Has anyone experienced sleep paralysis?
 

And if so, can you describe it to me? I think it just happened to me and I'm genuinely worried about going back to sleep

ummm, I think it's when you're falling asleep but you have an out of body-esk experience where you're still awake, but you don't quite "feel" awake.. and then a few seconds later when you realize you can't move, you snap out of it in a panic and then sit up or just lay there with your eyes wide open looking at the cieling... kinda feels like when you have a blood pressure drop and your brain/mind suddenly "shuts off" for like a second and you feel really heavy and then you're light-headed/dizzy afterward... sleep paralysis (at least the kind I'm thinking) might be similar?

I've had dreams where I'm having trouble moving, I'm practically crawling everywhere, I can barely see (like I'm actually blind in the dream) and I actually feel so lethargic in the dream... it's like a fatigue dream. Sometimes I'll have that split second when I wake up, that I can't concentrate on my surroundings and am not able to move.. usually takes me like 5-10 seconds to snap out of it.. it's like feeling is reentering slowly, it feels like when your leg is asleep (without the tingling and such)

Edit: It's never really scared me, it's just surprising is all. Hopefully I didn't make your anxiety worse :worry:

I remember what happened very clearly. I was having a dream where I was in the room of someone playing the playstation but it actually felt like I was there and I saw them turn it off and go to bed but expected them to go to the bed next to me but I could hear them round my side (at this point it was just dark) and just as I was about to turn on my side and check, something really strong was on top of me and wouldn't let me go. I remember it making some sort of whisper but couldn't make out what. I think it only lasted for about 10-20 seconds though, but it was absolutely terrifying and the only way I could get rid of it was to just keep pushing my chest upwards as to get out of its grip. I tried screaming too but I literally couldn't. