Sleep Paralysis

[nohorn]

I have sleep apena. I use a C-pac with a mask. If I take a nap and fall asleep without my C-pac, I most certainly will enter into sleep paralysis. What is it exactly? I know it is a scary, miserable event where I eventually wake up with my knickers in a knot. I bet my blood pressure is racing, etc. I imagine it is not a positive event. Any comments? Thanks

[Huderon]

It's a temporary thing lasting from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. Basically all it means is that you wake up and are unable to move for a short while (hence the paralysis). It's not harmful, but can be scary because you can wake up feeling that someone is in the room with you or that someone or something is sitting on your chest and you feel as if you are being suffocated.
One of the possible causes is stress, so don't worry about it too much :-)

[NoMercy]

This is something I've suffered with since childhood, but far more so in my formative years. As an adult, I only get it during times of extreme stress - ie. bereavement or suchlike. It is perfectly harmless to the majority of sufferers. It's more of an annoyance to me than anything - not being able to move or call out. When it happens, I just let my whole body relax for a minute or so, then find I am able to move again.

[Huderon]

Oh, and if your sleep apnoea is of the mildly obstuctive kind, and you don't get on with the CPAP thing (I didn't - every time the mask slipped it woke my wife, who then woke me to fix it), get the sleep clinic to refer you to the dental people. There are circumstances where they can do something to help - in my case a set of braces to move my lower jaw forward a bit which, along with losing a bit of weight, did the trick for me.

[daffy654]

I thought it was called C-PAP as the PAP stands for Positive Airway Pressure. Where are you getting C-PAC from? I've never heard of that one.

[Dris]

Thats what I do as well NoM -beforehand I used to panic and that exacerbated it now I just wait until it flows over me.
Apparently its when youre body goes into the second stage of sleep before your mind does.Mine is also caused my stress.Doesnt seem to bother me as much now that I dont fight it.

[ummmm]

Awful awful awful. I went through a phase of getting it (presume stress related) and there was no way I could try and get my body to relax. I could hear someone coming to my bedroom and I'm trying to move but I can't. Then I can feel them sit on my bed and move closer. What makes it so real is I could hear the traffic outside and the TV on in the bedroom next to me.

What happens (I think) is at some point during the night your brain basically paralysis your body and shuts itself off so you get absolute rest. During this time part of your brain wakes up so you can hear real life sounds but you're still also dreaming while still being paralyzed. At the time it makes everything seem so real and the fact that you can't move makes it one of the worse feelings in the world.

I haven't had it for years thank God...and it only ever happened if I was sleeping alone.

[NoMercy]

Yes, Dris... the more I fought it, the longer it would be before I could move again.

Interesting what Huderon said, as many dental care professionals are now taking a more holistic approach to treatment. People with sleep problems have been found to have dental related problems such as clicking jaw, etc. I have a tendency to suffer with clicking jaw when I first wake up.

[Dris]

O how bizarre-I have a clicking jaw -blooming sore when it locks at times.

[maggieb66]

Hope you don't mind me joining in.
I've had times when I've not been able to move or call out, but I've also had times, normally if I've gone to bed for a nap where I wake up and start doing things, but then I realise that I can feel the bed underneath me and I know I'm not awake, so I try and get up and it starts again, normally about 2 or 3 times. It normally happens not long after me having a baby.

I also have a very clicky jaw.

[oldexpat]

This has started to happen to me lately and at first it was a terrifying situation as I thought there was a presence in my room. But the more it happens the more my mind realises the presence part is just a dream and I concentrate on one part of my body until I can move it. I found it gets bearable anyway. Good luck.

[lilacben]

I get this happen to me as well. Had it happen the other day I was really trying to open my eyes but I couldnt move them, I knew I wanted to get up but couldnt. It is horrible.Sometimes it leaves me very shaky and "off" for the rest of the day.

[anneasquith]

read somewhere it can be related to alcohol consumption.

[nohorn]

Hi everyone, thanks for replying. You all have described it aptly. I will try relaxing. The last one came when I had visitors for a few days so I was under stress. Also, I did get the C-pac should be C-pap. I am glad to hear that others go thru that at times.
Nohorn

[4getmenot]

opposite can happen too which i get more than paralised state where my body wakes before mind does so i see things in room octopus, cats, giant ladybirds, people, and i can move and fight them. Luckily only happened once since i got with my man