Sleep paralysis - my experience

[O.B.]

Some time in 2002, I was resting on my bed in my army camp, about to sleep and somehow there was a numb sensation all over me, and suddenly I found out that I couldn't move my face and it was as if some unknown force was threatening to rip the left side of my face apart from my mouth to my forehead.

I tried to scream but I couldn't, and I was alone at that time. I tried to blink, though I knew I wasn't dreaming, but the feeling stayed even after I managed to blink.

After what seemed like a minute or two, the sensation stopped and I went to wash my face, with my heart beating probably two hundred times per minute.

It was a harrowing and frightening experience and I actually associated it with the paranormal given that in my country we import a lot of variety shows from Taiwan (i'm ethnic Chinese), some of which talk of celebrities' personal experiences with the supernatural.

Thankfully for James Randi's article on sleep paralysis some time ago; if not I may have continued to believe in ghosts.

I am also sure I was awake at that time. My mind is somehow capable of deciphering between dreams and reality which I will post about soon.

I have not had a second experience of sleep paralysis to date.

Does anyone have any other PERSONAL anecdotes of sleep paralysis and how often are they?

 

[turtle]

Does anyone have any other PERSONAL anecdotes of sleep paralysis and how often are they?

Yes. I've had them since I was a kid, and still do, though less frequent. I thought it was normal, scary most of the time, but normal, until years ago I went to a health fair at our local hospitial, and they had a large booth on sleep. On on large display board they had a list of "sleep disorders" -- check here if you have any of these kind of thing -- and I was very amazed to see that I had checked every one.

This is an interesting topic. Many cultures address this in very different ways; not as a disorder. We do. I wonder (I'm sure there must be) if there are studies that show some sort of cataloging, or relationship, to people with sleep 'disorders' and various kinds of so-called paranormal experience. Psi, precog dreams, things like that.

 

[c4ts]

If you have problems with sleep paralysis while you're still awake, you could have narcolepsy.

However, it's more likely you were experiencing a disrupted sleep cycle. Being in the military might have done that, I don't know what your habits are like.

 

[Jeff Corey]

This is Ellen Corey

I have had several episodes of sleep paralyisis starting from the age of 11 to 14. I would see a large black figure in my bedroom that would cover my mouth and body with a force that would not allow me to breath. I was completely unable to move during these occurnces and thouth I was awake. I awoke screaming for assistance and my father would come into my room to assure me nothing was there.

When I was 21 my maternal grandmothe died in my home. I believed that I saw her enter my bedroom and sit on my bed to talk to me. I again could not move during this time but was convinced this was real.

I subsequently learned that what had happened is called hypnogogic sleep and sleep paralyus that is experiencd by many people.

 

[materia3]

This condition normally occurs during REM sleep and may persist for several minutes between REM and waking from REM.

Since narcolepsy by definition includes sleep onset REM and persistent REM state sleep, it is also not uncommon in folks who have this condition. It has nothing to do with ghosts, alien abduction or anything paranormal.

Sleep paralysis along with excessive sleepiness at all times, sleep onset REM (including dreams or hallucinations at the beginning [hypnogogic] and end [hypnopompic] of the sleep cycle) and cataplexy are all hallmarks of this condition. Narcolepsy is now treated with Provigil.

The military is also doing studies with Provigil to see if it will safely help combat soldiers retain vigilance and wakefulness under conditions of long deployment without the opportunity to sleep.

 

[WildCat]

I don't ever remember having it happen to me when younger, but it's been a semi-common experience for me the last few years (I'm 37 now). It was terrifying at first, I now know what it is and can identify it as it happens. Adding to the feeling of paralysis is the fact that my cat often sleeps on my legs, pinning them down.

I think it's happening to me now in mid-life because I sleep lighter these days, especially in the morning hours.

 

[materia3]

I don't ever remember having it happen to me when younger, but it's been a semi-common experience for me the last few years (I'm 37 now). It was terrifying at first, I now know what it is and can identify it as it happens. Adding to the feeling of paralysis is the fact that my cat often sleeps on my legs, pinning them down.

I think it's happening to me now in mid-life because I sleep lighter these days, especially in the morning hours.

REM occurs within 90 minutes of falling asleep and every 90 minutes thereafter. Narcolpetics may have the first cycle sooner (as little as 20 minutes) and have longer REM periods than non-narcolpetics. It is also the last stage of sleep before awakening in the morning. REM is a light stage of sleep with the
same eeg pattern as stage 1 (transitional wake to sleep) and being awake with eyes open. You are describing your early morning REM cycle with hypnopompic hallucination or dreaming amplified by your cat. Narcolepsy shows up in late teens and 20s but often gets worse and isn't recognized until one is in their 30s or more rarely 40s. It is much more common in women then men.Narcolepsy is genetic and is the result of a deficiency of a neurotransmitter known as hypocretin.

