140 replies to this topic

[wistfulbirdy]

Rafterman, on 17 August 2012 - 03:33 PM, said:

Sleep disorders are the unseen epidemic - as my sleep doc told me a few months back.

The easiest thing you can do is not sleep on your back.  If you feel you are highly stressed, perhaps some meditation or other calming activity before bed.  Also, really try to get 8 hours of sleep a night as being overly tired can lead to SP episodes.

If you're still having problems, consult a doctor at a sleep center.

But above all else, understand that SP has absolutely nothing to do with anything paranormal.

Of course not, nothing paranormal happened during my SP anyway. I don't see things.
& Thanks for the advice.

[reaply]

I was doing google research and I found out about this site.

The first time, I was in the middle of the bed and I was slowly being dragged to the right of the bed unable to speak or move. The second time, I was visiting my sister and I was having trouble sleeping and I finally fell asleep. And of course, the state of mind happened and I started falling off the bed. And the most recent one (two months ago) I had fallen asleep but woke up to the state and watching the dark mist walk from my door to the side of the bed. Then, the dark mist went behind me and I awoke. While I was in the state of mind I could see the rooms setting. When I awoke, the room was just like how I visioned it (time of day etc).

[HDesiato]

Anyone interested can read in more detail the studies and history of SP and the accompanied experiences here:

http://watarts.uwate...S_P.html#tabcon

I posted this link in other threads at UM but maybe someone here will find it useful.

My 1 experience with SP was brief.
When I was a kid, perhaps 10 yo more or less, I woke up around midnight. I looked at my bedroom mirror and saw the reflection of a tall man with a small brimmed hat in silhouette.  I tried to sit up and look around the corner to see out the door but couldn't move my legs.
I looked back at the mirror and the image was gone. I layed back down and thought about it and when I could move my legs again thought "oh well", and went back to sleep.
Since then (over the last 40 years) I've interpreted it as alien, then demon, angel, ghost and more recently the Fedora Man.
I believe it was just a dream now, however the impact of the impression on my memory and the process of formulating an opinion has given this a significance in a way like nothing else in my life.

[K_Bonita]

This has happened to me numerous times, the last time I can remember this happening to me was about 4 months ago. I was seemed to have fallen asleep on the couch it was a hot day so I left the balcony sliding door open with just the screen door to keep away the bugs from the night. Around where I live it's very quiet, I live out of the city and lots of green arounr tress,bushes....not many cars at night. Anyway It had to be around 1am when I fell asleep on the couch, and next time I remember or what It seemed like was being half-awake, I was alert of what was going on around,everything I could see seemed to be in the right place...It was sort of dark the only light coming in was from the street lights, and they weren't very bright either. I tried to move but couldn't move at all, It felt like I was being pinned down by a magnet a million times stronger than me,I tried and tried to move but to no luck, I than started to hear whispers around me in a strange language I've never heard before but it felt like those whispers were about me for some reason. I got really scared because those whispers just stopped and everything was dead silence around me and I then started to see things move from the corner's and they were dark shadow's I couldnt make up what they were. Eventually I fell asleep and woke up a couple hours later to realize I encountered had sleep-paralysis.

[jmh444]

Its been along time since I've had a sp episode, but each one is always the same, I'll wake up and won't be able to move at all, I can do nothing but move my eyes and I see a large black shadow holding me down, usually speaking but I don't understand what its saying, except for one time when i was constantly playing a horror type video game called 'The Darkness' the shadow said to me you will know the power of darkness. Very creepy at the time, now i try to keep it subjective and laugh at it, though I understand for some who experience this frequently it is no laughing matter.

