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sleep paralysis

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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭TheStook


    Hmm, its kinda nice to know that other people get this too. Ive been getting it a lot recently, maybe once a fortnight but only once have I actually been scared or seen things. Generally Im awake and I just cant move, nothing happens and sometimes I can hear my mother moving around in the next room etc. Theres a few things im unsure of though, am I actually awake? Cause when I get it I cant shout or scream but I can make like weird groan noises, loud enough for my mother to hear but she has never aid she hears me. And does anybody else just snap out of it? Like to end it I have to like jolt forward and then im fine, I can move propely etc.? And also on the topic of Lucid dreaming and all that, has anyone ever been in a situation where they can literally fall asleep if they want to? What i mean by this is that sometimes in the middle of the night after a dream, if I close my eyes again I can feel myself slipping into a dream, I start vibrating and falling. And then I can control my dream cause I know im dreaming, I guess cause I went from being awake to asleep so quick my brain didnt have time to dose off completely. Any help is much appreciated


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,129 ✭✭✭Wild Bill



    I also experience 'exploding head syndrome' quite regularly....I actually try to let it go on as long a possible to see how far I can push it.

    What is that?!

    Stook; Regarding the question of waking from SP - it's a long time ago but I managed to end it by blinking rapidly - I think. Might be worth a try.


  • Registered Users Posts: 969 ✭✭✭murrayp4




  • Registered Users Posts: 7,024 ✭✭✭HalloweenJack


    I had my first experience a few weeks ago, it was horrible.

    I was sleeping in a hostel and fell asleep pretty quickly. I had a pretty vivid dream where me and my friends were walking around my hometown and we ended up in a fight with another gang of lads. It was so real, I could feel every punch. In the dream, someone knocked me down and I hit my head against the concrete and went into some sort of fit.

    At this point, I woke up and really I was having some sort of fit but I couldn't say anything or actually move. I think the fit was just in my mind. Whatever it was, it got the attention of the other people in my room and two of them rushed over and grabbed hold of me, shaking me to snap me out of it but it didn't work. All the people in their beds had got up and were standing around looking at me, asking was I ok but I couldn't reply. I was really panicked and these people were shaking me for about thirty seconds or so.

    Then, I remembered that I was the only person staying in my room, all the other beds were empty. I blinked and I was in the room alone, just lying in my bed. It was an absolutely horrible feeling.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 930 ✭✭✭poeticseraphim


    Regular sleep patterns help.


    Your body secretes hormones to send you to sleep.

    If you lie down for a long time not moving you might get and itch or something it is yur brain testing to see if it is safe to end your body into a sleep.

    If you confuse your circadian rythm the system gets confused and your brain may send your body into a deep sleep without part of your brain falling asleep.

    If you open your eyes your senses are asleep and you will interpret your surroundings strangely and feel often terror.

    You can learn to control what you see by keeping calm and you psitive feelings can helpgenerate positve imagery.

    People often get a sense of an ominous presence and forboding.So if you try to turn it into a lucid dream you can control it.

    It isa miscue ...we all have chemical sleeping and waking cues..you may be able to trigger the correct cue with a few steps.

    If you can move your eyes do so quickly from side to side or blink quickly repeatedly movement sends a strong cue to your brain that it is not safe for your body to be sleeping and it will wake your body.

    If you can move anything do so it will have the same affect.

    Sleeping on yoour side or stomah reduces the incidences. But regular sleeping patterns and a healthy lifestyleare important.

    It happens to me a lot but i can wake up anytime i want now or just lucid dream.

    You are susceptable by lifestyle factors and genetics and there is a theory that iit happens to everyone only they dismiss it or don't remember it.

    A healthy slepp pattern exercise and good diet helps some people or lying on heir side or stomach.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 20 Greencrack


    I have been dealing with sleep paralysis for years now. I wouldn't mind it so much but during it I get, what can only be described as a cluster headache. So to get out of it (wake up) I have to slow down my breathing and calm myself, then abruptly try jolt myself awake. Normally this fails a couple of times but eventually it works and I awake. I'm a little out of breath but the headache is gone nor does it even feel like I had a headache. On a bad night, every time I fall asleep it happens so I can't get to sleep and almost fear it sleeping. It tends to happen in cycles maybe for a few nights every few months. I have grown to see it as a side effect of being a regular lucid dreamer. Anyway any information on the connection between the S.P. and the headache would be much appreciated. I have trolled the net looking for decent information on this connection but have found nothing I deem relevant.