 

[rppa]

Does anyone have any other PERSONAL anecdotes of sleep paralysis and how often are they?

Only one that I can recall, and it was just a few months ago. I was lying on my stomach and clearly felt somebody touching my back and the backs of my thighs in a rather... ahem... friendly manner. I felt completely awake. I lifted my head and turned to see my wife next to me. She was not the source. I didn't look down because I was curious to see how long it would last, but it stopped shortly after that. Then I looked down and obviously saw nothing. I remained completely awake.

I knew of sleep paralysis but thought it was always associated with feelings of evil, fear, and paralysis, none of which I felt. Nevertheless I did look up a couple of sleep paralysis websites after that and found that vivid tactile hallucinations (without the classic "Old Hag") are within the realm of the experience.

 

[littleblackpistol]

Hi. First time poster delurking here.

This is a very interesting topic to me as the phenomenon of sleep paralysis is the one that really set me on the path to being a sceptic about the paranormal.

I experienced quite a number of episodes of sleep paralysis in my early twenties. Each followed a similiar pattern - shortly after going to sleep, I would 'awaken' and unable to move, experience feelings of panic. Accompanying this was always the sensation of a 'presence' in the room - either pressing against the bed, leaning on my legs, holding my arm in a tight grip, or on one particularly memorable occasion, trying to strangle me (my report of this the next morning had my roomates in a state of hysteria).

At the time the experiences, which were were incredibly vivid and frightening, had me partially convinced that the rooms I was living in were haunted. It wasn't until a couple of years later, when I saw a documentary about sleep disorders, that I realised that what I had experienced was commonly referred to as a hypngogic state. The documnetary showed a lab experiment where a woman was wired up and had particular parts of her brain connected with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis stimulated. She described to camera every sensation she experienced - identical to everything I had experienced down to having the sensation of someone tightly gripping her arm. I was absolutely fascinated, and began to wonder how many other common 'paranormal' experiences had mundane biological explanations.

 

[c4ts]

I remember the last time I experienced sleep paralysis, Ed from Cowboy Beebop was tugging my arm and wouldn't let go. I was more annoyed than scared, but that's what I get for watching TV late at night right before I go to bed. But I do remember one time, when my little brother couldn't quite speak yet, he ran into my room when I was trying to sleep going "Ope! Ope! Ope!" or whatever nonsense he'd learned that day, beating his little squeaky hammer against his head, and I had to force myself to yell at him so he'd leave. It was very hard to do it without laughing, or feeling like I was laughing without really doing anything, like the laughs were obstructing my ability to talk whenever I tried. Eventually, I managed to move my tongue, and he disappeared. By then I was awake enough to sit up, I could still hear him make noise with his squeaky hammer downstairs, probably what triggered it.

 

[O.B.]

After seeing so many posts, I'm glad I've found myself in good company. I have always been shy of telling others about this because I usually get answers from "It's just you having a dream" or "You should go to a temple and have a medium lift the curse".

The sleep paralysis phenomenon appears to have afflicted a lot of people when I served in the military, for it is a story a few of my contemporaries and even a sergeant can relate too.

But unfortunately, "unworldly" encounters appear to be much more believeable (here we use British English, so please understand my occasional "typos") and certainly cook up a better story to tell when sharing army ghost stories at night out in the fields than plain old boring sleep paralysis!

 

[Jorghnassen]

I've had a couple of similar experiences when I was a teenager, feeling awake and unable to move. Though I felt pressure on my body, there was no horse head or incubus in sight (the absence of the latter isn't surprising since I'm male)...

 

[Bandersnatch]

Although it hasn't hapened in a while, I've had it too. However, I get it in the middle of the night, and I always awaken thinking I've just screamed, find I can't move and think "Any second now, someone's going to come in, and I'll be fine." Of course, the scream is in my head and no one comes, so I try again, make no noise, and I freak out. It hasn't happened in about a year though.

Similar to you, I was telling some friends about it during chemistry class, and it turned out a few of them had had it as well. The teacher heard me talking about it, and said she had it occasionally as well.

 

[c4ts]

After seeing so many posts, I'm glad I've found myself in good company. I have always been shy of telling others about this because I usually get answers from "It's just you having a dream" or "You should go to a temple and have a medium lift the curse".

Well, it is just you having a dream, and as you can see, it's pretty common. And if it is a constant problem, you should work on better sleep habits.