[sn0861]

I am new to this site and glad I came upon it. I knew nothing about this whole sleep paralysis thing until I read up on it and realized it was exactly what had been happening to me. Many times I have been in this half awake/half asleep state where strange things have happened to me. A few times a spider came down from my ceiling right above my face, and when I could finally move and jump up nothing would be there. Another time I woke up thinking an intruder was in my room, my body was completely frozen and I tried to scream but could not. Than a white figure that looked like an alien was over me. Just like that I came out of it woke up and was completely confused. I never really thought of this as anything except my mind playing tricks on me..until last night that is...
On Wednesday night I had a dream about a friend that I had dated a few months back. This was random for me because I had not been thinking about him recently or talked to him in a while. The next day I find out that the same guy had died, possibly suicide. Of course I was devasted the whole day. Thursday night I went to bed early upset from the news. Around 10 pm I awoke in the same half awake/half asleep state I had experienced previously. A large white figure came right above me and was coming closer. For some reason I knew it was him, my friend that had passed away. I did not feel afraid, in fact I felt a sense of happiness that he was visiting me. The strangest part about it, was that I was actually able to move my arm, and i reached out for him, while I was still in this half awake state. I also remember being able to say "Oh my God". Normally I'm completely paralized when I have these occurances and have some sense of fear. This time I had no fear and when I came out of it was just in awe.
Although the things I read about sleep paralysis happening to people always sound evil and fearful, I believe there are good experiences too, atleast mine was. The fact that I was not scared and actually reached out for him and knew who it was proves that to me.
Please let me know your thoughts!

[whitelight]

Caligraphy, on 12 January 2010 - 07:52 PM, said:

Hmm, long time no see all.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've returned to this site, and might I begin with saying, if this topic seems at all like carbon-copies of other topics in this section, or has no right being in this forum, I will GLADLY delete it if a superior says so.

As you are hopefully aware, I have created this toic in hopes of understanding the MANY faces of Sleep Paralysis and it's victims. I myself have suffered from S-P since before I can remember, and have become highly interested and curious on the subject. I have posted 2 threads previously in separate sections of Unexplained Mysteries about my problems with S-P and; something I have recently been diagnosed with by a Sleep Specialist, Sleep Apnea. Two very terrifing things I have not yet been able to control.
Many people suffer from Sleep Paralysis, be it they are aware or unaware they are even experiencing this strange phenomena. Some see things that their afraid of in an awake state of mind, (such as spiders, bees, snakes, ect.) and other's see things that would be classified as Paranormal, (such as ghost, aliens, strange balls of light, ect.) The thing that interests me the most, is the way the victims feel. How they feel during the experience, and how they feel afterwards. I am also interested in hearing how people feel when they are aware or unaware they are going through the stages of immanent Sleep Paralysis. I am ultimately posting this topic, so that I, myself and other's can tell about our strange experiences, without fear of being judged. This is a very serious topic in my (and many other's) eyes, so please think before judging other's for things they cannot control.

I am by NO MEANS an expert in this subject. I do not pretend to hold any answers to this phenomena, and hope I have not tricked anyone in believing so. I am merely here to listen, and to let others, who are confused on the subject, know that what their experiencing is a commonly occuring thing within many others.

Please do not be afraid to post your stories.

  I cured by sleep paralysis/fear of heights long ago.  Are you ready for my story?

[lalalalana]

Just reading through this topic thinking to myself how much I'd hate for me to experience sleep paralysis and I remember something from when I was really young.
I had a dream about ghosts (they were dead creepy but looked like Casper ha ha) and I remember waking up and going into my mum and dads room and getting in bed with them because I was scared but then I fell back asleep, had another dream about the nasty ghosts again and sort of woke up but couldn't open my eyes and could hear the ghosts talking? Then I actually woke up and was probably traumatised for a good few years...
I think I would be more scared now to dream like that than as a kid though, can't really go running into my mum and dads bedroom anymore ha ha

[Tutankhaten-pasheri]

