Sleep Paralysis

Last week I was nodding off to sleep.Just fell asleep when my phone buzzed.I went to reach for it but I could not move my body.I tried to move my legs,not working,I tried to scream for help but all that came out my mouth was a high pitched whistle noise.The only thing I could use was my eyes.This went on for about an hour till I eventually snaoped out of it.

My opinion of the incident was that the phone buzzed between when my body shut off and my mind.I know that the brain imposes a paralysis like state on your body to stop you acting out your dreams.It was weird to feel what it was like to be a vegetable(even if it was only for an hour)I could empathise how long and boring that hour was.It must be hell for people in a vegetable state.

Anybody here ever experience anything like it?

Call Me Jimmy

woah, yea one of my friends has mentioned something like that happening to him but only for a few seconds. Are you sure it was a whole hour?!

Yeah it was just over an hour.Thought I was fcuked towards the end of it.Thought it was going to last forever.

Saruman

Used to happen all the time... though dazzler.. im not saying its impossible for it to be an hour.. but its certainly VERY possible that it appeared to be. You were NOT awake when this happened.. you were still technically asleep and dreaming.. your eyes open sure.. you are self aware.. yes.. but still in a state of sleep and as such can imagine everything from demon possession to alien abduction.. anything you can think of.. usually involving you being helpless..

Usually it only lasts a few mins until you recover.

Chinafoot

Yep I get this a fair bit and it's always accompanied with a feeling of someone else in the room, a man, usually standing in the corner. Its like a blurred outline of a person and it's a horrible feeling.

One of the worst episodes I had was about 2 years ago when the man wasn't in the corner. Instead I had a dead weight lying flat out on top of me. My chest felt like it was about to collapse. I was freaking out and trying to make myself scream but there was no movement and no sound coming out. Then all of a sudden the weight shifted off me and moved to the edge of the bed (you know the way the mattress goes down when someone sits there)....then the weight lifted off the mattress as if the person got up and I was able to move again.

I get this quite often, usually when I'm stressed or over tired. I usually just have to try and remember that I am awake and I just need to give my body time to wake up too.

This is going to sound really silly but since then I can't sleep properly in my own room. I need to have the tv on so there is some sort of light. If the lights are all off I just get a knot in my stomach and horrible feeling that something bad is going to happen. Weird or what!

I checked my phone just before I fell asleep.It was around 1:50,when I snapped out of it it was just after three.

The alien abduction thing occured to me as well when I was wondering at the beginning what was wrong.

Son Goku

Happens to me every week. I simply can't move. However I'm not dreaming, it's my standard fully conscious self. My eyes are closed and if I try very hard I can make a murmering sound.

I usually get out of it by slowly concentrating and moving a finger, then I can start moving my arm, then I manage to "jump" and snap out of it.

It feels really ominous when the "jump" fails though, because I reset to not being able to move anything.

Saruman

every time this comes up... and it does every few months be it here or paranormal forum or after hours...

anyway every time it comes up i post that its normal, used to happen to me all the time... i was a light sleeper and then i sorted out that problem.

I took 5htp for about 6 months.. it regulates your sleep.. in fact autistic kids show major improvements when on this stuff too!! you can get it at any health shop.. its all natural so should not be side effects.. although some people will react badly as with any natural substance... most people are fine.

What i found was i needed less sleep when on them. I could get 6 hours sleep and be very refreshed... eventually i noticed i started sleeping like a log..
before i could remember every dream as i was always slightly aware... now i rarely remember dreaming and i can sleep through almost anything.

Saruman

Saruman wrote:

every time this comes up... and it does every few months be it here or paranormal forum or after hours...

.

You referring to tha alien abduction thought?

Sorry.I did not know it had been posted before.

Saruman

well yes... and no.. it all comes down to sleep paralisys in the end... pity the search function is pretty much gone these days...

No need to say sorry.. this is a new forum and its a good topic!!

Rhyme

Happens only occasionally, really only when im especially exhausted. The last few times its happened its just been from the waist down... very disconcerting and pretty scary until i get my head around whats happened.

Peyton Manning

Sleep paralysis is linked to rapid eye movement. It happened me, and I was so freaked out by it I mentioned it to my therapist. She said that its basically (in simple terms) your mind waking up before your body at the exact time that you are just about to dream. You can therefor understand why it happens so rarely. You can see your dreams right in front of you. What happened me was I woke up (was lying on my side) and could move or speak at all. The room at the opposite end began to fade from darkness to a light, sunny outdoor scene where I could see my girlfriend and I sitting on a park bench (i assume it was me, because he was wearing my trademark kilkenny jacket). Thats what I was dreaming and its what I saw therefor when I woke up.

