Sleep Paralysis

[alan1]

Anybody ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis definition - Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms

Sleep Paralysis - The Naked Scientists 2006.03.01

I had it happen to me about a year or so ago. It scared the friggen crap out of me.
I woke up in the middle of the night, wide awake, but couldn't move for a few minutes. The only thing I could move was my eyes. I could look around the room but that was it. After a few minutes of total panic I was finally able to move. I was so freaked out by the experience that I was afraid to go to sleep again.
That night, I got up and spent a few hours on the internet trying to figure out what happened. I eventually found enough sites like the one linked above to realize that I probably wasn't in any real danger. I still had trouble falling asleep again that night, and for a few more following nights.
I mean, come on, that was seriously scary to wake up paralyzed.

So, It happened to me again about 2 weeks ago. Same thing, wake up in the middle of the night and can't move. Since I was armed with the knowledge from last time, it wasn't quite as terrifying to me this second time around, but still, it was scary.

The first time it happened, I talked to a few friends about it. Initially, most of them just said it was probably a nightmare. Then I pointed them to some of the websites I had found about the subject. I didn't experience some of things other people that have had it talk about. Things like a pressure on the chest, or a "sense" that somebody/something is in the room, no auditory or visual hallucinations. Just me being paralyzed for a few minutes.

Anybody else ever had this happen to them?

 

[michiganFats]

My first two years out of the service that happened to me a few times. I had paralysis, a sensation of levitation, and I always thought the lights were on in the rest of my house. A couple of times I also thought that I could hear someone banging the pots and pans in my kitchen. When I woke up in the morning, nothing had been messed with. It finally went away and hasn't ever happened again.

 

[alan1]

My first two years out of the service that happened to me a few times. I had paralysis, a sensation of levitation, and I always thought the lights were on in the rest of my house. A couple of times I also thought that I could hear someone banging the pots and pans in my kitchen. When I woke up in the morning, nothing had been messed with. It finally went away and hasn't ever happened again.

Did you ever get up right after it happened? Did you think it was just a dream the next day?
For me, I got up both times as soon as I was able to move, so I know I wasn't dreaming.

 

[michiganFats]

My first two years out of the service that happened to me a few times. I had paralysis, a sensation of levitation, and I always thought the lights were on in the rest of my house. A couple of times I also thought that I could hear someone banging the pots and pans in my kitchen. When I woke up in the morning, nothing had been messed with. It finally went away and hasn't ever happened again.

Did you ever get up right after it happened? Did you think it was just a dream the next day?
For me, I got up both times as soon as I was able to move, so I know I wasn't dreaming.

The odd thing is that whenever it happened, I never woke up until my alarm went off. Every other night I always woke up 2 or 3 times per night. I never thought it was a dream, it felt real. To this day I remember every incident as if it really happened.

 

[strollingbones]

been there..done that...the total fear and the total confusion....like fats i could see myself...it was like you are suspended on the ceiling and then rejoin your body...i think the explaination for it is good but still not what it is...it is way too powerful an emotion and event... that can consume you...and i dont think many people discuss it openly...i have often wondered how many more people had this...

 

[strollingbones]

oops fats...i assume the "sense of levitation" is where you feel that your above your body looking down...or at least it was for me..i didnt feel like i was floating...as much as returning

 

[Article 15]

I go through bouts of it every now and again.

It ain't fun.

 

[michiganFats]

oops fats...i assume the "sense of levitation" is where you feel that your above your body looking down...or at least it was for me..i didnt feel like i was floating...as much as returning

Actually it wasn't. I felt as if I were levitating. I had optical illusions that made it appear as if I were only a foot or so below the ceiling.

 

[editec]

It is my understanding that the brain paralyses us every night such that we don't actually go though the motions we are experiencing in our REM state.

Perhaps the brain is not releasing that governor in a timely fashion?

Conversely, perhaps you are dreaming that you are awake?

 

[catzmeow]

Anybody else ever had this happen to them?

I have. Scariest feeling EVER, hands down.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Anybody else ever had this happen to them?

I have. Scariest feeling EVER, hands down.

i had an experiance like that after i saw a picture of Nancy Pelosi....woke up screaming and could not move.....frightning.....

 

[alan1]

It is my understanding that the brain paralyses us every night such that we don't actually go though the motions we are experiencing in our REM state.

Perhaps the brain is not releasing that governor in a timely fashion?

Conversely, perhaps you are dreaming that you are awake?

I definitely wasn't dreaming, because after a few minutes I gained control over my body, then got up. Additionally, dreams tend to fade as a memory after just a short period of time. These occurrences are still clear to me.

 

[alan1]

Anybody else ever had this happen to them?

I have. Scariest feeling EVER, hands down.

The first time was terrifying. This last time wasn't quite as scary, but still not something I want to continue to experience.

 

[Anguille]

Careful guys, del will call you an wambulance.

 

[Anguille]

Psssst! It's happened to me too. But not for a very long time. I think it's pretty common.

 

[dilloduck]

Psssst! It's happened to me too. But not for a very long time. I think it's pretty common.

closet whiner

 

[alan1]

been there..done that...the total fear and the total confusion....like fats i could see myself...it was like you are suspended on the ceiling and then rejoin your body...i think the explaination for it is good but still not what it is...it is way too powerful an emotion and event... that can consume you...and i dont think many people discuss it openly...i have often wondered how many more people had this...

I never had the dis-embodied experience, just the paralysis.

 

[alan1]

Psssst! It's happened to me too. But not for a very long time. I think it's pretty common.

One of the links I posted said it was pretty common, but I've never met anybody that admits to having it happen to them.
Maybe I hang out with the wrong crowd.

 

[Anguille]

Psssst! It's happened to me too. But not for a very long time. I think it's pretty common.

closet whiner

No. It felt good!!

 

[Anguille]

Psssst! It's happened to me too. But not for a very long time. I think it's pretty common.

One of the links I posted said it was pretty common, but I've never met anybody that admits to having it happen to them.
Maybe I hang out with the wrong crowd.

Maybe it's a symptom of posting too much on a message board?