Most of my dreams are nightmares, though when asleep I see these nightmares as reality and am not scared. It is when I wake and remember, that I shudder. I have sleep paralysis regularly, perhaps every few months. It is always the same situation. First there is a bad nightmare, one where I am scared in the dream. Then the scenario changes to me being in bed. The bedroom, which has loose wooden slatted walls with many gaps, is at the top of stairs. The entire house is wood and is falling to pieces. I am aware of something at the bottom of the stairs. I know it is bad, very bad, yet I do not make any attempt to get out of bed and run or defend myself from the horror. I have a third person view of this horror silently gliding up the stairs, then I am back in bed, waiting for it to enter the room. At this point I am not very scared. It is when I sense it outside the room that I begin to panic. Then it enters the room and glides over to the bed. I cannot move and have a feeling of overwhelming dread. The shift from sleep to waking is seamless and I lie in bed knowing I am awake, but knowing this horror is above me. I still cannot move and am in a cold sweat. This feeling of cold and dread is intense and terrible. Then the spell is broken and I can move, yet the feeling of dread takes some minutes to go. And this every few months......

[Twin Personalities]

I never had one I think, or I don't remember but what I do remember is that yesterday I almost had one,
it was something like 11pm and I was tiered, I was laying on my back and almost fell asleep, when I almost weren't concious I felt a really heavy pressure on my chest, after realising that I immediately woke up, happy ending^-^

[scowl]

lalalalana, on 07 November 2012 - 02:13 PM, said:

Just reading through this topic thinking to myself how much I'd hate for me to experience sleep paralysis and I remember something from when I was really young.

It's really not that bad if you know what is happening. The only thing that scared me was how long it went on. The first thirty seconds I just felt "Oh, I just came out of a dream so this is sleep paralysis. Wow, I really can't move anything, just like they said." I also thought how terrible it would be to live the rest of my life like this.

After it didn't pass quickly I wondered if maybe I really had a stroke or something in my sleep and I was going to slowly die there. That thought freaked me enough to break the paralysis.

[GOSteelersGO]

Ok ... unfortunately this sleep paralysis happens to me more than often.  The first time that I actually can recall very clearly is like 7 or 8 years ago.  Now I'm 27 and it happens to me way too much.  People that experience it once in a great while can say "its no big deal your fine", as much as they want, but it happened to me YET AGAIN today when I was taking a nap, and it was just a terrifying as the first time.  Today was a little bit different.  Along with SP, I lately have been "Waking up", but then I wake up and realize that I was still sleeping.  So today, I "woke up", lying on my side (i do NOT sleep on my back because I would rather not see strange things staring at me in my room when SP happens), and I couldnt move.  I got the panic that comes along with it, and for some reason was more afraid than ever.  So, I just in my mind, after trying to yell/move/breath/roll out of bed(lol), I said Jesus Christ please help me, twice, and when I tell you the violent shiver than ran through my body, I cant even explain.  I have tears in my eyes thinking about it.  Mind you, I'm not some strange bible thumper, I'm a nurse, I'm very stable.  So after the shiver I had NO energy but I could move, so I rolled off of my bed onto the floor, opened my bedroom door to see my boyfriend standing outside my door crying.  Then I REALLY woke up.  
See the thing is, my dreams are so so so real, and this "waking up" before really waking up happens to me so much that sometimes afterwards, I'm not sure which part of my wake up was real and which part was dream.  
So I'm assuming that I was really having SP, as I know what it feel like because it happens so often, but then just forced myself to fall back asleep as I know that there is nothing I can do to speed up the process or make it stop.  Does anyone else ever have these mixed up dreams/waking dreams/SP together??
BTW I have soooo many more experiences of dreams, SP and whatever else that I'm having the chills just thinking about it, because I am home alone at the moment. UGH SO happy that I found this forum,  I feel normal almost!

[EllJay]

GOSteelersGO, on 19 November 2012 - 09:45 PM, said:

See the thing is, my dreams are so so so real, and this "waking up" before really waking up happens to me so much that sometimes afterwards, I'm not sure which part of my wake up was real and which part was dream.  
So I'm assuming that I was really having SP, as I know what it feel like because it happens so often, but then just forced myself to fall back asleep as I know that there is nothing I can do to speed up the process or make it stop.  Does anyone else ever have these mixed up dreams/waking dreams/SP together??
BTW I have soooo many more experiences of dreams, SP and whatever else that I'm having the chills just thinking about it, because I am home alone at the moment. UGH SO happy that I found this forum,  I feel normal almost!

