Something strange when sleeping.

[Mike M.]

This has been happening for a while now and don't quite know what to make of it. After being asleep for a few hours or so I'll wake up (and will know I'm awake), will be fully aware of my surroundings and I can't move. No matter how hard I try I can't move my limbs at all and I can't even speak. It feels like I'm in some sort of grip, like my body is encased in stone and I have to struggle with eveything I have to free myself from this grip. Seems like it takes about a good 30 seconds of struggling to free myself. I can breathe fine....just can't move.

It's not like it happens all the time. It happens maybe once every month and a half or so and it happened again last night.

Not saying it's this, that or the other thing. I don't know what this is but at times it's rather frightening.

Ever hear of this or has this happened to any of you?

[Indiana Mike]

I had it ,,,it's called sleep paralysis,,,and its scary as hell..it had it happen about once a month for a year or so and it went away.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders...leep-paralysis

I don't think it's harmful

NO ,IT'S NOT A TUMOR!

[Thick McRunfast]

Happens to me and it's terrifying. Scares the crap out of the neighbors because mine usually occurs in conjunction with a nightmare and I come out of it screaming.

Scares the crap out of Mrs Thick too come to think of it

[Mike M.]

Originally Posted by Indiana Mike

I had it ,,,it's called sleep paralysis,,,and its scary as hell..it had it happen about once a month for a year or so and it went away.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders...leep-paralysis

I don't think it's harmful

NO ,IT'S NOT A TUMOR!

Thanks for the article, Mike. At least I now know what this is....and yes, it is scary. I have a lot of problems with sleeping anyway that are very sporatic and erratic. Some night's I can't fall asleep or I wake up a lot. But even the night when I do "sleep" I never wake up feeling revived.

At least I'm not alone with this one. Thanks guys.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Yep, sleep paralysis.

IIRC there was a lenghty thread about it on TB about a year ago.

Regards
Sam

[Epitaph04]

It always happens to me when i try to go to sleep again within an hour or two of waking up. Cant move can open my eyes and sometimes cant breathe. What usually helps is trying to take the deepest breath i possibly can...like im trying to take a deep breath as hard as i can. It takes a few try, and the feeling of panic definitely starts to swell in....but eventually i manage to break out of it.

Someimes the hardest part is getting out of bed so it doesnt keep happening! Im usually super groggy/sleepy after making it through an episode like that.

[Ziltoid]

It's not lupus.

[eyeballkid]

Dr. House has spoken.

[lowfreq33]

Yeah, sleep paralysis. I've had that a few times. Scary. Not harmful though.

[paste]

Yep definetely sleep paralysis as a couple have mentioned already. It's not very scary after the first time since you know what to expect but the first time I had this I thought I was going to die lol. As a matter of fact I enjoy the feeling of sleep paralysis so much that I try to induce it by sleeping at random times and messing up my internal clock. Also very occasionally (only happened twice ever to me) I hallucinated while sleep paralysis and this is probubly the best trip you'll ever have without taking any drugs! First time there was three cicrcles orbiting each other like the one on jimmy nuetron's except it was flashing all crazy colors and I could feel it pulsating (thought I was having a heart attack here). Secong time there was a super bright light and I kept trying to squint but the light was too bright, almost to the point where I thought I had no eyelid's since the light was just passing thru and ambiguous black "shapes" were just floating which I could barely make out. Anywho i'm pretty sure sleep paralysis can occur both when your trying to sleep and when your just waking up. Have fun with it and don't be scared!

[paste]

Anyone else have sleep paralysis hallucination stories?

[seventhson]

I get sleep paralysis but no outright hallucinations.

[machine gewehr]

Originally Posted by paste

Anyone else have sleep paralysis hallucination stories?

First time it happened to me, there was a smoky-being floating above me and scared the **** out of me. I thought that was it, I was being kidnapped by some demon from another dimension.

One time I sat down with a white robot after I came out of it.

If it happens now, I just think "oh this again? It should be over soon." and go back to sleep.

[carlos840]

That must be really freaky!

I suffer from the opposite condition, the not so well documented "I spend the night fighting an invisible bear" disease!

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by carlos840

That must be really freaky!

I suffer from the opposite condition, the not so well documented "I spend the night fighting an invisible bear" disease!

your medical jargon means little to me.

[pocketgroove]

I don't have that, but sometimes I wake up with the feeling of impact, but no falling sensation. It feels like an electrical jolt or getting hit in the head with a baseball!

[Relic]

Originally Posted by paste

Anyone else have sleep paralysis hallucination stories?

My wife gets it frequently, so much so that after a while she's learned to actually enjoy it as she understood it more. Hallucination stories...well, so far she's seen Gandalf from LOTR walk into our room and sit on the bed, our bedroom light sparkle and "ring" like chimes, a glowing owl fly around the room and a soldier dressed in a colonial era uniform lean over and stare at her, (all on different occasions, that is)
She's also had some really scary stuff happen too early on but as I said, the more she understood it the less and less scary it became.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by pocketgroove

I don't have that, but sometimes I wake up with the feeling of impact, but no falling sensation. It feels like an electrical jolt or getting hit in the head with a baseball!

That's usually part of the falling asleep process. Most people will experience a little muscle jerk when they doze off. It's perfectly normal, however once it a while some folks may experience enough of a jerk that it will actually shake them awake. That happens to me on occasion.

[macaroni tony]

Sleep paralysis....it happens to me in spurts. Hasn't happened in a while, I'm happy to say.

It's very frightening for me, as it restricts my breathing, as well

[6jase5]

Originally Posted by machine gewehr

One time I sat down with a white robot after I came out of it.

.....Once again, thank you TB for another line that I'll put in a song I'm currently writing.