Sleep Paralysis Is Killing Me Posted: 08-06-05 00:22am
I know that it is not unusual for people
to suffer from sleep paralysis, however I
have been experiencing it almost every
day, and it is destroying my sleep.
I've been researching what to do when I
find myself in the paralyzed state.
Sometimes I am able to regain a small
amount of control and either fall back to
sleep, or jerk one of my extremities and
wake myself up, but other times, like last
night, I am laying there and I can't
breathe and it really freaks me out to the
point where I can't do anything.
It has happened to me on several occasions
when i'm on a car ride, and I recline the
seat to take a nap. I'll know that people
are around me, but i'm unable to move or
ask for help.
Does anybody know of a way that I can stop
this, or cause it to happen less? I
don't even want to sleep anymore because
this continually happens.
I had this problem too. I had this
right after sleeping. I feel awake and
very fit, but nothing works and my eyes
stay shut.
Then I realized "holy **** I am
suffocating !!!!" and I try to move or
wake up, nothing happens. I know how to
move muslces, but I doesn't respond.
Eyes still shut. Then around 10-20s
later I wake up because (i suppose) of the
automatic awareness that happens when your
respiration is stuck. Finally I wake up
full of transpiration and stressed up.
Now I know it's normal and that it would
never really kill so just wait until it's
over and don't panic.
(info: strangeflly it never happens the
working days (mon-fri). Maybe it's
thanks to the alarm.)
however, right now (around since june) I
feel myself better, and now the problem
occurs much lesser. My big changes are:
I decided to have more sportive
activities, I changed school, and I open
both doors in my room at night.
Maybe you're stressed up or too hot at
night? Try to change your habits and
see if that helps. It did with me.
|
badsleeper
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 3
Posted: 09-15-05 11:36am
Oh too hot definitely, but theres nothing
I can do about it. I'm in a non-air
conditioned dorm room.
i heard sleep paralysis
happens when you are sleeping on your
back. Has anyone found
this?
i was thinking about it and yes, everytime
I had this was on my back, never in any
other position. (and mostly the room was
hot too)
|
Ally16
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Oct 2005 Posts: 7
Posted: 10-27-05 19:43pm
Dear bad sleeper-
i've had sleep paralysis for about two
years now (even though iv'e only recently
found out what it is) and there are ways
to help.
- when having an attack:
I know it's scary, but first
concentrate on breathing slow and steady.
Then, to "wake up" start with moving the
little things( toes, eyelids, fingers,
ect) then you should gradually get control
back. When you wake up, don't go back to
sleep in the same position you were in
(especially not on your back)
-prevention:
a. Try to relax more in general;
this disorder is known to be made worse by
stress.
B. Don't switch up your sleep
patterns
c. Try raising the head of your bed
6 inches with wooden blocks. It doesnt
help prevent, but for some reason it helps
you "wake up" easier; you can have more
control over your body.
D. Do not nap during the day
e. Go to bed early
* about 1/4 of the population will
expirience one attack in their
lifetime...I have it about 3 times a
month. Having it every night is not ok.
I would suggest (just my opinion) talking
to a doctor, there is medicine to be
perscribed for extreme cases (at least
once a week)
- let me know if this works out for you.
Good luck
sweet dreams,
ally.
|
washeswithdove
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 9 Location: columbus
One More Posted: 10-30-05 00:43am
Another thing to lessen the sleep
paralysis before and/or after sleep is
exercise. Give yourself at least an hour
to chill afterwards before bed. The more
you get the more it helps.
|
panicface
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Nov 2005 Posts: 2 Location: ireland
Posted: 11-15-05 17:11pm
This always happened when I slept on my
back too but all the sleeping on your back
is always recommended by experts for good
sleep! ?? Some experts ha?
|
mostate8302
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Southwest Missouri
Oh My Gosh Posted: 11-29-05 00:49am
I have finally found other people that
have this problem! I've been having
sleep paralysis since I was a little girl
and it still happens on occasion. I find
that it happens more when i'm sleeping on
my stomach and occasionally on my back.