I know a trick that might unlock your paralysis, if it is a sort of lucid dreaming.
If you can focus your eyes on something written down, or a clock with digital numbers, look at it and look away, then look back at it and see if it changed its numbers(well, dramatically I mean, a clock would change at least one of its numbers every minute), what I mean here is, almost every time one have a lucid dream you cant remember numbers written down or displayed for you.If you look at some numbers and look away and try to remember them you will see that you cant, With this information in your subconsciousness you will come to realize that you are having a lucid dream.


I know that a fearsome sleep paralysis with the vision of something present in your room isn't the perfect time for calm observant studies, but it could be quite helpful for you.

A normal lucid dream , in comparison with a sleep paralysis, could be a very fun experience.
You could be the producer, director, FX-expert and star in your own drama, so the number-trick is a way to confirm for your self that you are dreaming and you can take control.

Also, another thing with people having sleep paralysis, they experience their room exactly as it is in the normal awaken state, but many lucid dreams also show the same things, but when people experience it takes a closer look they see that the curtains are different, a chair that's not normally there are showing, a different colour on the carpet etc.

The means to be able to take control and "unlock" your paralysis could be that you make yourself aware of those differences, but the "number-trick" is almost a given.
Every time I have a lucid dream and I get uncertain of the reality of what I experience, I try to find something with numbers on.
I look at it, then look away, then back and see if they changed.
Also you can try to look at the numbers, look away and try to remember the numbers you saw.
If you cant, or the numbers changed you could "unlock" your self.
If you get an "easy" lucid dream the numbers seem garbled almost the same second you try to look at them.

I would be very interested to hear your experiences on this and how you perceive them.

[scowl]

GOSteelersGO, on 19 November 2012 - 09:45 PM, said:

People that experience it once in a great while can say "its no big deal your fine", as much as they want, but it happened to me YET AGAIN today when I was taking a nap, and it was just a terrifying as the first time.  Today was a little bit different.  Along with SP, I lately have been "Waking up", but then I wake up and realize that I was still sleeping.

If it's really a problem, you can see a doctor that specializes in sleep disorders.

I've had post-hypnagogic hallucinations ever since I was about 12 or 13. Some of them were absolutely terrifying but they were just experiences. They didn't really happen so I don't complain about them. I've gotten older and my life has gotten less stressful so I rarely have them now.

They can make it hard for the person you're sleeping with though.

[monsterandme]

I am 23 years old and can honestly say this has been happening to me off and on since i was about 13. This past year it has been happening more than ever. The past week it has happened every single night multiple times after i fight it and burst out of the paralysis because of fear. but I have started to just let it be and relax myself and strange things have been happening.. I might add that I am fully awake with my eyes open when these occurrences have been happening but it always happens when I lay down for bed. I feel it slowly coming on before it fully takes control of my body. There is always a vibrational feeling throughout my body and brain and everything almost is shaking as it comes on. The times where i just relax and say positive things in my mind after it stops I feel INCREDIBLY AMAZING and PEACEFUL and HAVE A CONSTANT VIBRATION IN MY BRAIN..... Last night It happened while i was laying on my back and i could see out of the corner of my eye a small figure maybe about 3 foot 2 to 4 feet tall standing right next to me just starring.... I did not connect eye to eye but could see it there for sure. I panicked and made a moaning noise usually high pitched but load enough until my girlfriend grabbed me and helped get me out of it. about 15 minutes later i turned to my side to face my girlfriend and it came on again. this time i just relaxed as much as i could because i was looking at my girlfriend and moments later In an almost robotic type sounding voice i heard " HI" on my heart this is all the truth i am telling and hope people know what im talking about. This honestly makes me tear up when i talk about it or even write about it. I am at the point of feeling safe but it is still such a terrifying thing to go through with unanswered questions.