  • Registered Users Posts: 969 ✭✭✭murrayp4


    Greencrack wrote: »
    I have been dealing with sleep paralysis for years now. I wouldn't mind it so much but during it I get, what can only be described as a cluster headache. So to get out of it (wake up) I have to slow down my breathing and calm myself, then abruptly try jolt myself awake. Normally this fails a couple of times but eventually it works and I awake. I'm a little out of breath but the headache is gone nor does it even feel like I had a headache. .

    Would you say the feeling in your head is painful, or is it a pressure sensation or a loud buzzing/electrical sound?


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,820 ✭✭✭FanadMan


    I used to regularly have bouts of sleep paralysis - was so horrible and scary. Used to hear extremely loud buzzing, so loud that it would wake me. I would try to cover my ears or switch on my bedside light but nothing would move.

    It used to happen often but was during a period that I was suffering bad from depression and anxiety that it was the worst. Told my therapist and she explained that it was common with those suffering from depression and taking meds.

    Thankfully it hasn't happened in quite a while - prob due to the fact that the depression is under control. And after saying that, it'll probably happen again tonight :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 2 NeverOnMonday


    Although this is an old thread, the question asked by the original poster is one that many others are still asking about the perplexing, disturbing and very frightening ordeal called, "sleep paralysis." I am offering my opinions and the method that I have used and found to be effective in breaking through an episode of sleep paralysis.

    Some people believe that a cause and effect relationship exists between lifestyle and/or mental health and sleep paralysis; e.g.:
    Poeticseraphim's post suggests a connection between irregular sleeping habits and poor diet and sleep paralysis.
    FanAdman posts that he seems most vulnerable to sleep paralysis during times when he is depressed.
    Another mentions a correlation between headaches and sleep paralysis, and someone else refers to drug use as being a possible factor in sleep paralysis.

    I think that a person's fragile physical or mental health may leave him vulnerable to certain negative spiritual forces. These "spiritual bullies" take advantage, so to speak, of a person's weakened physical and/or emotional state. The term, "sleep paralysis," may be a way that these forces demonstrate their very temporary "power" over a person.

    Banishing these exploitative forces, likewise, requires the use of a spiritual tool. If you find yourself immobilized/paralyzed during sleep do not panic. This, too, shall pass. It may pass even more quickly if you do the following:

    Try to move your lips just enough to say "In Jesus' name, go away." You can choose another way to say this, but do make sure you evoke the name of Jesus. Use every bit of strength you can muster to push those words out. Even if you cannot audibly say them (which may prove difficult, if not impossible), you will be able to effectively transmit the command through your thoughts alone. It might be necessary for you to say (or think) the words more than once. It will almost certainly cause the oppressive force to flee.


  • Registered Users Posts: 969 ✭✭✭murrayp4


    Although this is an old thread, the question asked by the original poster is one that many others are still asking about the perplexing, disturbing and very frightening ordeal called, "sleep paralysis." I am offering my opinions and the method that I have used and found to be effective in breaking through an episode of sleep paralysis.

    Some people believe that a cause and effect relationship exists between lifestyle and/or mental health and sleep paralysis; e.g.:
    Poeticseraphim's post suggests a connection between irregular sleeping habits and poor diet and sleep paralysis.
    FanAdman posts that he seems most vulnerable to sleep paralysis during times when he is depressed.
    Another mentions a correlation between headaches and sleep paralysis, and someone else refers to drug use as being a possible factor in sleep paralysis.

    I think that a person's fragile physical or mental health may leave him vulnerable to certain negative spiritual forces. These "spiritual bullies" take advantage, so to speak, of a person's weakened physical and/or emotional state. The term, "sleep paralysis," may be a way that these forces demonstrate their very temporary "power" over a person.

    Banishing these exploitative forces, likewise, requires the use of a spiritual tool. If you find yourself immobilized/paralyzed during sleep do not panic. This, too, shall pass. It may pass even more quickly if you do the following:

    Try to move your lips just enough to say "In Jesus' name, go away." You can choose another way to say this, but do make sure you evoke the name of Jesus. Use every bit of strength you can muster to push those words out. Even if you cannot audibly say them (which may prove difficult, if not impossible), you will be able to effectively transmit the command through your thoughts alone. It might be necessary for you to say (or think) the words more than once. It will almost certainly cause the oppressive force to flee.

    Riiiiiiiight...


