Sleep paralysis

[Liara]

Happened to me on two occasions.
On the first, I woke up from a dream of being blown up by a bomber, only to be in sleep paralysis. I thought I was dead for about 5 seconds. It was terrifying.

The second time, I woke up and could swear someone was standing above me, leering at me. I tried to move, but obviously couldn't. After about 20 seconds or so (I think, as it seemed far far longer) I managed to move my arm, which hit something, thus causing me to snap out of it. Also terrifying, though not as much as the first incident.

These happened roughly 4-5 years ago, and thankfully haven't happened since.

[Delrancho]

Couple times a week. It's horrible. It's like the only thing I can move is my eyes. I start to panic, almost hyperventilating, and then I come to, in a sweat and gasping for air.

Yep, it's awful.

[Moon-Man]

I have it every day. Its fun to me now.

[SunspotAnims]

Occasionally. The last time it happened was about a week ago. It used to last much longer, up to minute or so, when I was younger. I've tried to get rid of any likely causes, and now it still happens, but it never really lasts long.

[Creotor]

little known fact, "nightmare on elm street" (freddy krueger) was based on sleep paralysis incidents.

never had sleep paralysis, but have pulled my leg muscles in my sleep and lemme tell you: it is a beyoth of a pain.

You mean muscle cramps? If yes, then I agree. Had it happen a few times, once it was two in a row. That muscle didn't completely stop hurting until 2 days later.

[Wolfbear]

Only happened to me once. I don't remember if I was asleep or awake, I just know I couldn't move my body. Across my room on my chair, there was a man sitting there staring at me. I just looked at him for like a minute not being able to move or say anything, until I started to realize that there was no one in my chair and it was just clothes/towels etc sitting in a certain way that made it appear to my brain that there was a dude sitting there. Safe to say I wasn't going back to sleep that night!
Kind of amazing how our brains look for patterns and shit, when there's no need to.

[Powerogue]

Just once. I hallucinated a black dog standing on top of me. Freaked me the hell out for years until I learned about sleep paralysis.

I'd wonder what it meant, but knowing me it was probably Sirius from harry potter. >.<

[Deleted]

It has becoming more frequently.
I wake up late night (or so I think) with my face buried deep in my pillow. I can't rotate my head or flip, and I can't breath as well.
Slowly I am losing my breath.
Scary stuff.

[ghrolt]

Well, this escalated quickly...

/popcorn

---------- Post added 2012-10-28 at 09:10 PM ----------

Anyways... what really hurts is getting a muscle cramp while sitting in 2 rocking chairs. (Yeah, we had two, so I put them in front of each other to make myself comfy.)
Suddenly the phone rang - AND the doorbell rang - I tried to rush up, but got muscle cramps in both thighs. THAT...Hurt.

[Valort]

Happens to me once every couple of months when I slumber for longer than my usual 2-3 hours of sleep at night.
And once a year when awakening from what I like to call my personal odinsleep.

---------- Post added 2012-10-28 at 10:15 PM ----------

you experienced the beginning of astral travel. google it if you don't know what it is. It's a pity to not at least read about it since you are gifted enough to perform astral travel without training

I have a lantern, let me show you the way.

[Dacien]

Happened to me once in the last few months, but just briefly.

It happened to me once when I was a kid and I thought bees were carrying out of my window and shaking me semi-violently. Was fucking scary.

I'll bet people don't take you seriously when you tell them that story, and that's too bad. People are too quick to poo poo others' suffering sometimes, or sympathize with real fear or pain coming out of someone.

[Heltoray]

I experienced this phenomenon about a year ago. I don't think I was dreaming at all, I just suddenly woke up lying on my back facing the wall in my dark room. I suddenly realized I couldn't move at all and I was 100% certain there was someone else in the room approaching me.
It only lasted for a few minutes until I was able to forcibly calm myself down and somehow fall back to sleep.

Although pretty short, this was by far the most horrifying experience I ever had.

[Deleted]

Just once. I hallucinated a black dog standing on top of me.

That is strange, my last sleep paralysis night terror was a lot like that. I felt wide awake and I rolled over, opened my eyes and there's this big black head of a bulldog, snarling and drooling at me, rotating on the spot, hovering in mid air. I rolled back the other way, waited a few minutes, then rolled back and it was still there. It started to move close towards my face so I ducked under the covers and stayed there for a while until my heart rate slowed down :S.

