Sleep Paralysis

[CrystalGSD]

I've slept a total of thirty minutes.

Just starting tonight, I have been getting these weird dreams, where i am awake and conscious in my bed. I try to wake up, but i cant move. I can hear my mom talkinv to me, asking me a question and trying to get me to respond. I try to talk, but i cant open my mouth and i get a weird sensation, as if i was going to throw up. This sees to go on for an eternity. I try to wiggle my fingers and toes and eventually i can. It seems to take a long time but eventually i wake up, and am able to move. The odd thing is, i look at the time andi have been sleeping for less than 10 minutss. Throughout the whole dream i feel like i am awake and am conscious of my sleeping position and my surroundings.

I want to sleep but it has happened 3 times in one night, and ill admit scares the poo out of me. Does anyone know whats going on and how to stop it?

(please ignore typos... Im sleeo deprives and on a stubborn phone...)

 

[Dizzy]

I had this for YEARS. Often many times a week.

My advice is READ about it. Everything you can, knowledge is power.

A good sleeping routine helps, try and reduce stress in your life, and don't get over tired.

When you feel it coming on, you need to try and relax and breathe (this takes a certain amount of being able to become lucid, or aware you are having an episode). Look at lucid dreaming techniques, these will help.

Sleeping on your front helps a lot.

When you do manage to move, sit up, get up, put a light on, have a drink. If I didn't do that, I'd slip straight back into it.

There's not a lot you can do to stop it, but ups eventually seemed to grow out of it. Seems your early 20s are more vulnerable to it.

I also found sleeping with Bodhi next to me, physically touching me, helped. A lot! Luckily she is a spooner lol.

Also, I don't think many people get it repeatedly, so you might never get it again they say most people will have one episode.

I often got it 5 times a week or more..... Not fun once I took control of it, and began to relax they were a lot less panicked. I'd say in my head 'ahh, it'll go in a min' and try and be jolly. But I also used to do the toe wiggle thing

 

[CrystalGSD]

My advice is READ about it. Everything you can, knowledge is power.

[...]

When you feel it coming on, you need to try and relax and breathe (this takes a certain amount of being able to become lucid, or aware you are having an episode).

Lucky for me, I already has read about sleep paralysis, so when it happened, after a few seconds of freaking out I understood what was going on. I think the worst part is during the episode- its like I am helpless or something. When I look back on it, I don't feel scared, but while it was happening I was kind of freaking out even though I knew it was happening.

I'm assuming this happened due to lack of sleep? I've only been getting 3-5 hours of sleep lately, so I'm guessing I got over tired... I have no idea.

 

[Dizzy]

Could be anything. I know my mum and sister get it, so think it might be genetic..? At least for the recurring bouts.

Hopefully it won't happen again!

 

[sassafras]

This used to happen to me when I was a pre-teen and teenager with some regularity, but I outgrew it gradually in my 20s. It's my understanding that it's a malfunction of a fairly normal function of keeping you still in your sleep so you don't physically act out your dreams, but it just doesn't "turn off" when it's supposed to.

Agree with Dizzy that it helped to have something or someone grounding/touching me in bed (when I was too young for company, even a nice firm body pillow or large stuffed animal would do).

When they started I was so young and I had no idea what they were and they freaked the ever living %#$! out of me. The first time it happened I was sure the devil was coming for me, in all seriousness (I can laugh at that now, though). This never happened to me, but I guess it's not uncommon for some people to have visual hallucinations while it is happening, too.

 

[Laurelin]

Sleep paralysis sucks. It's common though and hallucinations are also common with it. Scary scary stuff.

I had one night a couple years ago where it happened all night every time I would drift off to sleep. I remember seeing a man and he would push me down and pin me against the bed and I couldn't move. I remember in my head thinking I was going to be raped. It was awful. And every time I drifted back into sleep he'd appear and then pin me down again. Apparently it's common to hallucinate that someone or something is physically pushing (or sitting) on your chest.

The other times I haven't had any visualizations going along with it but it's still scary. I hear sleeping on your side helps a lot. I haven't had an episode in a few years though.

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

I've heard a lot about that, but it's never happened to me. I don't think I could handle it, I wouldn't ever want to sleep again.
I am really claustrophobic and like...eeep, idk, I don't think I would handle that well if it happened to me.

 

[CrystalGSD]

It didn't happen again tonight. Hopefully it was a only a one time occurrence. I don't know how you guys can handle it multiple times!