Sleep Paralysis

[Dollie]

Any sufferers on here? SP is when you are waking or going off to sleep and you feel you are awake but your body is paralysed - you can't move for a minute or two and often this is accompanied by a fear that something or someone dreadful is in the room with you, either touching you are pulling the covers off you, You can sometimes get a crushing feeling on your chest as well, and may struggle to breath. I am researching the subject (its well covered on the internet if you google it) as I am a sufferer - only happens about once every five years or so, but still very frightening. Thank you

[ummmm1]

Yep.....I've had it a few times. Usually someone has broke into my house and I've heard it. They come into my bedroom and no matter how much I try to move I can't. It's very realistic and very scary

[WoWo]

yeah I have had it in the past.

[boro1986]

I have it quiet regular its awful. I wake up with a noise but cannot move even though i try hard to. The more you try to struggle the more out of breath you become. It usually ends after about a minute and i can move and very awake

[crete]

i know a few people who have had this, and each say it occurs following alcohol consumption. is this a factor ?

[boro1986]

No crete mine just happens for no reason. I am usually having a nice sleep and then suddenly whether its my brain or a genuine noise i wake up

[Dollie]

I only have it every five years or so but not following drink. I had it this week and I have been very low, in pain, and unrested due to nasal surgery last week. I think this may be a factor. Also been on very strong painkillers too - so don't know if that was a factor. Each time I have it though, I feel as though there is some ghostly, terrifying presence in the room either pulling my bedclothes off me, or pulling them downwards as though to try to crush my chest. Its very scary but I'm used to it now.

[Mr Tall]

I get this. I can't remember if it is after a heavy drinking session or not though.

[sair5412]

I get this quite a lot. It is horrible!!!

I don't get it after alcohol but usually i will 'wake' up because i am aware that the covers are over my nose and mouth and i cannot breathe. No matter how hard i try to open my eyes, or move, or make a sound, i just can't. I am literally paralysed. I once had it at a sleep over at my friends house. It was morning and the covers were on my face and i could hear all my friends talking and moving around the room, one was even sat on the end of the bed i was in! I could feel myself suffocating but could do nothing to alert anybody to it. In the end (everytime this happens), i think i must pass out because i seem to go back to sleep before i can move again. I checked with my friends what they were talking about and my brain was difinitely awake but not my body.

I'd say this happens to me every couple of months. I have to be really careful to make sure the covers are under my chin because i know it will happen without fail if they are pver my face when i fall to sleep. It is very frightening.

I'd be interested to know why this happens Dollie?

[4getmenot]

Yep I have mentioned on here a lot of times my sleep paralysis which has me waking up and having fights with big huge creatures and octopuses jumping through my wall. Pretty scary at the time but I soon think �you fool you�re still dreaming� Its weird because I can feel and be sat up watching it all and its so real. My sis used to have night epilepsy and mum said one night she came to get me to help with the fits and when she opened my door I was sat up talking to a man on my bedside cabinet. I don�t get the one you said about that often. I think mine is the opposite where your body wakes up before your brain does. Whereas your brain has woken up before your body. and mine happens every couple of months but always a couple within a few nights.

[crete]

i wonder if being stressed contributes to this .

[drchasuble]

Both me and my sister get it a lot. She can get it at any time but mine is only if I sleep during the day.
Even if I haven't slept well at night and am knackered and ratty I just don't allow myself to nap but if I ever do drop off by mistake I can sleep, panic, wake, sleep, panic, wake over and over for ages.
I am getting a lot better with dealing with it and try to stay as calm inside my head as possible I then try to concentrate on moving my little finger and if I can manage that tiny movement I can throw off the paralysis.

I'd be interested in your findings and would like to know why it happens. At least I know that I can avoid mine by not sleeping at any time other than my night time routine.

[drchasuble]

And totally unrelated, is your actual name Dollie or is it just a user name?

[idalovett]

I've had that a few times especially the paralysis of the lungs when you wake up and realise you cannot breathe and wonder quite sanely if you will ever breathe again or are about to die....then the body kicks in and everything is back to normal but while the initial feeling lasts its darn frightening isn't it?

[warpig1]

I have had this many times too, with me it feels like the duvet is made of lead and I am unable to move accompanied with a bad feeling or sense of something bad. I find it very distressing but it normally only happens when I am experiencing great stress within my life.

[warpig1]

Forgot to mention that sometimes I feel that there is someone pushing down on me, not the whole duvet but localised pressure as if someone was standing on the bed holding me down.

[crete]

you describe classic symptoms warpig of this condition.......... hope alls well.

[warpig1]

Hi crete, thank you, all is fine, fortunately havent been stressed out for a long time but no doubt it could happen with my impending move, aaaaggghhhh. Hope all is good with you too.

:-o)

[warpig1]

See here for more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

[R~B]

i have suffered with this in the past, but i dont recognise any symptoms that i had.

i was not stressed nor did i have anything covering my face, i did not dream there was some body in my room........

i remember waking up and was able to hear everything that was going on but my body was not working and i started to panic in my head, i thought i had died, and i could think to myself but my words just wouldnt come out???

it was very scarey and it must of been 10 years ago but it is still in my mind very clearly!!

[alijangra]

I had it in the past but not for years now. My mum is very bothered with it too. I cant think that there was any triggers causing it, and no idea why it has stopped.