Good ol' sleep paralysis.

[meduhsinman]

Who among the ranks has sleep paralysis? I've been dealing with sleep paralysis since I was 9 years old. From the ages of 7-13, I experienced neurological complications that range from petite mal, to complex partial seizures, to simple partial, to complete tonic/clonic siezures, yet, I have never lost consciousness -despite temporary paralysis of a limb, or hemiparesis; Every episode was different.

My files were sent to MAYO Clinic, and I was never given a definitive diagnosis. They said my EEG was completely synchronized on several occasions throughout a 72hr. observation, and they didn't know what to make of it. The sleep paralysis was irregular, though predictable. When I am deprived of sleep or highly stressed, sleep paralysis often comes if I am sleeping on my back, or in a sitting position.

I have never experienced the proverbial witch or alien, nor have I found another presence within my confines. The only experiences I've had has been alone with me, myself, and an inescapable feeling that I must "snap out of it."

I have experienced some odd occurences. For instance, in May of 2014, at the age of 23, I was crashing at my girlfriend's apartment. I was laying in her bed, and woke up somewhere around 2:00am. I noticed that I was in sleep paralysis because I couldn't move, yet I could see her closet when I painstakingly focused my half-lit eyes on it.

Her dresses that hung from the bar in the closet started to sway back and forth with a flick of my -dream?- hand. It was here that I am unsure if I experienced a dream or not. I could feel her clothes, I could hear the hangers, and they violently swayed when I wanted them to. When I finally managed to "snap out," I sat up, and noticed her dresses moving in the closet, but I was laying more than three arms lengths away. I woke her up and showed her, but she wasn't awake enough to comprehend what I was saying.

I quickly went back out of it, and heard unintelligible narrations in my head. Something about a push, anterior cingulate cortex, and someone saying, ".. and they all combined..." came to mind, but that was it.

I've experienced similar things when I was younger. When I was 12, I had another bout of sleep paralysis. I kind of "fell" out of my body, and could see the clock behind me. When I started awake, the clock was accurate to the time I perceived it to be, and I conked back out.

This has happened many times, and I'm starting to wonder if either my sanity or science should have their heads on the chopping block.

Anyone have any takes on this?

[141]

Who among the ranks has sleep paralysis? I've been dealing with sleep paralysis since I was 9 years old. From the ages of 7-13, I experienced neurological complications that range from petite mal, to complex partial seizures, to simple partial, to complete tonic/clonic siezures, yet, I have never lost consciousness -despite temporary paralysis of a limb, or hemiparesis; Every episode was different.

My files were sent to MAYO Clinic, and I was never given a definitive diagnosis. They said my EEG was completely synchronized on several occasions throughout a 72hr. observation, and they didn't know what to make of it. The sleep paralysis was irregular, though predictable. When I am deprived of sleep or highly stressed, sleep paralysis often comes if I am sleeping on my back, or in a sitting position.

I have never experienced the proverbial witch or alien, nor have I found another presence within my confines. The only experiences I've had has been alone with me, myself, and an inescapable feeling that I must "snap out of it."

I have experienced some odd occurences. For instance, in May of 2014, at the age of 23, I was crashing at my girlfriend's apartment. I was laying in her bed, and woke up somewhere around 2:00am. I noticed that I was in sleep paralysis because I couldn't move, yet I could see her closet when I painstakingly focused my half-lit eyes on it.

Her dresses that hung from the bar in the closet started to sway back and forth with a flick of my -dream?- hand. It was here that I am unsure if I experienced a dream or not. I could feel her clothes, I could hear the hangers, and they violently swayed when I wanted them to. When I finally managed to "snap out," I sat up, and noticed her dresses moving in the closet, but I was laying more than three arms lengths away. I woke her up and showed her, but she wasn't awake enough to comprehend what I was saying.

I quickly went back out of it, and heard unintelligible narrations in my head. Something about a push, anterior cingulate cortex, and someone saying, ".. and they all combined..." came to mind, but that was it.

I've experienced similar things when I was younger. When I was 12, I had another bout of sleep paralysis. I kind of "fell" out of my body, and could see the clock behind me. When I started awake, the clock was accurate to the time I perceived it to be, and I conked back out.

This has happened many times, and I'm starting to wonder if either my sanity or science should have their heads on the chopping block.

Anyone have any takes on this?

when you was 12 , i think you had an obe . i found it often strange that there are some similarities between obe's and sleep paralysis ....

[PrisonerX]

Yea, I've experienced SP randomly throughout my life. Many strange experiences/encounters accompany the episodes. Some quite disturbing and rather difficult to make any real sense of.

I also accidentally had an OBE once, but it didn't last long. To clarify, I say 'accidentally', but that's not entirely true. I had been doing a lot of meditation and research on the topic, so my mind was in a place that made it more probable. Nevertheless, I didn't intentionally induce it on this occasion; which is likely why it was short-lived. I got excited and snapped myself out of it.

I can't really provide any insight as to why you may be experiencing your particular brand of SP, because I'm at a loss to figure out my own. Wish you luck though. I know very well how strange the phenomena can be for those that endure it.

