sleep paralysis
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So, anyone get screwed around by sleep paralysis?
I've been experiencing it for the last year or so on and off mostly at points where stress is really getting to me. I found out i'm out of work next Tuesday so stress to find a new job is through the roof and last night just about killed me.
For those who dont know http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
What seems like hours is only minutes and the hallucinations are the mos terrifyingly real things you could imagine. I'm starting to notice an increase in how lucid the experience is becoming but sadly it doesn't help control the situations, it just allows the mind to think up even more wild stuff to throw at you, after fighting it for about an hour last night i just decided to give up and stay awake, it was more peaceful than trying to sleep.
Bottom line: if i'm a vegetable in the hospital, i want the plug pulled, i cant imagine anything worse than being trapped in your own mind after experiencing this.
I've been experiencing it for the last year or so on and off mostly at points where stress is really getting to me. I found out i'm out of work next Tuesday so stress to find a new job is through the roof and last night just about killed me.
For those who dont know http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
What seems like hours is only minutes and the hallucinations are the mos terrifyingly real things you could imagine. I'm starting to notice an increase in how lucid the experience is becoming but sadly it doesn't help control the situations, it just allows the mind to think up even more wild stuff to throw at you, after fighting it for about an hour last night i just decided to give up and stay awake, it was more peaceful than trying to sleep.
Bottom line: if i'm a vegetable in the hospital, i want the plug pulled, i cant imagine anything worse than being trapped in your own mind after experiencing this.
Replies
It usually makes me feel like im suffocating and then i try to breathe as hard as possible while desperately trying to move.
But I did wake up at that time, thankfully, still unable to shake the feeling that someone was in my apartment. After spending some time in front of the computer trying to relax I gave up and wound up going in to work at 5am that day
It's best to spend at least half an hour winding down before going to bed after working on the computer, ie watch telly, look out of the window for a while but NOT on the computer
sometimes the experience of someone touching you or other freaky shit is just you with your hands or arms folded over your body whilst asleep.
you become aware of your body , like your hand might be on your face etc
I haven't had one in quite sometime now, but I still have very vivid memories of what it was like.
If there is anyway you could bring down the stress a bit, or maybe try sleeping on the couch for a couple days, this may help.
I lucid dream alot, I usually know I'm in a dream the second I go to sleep.
I get it every few weeks, scary shit especially when you can't wake - perhaps not SP but dam it's nasty.
I wont go into details but I could and did a few wierd things. After this I can sometimes go straight into a lucid dream from that where I can control mostly anything.
jk. one of my friends actually has this too.
i dont understand about the "shadows". wtf are they? it sounds super freaky
ruz, i usually try and get out for a 10-15 minute walk before going to bed, but last night i skipped it because i was feeling really tired, so i just watched pbs for a while before trying to go to bed, you're prolly onto something there
As far as the shadow things goes, i've had that happen once and it was just as you guys described, and it was also followed by the sensation of being lifted up by my chest like being pulled by a tractor beam or something. It felt so real at one point i stopped fighting it and just decided, "hey at least i might see an alien, make the best out of this". Still scary as fuck tho
The worst instance was the time I smacked the nearby pedestal fan, knocked the cover flying across the room which then bounced off the wall and came straight back at me. This resulted in me punching at it a whole lot more. When the adrenaline ebbed enough for me to go and turn the light on, I had two fingernails torn most of the way off, the skin on the backs of my fingers was all shredded and there was blood splattered right across the bedroom wall. I shudder to think what would have happened if there'd been anyone else in the bed at the time.
Thankfully it seems like those were just a few freak occurences and I haven't felt the need to fight any monsters in quite a while.
If you can manage you ask yourself this while dreaming it is supposed to wake you up within your dream.. or something.
I don't think I've ever experienced what your going through but it definitely doesn't sound much fun. Hope things get better for you.
B
One thing I did was actually cut tv out when I sleep (I liked having the noise) and that instantly helped, also you'll get a better nights rest.
Also, for some people there are warning signs before it kicks in all the way. For me I'll generally be in my home somewhere, and I'll hear a strange voice or "feel" a presence outside of the room approaching me. I catch that happening and I try real damn hard to wake up real fast.
while reading this shit i got goosebumps.
Because some weeks ago i was asleep and i dreamt that this weird ghost shadow type shit was hovering above me and trying to lift me up. and i tried to push him away and wake up! damn! it was so freaky! i turned on the light and covered myself with the sheets!
damn!
I had this pretty bad in my early 20's. I would also hear this wierd static noise right before it happened. Freaked me out pretty badly.
