Sleep paralysis and Lucid dreaming usually happens together it seems. Sounds like thats what you have. I suffer from the same

I have had almost the EXACT same experience so many times, i can´t even count any more.
I am always sleeping, i KNOW i am sleeping, and i wake up in my dream. Everything in the room is exactly the same, but I am sure i am still in my dream. Always the same thing happens, I can´t move at all and the fact that i am completely paralyzed in my dream, scares me into frantically trying to wake myself up...it´s scary and annoying at the same time. When i finally do wake up, the same thing happens to me, I just fall back asleep...so it has got to the point where i literally have to force myself to wake up no matter how tired I am, and find something else to occupy my mind for a while. Sometimes this will happen to me several times until i finally have the energy to basically pick myself up out of bed so that it stops happening. It happens the second I fall asleep...almost always. One time, I saw my boyfriend...exactly as he was before leaving that morning. He was right there beside me but he wasnt doing anything, and than he left.
Since this happens to me so frequently, I have come to notice certain patterns...maybe it will help you ?

I have noticed that first off...this almost always happens when I am sleeping in the house completely alone. In fact I can´t remember it happening in a situation where there has been anyone else in the house but me.
Also, it happens a lot if there has been some sort of negativity in my life.
But the biggest thing i have noticed is that it always happens after i wake up for a while and try to fall back asleep. It almost seems as if I am tired but my body is telling me to wake up, which makes sense because it has happened a lot when I over sleep, and than try to go back to sleep again. But I finally force myself to sleep and this happens. I have read a couple articles and one said this can possibly happen to people that take naps, or try to fall asleep sitting down. One article said that your body is trying to create an alarm clock and that is it´s way of waking you...by waking you in your dream?

Anyway, I also read something that said it helps to blink, and occasionally when you do, and open your eyes again you may be completely awake...and it has worked for me almost all the time..it just takes a couple tries to get myself awake.
I hope that helps you a bit because I know it´s really disturbing and incredibly annoying. Good luck with that !

Im really glad i found this post - it has happened to me a lot lately. I know I'm dreaming but everything is so real - only sometimes in the dream I make myself look at my clock and it always tells the wrong time, so I know I'm still in the dream. I force myself awake and then I think I'm awake but I'm not - I'm still in the dream. And then sometimes I wake up but only for a second- then I'm back in the dream. Over and over again. It is very frustrating and scary as I feel trapped.

I don't know why it happens but I'm glad to find someone else that it happens to.

This happens to me at least once a week, and it gets worse and worse each time it happens... This morning it happened actually and it lasted forever. I always thought it was sleep paralysis but it's different because it's all just a dream actually, maybe it's another form of sleep paralysis though.

Anywho, I have the same thing. I wake up and look around with my eyes, everything looks like my room and everything feels so real. When I go to get up I feel as if I'm getting up but in all actuallity I am making no progress and quickly get thrown back into my bed. This morning though, mine was slightly different, I actually gained control. I could hear my parents talking in the other room and I started screaming, I could hear myself scream, I screamed and screamed and screamed, I even screamed so much that in the dream I actually vomitted. But no one heard me, it was hopeless. I also gained enough to control to get up and go knock on the wall of my room in hopes that someone would hear me, but yet I couldn't see anything except the ceiling of my room, but it felt as if I was up knocking on the wall.

I have this so often and it's so frightening. I want to find a way to put an end to it cause EVERY time I have it it gets more worse and more intense, to the point that when I wake up I almost never want to fall asleep ever again. =[

If anyone knows if this is a form of sleep paralysis that'd be great to know, cause that's what I refer to it as.

I am so happy i found this. I have had the same thing happening to me since about freshman year in highschool. I am now 21. It still happens every once in a while. I awake in my dream and everything feels and looks so real. Only i can only move my eyes, the rest of my body is paralyzed. I sit there struggling to wake up because my mind tells me i have to wake up because im scared if i just lay there and dont try to force my body to wake up. When i finally do wake up im sweaty and if feels like i just burst out of being held down by something. Ive explained it to family members but nobody "gets it". I didnt know what was wrong and it terrifies me. Sometimes if i go right back to bed it was happen again so i have to do something like walk around before going back to bed. Does anybody know what this is, or what causes it?