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Try to move your lips just enough to say "In Jesus' name, go away." You can choose another way to say this, but do make sure you evoke the name of Jesus.

    So people of other faiths are kinda screwed then yeah? :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭Ziycon


    I had to post this after reading NeverOnMonday's post, sleep paralysis occurs when a person passes between a wakeful and sleep period, within this period you may not be able to speak or move for a period which can last for a few seconds up to a few minutes, this sleeping disorder has been know to accompany other sleeping disorders like narcolepsy. Some people also feel pressure or a sense of choking among other things.

    It's nothing spiritual or paranormal but medical, it can be brought on by stress or anxiety or numerous other medically related issues. If you experience and are having issues sleeping or even more so if your having severe headaches go to your GP and get checked out. As i said earlier there are numerous other underlying conditions that can cause sleep paralysis and the associated sleeping disorders.


  • Registered Users Posts: 20 Greencrack


    murrayp4 wrote: »
    Would you say the feeling in your head is painful, or is it a pressure sensation or a loud buzzing/electrical sound?

    I would compare it to a drill going through my brain. When trying to figure it out what it was, I did come across other people with the loud noise causing headache during sleep paralysis.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2 NeverOnMonday


    EnterNow wrote: »
    So people of other faiths are kinda screwed then yeah? :rolleyes:


    Hmmm, ya think? :confused:
    I knew I should have posted a disclaimer with that post.
    Listen, the advice I put out there isn't meant to be a universal remedy, by any stretch of the imagination. It was simply offered as a method some might wish to try since it proved effective for me.

    Desperate situations often require desperate measures -- you never know what you might try the next time you find yourself pinned to your bed, terrified and unable to move under an invisible, yet extraordinary, crushing weight.

    Also, I respectfully question the "medical" explanation given for this syndrome (sleep paralysis). Although I agree with the possible root causes of it - rundown general health, poor diet, irregular sleep patterns, medication use, etc. -- I still maintain that these factors are only catalysts.

    Despite my perspective lacking a scientific basis I refuse to believe that others -- usually more intuitive types -- don't recognize some validity in the supernatural theory. (It is a theory, after all.)


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,570 ✭✭✭Elmidena


    Jesus from an approach that it's a muscular contorting word to say, or from a religious aspect?


  • Registered Users Posts: 969 ✭✭✭murrayp4


    Hmmm, ya think? :confused:
    I knew I should have posted a disclaimer with that post.
    Listen, the advice I put out there isn't meant to be a universal remedy, by any stretch of the imagination. It was simply offered as a method some might wish to try since it proved effective for me.

    Desperate situations often require desperate measures -- you never know what you might try the next time you find yourself pinned to your bed, terrified and unable to move under an invisible, yet extraordinary, crushing weight.

    Also, I respectfully question the "medical" explanation given for this syndrome (sleep paralysis). Although I agree with the possible root causes of it - rundown general health, poor diet, irregular sleep patterns, medication use, etc. -- I still maintain that these factors are only catalysts.

    Despite my perspective lacking a scientific basis I refuse to believe that others -- usually more intuitive types -- don't recognize some validity in the supernatural theory. (It is a theory, after all.)

    I've experienced SP for over 15 years. When I started to experience it I began to read as much as I could of the available scientific literature on the subject. Nowhere did it say the state was caused by evil spirits, but it did note that some cultures believed that it was indeed caused by evil spirits. In Fiji for example it is known as being 'eaten by a demon', in Nigeria its known as having the 'devil on your back.'

    No doubt the reasons these were used as explanations were that it is an unnerving experience for some and often terrifying for others. Another reason for evil spirits being used as an explanation is that the science had not been done on the subject at the time or the results were not widely available to many communities.

    One of the reasons I'm not disturbed by the experience is that I've read about it and am fully aware of what is happening and why. I know there are no evil spirits, aliens etc. coming to get me and I just get back to sleep.

    Your solution of repeating the word 'Jesus' works for you as it seems to be triggering a response in your brain which snaps you out of the SP state. I close my eyes and wait for it to pass which triggers the same response in my brain. If both of these methods work then it is unlikely there is any sort of 'intervention' divine or otherwise going on (there certainly isn't for me), merely the person calming him/herself to end the SP episode.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Listen, the advice I put out there isn't meant to be a universal remedy, by any stretch of the imagination. It was simply offered as a method some might wish to try since it proved effective for me.