Its f'ing freaky stuff...

Saruman

I would say this perfectly natural body function.. albeit.. rare could be linked to dreamwalking and other stuff like that.. you know out of body experiences.

ST*

Source:answers.com wrote:

Sleep paralysis
An abnormal episode of sleep in which the patient cannot move for a few minutes, usually occurring while falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis is often found in patients with narcolepsy.

A condition in which, upon waking, a person is aware of the surroundings but is unable to move.

Some report that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:
Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
Increased stress
Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode

I've never experienced sleep paralysis, but my sister has. I believe her when she says it is one of the most frightening experiences shes ever had. Similar to waking up with a panic attack. The feeling of helplessness is quite alarming to say the least.

Only for what I have read about SP being 'in limbo' between sleep and awake, I would been inclined to believe that it was another symptom of anxiety.

From some case studies I've read, they both seem to have a lot in common - for example the feeling as though something or someone is sitting on your chest.

I remember from psychology class, the tutor held up a copy of a drawing (going to google for info on it), in which there is a person in bed asleep, and there are demons sitting on his/her chest.

Seemingly, old beliefs would imply that evil forces are behind it

radiospan

This happened to me for the first time on Friday evening.

I fell asleep unusually on my bed (kinda drifted off in the middle of watching a film on my laptop, an unplanned nap I suppose).

After about an hour of being lightly asleep, there must have been a noise in the house or something because I was convinced someone was coming into my room. I wasn't asleep anymore, but when I tried to open my eyes or move, I couldn't. At this stage I thought that the person had come into the room and was getting ready to wake me up by scaring me.

I then realised that I was able to control my breathing and I started breathing very heavily (I think I was doing this in an attempt to wake up, but also out of panic). After about half a minute of this, I was able to make a murmering sound, and after about another half a minute I was suddenly able to open my eyes and move again. It was only then that I could look up and realise no-one was in the room, and my door was closed.

It was very unsettling when it was happening, although I think it was because of the unusual way I fell asleep.

Black Swan

Deleted User wrote:

Last week I was nodding off to sleep.Just fell asleep when my phone buzzed.I went to reach for it but I could not move my body.I tried to move my legs,not working,I tried to scream for help but all that came out my mouth was a high pitched whistle noise...It must be hell for people in a vegetable state...Anybody here ever experience anything like it?

Yes, but with different details. Then I awoke.

nxbyveromdwjpg

I used to get this when I was younger and used to take E frequently, I put it down to low serotonin in the days following a weekend of MDMA... horrible, one of the main reasons I quit all that lark.

iFight

I may have experienced something similar a while back, I woke up during the night, tried to reach for the alarm clock and couldn't move my arm, after a few minutes of struggling I got the clock, and then went back to sleep.
Could have been it, luckily no alien abductions.

Terry

Saruman wrote:

I took 5htp for about 6 months.. it regulates your sleep.. in fact autistic kids show major improvements when on this stuff too!!

would you care to expand on the autism part of that.
i would be interested to hear about the effects it has on autistic children.
it's off topic, so could you pm me, please?

ST*

nm wrote:

I used to get this when I was younger and used to take E frequently, I put it down to low serotonin in the days following a weekend of MDMA... horrible, one of the main reasons I quit all that lark.

Low serotonin is the mild way of putting it tbh. It damages the cells that release the neurotransmitter (serotonin). PET scans show that the damage can still be seen up to 7yrs on the brain from what I remember.

'E' would mimic the effect that paralysis or panic attack would have on you, with regard to increased heart rate.



Just something else to throw in there:

wrote:

Panic attacks, PTSD, and other mental disorders may indirectly promote sleep paralysis by disrupting the sleep cycle and yanking people out of REM sleep during the night, he adds. Other factors that disturb sleep, such as jet lag and shift work, have also been linked to sleep paralysis

Oh, and while I'm at it, I found the pic I was talking about earlier. It is kinda dark, but you get the idea.