Pretty much the same. The first time was scary, without an actual idea what the hell was going on. The other times I just explored the sensations, was pretty interesting.
What helped me was to start concentrating on the tips of my fingers, slowly releasing the hand from paralysis and moving up the hand and other parts of the body.
I don't think I've ever experienced this paralysis but closest I came to this when I was getting ill one night in the middle of a very busy work period. A bit delirium, sweaty, hot, you know, the type that keeps you out of deep sleep all night. So I was half-asleep, sort of knowing I was dreaming but not able to get out of it. And lo and behold I dreamt I was working all night, god damn it dragging things in InDesign all night. Telling myself to dream of pretty beaches instead resulted in pictures of beaches, hehe but unfortunately those were inside indesign boxes as well. I could not get out of it.
I had been watching The Day After Tomorrow on TV before I went to bed and over night I was having this terrible dream that somehow I created this blackhole and it was devouring everything in the universe exponentially. I couldn't stop it and it was getting closer and closer to Earth and no matter what I tried to do all my friends, family and loved ones all were perishing and be sucked into this thing. It sounds retarded, but it was truly frightening.
I woke up and even after I woke up I remember trying to snap myself out of the emotions I was having but I couldn't do anything. I felt freaking hot so I dragged myself into a cold shower and sat in it for 20 minutes. I got out, skipped drying off and sat in front of a fan and waited for the water to dry off hoping to disappate some of my fever with it. I finally remember coming to my senses and the panic'd feel went away.
Sounds like a bad acid trip
I haven't had them since but I have had nightmares about having them.
Yes. I had nightmares about nightmares. That's how fucking scary they are.
I had one of these before when someone posted some thread here about dreams, didnt know it was some condition
I was having some weird dream where a strange silhouette with a very thin neck and a weird round hat/head was killing people, and then I woke up with my head facing the side and saw the corpses of those people in my room.
The silhouette was still standing there in between me and the corpses, and I couldn't move or speak. When I eventually could move, I put on my glasses and discovered the strange silhouette was actually my chair (http://www.thehirebusiness.com/images08/e030-maglia-mesh-chair.jpg)
First time I ever experienced this, it definitely was a frightening experience
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection
I know some people think this is new age mumbo-jumbo, but anyone who has experienced it knows that it's very real, and it's something anyone can learn to do. I think for people that experience terrifying sleep paralysis, for example, learning about astral projection can show you how to turn these terrifying experiences into very powerful spiritual journeys.
I've been studying/practicing to achieve OBEs and astral projection, etc. so if anyone would like to talk about it more or anything PM me or just message me on MSN
If you haven't ever had a conscious OBE I suggest practicing it, it can be amazing
EDIT: OBE = Out of Body Experience
Usually I am not paralyzed, thank goodness, but I do hallucinate if I am half asleep.
Like real and dream worlds mix.
Squirrels running under my bed, just barely glimpsing giant spiders crawling below my bed-side table, or a creepy lady standing staring at my hallway wall slanted like this: \
But I sleepwalk very rarely and the same thing happens when I do, so its kind of cool sometimes.
One time I woke up to my blanket across the room. I threw it in my sleep at someone crouching on the ground (No, they weren't really there)
meh, it scares me
I always found that as soon as someone touched me I would be free, but sometimes it felt like I had to wait an eternity for anyone to come get me.
I hope I never have to go through it again.
Easier said than done. I doubt it's possible while deep asleep for you to know that what's happening in front of you is all just a dream. You're more or less a passenger instead of the pilot of the show.
I use to have sleep paralysis when I was smaller. The first time I got it was when I was about 14 and I had just gotten back from a day at Carowinds. A small nap on the couch and next thing I know, I was fully conscious but couldn't move. The only thing I could really do was push what amount of air I could muster from my lungs through my relaxed vocal cords to produce a soft, low, broken noise.
Lucky I don't see anything too out of the ordinary during these episodes so they were more annoying than scary. I realized after the first incident, the only way I could get back full control was to reach down inside myself and muster what strength I had to try and move some part of my body. It kind of sucks since your body feels like noodles and it requires a couple of attempts. A good analogy is the scene in Kill Bill vol. 1 where Beatrix makes herself to the hospital nurse's truck and tries to revive her paralyzed body by "waking up" her toes.
@ Raz: I think you've just figured out why guys get sleep paralysis ;P Girls don't get sleep paralysis so it makes sense.