I usually fall asleep on my left side but
I will "wake up" on my stomach. I'll
feel extremely weighed down, barely able
to breathe, and only able to move maybe a
finger or so. I try to move as much as I
can to wake up. And I know how terrible
it is to have someone right around you (i
share a queen sized bed with my grandma
when i'm at home) and not be able to get
help.
Thank goodness I have found people who can
relate!
|
bananaz_r_mushy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 2
I Have Had It B4 2 Posted: 04-23-07 08:04am
i am now 14 an went i was little use 2 get
sleep paralysis. neva new what it was till
now, i wish i enjoyed thoughs 5 years
wile it lastd but now its back and worse.
went i was lil i would wake up from a
lucid dream were i new i was dreamin from
den would wake up with my eyez wide open
wide looking around. it was weired coz ppl
ho had this were lying on their back but i
waz always lying on my tummy evrytime. i
wasnt able 2 move or talk at all. i would
feel a heavy weight on my bak like sum1
was sitting on me. i could hear a loud
ringig sound an couldnt breathe and
thought i waz gona die. i also could feel
the presence of sum1 or thing was there in
my room sumwhere watchin me.
now went i get it it is worse coz i get it
b4 i fall asleep durin a dream aswell plus
no matter how hard i try 2 fight it i
rarly win and end up being sucked bak in2
my dream were the process is repeated
through the night. now it is worse coz i
also hallucinate in colour and always see
the same spirit ghost wateva it is(kinda
looks lyk the devil)and also feel hands
touching me. i also get sleep terror
aswell wich scares my mum when she checks
on me at nite. also i strange thing is
when i fall bak asleep after losing a
fight with sleep paralysis i dream of the
same thing iva an ova but no its a dream 4
sum reason.
now that its come bak a have theories of
how 2 prevent it like not having caffine
or sugar near bed time, going 2 bed and
waking up in a rythem and not thinking
about it coz when i 4got about it it
happened less and less.
hope this helps
|
1nsomni4
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 27 Location: ontario, canada
Posted: 04-28-07 19:57pm
Do any of you suffer from
narcolepsy(daytime sleepiness)? 50% of the
people who have narcolepsy get sleep
paralysis/hypnagogic hallucinations.
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bananaz_r_mushy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Apr 2007 Posts: 2
Posted: 04-28-07 20:08pm
i do not believe that i suffer from it but
i do find that almost everyday i find
myself very sleepy even if i had a good
sleep that night and nights before but
have never realy had a time were i have
fallen asleep during the day at
inappropriate times. i find that i usually
find it very hard to fall asleep i am just
realy tired and sometimes it makes me
dizzy and want to throw up.
|
XxlarnyxX
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 2 Location: taunton
Posted: 04-29-07 05:21am
I'm So Glad That I'm Not The Only Person
That Has Got It!
I Know What Your Feeling..
Its Soo stressful When You Loose All That
Sleep And Its Sometimes really Scary..
Must Be Awful Too Have It Everyday..
I'm Not Saying You Do..
But If Someone Has This And They Drink
Alcohol..
I Would Seriously Give It Up It Makes Mine
10x Worse Also I Found..
If You Have A Good Sleeping Routine Bed
Early.. Up Early Every Day..
It Helps.. During The Paralysis.. I know
Its Hard Not 2 Struggle 2 Move..
But I Find Its Easier 2 Just Lie There And
Relax And Eventually You Will Come Out Of
It.. And When You Do Dont Go Straight Back
2 Sleep..
To Prevent It Happening Again Before You
Go Back To Stare At A Bright Light.
I'm Just Wondering If Anyone Else
Exsperienses The Weight On The Chest
Feeling.. And Hallucinations??
|
lagrimas
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 18 Location: New Jersey
Which Is Which Posted: 05-01-07 10:43am
is sleep paralysis and anxiety attacks the
same. i have the same symptoms as you do
but my eyes are open i just cant move and
i feel intense fear. im not sure which one
i suffer from .....
|
NightBat
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 31 May 2007 Posts: 4 Location: Pa
Posted: 06-01-07 02:29am
I have had it 4 times laying on my back. I
heard 2 different things it could be. When
you are sleeping you body is paralized so
that if you run in a dream you don't
actually run in bed. Or if you have a
dream your hitting someone you don't
actually punch someone next to you. Well
once in a while you mind wakes up before
the body and your body is still in the
sleeping state. You should be able to
breath fine unless you start panicking. It
is what normally happens at some point in
you sleep states.