    Thats fair enough, nobody would question of slate that on its own. But this bit here:
    You can choose another way to say this, but do make sure you evoke the name of Jesus.

    makes it sound like there's a specific religious agenda behind your post. People would question/slate that kind of thing I find, something I'm often guilty of when anothers beliefs are pushed onto me/cross the mutual respect line.
    Desperate situations often require desperate measures -- you never know what you might try the next time you find yourself pinned to your bed, terrified and unable to move under an invisible, yet extraordinary, crushing weight.

    Quite true, often an irrational fear will lead to other irrationalities. I'm sure sleep paralysis is terrifying & is a living nightmare...I'd call to any God that'd listen to me if I suffered from it. Thor, Raa, Zeus...help me! :p
    Also, I respectfully question the "medical" explanation given for this syndrome (sleep paralysis). Although I agree with the possible root causes of it - rundown general health, poor diet, irregular sleep patterns, medication use, etc. -- I still maintain that these factors are only catalysts.
    Of course those things are catalysts, it's the brain itself which causes the actual actual paralysis. The paralysis is something we all go through, we're just not meant to become conscious during it. Thats what the condition is.
    Despite my perspective lacking a scientific basis I refuse to believe that others -- usually more intuitive types -- don't recognize some validity in the supernatural theory. (It is a theory, after all.)

    On the other hand, I feel sleep paralysis has been explained quite well enough by modern medicine, certainly well enough to rule out ghosts & goblins.


  • Registered Users Posts: 24 jackie1983


    hi all, i was away from the site for a while there but i woudl like to thank all of you for your replies. i have worked out a way to combat the sleep paralysis(well for me anyway) it seems to happen when i sleep on my back so im trying not to do that. i can nearly feel myself drifting off into the sleep paraysis when i sleep on my back so i quickly move to another position and this seems to have stopped it.. im a little relieved that it is so common. maybe now if i have it again ill be able to tell myself its not real and enjoy it as some of you have ..

    cheers all..

    :)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 94 ✭✭tricialou


    jackie1983 wrote: »
    hi all just wondering about sleep paralysis i have been getting this on and off for the past while.. absolutley terrifying! i was aleep on one occasion and woke up unable to move i heard the front door handle going as if someone was trying to get in then i heard footsteps on the stairs and then my door was being opened and a man came into my room and walked over my bed and just stood there looking at me.. i couldnt make out the face because my head was turned straight and i couldnt move i tried to scream and nothing came out my body was totaly lifeless and all i coudl move were my eyes !! i had another night when an animal was trying to come up my bed i could actually feel the bed being weighed down by this animal scratching up fromt he bottom of my bed also i have had the "man in my room" episode a few times. just wondering has anyone had similiar experiences. i know its common but its just so terrifying.

    thanks
    I suffer from this regularly! I also used to feel a "presence" and have seen a man standing over me! When I was a teenager I went into local library and read up on it. Apparatly it is tiredness/ fatigue. It occurs at the beginning of the nights sleep when you are in rem sleep (or maybe nrem). Anyhoo apparantly everyone is paralysed when they are asleep during certain stages and some people like you and me wake up during that stage. Basically the mind wakes up but the body cant. You may notice that it always occurs after an eventful weekend i did anyway.!


  • Registered Users Posts: 152 ✭✭Yedya


    tricialou wrote: »
    I suffer from this regularly! I also used to feel a "presence" and have seen a man standing over me! When I was a teenager I went into local library and read up on it. Apparatly it is tiredness/ fatigue. It occurs at the beginning of the nights sleep when you are in rem sleep (or maybe nrem). Anyhoo apparantly everyone is paralysed when they are asleep during certain stages and some people like you and me wake up during that stage. Basically the mind wakes up but the body cant. You may notice that it always occurs after an eventful weekend i did anyway.!

    Excatly,i was on 5/6 day bidge,i hadn't slept in properly in days,when i got home and finally got some sleep.I awoke at 4am with sleep paralysis for about 8-9 seconds.Same thing happend with the presence in the room.2 People standing by my bed,it was the most terrifying thing ever.
    I read alot about it,alot of people see someone or muli individuals.I red that the brain perceives a presence in the room when we are in such great fear.Crazy thing the brain.....


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,117 ✭✭✭shanered


    I just think that the whole people standing at the side of the bed thing is far from explained by the science, why does everybody have such similar images to each other?


  • Registered Users Posts: 34,283 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    shanered wrote: »
    I just think that the whole people standing at the side of the bed thing is far from explained by the science, why does everybody have such similar images to each other?