It gets even worse without a pillow actually haha. Gives me the feeling of my body tilting back further than the horizontal plane of the bed - kindof like taking a backwards dive at the pool, only slowed down to an extreme. And yeah most of the time when conscious paralysis happens it gives me the feeling of fighting for my own safety as it often comes with the sensation of having someone sneaking in the room. Freaky stuff!
Also I believe this is all strongly linked to chronique fatigue. I am pretty positive that most posters experiencing sleep paralysis often stay up till like 3am working on stuff huh?
So the white noise/ringing you hear would it invert? You know like in the fanta commercials.
I'm pretty sure this isn't the same thing, but I used to have a dream/nightmare that was basically my mind stuck in a all sand desert with a white noise/ringing that moved closer and closer. The closer it got the more it inverted and with it the sand would change to twisted sharp shards of black glass.
Suckors.
Hallucinations suck, had one where horses were jumping over my bed
All said, it doesnt happen so much anymore unless I go a long long long period of time without sleep.
Still, it sucks shit, yeah. Also, when i have really really bad migraines, cause I get those about twice monthly, but some are really shitty bad.
Augh, worst thing ever, having to lay in a dark room with a wet rag on my forehead, hours on end wanting to get up and do something, but feels like my head is going to pop.
Worst.
Thing.
Ever.
I doubt that's sleep paralysis tho.
Yea I've experienced something like this a few times myself. It lasts less than a second, but it feels like I'm about to fall off the bed even though I'm laying flat in the middle
My understanding of it is that our consciousness leaves our body every time we fall asleep, so you're "astrally projecting" every time you sleep. However, most people aren't consciously aware of it. Sleep paralysis is when you become consciously aware of your body while it's asleep. If you don't know what's going on though, your consciousness is trying to say "hey, I have to be in that body!" so even though you're consciously awake you feel trapped in a sleeping body. You can learn to leave your body and explore whatever you want.
I have that falling feeling too sometimes. It lasts half a second and I snap out of it after violently shuddering my body. What you're saying sounds very interesting, like a trip from drugs but without touching that stuff (which I have sworn to never do). I should look into that.
The sound getting louder is somthing that always happened. I dont think I know what you mean by "invert". It sounds like a radio that is almost, but not quite tuned to a station. Like you can hear snippets of voices mixed with static, but mostly just static. I got it so much, I eventually used it as a dream sign to help me become lucid. Its actually pretty common..barely happens to me anymore
His wife said it's really weird to see.
Dont think I've experience full on sleep paralysis but some similar incidents.
But I often have these dreams where I'm usually somewhere in my basement and nasty things happen.
My room is located in the basement along with a laundry room, spare room, and a bathroom.
Things get really weird, its usually accompanied with this sense of panic or something beside me right before I fall asleep.
Then the entire time I'm sleeping it usually goes as follows. Ill be wandering or in my dream 'wake up', sometimes someone
calls for me, but just something that gets me moving to other parts of the house. Last night in the dream someone called
for me by the stairwell so I natural went to see then I hear a giggle behind me, then i instantly knew (from past dreams)
that nothing good would come from this I tried to turn around and walk away but then the feeling of someone jumping on
me accompanied to what would feel like someone hitting you in the the head with a baseball bat without the blunt pain
sometimes the feeling of vomiting as well. The feeling my dream is so surreal, anyways I usually topple over and hit the
ground then thats when I wake up, or the dream repeats itself over the night.
O_O
Maybe I have some subconscious fear of basements lol.
ive had this happen a few times as i was sleeping in the classroom. embarrassing.
I think the getting pissed off approach that Acc mentioned might help.
My dreams are often lucid, and sometimes when they're not if I can replace my fear with something just as strong (grief, anger), I can get some control. I've also tried a sort of Eternal Sunshine method before too where I can gain lucidity where whatever is going on in the dream, I refuse to play along and instead search for my boyfriend, or sometimes my little sister or nephew (protective feelings are strong). It can get sad when you can't find them anywhere or they don't seem to notice you trying to catch them, but I suppose it's easier to be running towards something than to be running away from, or worse helplessly waiting for, something scary.
there was a fox skin hanging on the wall, i probably fell asleep on the living room floor,
and i saw the thing crawl down from the wall, and i giggled when it was following me as i was being carried to my bedroom. then when i was lying there about to fall asleep, it jumped up from behind the bed, and scared the shit out of me. i even remember it turned its head towards my step-dad when he opened the door to my bedroom.
http://www.gnosticawakenings.com/video/obe-experiences
At least one of the people interviewed talks about how they became interested because of their sleep paralysis (The interview with Matthew). The site has free online courses that can guide you to understanding astral projections & out of body experiences