The other thing I heard it is is you are
about to have an out of body experience.
If you are having sleep paralysis just
relax and go with it. You will start to
float out of your body and can go through
ceilings and travel outside the body.
These are the 2 things I heard it could
be. I never heard it called an attack
before. I don't think it's that serious.
You sould have no problems breathing if
you relax.
|
LocalMotion2189
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Jun 2007 Posts: 1
Posted: 06-04-07 23:26pm
man i was so scared that i was the only
one that had this!! i thought i had it bad
since the average person has it only once
in their lives while i have it about once
a month. however, seeing other people have
it as frequent (or more! gosh i feel so
much for you guys and hope you will get
over the problem very soon), i feel at
least a little more comforted....anyways,
when you guys have it do you guys feel a
little dizzy and/or physically and
mentally exhausted after waking up from
one of these?...if anyone's ever had one
of those "flying dreams", it feels like
the complete opposite (feeling more alert,
energized and a generally "good" feeling)
of that when i wake up (which is
interesting, because i used to have those
as frequent as i have these "sleep
paralysis" occurrences. maybe just a
coincidence?)
|
devalex8844
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Europe
Posted: 06-28-07 00:51am
Hello Guys ... I'm glad i could find you
...
I'm Alex ; I live in Romania ; I
have 23 years old and i am a student ; Due
to the nature of my work and unwillingly
other activities that involve the computer
i spend lot's of time in front of it . A
year ago i started having problems with my
back but nothing serious ... Two months
ago i reched that state that often i
couldn't stay in front of the computer
more than 15 minutes without becoming
dizzy and nauseaus after i stoped using it
... I thought i had cervical discopaty or
something like that because i felt my neck
and lower-back head heavy... I went to the
doctor and i took a neck radiography and
nothing showed up ...
In the same time i was doing
this , when i sleept (that is for about
three months ago), that is when i slept
only on the back side(i do not recolect
having experienced "SLEEP PARALYSIS" some
other position) i had experienced exactly
, shockingly-striking similar experiences
as you did ... sensation of paralisys,
sensation of vibration of muscles (like
someone electrocuted me), sensation that i
can't breathe (maybe it wasn't a
sensation) ; i was at first frightened ;
even one time i had the sensation someone
was pushing my chest down to the bed not
letting me rise up (like a ghost or
something ) etc ;
I recolect a month ago ,before
i startted do take physical exercises i
was at school and suddenly for a second
(maybe even shorter than that) , i felt
my head falling down and a very sleepy
sensation (quite intense) and i started to
panic but that never happened again .
Also when i stretch my neck very intense i
get dizzy and sleepy
So my opinion is that i
developed "SLEEP PARALYSIS" due to
longterm use of the computer, very little,
or none, physical exercises ;
3 weeks ago i started taking exercises ,
push-ups, arm sthrengtening exercises, and
i don't feel the dizzines and the HARD
neck sensation so much intense ; in fact i
feel realy good ; i don't even have the
sensation of not breathing good anymore ,
except when i sleep on my back and DEVELOP
"SLEEP PARALYSIS" .
So what's your story ? Do you have neck
problems ? Narcolepsy ?
OOO : Even when i was a little boy(10-12
YRS) i was very lazy, all the day i felt
tired and wanted to sleep for no reason ;
i find this sensation quite frequent today
even though when i start to do something
physically active it disipears ....
|
Nagmine
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 1
Posted: 07-18-07 08:12am
Hello
I have lived with sleep paralysis since I
was 8 years old and am now going on 24. I
seem to have a extreme version of it due
to unlike alot of people I tend to
hallucinate very vividly almost evertime I
have SP. Ive seen everything from a man on
fire to a weird mantis creature standing
in my room while I laid in bed unable to
move. I will just say that pretty much
most of my life seemed to be some crazy
horror film.
