Sleep Paralysis. I Get It. You Get It. We All Get It. Let's Talk About It.

Hello again, ATS.

I would like to know how many of you have ever experienced sleep paralysis?

I have been an experiencer of this phenomenon since the age of 14. I did not know what was wrong with me and for a long time secretly held the fear that I was suffering from epilepsy. Many of the experiences were really terrifying and powerful.

By the age of 21, I was able to research this for myself and discover that I was not epileptic, but that I was experiencing what was called ‘sleep paralysis’ (SP), or in some places it is referred to as ‘night terrors’.
Over the years I have always had my antennae up for anything having to do with SP and I have heard it all; from the Canadian Scientist at McGill that can recreate it neurobiologically in his lab with machinery, to the UFO abduction connection.

I was on a thread here at ATS a while back wherein several (8 or so) of us were hanging out at the end trying to figure stuff out and it dawned on me to ask if anyone else experienced SP. I was stunned to find that all 8 of us had.

Remarkable to say the least. I will cite the thread later if there is enough interest.

So come out of the SP closet now, ATS. I know you are out there. Let’s show some numbers. I am much more interested in how many of us there are and in hearing anecdotal tales than in what SP is or isn’t, but of course that is more than welcome, too, as I am a seeker after the truth of it.

I have many harrowing tales of SP to share and I will and more as we go along.

So. Who gets da Sleep Paralysis?

What's weird, I only experienced this when I was with my x-husband, but after we separated and got divorce, I don't experience it as much.

reply to post by Frater210


The feeling is scary as hell.. Ive experienced this quite a bit and have no idea why. I know when we go to sleep the body releases a cehmical that paralyzes us, to prevent us from acting out our dreams while we sleep (IE movement).

I have expereienced lucid dreams as well...

The reason I bring it up is I have been aware of the fact im dreaming and cant move, while having difficulties breathing as well (wondering if I might have a form of sleep apnea).

Being aware of whats going on, the feeling of not being able to breath while not being able to move in order to wake yourself up.


Its freaky and I wish I knew why I experience this.. It happens to me a few times a months.

it has happened to me but only once. it was due to a leaking propane bottle was wide awake but could not move could not open my eyes anything...lasted for what seemed like forever but was only about 15 minutes. once i was able to jolt awake and up out of the bed i was terrified. was a very disturbing experience.

reply to post by Frater210


I used to have night terrors when I was young, 4-7ish years old. Luckily that's something most tend to grow out of.

I have only experienced sleep paralysis once in my life. It was my freshman year of college. One morning I woke up laying on my stomach. My bed was up against the wall which was the side I was facing, so I could see nothing but the wall. When I first woke up and was still a bit groggy/half asleep, I assumed someone was on me holding me down because I remember trying to say "Get off me" but found even speaking to be difficult - it came out muffled. My lips didnt even want to move. At that point I realized that my body felt as if it weighed a million pounds and I could not move at all. I thought for a second that I might be dying or that I would be stuck in that state forever, and that's when I got really scared.

It only lasted about 20 seconds or so, but it felt like quite a while. Freaked me out pretty good since I had never heard about it. Researched it that day though and obviously found out what had really happened to me and that it was not uncommon.

pretty weird experience though. Haven't had it happen since

Yes ive had this a number of times, and frankly i wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy, it a bloody nightmare (no pun intent). i can remember not so long ago, waking up in bed, and not being able to move my body, the scary bit was that i have a very high bed, and i could feel myself falling out of it and not being able to stop, just waiting for the bang on the floor wi8thout being able to protect myself. Thankfully i started moving again just as i was falling. Urgh horrid.

Don't get sleep paralysis but do get "Exploding Head Syndrome" (yes its real google it) after 10 seconds to 20 minutes of falling asleep, i get a ridiculous high pitch screech/scream in my head, i wake up in excruciating pain holding my head for around 5 seconds of hell, then as fast as it came it disappears. When its happening i know its inside my head which is kinda weird, always expected my whole family to wake up when i was younger lol

I gotta say, I'm looking forward to my next experience with SP after reading the first couple of threads.The few times it happened when I was a teenager it would terrify me. I've gone through not being able to breathe, seeing shadows, or hands coming out of my closet, and not being able to move. My new favorite thing though is the floating out of my body feeling, which I am looking forward to exploring more. It's kind of hard to get use to and not freak out. Anyway these threads have helped me know that it's not just me and some of the experiences are so much alike. Nice to know there is like people out there.

