I've had sleep paralysis before - and thank God it was more of a puzzling hallucination than a frightening one - and I never thought I'd have it again.

Until last night, there was a weird fragment of my dream. Usually dreams cut together in a very random way, and time passage is hardly stable. Next, when I dream it's rarely something believable, say if I dreamed I were waking up, it'd never take place in my house, in my room, in my bed, in the correct area of the room. And yet part of the dream seemed very vivid, time passed normally enough...almost seemed TOO vivid.

I was reading a lot about alien encounters the day before, and so that's what it felt like. In the dream I was waking up, hardly being able to move, and the obligatory dark figure was at the side of the bed....a skinny, Grey-like one. Fantastic. Except it felt real-ish - I was in my room, with my bed in the right corner facing the right direction.


My query is: Was that sleep paralysis or a freakishly vivid dream? Sleep paralysis usually occurs when sleep is just beginning, am I right? But this felt like it came out of nowhere, to the very end of my dream process. Also, I wasn't totally paralyzed, I vaguely remember thrashing my arms around, but it felt like they were moving around underwater....like molasses...very drugged, sluggish, labored movement even through blank air. Then when I woke up later in the morning my nose hurt like hell, like I maybe hit my face in the process...

I dunno. I'm just confused. I didn't know sleep paralysis could occur out of nowhere....

Howdy, L.


Taking all of that at face value. what you report is a false awakening, which is just what it sounds like, a vivid dream whose "plot" is that you wake up.

On the other hand, maybe you really did wake up, and had hypnopompic (waking up) sleep paralysis, while what you were used to was the hypnogogic (going to sleep) kind. Yes, both kinds happen.

Whenever it happens, sleep paralysis can occur with or without hallucination, and if with, then the hallucination can be frightening or not.

Whichever happened to you in this case, false awakening or hypnopompic sleep paralysis with hallucination, a lot of people report the same basic scenario. That you were reading about a similar theme the day before is a big hint, I think, about the source of the imagery.

Hope that helps.

Id say it was a mixture of both dream and SP .

SP can happen at the begining or end of sleep. heres an article that may help you understand more . SP

Sometimes we are totally paralysed other times not sounds like you woke up late on in the experience meaning the effects of the SP were almost already gone by the time you awoke . hence feeling sluggish etc

SS

Edit : sorry eight didnt see you there . you are much better at this than I .

Hey, SS79.

Funny, I was thinking about that "mixture" possibility, too. We are so close to being awake when we dream, so close to dreaming when we are just barely awake... no witnesses but ourselves, and we are hardly in the most reliable frame of mind .

Anyway, good to see you again.

No we aren't reiable which i think is where the whole confusion comes in. Its funny how so many intepret it differently and i think you made a good point regarding the reading material being a key point to the experience .



Likewise

I've had "ASP, Awareness Sleep Paralysis" for years and have studied it for more than 8 years. Had sleep studies done etc,. No narcolepsy found in my case. Here is an article that I found very helpful. The main thing to do is to try to move a toe, finger anything and that usually brings you out of it. Also don't struggle for it makes it worse. Actually now I've started learning from these "What I call espisodes." The human brain is a very complex thing. Hope this helps.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1862

Actually all of that helped - makes more sense... - thanks guys

I had probably a dozen or so SP episodes when I was younger. But I never felt like anyone else was there. But they were all the same. I felt paralyzed. And unable to move. And my vision was very distorted. Very scary feeling indeed.

Sorry but what is sleep paralizes? Not quite follow...

And when I saw the name sleep paralizes, I want to know something... What if you wake up and you can't open your eyes... It's like heavy and you can't move or do anything, but your awake. Woozy but awake. Happend to me once, but I woke up for something happening in my room. My blinds were clashing and heard the wind outside and on top my cat screaming by my window. You know sometimes cats go like that, when you know... they need a another cat... But this was different, she was struggling, and I NEVER sleep with my windows all open nor my bedroom door. That night it was When I got a hang of myself I suddenly just fly straight up looking around for whats going on. The same time my cat rushes through and out my room. I just sat there for a while because I was scared theres something by my bedroom window, for it was early morning hours and it was windy and my windows were as wide open as could be I did close it after a while... But I was like paralized or something, i dont know... wierd hey? Is that sleep paralizes?