Anyways today I have grown use to it now
that I know its a disorder rather then
wondering these creatures were infact real
or not .
Things Ill say. First off I dont have
Narcolepsy which seems to be a big thing
for most people (I dont often take naps at
all due to having SP when I do). It does
happen to me more often when I sleep on my
back or side. I normaly sleep on my
stomach and still have it randomly that
way as well. Like most people said you
will feel a vibration and a feeling on
your chest as if you cant breath. One
thing to remember is when your asleep your
body will normally slow down breathing.
When your in sleep paralysis your body is
still asleep while part of you mind is
not. So what you feeling is your body in a
sleeping state were everything is kinda
slowed down. This state of being half
asleep and half away also explains the
hallucinations. You are pretty much
dreaming while you are awake making things
seem very real and scary. Your mind will
normaly blame the fact that you cant move
and the fact that you cant take deep
breaths on a outside force. Thus seeing a
ghost or something on or around you. It is
very creepy indeed.
My suggestions are when you do wake up in
this state just remeber whats going on.
Try not to panic and just let your body
breath normaly... stress will normaly make
it happen again. (Ive poped out of SP ..
fliped over and went right back into SP ..
not fun times). If you are scared then one
way to pop out is just try and take faster
short burst of air. This will normaly wake
you up.. of not try and relax your body
completely and then make a sudden jerk.
When if you do get out of sleep paralysis
do not roll over and go back to sleep. Get
up walk around a bit.. stretch let your
mind wake up a bit. Then when you feel
good try and sleep again. Normaly sleep
paralysis for me will happen over and over
if I just keep trying to sleep as is.
Another thing to do.. this one is much
more harder due to fear. When you wake up
or fall into SP. Be calm .. close your
eyes and let your self fall into deep
sleep. It took me years to get the guts to
just let myself fall back to sleep.. due
to fear. But it is the most relaxing and
less stressing on your mind.
Anyways hope that helps some on basic
stuff See if I can answer
some stuff as well.
Quote:
when you guys
have it do you guys feel a little dizzy
and/or physically and mentally exhausted
after waking up from one of
these?
One thing is when you have them you body
and mind freaks out. Unable to move you
start pumping adrenaline even though you
cant use it to run or anything. So normaly
right after poping out of SP and burning
all that adrenaline you feel like you just
jogged around the block real fast and
jumped into a bed. No matter how tired you
feel after a episode of SP its always best
to get up and have a quick stretch.
In the other case were you have the flying
dream I imagine its due to being more
relaxed and not pumping youself full of
adrenaline. I havent had very many flying
dreams during sleep paralysis .. although
I did a few times which were very weird.
Quote:
sensation of
vibration of
muscles
Im not totaly sure why theres this weird
vibrating feeling during SP. I think it
may also have something to do with your
adrenaline. But often I noticed when Im in
SP my senses seem to be stronger then as
if I was awake (lights seem to be
brighter.. sounds seem stronger) . So I
kinda wonder if this is part of the
vibrating feeling.
Quote:
is sleep
paralysis and anxiety attacks the same. i
have the same symptoms as you do but my
eyes are open i just cant move and i feel
intense fear. im not sure which one i
suffer from .....
This is sleep paralysis . The fact your
body cant move and you cant take deep
breathes is what causes you to go into a
panic attack.
Quote:
Do any of you
suffer from narcolepsy(daytime
sleepiness)? 50% of the people who have
narcolepsy get sleep paralysis/hypnagogic
hallucinations.
I rarely fall asleep during the day unless
Ive had a very long night the day before.
I also seem to have very intense
hypnagogic hallucinations. Often I will
see or hear something weird before I even
know I cant move.
--------
Anyways its cool to feel I am not alone in
this. I hope everyone good luck. The more
you understand whats happening to you the
less freaked out you will feel next time
it happens.
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Schizophreniahealth
This page was last updated on June 11, 2008
...
.
See if I can answer
some stuff as well.