    Have you ever taken drugs? Or even had a drink? See what happens to you brain when it goes a bit screwy from outside chemicals?

    Now imagine what happens to your brain during REM etc. It's nothing religious or otherworldly, your brain and your mind can do strange things. That's about the height of it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,117 ✭✭✭shanered


    Still I think that "the brian can do think crazy things" is a little too simple of an explaination of why people see the same similar figures standing over their beds, usually with drugs/drink people see quite different things from one another, its just the similarity of what people see during sleep paralysis that I think science can't really explain!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    shanered wrote: »
    Still I think that "the brian can do think crazy things" is a little too simple of an explaination of why people see the same similar figures standing over their beds, usually with drugs/drink people see quite different things from one another, its just the similarity of what people see during sleep paralysis that I think science can't really explain!

    Its a primal/sub-conscious fear in the human psyche. Its all fairly conclusively explained http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis


  • Posts: 0 ✭✭✭ Blaire Lively Suburbanite


    shanered wrote: »
    Still I think that "the brian can do think crazy things" is a little too simple of an explaination of why people see the same similar figures standing over their beds, usually with drugs/drink people see quite different things from one another, its just the similarity of what people see during sleep paralysis that I think science can't really explain!

    But who describes seeing the same similar figure?
    Can you describe this figure for me?


  • Registered Users Posts: 34,283 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Do you know what the most identifiable shapes are to humans? Other humans. From faces to the form itself.

    It's why people see figures and ghosts in shadows, faces on Mars, Jesus on their burnt bread.

    We look at these things and if we see something which resembles a face or human form then our brain sees it that way. As Enternow said, it's a primal thing.

    It literally is 'just our brain doing crazy things'.

    Unless you're saying that every person who has sleep paralysis sees something as specific as a man called Brian with black moustache and a long mac playing a banjo.

    But it's not, it's just dark 'shapes' and vague forms. The mind playing tricks.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,117 ✭✭✭shanered


    Ah yeah, I've heard that the face recognition is a primal thing similar to sheep even having a similar trait. It is a lil freaky that many people I've heard from have seen black and I do admit "vague" figures standing over the side of their bed.
    I'm not actually arguing thats its anything other then the brain, but the similarity of the black figures standing over the bed is quite scarey.
    I've had it and it really got me up, I remember being particularly irk'd about it and it always just niggles me that many other people see very similar black figures over the side of the bed. Vague as they are.
    Nothing more really.....


  • Registered Users Posts: 30,123 ✭✭✭✭Star Lord


    shanered wrote: »
    Ah yeah, I've heard that the face recognition is a primal thing similar to sheep even having a similar trait. It is a lil freaky that many people I've heard from have seen black and I do admit "vague" figures standing over the side of their bed.
    I'm not actually arguing thats its anything other then the brain, but the similarity of the black figures standing over the bed is quite scarey.
    I've had it and it really got me up, I remember being particularly irk'd about it and it always just niggles me that many other people see very similar black figures over the side of the bed. Vague as they are.
    Nothing more really.....

    It's the same reason that people are afraid of the dark, the same reason that "Death" and the "Nazgûl" from Lord of the Rings and the "Dementors" from Harry Potter and many many other fictional characters are still scary, even though they're just vaguely humanoid, black/dark shrouded figures. It's what we think we see, but can't quite make out that scares people the most.


  • Registered Users Posts: 34,283 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    I had a terrifying sleep paralysis one time where I thought there was a black figure over me, pinning me down. So I do know the feeling!

    I probably just made out a shadow somewhere and that combined with me being unable to move due to the sleep paralysis had my brain trying to make sense of it and that's what it came up with.

    It is a really awful thing though.

    My girlfriend gets night terrors. Really bad ones. She'll just sit up in the bed at night, eyes wide open and start mumbling jibberish. Sometime she'll run across the room to swipe at things. Throws pillows at stuff. A few times I've even been flung in a bid to save me from falling spikes/knives/spiders/bats etc.

    If it were medieval times, I'd probably think she was possessed and have her burned alive!


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  • Posts: 0 ✭✭✭ Blaire Lively Suburbanite


    I saw a figure beside the bed while completely paralysed and it was a vague black shape, alright, but I thought it was my ex, who had gone into the kitchen. The figure is the same because to be fair there aren't very many forms a human shape can be..... and others have explained why we are inclined to find human forms in the shadows.


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