I don't feel so crazy now knowing that there are other people out there that have also had this horrible experience. I also suffer from this every morning and is has gotten to the point where I don't want to go to sleep because i know it will happen. I find it also happens when I am alone, i try to sit up and open my eyes only to find myself fall back into some sort of paralyzed state where i know im dreaming and its extremely hard to try to wake up, this is when i start to panic and my breathing becomes very heavy I try to talk or moan in hope someone will wake me up. I do think it happens if you are getting to much sleep or if you wake up early and try to go back to sleep, sleeping tablets make it much worse. It is very frustrating when you tell other people about this only to get weird looks because they haven't experienced this.

Ok, At first i was calling it a dream , but its technically not dreaming if i am aware of everything, and its really happening. I will go to sleep, and sometimes if i am extremely tired and fall asleep too fast, i will have this instance occur. I will have this feeling come over me that will wake me in my sleep, only i cant open my eyes or move. The only thing i can do is breath. I can hear everything and everybody around me when i am in this state. It feels like it hurts when i try to move, and i use all the energy i have to try to wake up. Sometimes i have to take a break. I WILL NOT try to fall asleep because i am afraid that i might die in my sleep. I feel like if i give up, it gets darker like i am going down a black hole. I breath as hard as i can to wake myself up that way. Most of my family and friends know whats going on, so if they hear or see me breathing extra hard, they will grab me and start shaking to wake me up. As soon as i hear them talking about it, i breath harder and harder to confirm to wake me up. When i do finally wake up, im so tired and want to fall back to sleep, but if i do immediately, I will just fall back into that same state again. I have to turn on lights, drink water, walk around something to completely wake myself up or it will happen again. Once i completely wake up, i feel like i am in the first stage of trying to go to sleep, and it is not as easy to go back. Im ok with that.

I have been having these types of dreams since elementary school and ive always been scared as hell of them. most of the time when mine occur they are accompanied by some form of ghost like presence. in my "dream" they can talk to me and i can respond. they never touch me but i can never wake up. my body is held and i pray and pray until i am released. this morning something new happened i heard a loud noise and my face felt like it was distorting. obviously i was dreaming this but i am so creeped out...not to mention exhausted.

OMG I feel bad for you people. We call this "the hag" and i've only had it during times of high fever during bouts of strep throat.


I just couldn't imagine going through that on an ongoing basis

i have read all these comments on this subject written by different people. my experiences are very similar. it always happens when i am really tired and cant wait to go to bed. i always pay attention to the time on my alarm clock before i go to sleep. for what ever reason i sometimes kind of know im gonna have one of these dreams.once i fell asleep at 11:30 and had one of these dreams and i awoke it was only 11:33. so i think it must happen when you are in a really deep sleep. it always seems like an out of body experience to where its like watching a movie of yourself from a birdseye view. the dreams are always of the bedroom i am actually sleeping in. everything will feel normal then something will happen out of the ordinary. and i will notice it like the curtains will start moving when the windows arent open this is the point where i know im in one of these dreams. someone always appears who i know like my dad are someone i love. i know it s not them because they look different and have a blank expression on there faces. this is when the paralasis starts and i cant scream. what ever this evil thing is it knows that i know whats happening and it begins to cause me pain by either strangling me or sticking a knife in me. ive even tried ignoring it and it then seems to hurt me more. when i wake up eventually im in a panic and sweating and scared stiff and actually cant move. and where ever the pain was coming from it will hurt in that area.i am rerally pissed off and dont want to go back to sleep.the next day om really depressed and it takes me a while to get over these dreams. i once had one where i was on an operating table in a spaceship and the aliens were operating on me and they implanted something into my body. they also where holding me down and i was unable to scream and the pain in this dream was the most intense out of any of the dreams i have had. i really wish i didnt have these dreams as they really effect me. i just think why me. i have never met anyone who has experienced this and i am glad im not the only one. i find it hard to talk about these experiences because i dont want to sound insane and if no one i know has experienced it they dont realise how horrible these dreams really are. sorry for the big essay but im glad ive finally got it all written down and off my chest for you all to see and compare it to your experiences.

