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Sleep Paralysis stories


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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!

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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?
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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

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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......

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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^-^

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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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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!

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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.

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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. :unsure2:

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  • 4 weeks later...

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.

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I had sleep paralysis again about 2 days ago. I was just looking around my room staying calm. My suroundings were all accurate I could tell I wasn't dreaming. I was trying so hard to move my arms and legs the only thing I could kind of get to move was my mouth lol.

So far I have never seen an old hag or a entity sneaking up on me *Knock on wood*. Is it true if you start freaking out during sleep paralysis you have a "bad trip" and start hallucinating really erie things?

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Is it true if you start freaking out during sleep paralysis you have a "bad trip" and start hallucinating really erie things?

I didn't. It just broke me out of it.

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Once you become aware of what it is it becomes a bit less frightening. I've found that usually it is caused by exhaustion and sleeping in uncomfortable positions. Sleep apnea may play a big part in it (even though sleep apnea occurs more frequently. In over weight folks, I am not).

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The one time I had sleep paralysis and was completely aware of it, it started off as not being frightening because I knew exactly what it was. It became frightening because it didn't pass as quickly as I expected. After thirty seconds or so I freaked because it's damned frightening to experience what a quadriplegic experiences every day -- just a head connected a non-moving body.

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I dreamt of a shadowy figure approaching me then it went around me & tried to strangle me I woke up & noticed I have been paralyzed, I immediately concentrated & entered my mind to the state of total chaos & got free very easily. then more attack came but all futile cause I could break easily through paralyzation & then our romance begun :D a naughty spirit

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Ok, so ever since I saw a terrifying programme on sleep paralysis years ago, i've started experiencing this myself. On the programme, the woman would regularly get a black cloaked faceless person paralyse her and stand over her. Frightening stuff. Ever since then I have been fearful of getting them myself. And sure enough a few years ago I had my first experience, to my relief there was no faceless figure hanging over me, BUT I felt a presence. This morning of all mornings, I suffered my latest and most terrifying episode to date. I woke in my dream, called my partner to wish her and her family a merry christmas, then felt something watching me, I told my partner what I felt and my apprehension. I got out of bed, walked through the sitting room and as I got to the kitchen door, I stopped, attempted to turn around, and I got paralysed solid to the spot. I tried telling my partner but I could just only make a pathetic noise, that grew higher pitched the more distressed I got. She kept asking if I was ok and her voice grew fainter and fainter, as if the volume on my mobile phone was getting turmed down, and I felt it's presence...

luckily only once have I experienced paralysis while being concious, it was earlier this year, amd again I felt the presence...this time I was in bed, on my back, but my eyes were stuck a quarter open..couldn't open or close them, and in the pitch black of my bedroom I could feel it with me. I tried in vain to scream, flail my limbs, close my eyes bit to no avail. it lasted 90 seconds or so, before I fell back asleep, only to wake a short while later with a terrible sense of fear.

I've now had 4 episodes this year, 1 semi concious, 3 in dreams, and I fear this will continue to increase in frequency. My saving grace is that over the years I think I can safely tell when an episode like this will happen. For starters, I need to be conciously aware that I am alone before I fall asleep. I recall a few years ago that my partner had got up before me, so I went back to sleep for a while and then I had one of those dreams. I have never went to bed with her on a nighttime and had one of these dreams. Sje jas never been next to me when I have woke from one of these either.

The second hint I get is I have the sensation that I'm being watched as i'm in my bedroom and getting into/ lying in bed. The third hint is that I feel vulnerable and I get the feeling something is going to happen. I truely hate having these dreams/ experiences, they are terrifying and although i've never felt in danger during these episodes, it's still a frightening experience.

I'm unfortunately sleeping alone again tonight with my partner at her parents for christmas, and I am getting those horrible feelings already that tonight maybe a repeat performance. Only when I go to go to sleep will I know if I will be getting a repeat, but I hope for my own sake that I don't. My git feelings and instincts are never far wrong, bit tonight I really hope is an exception, or I may ja e episode 5 of this year to post tomorrow!

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Dreams are nothing but your own demons, but experience a real over dose like my hubby did last night, he over dose his drugs he uses for pain management and stop breathing and saw the light.Called 911and we went to the hospital Christmas eve but he survive and is back home.

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Well this is really interesting. I hope the lady who posted above had a good Xmas and her husband is OK.

I thought it was just me. I've never heard of sleep paralysis before but it describes exactly what happens to me every so often. No paranormal stuff involved. Just I wake up and I can't move for a minute or so.

I didn't know this happens to other people.

I was a frequent sleepwalker until I was about 8 then I stopped. I do remember that the nights when I sleep walked, I had the most vivid dreams.