The Nightmare, 1781, Henry Fuseli.

nobodythere

Happens to a friend of mine, scares the hell outta her. It happened to her once as she was falling asleep, had just finished a text which said 1:20. It felt like it lasted about an hour to her but when she snapped out of it it was 1:28

Zillah

Zillah's quick guide to sleep paralysis:

- When dreaming your body paralyses the skeletal muscles so you won't writhe around and hurt yourself by acting out the dreams.
- When sleeping you dream. A dream essentially amounts to your brain generating internal perceptions, it simulates visual, auditory, scent and tactile input.
- Sleep paralysis occurs when something interupts the correct functions and your brain gets trapped half way between awake and sleeping/dreaming.
- The net result is paralysis and hallucinations, as your brain keeps making dreams and doesn't deactivate the paralysis despite the fact that you're mostly awake.
- Cultural context is important when considering the natures of the hallucinations. You are likely to see anything you might see in a dream, in the context of the paralysis. So Christians from the 1500's saw horrible demons sitting on their chests, more modern people might see aliens or ghosts.

I had sleep paralysis once, luckily I knew what was going on. I was quite calm, I couldn't move, I could see my bedroom, but I could hear my dream in the background. Jerked out of it in a minute or so.

littlebug

This used to happen to me a fair bit back 10 years ago when I had an office job by day and was working in a bar at night. Every night I would get to sleep at 3 or 4 am and get 3 or 4 hours sleep before getting up for work again. I went through a phase where every morning the sleep paralysis thing happened. Some mornings not only would I not be able to move but I wouldn't know who or even what I was! My mind would be completely blank. Thankfully it only ever lasted a few minutes and it stopped once I gave up the bar job. I put it down to sheer physical exhaustion. My mind knew I had to wake up but my body just wasn't able to.

P

Unearthly

haha this happened to me once a few years ago. I couldn't move my legs, but there were aliens around

Think it lasted about a minute

LeNNoX

Seems more common than I thought, good to hear other stories about this.

It’s happened to me loads of times over the years and it has always been scary with the feeling that somebody /ghost /thing is in my bedroom pulling at my legs or poking me. I can usually see my girlfriend next to me in bed sleeping and always try to shout out for her to wake me up. But it always comes out as a murmur, I try to grab /push her but can’t move my arms… I either wake myself up somehow or my girlfriend finally hears me & wakes me up.
It’s really scary when it’s happening, freaks me out big time.
Happens to me when I’m really stressed about something, so I try to not let that happen….

Lennox

I want it to happen again.I find the experience quite interesting.

Tazzle

I've gotten it alot, though on one particular occasion it felt as the OP said like it was lasting hours. I'd gotten it before so I knew what was wrong when I woke, then I started trying to crawl out of bed, but I only managed to limply fall onto the floor. I was trapped or felt that way anyway, in bed clothes and couldn't move. I started hearing thumping on the stairs outside my door and flashing lights. I was then back on my bed, again paralysed. By the time I managed 'free myself' I was again back paralysed. Anyway this kept repeating itself infinitum with various different scenarios. Until after what appeared hours I snapped out of it slowly for real. I was so confused I didn't believe I was awake for a good while.

This might explain why the poster believed it lasted so long? *shrug* It was a pretty horrible experience. It felt like some kind of science fiction time warp. In reality I don't think it lasted more than a few minutes.

aphex™

I had it happen to me during the day- on the couch!

I think I had been studying late for a few nights for exams and when I got home in the afternoon I fell asleep on the couch. Some noise in the road outside woke me up. I was still asleep basically but my eyes were open and I couldn't move at all. I could see the room fine as it was a very sunny day.

I wasn't scared and thought to myself - aah this is what sleep paralysis is like.. cool

Took a good few mins to get moving again- it was like I had to wake up a 2nd time.

If it happened at night- it would most likely freak you out.

magpie

This happens to me the whole time and its very disconcerting. I don't get a lot of sleep through work and other commitments so it may be caused by that, but I frequently 'wake up' only to find I can't move or make any sounds, eventually I can make a sort of gurgle and then gradually my functions come back to me. The other night I woke up with the pillow over my face in this state, which was not fun. Any suggestions on how to stop it from happening?

Zillah

Get a full night's sleep, every night. Only real solution. SP is associated with bad sleeping habits.

Sleep on your side. SP is also associated with lying on your back. 90% of cases occur when the persons is sleeping like that.

GrumPy

Iv'e gotten this a good few times, scary stuff

molypiper

it has happened to me for a few times..horrible! i would want to wake up but my eyes will just flutter then close back. couldn't even move my body but senses are awake! mental praying in that state helps me. i wouldn't wake up but it will resort to a better dream..:)

djeddy

they are far from nice to feel traped like that, it has happened me a few times, but thankfully after been barley able to whisper the word jesus i was released from whatever it was that had me in that state, other times i called on loved ones gone before, and i was released,

if these things are natural? has it got something to do with which way you sleep or try to sleep?

Zillah

djeddy wrote:

if these things are natural? has it got something to do with which way you sleep or try to sleep?

Did you read the rest of the thread? I'd direct you to my post near the top of this page.

Blisterman

I experinced this on two occasions, which were horrible.
The worst part is that I couldn't even control my breathing. I felt like I was suffocating.

Hal1

Its seems a scary experience for alot of people. Just lying there helpless and franticly trying to move your muscles in a darkened room. Trying to shoutout but nobody can hear your cries.

Yes, I have experienced this and I can recall this experience from when I was a child too. It seems to me that this condition is linked to sleep deprivation.

mp3guy

I had heard what it was before I got it. Had it loads of times now, normally when I'm sleeping in on my back. Just annoys me more than anything else. Sometimes when paralysed I dream I try to so hard to move that I fall off my bad, only to wake up still on my bed.

Muzzy_G

hi everyone, finally I found people with the same problem, I though it was just me. but anyway it happened to me yesterday, I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't move, every time I tried to move my chest was being crushed then I tried to speak but I was mumbling. Then I heard loud screaming and some static in my left ear. I was so scared that I started praying in my head but the crushing got harder to a point I was struggling to breath. So then I just excepted what was happin to me and it went away. It felt like hours but then I realized it was only 10 mins.

This wasn't the first time it happen to me, It's been going on for 2 years now. The last time it happened before yesterday was 6 months ago.

P.S. I saw a black cat on top of me the first time it happened after that every time it happens I just close my eyes.

Besprechen

Zillah wrote:

Get a full night's sleep, every night. Only real solution. SP is associated with bad sleeping habits.

Sleep on your side. SP is also associated with lying on your back. 90% of cases occur when the persons is sleeping like that.

wierd, im in 10% coz i have it about once a month and i always sleep face down, usually occurs a night or 2 after a good drinking session and lack of sleep, grown used to it now so dont usually bother to try and snap out of it, its the buzzing and whispering sound in my ears that mostly freaks me rather then the heavy limbs sensation

abetarrush

Happened to me again last night, and was fvckin horrible

I opened my eyes, then closed them really tight, and couldnt open them again

Lasted about 30 seconds, but 30 very LONG seconds


and had one a few weeks ago too. I was up against the wall, but in the dream i was in the middle of my bed, and a ghost got into bed with me and put its arm around me, then i felt that pressure aroud my chest and cudnt breath


my sleep pattern sucks, so thats why i got it

and i usually turn onto my side before i fall asleep, but fell asleep on my back last night
and thought there was someone at my bed

im actually afraid to go t bed now, its the most scariest thing you can experience

crosstownk

I've had this a few times. Most recently was yesterday afternoon after a nap on the couch. I was exhausted and decided to lie down for a while. It usually happens when I'm very tired. I was in the middle of a horrible nightmare and then realised that it was a nightmare but I couldn't wake up. I had to struggle to open my eyes and when I finally did I could see the room. I looked at my arm and tried to move it but with no success. After about 3 or 4 mins my body jolted and I was awake as normal.

I don't find it stressful anymore but the first few times it scared the sh1t out of me. Thankfully, so far, I haven't felt the presence of anyone in the room and, tbh, hope I never get to.

It's not a pleasant experience but it doesn't bother me. Thankfully its a very infrequent occurrence.

abetarrush

Niall - Dahlia wrote:

I get these pretty regularly too, accompanied by hallucinations, feelings of presence in the room or weight on my body/edge of the bed, sometimes a constant pulsating sound too.

The odd time I get this feeling that my bed (or world) is moving really fast, that I could fall off the bed anytime...or that I'm constantly falling into the bed. I like them ones!

Whoa, there the strongest ones ye can have!


Hows ur sleep pattern?

