Sleep Paralysis

[KaraBulut]

The question is whether you are dreaming or whether you are actually awake.

If you are awake, it's considered normal even though you may find it a bit distressing.

During REM sleep, your body is normally in a hypotonic "paralyzed" state. This keeps you from "acting out" your dreams.

Occasionally, people wake during a dream state and it may take several moments for them to return to a fully awake state. During this period, you may have visual hallucinations. The condition is called a hypnopompic hallucination and it is a normal variant.

 

[Corny]

I sometimes have that when I wake up suddenly due to a dream. Always thought this is one of the more interesting body experiences. Right after the out of body experiences

 

[seven_sins]

I once woke up to see a giant spider descending from the ceiling next to my bed. I jumped up cursing loudly and ran to the kitchen for a can of Raid. I was afraid to go back to the bedroom or even turn on the light when I got back. I searched the bedroom high and low before convincing myself that it was something I had dreamed or imagined. It was so very real. I probably woke the neighbors screaming as I jumped out of the bed. It has only happened once. I pray that it never happens again.

 

[hothunk222]

Happens to me all the time. The first time I remember it happening was when I was 5 years old. It's really creepy. My whole body becomes paralyzed and I can't move anything except my eyes and I'm overcome with a frightening feeling. I always try to force my body out of the paralysis, because something scares me about it, about letting it go on for too long.

I've had hallucinations before also but not often. One time I saw an ugly wrinkled disembodied head floating in the room nodding at me with its tongue flapping in the air. It's very creepy.

 

[KaraBulut]

I get this a lot...especially since I have poor sleep hygiene. I used to work midnights so I am hard-wired now to be awake at night, but events during the day require me to be awake so I'm truly a functioning insomniac. I'd say about 25% of the time I sleep this occurs. Nothing 'scary' occurs...I don't 'see' or 'feel' anything physical, I just get the feeling that I cannot breathe and then I wake up..or, rather, I start breathing. I don't know where the line begins and ends. I've come to terms with it and realize that I know what is happening now (I suppose that would make me awake?), and I know how to overcome it.

It's time for you to have a sleep study.

This sounds much like sleep apnea or sleep hypopnea.

 

[Psychopath]

it happened to me twice...it's creepy

 

[crest22]

Wow... that maybe explains it lol. I once woke up unable to move. Trying to breath, but felt as if there were hands over my mouth or around my neck--couldn't breath. I was freezing and sweating at the same time (it was summer so really hot at night). I thought I saw my breath??? I felt finger nails digging into my chest and almost like a spirit or someone was trying to enter my body. These images that I did not recognize kept flashing through my mind. It felt like it lasted for 30 minutes.


Then I was able to breath and move again. I did actually have scratch marks on my chest( I could have done that to myself I guess).

Must have been a deep dream that felt really real, or ?

Who knows, but it hasn't happened since and that was 10 years ago.

 

[KaraBulut]

Yeah, there's a clinic up north I've thought about going to. I don't think I have apnea though...I don't snore and I don't have any breathing problems nor am I overweight (I swim a lot).

The short neck-overweight syndrome is a big cause of sleep apnea but there is also a form that originates in the central nervous system. It's seen in children- where they have protracted periods of apnea during sleep. This can continue into adulthood and result in the symptoms that you describe.

 

[NoStarDies]

I have had it occur quite a few times...but only on nights where I am really really tired.
I am usually a lightish sleeper and wake with the slightest sound, I often have very vert vivid dreams that often times I get confused for actually happening, especially with dreams that revolve around the middle of the night.

I have awoken several times thinking I heard a noice in the awake room, but was really in the dream world, that continued to play out. Though being awake and knowing it, I was overcome with fear and was unable to move, I even forgot how to breath for a a minute, which added even more panic into the mix.

Ontop of the sleep paralysis, I've also have times where my dreams were so vivid and "real" that I was actually awoken by having a panic/anxiety attack, which is a horrible thing to have in the middle of the night, sometimes combined with the paralysis...

 

[libra00]

depending on what your beliefs are, look up astral travel. Sleep paralysis can be explained by you traveling out of your body and waking up before the soul returns.