I wonder if that's somehow involved.

Interesting topic.

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When I was little, I can remember waking up and Dracula standing in the corner of my room! I couldn't move and he just stood there staring at me. I used to be terrified of Dracula (not vampires. just him! perhaps it was the accent) and I would always 'pray' to Dracula before i went to sleep, pledging my loyalty and alliance to the vampires. no idea why. Didn't want to be eaten I guess :P

A year or so back I can remember kinda gasping awake, looking to the side of my room. Next to my bed I had a side table, and then near the wall was a desk. I remember seeing a gruesome, hairy type gargoyle thing with huge horns and claws and sabre teeth perched on my desk. The eyes were small, and glowing red.

Unlike dracula, it was breathing - I could see the fur moving and the mouth opening and closing. It was making a horrible hoarse breathing noise (for Skyrim players: sounded a lot like a hagraven!) and I stared at it a while, my heart hammering away, before finally being able to turn to the side and pull my covers over my head. I still could hear it makes those breathy noises and I was willing myself to sleep. Before I fell back asleep, the breathing noises were getting closer and closer to me. Thank god I fell back asleep.

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I think I was about 12 when I woke up and clearly saw the silhouette of a man in the doorway of my bedroom. Like a character in a horror move, he was backlit so his features were in shadow. I asked him who he was and he just laughed. Then, typical of my stupid dreams, he did something weird. He pulled out a large sack and dumped it on the floor. It was full of mice! They ran everywhere and some got up on my bed. I'm not scared of mice so this didn't bother me. I asked him why he did that and he laughed some more. Once I realized that mice couldn't climb up the side of my bed the dream instantly ended with me sitting in bed staring at where the man had been. My parents said they heard me talking to someone.

This is the first hypnagogic hallucination I can remember.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm having issues, i'm not 100% sure its sleep paralysis but it sounds a lot like it. It started shortly after my insomnia did after an event that happened to me last februaury. This paralysis occurs, though, only when i have nightmares related to that event last februaury. During the nightmare i try to wake up, but its like i can't. I mean i wake up enough to know that i am in my bed, but i can't move any part of my body. I can't yell out for help or even open my eyes. But even with me knowing all of this, i am still trapped in that nightmare. I feel as if there is someone in the room with me, and sometimes i feel someone touching me, and i start panicking. When this happens it lasts for a while. It feels like forever. But whats worse, is that when i actually do wake up, i see a man standing at my front door. My therapist says the reason i see the shadowed man is trauma related. But it still scares me. I'm scared to sleep. Its like, the closer to february, the worse it gets.

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I'm having issues, i'm not 100% sure its sleep paralysis but it sounds a lot like it. It started shortly after my insomnia did after an event that happened to me last februaury. This paralysis occurs, though, only when i have nightmares related to that event last februaury. During the nightmare i try to wake up, but its like i can't. I mean i wake up enough to know that i am in my bed, but i can't move any part of my body. I can't yell out for help or even open my eyes. But even with me knowing all of this, i am still trapped in that nightmare. I feel as if there is someone in the room with me, and sometimes i feel someone touching me, and i start panicking. When this happens it lasts for a while. It feels like forever. But whats worse, is that when i actually do wake up, i see a man standing at my front door. My therapist says the reason i see the shadowed man is trauma related. But it still scares me. I'm scared to sleep. Its like, the closer to february, the worse it gets.

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I get sleep paralysis almost every night thanks to Insomnia. Sometimes I can induce a good lucid dream but I have seen some weird ****. I once saw myself staring back at me with a sort of callous look on my face, my arms folded. I also looked down at my chest and I was holding a newborn baby (No idea what THAT was about). I also saw a shadowy figure at the bottom of my bed holding a knife right at me. I also saw this weird ******* explosion of blue light right at my face one night one night and once I went into SP while I had my head under the covers and as I was staring upwards at the blackness, the room suddenly became bright and it shone through the blanket. I remember as well after watching Alien I had a lucid dream where a facehugger got a hold of me. I instantly went into SP as that thing had me in its grip.

I've heard some weird stuff too like this swooshing sound (I suspect blood flow to the brain) that I've heard a few times just as the paralysis starts. I remember late one night I could hear a baby crying around the house and I also heard a skull being crushed by a car wheel and it was LOUD. I know it was a skull because I had a lucid dream to accompany it.

I can honestly say I'm not thrilled about this 'ability'. Sure it can be cool going into lucid dreams but I hate SP and that feeling it brings on.

Edited by Sean93
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I can honestly say I'm not thrilled about this 'ability'. Sure it can be cool going into lucid dreams but I hate SP and that feeling it brings on.

You'll always wonder how long it's going to last which is not fun.

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