate, and I saw two figures standing in front of me. After that, I was out of the case and realized I was in my room. I tried to get away and ran to one side of the room, but my feet lost traction with the ground, and I felt like I was being pulled back into my bed. The next experience, I was lying in bed, and all I could do was wiggle my foot just a little bit. People were partying next door, and some of that permeated into my dreams. I kept hearing a voice coming from next door moaning "no" and other sounds. The whole thing was creepy. Finally, I wiggled it enough that it rolled off of my leg and onto the bed, and that was enough to startle me awake. And then the last one was really interesting. I tried to get up, and I actually succeeded in standing completely, but I found that I was still in that state somehow. I remember thinking that it might be dangerous if I were to go back to sleep now because I then I'd fall over, so I tried shifting my weight to one foot and then the other back and forth, but that didn't work. I stumbled over to the closet, dragging the covers behind me, and opened the door. It opened up into some kind of expanse; it's difficult to remember or describe what exactly was on the other side, but there definitely wasn't a floor beyond the door. I was debating on whether or not I should walk through it, when I'm instantly back on my bed lying in the opposite direction. There wasn't any motion at all, so the transition was really disorienting. For a few seconds after I woke up, I literally didn't know where I was and which way was up or down. It was the weirdest sensation.
 
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