Edited September 15, 2015 by PrisonerX

[KateCastle]

Hi there. I'm in my twenties and I experience sleep paralysis quite often...I'd say at least once or twice a month. It usually consists of me "waking up" and seeing my room, but being unable to move. I'll usually see one of my hands and feel myself moving it in the dream, but it won't move IRL. If I try to jog myself and thrash hard enough, I'll usually wake up. I've never experienced the visual hallucination aspect of sleep paralysis with the dark figures or the kind of stuff you mentioned with the clothes in the closet, but I have experienced auditory hallucinations during SP, like hearing my parents talking or hearing thunder.

Do you experience lucid dreaming very often? I believe there's some sort of connection between lucid dreaming and SP. I've never suffered from seizures during my lifetime, but during that same age range you mentioned (7-13), I suffered from very vivid nightmares for several years. Those nightmares eventually led to me lucid dreaming at a very young age as a way to escape the nightmares. I still lucid dream often and when I do experience SP, it's almost always on the tail end of a lucid dream.

[gurtch]

I have narcolepsy and (lucky me) the worst effect of narcolepsy is sleep paralysis. I have had many as i have had them all my life. The top three worst are as follows. The night i explained to my girlfriend i had sleep paralysis i had an extremely terrible one. I was constantly coming out of sleep paralysis just to realize i was still paralyzed. It was like i was rising out of many levels of paralysis. mean while i could hear something running towards me. the next worst was when i was having a vissual hallucination while falling asleep. This thing started approaching me from my open door. Crawling toward me. It asked if i was asleep. It said, "grant, im watching you." then it began to back up crawling and never taking its eyes off of me. Then my girlfriend came in and walked past it. It looked up at her and i couldnt keep from panicking. I still see its white white eyes and white teeth. THE WORST WAS THIS AND I FEEL THERE MAY BE SOMETHING ELSLE HAPPENING. I have had many episodes like this. I wake up and then i start to tremor. or what feels like tremors. my entire body is shaking. It always feels like something is over me. The end all be all was when i fell asleep on the couch. I woke up and i couldnt move of course. then my kitchen light came on. which was weird cause i couldnt hear any one in there. Then i heard this massive stomp right next to me. And then i started tremoring and i couldnt stop it. What is weird is that when i broke free, my kitchen light really was on. I am terrified i will not lie. I believe that there is more to narcoleptics than psychological issues.

[KateCastle]

I have narcolepsy and (lucky me) the worst effect of narcolepsy is sleep paralysis. I have had many as i have had them all my life. The top three worst are as follows. The night i explained to my girlfriend i had sleep paralysis i had an extremely terrible one. I was constantly coming out of sleep paralysis just to realize i was still paralyzed. It was like i was rising out of many levels of paralysis. mean while i could hear something running towards me. the next worst was when i was having a vissual hallucination while falling asleep. This thing started approaching me from my open door. Crawling toward me. It asked if i was asleep. It said, "grant, im watching you." then it began to back up crawling and never taking its eyes off of me. Then my girlfriend came in and walked past it. It looked up at her and i couldnt keep from panicking. I still see its white white eyes and white teeth. THE WORST WAS THIS AND I FEEL THERE MAY BE SOMETHING ELSLE HAPPENING. I have had many episodes like this. I wake up and then i start to tremor. or what feels like tremors. my entire body is shaking. It always feels like something is over me. The end all be all was when i fell asleep on the couch. I woke up and i couldnt move of course. then my kitchen light came on. which was weird cause i couldnt hear any one in there. Then i heard this massive stomp right next to me. And then i started tremoring and i couldnt stop it. What is weird is that when i broke free, my kitchen light really was on. I am terrified i will not lie. I believe that there is more to narcoleptics than psychological issues.

Wow...I'm sorry you have to go through this! It sounds quite terrifying. I've never done much research on narcolepsy, but your post prompted me to do some searching. It seems that your experiences (sleep paralysis with hallucinations) are quite common with narcoleptics. Do you think the episode you had with the body tremor might have been some form of cataplexy? It's one of the symptoms of narcolepsy and it sounded similar to some of your experiences.

[preacherman76]

I have narcolepsy and (lucky me) the worst effect of narcolepsy is sleep paralysis. I have had many as i have had them all my life. The top three worst are as follows. The night i explained to my girlfriend i had sleep paralysis i had an extremely terrible one. I was constantly coming out of sleep paralysis just to realize i was still paralyzed. It was like i was rising out of many levels of paralysis. mean while i could hear something running towards me. the next worst was when i was having a vissual hallucination while falling asleep. This thing started approaching me from my open door. Crawling toward me. It asked if i was asleep. It said, "grant, im watching you." then it began to back up crawling and never taking its eyes off of me. Then my girlfriend came in and walked past it. It looked up at her and i couldnt keep from panicking. I still see its white white eyes and white teeth. THE WORST WAS THIS AND I FEEL THERE MAY BE SOMETHING ELSLE HAPPENING. I have had many episodes like this. I wake up and then i start to tremor. or what feels like tremors. my entire body is shaking. It always feels like something is over me. The end all be all was when i fell asleep on the couch. I woke up and i couldnt move of course. then my kitchen light came on. which was weird cause i couldnt hear any one in there. Then i heard this massive stomp right next to me. And then i started tremoring and i couldnt stop it. What is weird is that when i broke free, my kitchen light really was on. I am terrified i will not lie. I believe that there is more to narcoleptics than psychological issues.