I have experienced SP many times since I was a child. How ever I haven't had it in the last few years. I learned to "cure it" by sleeping on my stomach and taking melatonin supplements.

I am also a natural lucid dreamer. Meaning, I came by it naturally and never had to put any effort into learning how to do it. I wonder if lucid dreaming plays a role in it. I also have near perfect dream recall.

Now days, I instead of SP, I experience a range of different things when falling asleep. Limb flailing, a sensation that my body is turning into liquid, loud noises and other auditory things, and the feeling that my body is vibrating.

I have only experienced this once and im not sure if it was sleep paralasis or not .
I lived in the country on a ranch in Arkansas.There had been a cattle mutalation on the neighbors ranch the nite before.
I sleep with a Colt .45 under the pillow It was cold that night and the wife and I were covered up ..sound asleep
I thought I herd a noise in the bathroom ..the door was next to my side of the bed.I reached under the pillow and picked up the pistol and clicked off the safty.
I thought I could see a shadwoand something white out of the corner of my vision..and I could not move.. my eyes were open but it was as if my body was frozen I do not know how long this lasted.but it left as quickly as it started and I was out of bed in a flash with the pistol aimed at the bathroom . There was nothing there !
This was the only time this has ever happened and frankly it scared the heck out of me ..

reply to post by Frater210


I’ve experienced SP from time to time over my life, but not recently. Feels like being at the bottom of the pool and finding the surface isn’t as close as you think. But I’ve never associated them with nightmares.

I recently have experienced exploding head syndrome shortly after falling asleep. Doesn’t cause pain but my whole body jumps/spasms for a second.

Another thing I have noticed is that upon falling asleep is sometimes I will feel myself being “pulled” into a deep relaxed state. I guess I’m not used to being that relaxed as I always awake with a start. Not freaked out, just my eyes snap open and I’m awake again. But it still doesn't feel natural to me.

I’ll look at the clock and see only 10-15 minutes have gone by, but I feel rested and wide awake. Strange.

I’ve have to figure a way to make this work for me.

reply to post by Xcathdra

Being aware of whats going on, the feeling of not being able to breath while not being able to move in order to wake yourself up. Its freaky and I wish I knew why I experience this.. It happens to me a few times a months.

Yes. The first many experiences that I had with it were really scary. In fact I have led a very active life and some of my SP experiences are scarier than anything I have ever encountered.

During my first experience at about 14 I awoke suddenly to find myself arched up on my back from ankles to the crown of my head with my fists and arms pressing down and the feeling of being electrocuted and being able to do nothing about it.

reply to post by parksh


Thanks for sharing, parksh...

My new favorite thing though is the floating out of my body feeling, which I am looking forward to exploring more.

I have also had experiences similar this but they did not start until about 20 years after the first experience.

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by Frater210

 

Another thing I have noticed is that upon falling asleep is sometimes I will feel myself being “pulled” into a deep relaxed state. I guess I’m not used to being that relaxed as I always awake with a start. Not freaked out, just my eyes snap open and I’m awake again. But it still doesn't feel natural to me.

I’ll look at the clock and see only 10-15 minutes have gone by, but I feel rested and wide awake. Strange.

This happens to me quite often. Does it only happen once, or will it happen multiple times, in attempts to fall asleep? On some of the nights that I experience this, it will happen every single time I start to drift off to sleep.

Interesting thread! The explanation for sleep paralysis that makes the most sense to me is:
You are having an OBE. You start to wake up before you are back in the body, hence you cannot move. It doesn't last long, but is a scary, creepy sensation.
I had the experience several months ago; I sleep in a lift chair (never mind the reason). When I could finally move, I literally jumped out of the chair. I did not sleep the remainder of that night, nor did I want to...

Originally posted by calstorm

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by Frater210

 

Another thing I have noticed is that upon falling asleep is sometimes I will feel myself being “pulled” into a deep relaxed state. I guess I’m not used to being that relaxed as I always awake with a start. Not freaked out, just my eyes snap open and I’m awake again. But it still doesn't feel natural to me.

I’ll look at the clock and see only 10-15 minutes have gone by, but I feel rested and wide awake. Strange.

This happens to me quite often. Does it only happen once, or will it happen multiple times, in attempts to fall asleep? On some of the nights that I experience this, it will happen every single time I start to drift off to sleep.

It seems to be happening with greater frequency lately, whether a nap or going to bed for the night. Mentally, I'll be wide awake, but physically exhausted. My sleep cycle is getting more trashed by the day. I have always been able to deal with a minimum of sleep and have always believed in power naps.