Muzzy_G

I know that when you get these SP your body is stop you from acting out your dreams, but why does it feel like my body is being crushed?

plz reply!

abetarrush

no1 knows


its just whatevers goin on in you're brain

could also be excessive fear

hanaaa

so sleep paralysis is normal?

my first sort of incident happened when i was about 12...i was lying in my bed and i guess i fell asleep only to open my eyes and see this sort of white figure right infront of me. i tried to close my eyes thinking i was just dreaming so i reopened them only to find the figure even closer and emitting and even brighter , whiter light. i was absolutely terrified and my heart started pounding..i reeally thought i was going to have a heart attack and so i just closed my eyes again, reopened them only to see this ...thing flutter closer and closer to my face. THEN i closed my eyes (all through this i couldn't move, speak) and opened them again but i managed to shout something out and everything was back to normal. i used to think i was fully completely awake until i started reading about sleep paralysis..so yeah. now i pretty much get these weird episodes where i'll fall asleep wake up but my eyes and body are paralysed more or less... i hate it but i don't know how to stop it

abetarrush

Not really normal, but extremely common

The main causes are a bad sleepin pattern, and sleepin on your back

I think the sleepin on the bag one is important, cos you put pressure on your spine

You're always supposed to sleep on your side


I've had 2, and they scared the crap outta me, dno how i didnt die of a heart attack

But yeah, they're completely harmless

cue

Its been ages since this has happened to me but it used to be fairly regular. Mine was always accompanied by a seeming inability to breathe. I would feel the pressure building in my lungs and I would will myself to breathe in but the lungs never responded and I would just lie there paralysed on my back trying to scream or just open my mouth to get some air in. At the last moment, when I felt like I was about to die, I would manage a breath, and then I could move again. Freaky

Saint_Mel

Niall - Dahlia wrote:

I get these pretty regularly too, accompanied by hallucinations, feelings of presence in the room or weight on my body/edge of the bed, sometimes a constant pulsating sound too.

The odd time I get this feeling that my bed (or world) is moving really fast, that I could fall off the bed anytime...or that I'm constantly falling into the bed. I like them ones!

I used to get those ones very regulary, except it felt like I was being dragged
out of the bed. Hasn't really happened in years and I never really thought about
it much further until I recently heard my Aunt talking about being frozen after
waking up, she thought she was having a stroke, and apparently my Granny
used to get it the whole time. She thought she was being possessed by the
devil and so went religion mad!

Gillie

This has happened me a few times but I didn't realise that it was sleep paralysis.

-A couple of times my legs have felt that they had been severed from my body and were floating away but I would still feel them. Other times it feels like they are doing a 180 on me.

-Other times I just have weird dreams about a huge black space over my head. I wake to find that the room starts to push away from me. It takes a few minutes to get outta this "trance".

-The weirdest ever was while I was on holidays. I had gone for a nap during the day and had a rather nasty nightmare. It involved a woman with no face, an old chair and bright white light. I woke from the dream and freaked!
I knew I was awake and could see but the bright light and the image of the woman and the chair stayed in front of my eyes for about 2 seconds. I could see it in front of me - not just in my mind. I was also totally paralysed for a few seconds.

Anyway. Glad to hear i'm not the only one!

Any theories on this stuff?

mateo

I used to think I was the only one who experienced this! It's been happening since I was really young. Back then I would only wake and be unable to move, but I'd never experience anything too frightening. I'd just keep trying to turn my head and eventually I would.

More recently though it's become alot more frightening. Quite recently I woke up and felt this pressure on my back, as if some spirit had entered me through my back. I know that sounds so crazy but it really felt that way. Then I can remember sitting up and seeing everything in my room and this black figure floating infront of my eyes. I thought I'd awoken but I was still asleep. Then finally I managed to wake up. It was awful! I managed to make some moaning noises, which I usen't to be able to do.

Another odd experience was when I woke up and suddenly heard the heating/immersion turning on. But it felt like my body was making this noise because it was as if I could feel it flowing through me. It felt like I could feel all my blood vessels in my body and the blood flowing around. Another similar experience to that was when I could hear the sound of flowing water and the same feeling of all my blood vessels, except this time as if they were seizing up, most notably in my back. I also felt like I was going to have a heart attack in both these experiences, and I remember thinking I was about to die. Such awful experiences!

Also, sometimes I know when it's going to happen. If I stay on in bed when I feel kind of groggy and I'm in a very light sleep I can just feel it coming on. I try to stop it and keep my eyes open but they just shut and I'm left paralyzed.

Catsmokinpot

yeah i get it all the time, it happens so frequently i don't even get scared anymore i used to try and scream but couldn't do anything about it

sometimes when i was younger my mind would start playing tricks on me, and i would start seeing things like people and stuff out of the corner of my eye it was kinda scary