 

[Xeriar]

I have recursive dreams a lot. Nearly every night. Occasionally some are lucid, but anyway - I will frequantly 'wake up' and not really have woken up.

It can get quite vivid. One day, I hear my mom yelling at me to get up, so I get up, start getting dressed...

And she yells at me to get up again. Get dressed, go to the bathroom, get on the bus-

"GET UP!"

Get dressed, go to the bathroom, get on the bus, get to school, Pre-calc (my first class) begins-

"GET UP!"

Well, that's amusing, but sometimes I will 'wake' into a night terror.

When I was a kid, E.T. scared the crap out of me, and three of my night terrors involved the beginning of abduction sequences. I could move around, but I couldn't make any amount of noise no matter how hard I tried, including beating on the wall.

My last one was a bit of a turning point, because I just saw a documentary on how abduction sequences could be caused in the brain, and went to bed with a focus on trying to cause it through meditating on it.

So I knew it wasn't real, and even attacked it. My arm passed through air and it started bending over and hissing at me like a snake, and I forced myself out of it.

 

[CFLarsen]

Re: Re: Sleep paralysis - my experience

Yes. I've had them since I was a kid, and still do, though less frequent. I thought it was normal, scary most of the time, but normal, until years ago I went to a health fair at our local hospitial, and they had a large booth on sleep. On on large display board they had a list of "sleep disorders" -- check here if you have any of these kind of thing -- and I was very amazed to see that I had checked every one.

This is an interesting topic. Many cultures address this in very different ways; not as a disorder. We do. I wonder (I'm sure there must be) if there are studies that show some sort of cataloging, or relationship, to people with sleep 'disorders' and various kinds of so-called paranormal experience. Psi, precog dreams, things like that.

Do you think this can explain why people experience alien abductions, or other paranormal phenomena?

 

[O.B.]

Well, it is just you having a dream, and as you can see, it's pretty common. And if it is a constant problem, you should work on better sleep habits.

The first part I don't agree (that I was dreaming) but the last part I do. I've not had very good sleep habits since 4 years ago (don't ask me why, it's not something I'm proud of). I still don't have good sleep habits but that sleep paralysis experience has occurred just that once.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

What a terrific thread.

I experienced sleep paralysis over a period where I was very ill.The experiences were very frightening, so I sympathise with sufferers.

I think it was Dr Susan Blackmore in Dr Persinger's lab that did the experiment mentioned above with the "magnetic helmet" and sensory deprivation. I remember that she sounded genuinely scared by the experience.

So, my question is -- is it electrical states in the brain that causes SP, or outside magnetic influences. I don't mean in a Coghill way, but maybe there is a common cause?

Also, look at how spooky these stories would be if told on a believers forum, omitting the scientific element.

Such phenomena could be the answer to most abduction and 'visitor' stories.

Next question: Is there a similar state that some people experience when "wide awake"? Something like intense daydreaming?

 

[Oleron]

I had a sleep paralysis incident many years ago when I was a student.
At the time I was, like a lot of students, a bit wild and indulged in a lot of alcohol and 'herbal' cigarettes (allegedly!).

One night after indulging quite heavily in the above pleasures, I went to bed at about 1am. After sleeping for about 2 hours I woke up and attempted to get out of bed to get a drink of water but I couldn't move a muscle.

It felt like someone was pressing down on me very hard and I found breathing difficult. My girlfriend was lying next to me and I tried to move my arm to wake her up as I was now convinced I was dying. I couldn't even turn my head never mind move my arm.

I remembered an article I had read about sleep paralysis and it said that the feeling would pass naturally. The real problem is the feeling of rising panic - utterly overwhelming and terrifying. Luckily the article was right and after what seemed like an eternity (but was probably about 3 or 4 minutes) the feeling passed. It just kind of gradually receded, first my head/neck then my fingers and arms and then my legs.

I got up, walked around for a bit and then, fearing the feeling would return, decided to just go and watch TV for a while instead of going back to sleep.

I never experienced sleep paralysis again until just recently when I fell asleep one evening, slumped forward on the sofa, while watching a film. My wife woke me to say she was going to bed and I found that I couldn't respond. I tried to talk but she says it just sounded like garbled nonsense. I knew what it was this time around and felt no panic. It was more of an inconvenience really.

 

[Dr Adequate]

I have a version of this where I stop being able to move and my thinking stops making sense and turns into word salad just before I go to sleep. And because my mind isn't working properly, I find this scary even though it's happened hundreds of times, and come round with a jolt thinking "OMG, what's happening to me... insanity and paralysis setting in... oh, I'm falling asleep like I do every night". Bah.