I know this tremor well. Ive felt a electric vib while trying to project many times. But that isn't it. I get the tremor every time I fall asleep on my couch for some reason. I wake up and my whole body is in this mild, well, shaking I guess is the best way to describe it. I thought Id be able to project through it, though it was different from the vib, but am never able to. if I lay there awake it will stay for a long time. If I just get up it goes away.

[upsidedownworld]

I've had some amusingly bizarre hypnagogic hallcinations during my bouts of sleep paralysis from malavolent looking smudged faces with snouts, tubular and mechanical looking insect like creatures, flapping wings, something that felt like it was slobbering over me (no i don't have a dog) and best of all a low and deep evil sounding laugh.

I don't get sleep paralysis as much anymore unfortunately and I certainly don't ascribe anything paranormal to this phenomenon but I do think it isn't fully understood yet. If i was idly speculating I might say these are some kind of inherited genetic memories from earlier more primitive stages of human evolution.

Edited October 12, 2015 by upsidedownworld

[coolguy]

I use to get it I think I out grew it lol.

[Xzenox]

Who among the ranks has sleep paralysis? I've been dealing with sleep paralysis since I was 9 years old. From the ages of 7-13, I experienced neurological complications that range from petite mal, to complex partial seizures, to simple partial, to complete tonic/clonic siezures, yet, I have never lost consciousness -despite temporary paralysis of a limb, or hemiparesis; Every episode was different.

My files were sent to MAYO Clinic, and I was never given a definitive diagnosis. They said my EEG was completely synchronized on several occasions throughout a 72hr. observation, and they didn't know what to make of it. The sleep paralysis was irregular, though predictable. When I am deprived of sleep or highly stressed, sleep paralysis often comes if I am sleeping on my back, or in a sitting position.

I have never experienced the proverbial witch or alien, nor have I found another presence within my confines. The only experiences I've had has been alone with me, myself, and an inescapable feeling that I must "snap out of it."

I have experienced some odd occurences. For instance, in May of 2014, at the age of 23, I was crashing at my girlfriend's apartment. I was laying in her bed, and woke up somewhere around 2:00am. I noticed that I was in sleep paralysis because I couldn't move, yet I could see her closet when I painstakingly focused my half-lit eyes on it.

Her dresses that hung from the bar in the closet started to sway back and forth with a flick of my -dream?- hand. It was here that I am unsure if I experienced a dream or not. I could feel her clothes, I could hear the hangers, and they violently swayed when I wanted them to. When I finally managed to "snap out," I sat up, and noticed her dresses moving in the closet, but I was laying more than three arms lengths away. I woke her up and showed her, but she wasn't awake enough to comprehend what I was saying.

I quickly went back out of it, and heard unintelligible narrations in my head. Something about a push, anterior cingulate cortex, and someone saying, ".. and they all combined..." came to mind, but that was it.

I've experienced similar things when I was younger. When I was 12, I had another bout of sleep paralysis. I kind of "fell" out of my body, and could see the clock behind me. When I started awake, the clock was accurate to the time I perceived it to be, and I conked back out.

This has happened many times, and I'm starting to wonder if either my sanity or science should have their heads on the chopping block.

Anyone have any takes on this?

I've experienced sleep paralysis quite a bit as a child. I use to have such vivid nightmares of what a lot of people call the "Old Hag" you can look it up if you want it's a common phenomenon apparently. I remember waking up in such terrible fear I couldn't move my limbs or my body it was a terrifying experience to say the least. Through out the years I realize it was probably caused by the trauma I experienced as a young child.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Xzenox

[KateCastle]

I don't get sleep paralysis as much anymore unfortunately and I certainly don't ascribe anything paranormal to this phenomenon but I do think it isn't fully understood yet. If i was idly speculating I might say these are some kind of inherited genetic memories from earlier more primitive stages of human evolution.

That's a fascinating hypothesis. Can you elaborate on how you're making a connection between SP and primitive humans? Just curious

[Mark One]

Ive experienced Sleep paralysis - once.

I woke up with eyes still shut and a strange humming noise caught my attention. After pondering on what the noise was and where it came from (seemed to be coming from the tip of my head) I opened my eyes and tried to move. Thats when I realised that my body felt like massive lump of rock. Although I was worried, even panicking I felt none of the emotional or bodily side effects associated with fear. So, after trying to move unsuccessfully I decided to call out for assistance. My mouth didnt open either but my eyes could move?!?! So there I lay for no more than a minute when I began to feel dizzy. For some reason I began to feel like I was moving upwards towards the ceiling. I closed my eyes wondering WTF was to happen next when - bang - Im back on the bed, moving about or testing that each part of my body now worked again.

You know that numbing sensation that you get when youve been sat in a certain position for along time - your foot feels numb and double in size? Well that sensation matched what my entire body felt like. I still wonder if my experience was a case of waking up before my body did?