But I've never experienced this pulling until this year.

I've experienced sleep paralysis many, many times. It started around my early-mid teens and has persisted on and off ever since. Normally it's no big whoop. I'll just wake up with the ability to look around the room but unable to move a muscle or make a sound. Sometimes they'll be vibrations but no evil, unseen presence felt. Just the frustration from being unable to manipulate my body as I wish. I used to try to struggle and snap out it, but now I've learned that just relaxing into it helps even more.

However, on a handful of occasions I have had some really crazy experiences in this state.

-Several times I would lay motionless, but it felt as if I were actually moving. Hard to explain. Imagine you had a spirit body inside your physical one, and usually the two work in tandem, but in this instance the physical body was immobilized but the spirit one was free to move about let still attached. Make sense? It was as if my legs and arms were flailing about at will, yet in looking at my body I was completely motionless.

-I've had a few...I don't know what you'd call them...OBE's? Astral Projections? Where I was actually able to 'detach' momentarily. Look, I know not everyone believes in this kind of stuff, but trust me when it happens to you it's very, very real. Sometimes it feels like wadding through very thick mud. Like I have to literally pull myself out of my body and drag myself around the room. Once I did this on the way to the bathroom and encountered a man with a flashlight there. He smiled and shined it in my face and suddenly I was back in bed. Weird.

-The scariest incident happened when I was a teen. I awoke from a nap in my grandparents bed, paralyzed. I could hear them watching "Wheel of Fortune" in the next room. I thought it would be cool to try and have an out-of-body experience and 'spy' on them. I tried several times to sit out of my body but it felt like there was a giant rubberband stuck to the back of my head that kept snapping me back. Tried and tried and tried and then suddenly, much to my amazement, I was free!!! Opened the door...nothing but darkness. Switched on the light...nothing. Oh boy. And then, out of the closet came this dark, lanky, shadowy figure, arms outstretched coming right at me!! OMG. I tried to send it love and all that B.S. as it was backing me into a corner. Next thing I know I'm back in the bed. This felt 100 times realer than any dream I've ever had.

-I awoke once to find my walls, ceiling and floor covered in blood. Not fun.

-Just a few months ago I awoke to the sound of roaring and hissing at my back. I definitely felt a presence then. Tried to fight "it" off but of course I couldn't move. Woke up with scratches on my neck. I would assume they were self-inflicted, except I am a chronic nail-biter and barely have any nails. Several days after this I awoke to the sound of this demonic gibberish, ignored it and went back to sleep. (I was sick at the time an really didn't have the energy for that crap, real or imagined.)

-About a week after the incident above I awoke to find this water-like figure watching me. This thing looked very, very real. Ever seen the movie "Predator" where they can cloak themselves to make them seem invisible, but you can still make out the outline? Looked just like that, only more humanoid. It moved across the room without a sound and hung around for awhile. I asked it to leave, it didn't. I would close my eyes and when I would look again it was still there. Then I snapped out of it, and poof, gone.

I don't get it anymore since I started praying not to get it.

But once when it happened I saw a horrible humanoid figure giving me an evil grin, and everytime I would fall asleep and wake up, I would still see it. This happened for a whole night.

Haha, there are sooo many sleep paralysis threads... I like that you kinda alluded to that in your title.

People usually create threads to say they had a weird experience while asleep... and it almost always turns out to be a bout of sleep paralysis. So it's refreshing that you already realize everyone gets sleep paralysis at least once in their life.

I get it quite often because of medication that I'm prescribed.


But unlike most... it's never really bothered me. Well, it's bothered me, but never frightened me.

I always would describe it as feeling awake, lying in bed, seeing everything around you, but being unable to do anything. You can see everything, but are powerless to move. I've never experienced hallucinations during this (although most people say they have), it's mostly just annoyance at all the effort I'm exerting trying to pry the covers off of myself - to no avail.


Sleep paralysis is definitely an interesting phenomenon... despite the fact that all the mystery and paranormality behind it has been stripped away by science.
It seems that a lot of "hauntings" that occur when someone is waking up can usually be ascribed to sleep paralysis (which is why the topic is usually posted in the paranormal forum... even though there isn't anything paranormal about it).

But now I'm rambling. And speaking of sleep... I should probably get me some of that. xP

Originally posted by 547000
I don't get it anymore since I started praying not to get it.

That is highly common. I ask spirit guides to protect me every night and haven't experienced it since.

There are many reports of entities present when this happens. They are the cause of it.