dont worry too much about it, as far as i know you do eventually wake up but be glad you dont have the problem i do, i wake up from the dream just to find out i've only managed to wake up into another drream and have had this happen up to 5 times in sucession before finally managing to wake up for real. opiate based pain medication seems to make these sort of experiences occur more often i've noticed and in another thread i had this to say in regards to the similiar subject of sleep paralysis and electrical sounds/feelings while falling asleep

,
just do some research on sleep paralysis, basicly to sum things up its one of the bodies natural ways to protect itself from acting out dreams. when drifting into the sleep state the brainstem releases a kind of brain chemicle that causes the body to become paralyzed so that if say you slip into a dream where your running around and wake up prematurely you dont go running off a cliff, basicly a way to keep the body from hurting itself. as for the the weird sounds and electircal feelings, those can be attributed to someting called a myoclonic jerk i believe is the phrase, the body thinks its dieing so it sends out electrical impulses to keep itself jumpstarted and everyone goes through these processes but most are unconcious before they ever have a chance to notice them. so in summary
sleep paralyzation is a bodies way to keep itself from harm
hallucinations or visions in this state are literally dreaming while your concious
and the electircal efefcts are the body being too aware that its drifting off into sleep and because of this, is misinterpreting falling asleep as dieing and in turn the body trying to compensate.

this has all been a major area of interest for me for a number of years now and if anyone has any further questions and uses aol or aim, feel free to message me as AshNineFallen and ill be happy to try and clarify anything you may wish to know in regards to the matter

ride the spiral and i hope this info allows you to rest much easier


p.s.
these kind of experiences open up a whole new world in regards to lucid dreaming and if your taking any sort of opiate based pain medication it tends to make these sorts of experiences more noticeable.
and remember, fear is the mindkiller, fearnot and grow

ok I just had a vivd dream, and in this dream I was in a drunken state, or a high state as u could call it, in the dream, so in my dream i was messed up on something, it felt so real, and the weird thing, I also couldnt see in my dream, so my reaction was to wake myself up, and i did, but I fell right back to sleep, and picked up where I left off, and my reaction was to wake myself up again, and it seemed almost impossible, finally I did, and by that time I was in a frantic state, can someone help me and explain what it is that happenend to me?

In my sleep I often have something which is called Sleep paraylsis (or at least thats what i've been told it's called) . In my dreams I am lying in my bed, when I try to wake up I can't. I find myself willing my eyes to open. apparentely I have been told that I make a funny sound when this happens. Eventually, when I manage to open my eyes I feel so relieved. Last night I expereinced something different, this expereince really really scared me. Once again I was lying in my bed, but instead of trying to open my eyes, I felt my breathing gradually getting slower and slower, somethin inside me was telling me that this was the end for me and that I was about to take my last breath, I was actually thinking "my god this time tomorrow I will be dead and inside a coffin". somehing inside me was telling me to fight it and try and wake myself up. (which fortunately this time I did) Has anybody elese expereinced anything like this before?

It scared me so much that I fear going to sleep again.

Hi, I use to suffer from sleep paralysis. I would wake up but my body would not. I could not open my eyes but I can hear and feel everything around me. If the cat walked over me I would feel this too.

I would feel like a presence was in the room with me, and I would be afraid and try to roll off of the bed, but no matter how far I got, when I finally woke up I would find that I didn't actually move at all.

I also would periodically get an electrical shock right up my spine. That happened when I went to the hospital for an EEG, I had to go the whole night without sleep and it happened right on cue during the hospital test. But the nurse didn't shake me out of it.

I would start breathing heavy so that someone would hear me and shake me awake, that is what my boyfriend use to do for me. Shake me awake when my breathing changed.

I think the sleep paralysis is from sleep depervation and ever since I make sure to get at least 8 hours every night like clock work cause I am afraid if I loose sleep I will have one of these incidents happen again.

It has been over 5 years since my last time this has happened (knock on wood) I never did find any thing more out from the doctor as to what else I can do to make sure this does not happen again. But I hope my story helps others.

I also have a similar experience. I also agree that it happens when you're sleep deprived. But I think for me there's another trigger. Sometimes in the day I get tired and think to myself that I'll have a nap. I'll lay in bed but say to myself I don't want to sleep for that long. Then I'll go off to sleep and after a while I will notice I'm asleep. In my dream I open my eyes and I'm lying in my bed. If I reach out and touch something nothing happens. I try rolling myself off the bed, trying to say something but I can't hear or feel anything. On one occasion I thought I was feeling things but it wasn't really the same. On another occasion I could hear people in the hallway but was it my imagination? I don't know. Everything is a dream and although I know dreaming isn't harmful it's different.

Sometimes when I dream I know I'm dreaming and I'm in a fantasy doing something (lucid dreaming) but in this case I want to wake up and I see my bedroom around me. I worry that I will never wake up and logically I know I always have been able to but a small part of me thinks..maybe you won't this time!

I am so glad I don't have the frightening imagery and sounds as other people do. I think this is because I know that everything is still a dream. The real fear for me is not being able to wake up.

In an earlier post someone said it's your body's way of creating an alarm. I think that's true because I do tell myself I don't want to sleep for too long. So I believe my mind is ready before my body if that makes sense.

I've just had one of these dreams now and that's why I decided to google my problem and post an reply. My head hurts a little because I'm not refreshed and did not wake up 'naturally'. I too made sure I didn't go back to sleep because I would slip back into it again. I too try to get my 8 hours but this is not always possible.

When people say it's sleep paralysis I agree, well yes I am paralysed. Yes it's the body's way of keeping my body from harm. But why am I aware of this? Sleep paralysis is one function of my body but my condition doesn't seem to have a name. Lucid dreaming, for me, doesn't fit the bill either because I do lucid dream very occasionally and change the dream and know I'm dreaming but it's within a normal dream and it's almost fun. There's not the feeling of panic that you need to wake yourself up.

I feel like the condition we all have contains elements of the two but is a separate phenomena in itself.

Harley.

A recurring dream or after-dream symptom constantly relate to some flaw in your intestines or nervous system. Modern science cannot establish an accurate mapping between them yet, but it may be worth a visit to a homeopathic doctor for advice.

ok u need an open mind for this, but this has worked for me. we are body soul and spirit existing in a realm that is both physical and spiritual... and sometimes, when we're asleep or awak we're able to interract with the spirit realm... and it with us. so for instance the guy who was injured in his sleep felt it when he woke up because it really happened... someone/thing attacked him in the spirit and it manifested in the physical.
i know how this sounds but... it's for real. a bit like the matrix.
I recommend a visit to a pastor who can pray with you and intercede for you to get help from God. This stuff is no joke.

its 3:18 in the morning... and i've just had one of these so called dreams.. and this is probably the 5th one.. and I AM SICK OF IT!!! it's getting worse by each dream.. the first couple of them I wasn't scared at all, it had to do with my parents finding out something but i knew i was dreaming and if i repeated i'm dreaming over and over again i'd eventually wake up. but these past two weeks my dreams have gotten way more intense.. i can't even describe them with words.. one dream was soo long i thought maybe it wasn't a dream after all and i really believed i was going to die.
I usually get enough sleep so I don't think its sleep deprivation for me...
I doubt it'll help to have someone else in the room.. my roomate was here today but in the other room

i feel so helpless... i can't think of anything that's going to make this go away.. and i get scared really easily as is. i use to have nightmares as a kid..
i really thought my roomate had come to wake me up.. i saw her sitting next to me but she had my mom's voice.. and i tried reaching out to get her wake me.. but slowly i realized she was part of the dream.. and this overwhelming feeling of helplessness came over me.. i've never felt this way in dreams or real life...


any helpful hints will be more than welcome

i just want my peaceful sleep back..

I am reading with interest everyone's comments and have attached a link to reading information that makes sense to me. I will recap what I learned at this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralys is#Awareness_during_sleep_paralysis

Basically, your brain is waking up before your muscles can. You may think you are aware of your surroundings, but after asking my husband (who happened to observe an episode) if I was accurate, it was close because I knew my surroundings before I went to sleep and nothing changed, but I did get a few things wrong. My pets were not in the room as I thought, but I saw them clear as a bell because they're my pets! I never dream anything bizarre and out of the ordinary. Ecverything is realistic. But there does seem to be a sense of panic when I can't get my eyes open quick enough. Once I learned that I am safe and I just need to relax and stay with it, I wake up fine. I think it's important not to panic and to "go with it" because the bottom line is, you could very well have this condition for your life time and it's better to adapt than to panic when you do.