[Eldar45]

That is strange, my last sleep paralysis night terror was a lot like that. I felt wide awake and I rolled over, opened my eyes and there's this big black head of a bulldog, snarling and drooling at me, rotating on the spot, hovering in mid air. I rolled back the other way, waited a few minutes, then rolled back and it was still there. It started to move close towards my face so I ducked under the covers and stayed there for a while until my heart rate slowed down :S.

This kind of thing has happened to me as well except for me its always spiders or demons. The thing I have realized, though, is that I am still actually dreaming and completely asleep when this happens, but it just seems so real that my mind believes its real. Then I think back on the hallucination and remember something about it that is just off beyond the terrifying part, like something in my room will be completely different. Then I realize its just a dream.

[Crissi]

yep, happened a few weeks ago. I could see my apt and my bf, but i couldnt move and could barely breathe. A snake (dream part) appeared in front of me and i tried to scream, but i couldnt.

Possibly the freakest thing i have ever felt in my life.

[Ciddy]

Happens to me pretty regularly, and yes, I've never gotten used to it. Usually involves a very intense nightmare, and I can't properly move for a few minutes after I wake up. People who have never experienced it probably think it's kind of funny when they hear stories, but I can assure you there is absolutely nothing funny about it.

Imagine that Freddy Krueger is stalking towards you intending to kill you while you're in bed, completely awake, but you can't get up, scream for help, or really do anything about it. That's what it feels like. Sometimes I'll wake up and be so badly rattled by it that I'll just have to turn on the light and watch TV for a while before I calm down enough to try going back to sleep.

It seems to happen more frequently based on how I'm sleeping. I'm usually a stomach sleeper and don't have as many problems when I do that. If I fall asleep on my back, it's usually much worse. Think the worst time was probably when I fell asleep on my back with my arms folded across my chest.

[Deleted]

Couple of times a week... You never get used to it.

That's what I thought the first few years as well. But now most of the times I hardly even notice it anymore, it has become normal to me.

Lots of times I'm able to sleep right through it. Other times I'm able to shift it into a lucid dream.
A few times it only keeps getting worse if I ignore it, the only thing that works then is watching some tv for 15-30 min and go back to sleep.

The worst part isn't the paralysis itself, although it can be scary the first few times. The worst part is the hallucinations.
I've actually heard hissing and growling and felt claws tearing at me. I've also vaguely seen monsters. Definitely not fun.

But like I said, luckily for me these bad hallucinations have become rare.
They used to be the norm in the beginning. So yeah, at least I'm on the right track.

Anyway, it's funny how our own imagination can be so scary, right?

---------- Post added 2012-10-28 at 11:18 PM ----------

I suppose they could be likened to hallucinations but for me I actually interact with them. All my senses are alive, beyond just the visual and audible you get with nightmares. Smell, touch, taste, the whole range. This is what makes them so terrifying, because if your senses are telling you it's real then your brain thinks it's real. But at the same time, it simply cannot be, because these things just do not exist, or cannot exist, or cannot happen without major pain or death. Typically, I will either see and be attacked by monsters or spectres or I will be gruesomely mutilated or tortured in extremely graphic detail either by myself or by the entity that's there.

Yep, that's what I have too. In the worst case scenario that is.
Luckily I'm able to wake up relatively quickly. But when I go back to sleep it's right back, and this time it gets worse.

So in those cases I decide to stay awake a little while to make it go away. 15 minutes is usually enough.

[fps90]

you experienced the beginning of astral travel. google it if you don't know what it is. It's a pity to not at least read about it since you are gifted enough to perform astral travel without training

Astral Projection is nothing more than lucid dreaming. It's a hoax.

[-Skye]

little known fact, "nightmare on elm street" (freddy krueger) was based on sleep paralysis incidents.

never had sleep paralysis, but have pulled my leg muscles in my sleep and lemme tell you: it is a beyoth of a pain.

This is the worst pain EVER it's happened to me like 4 times in my life, but last night it happened and oh my god.. I woke the whole house up with my yells it's so painful

[Arkenaw]

Nope, but I have these weird things where I can't tell if I'm dreaming or awake until it's hours after it's happened. The most recent one was me lying in bed and hearing a laughing and not being able to call out if someone was there.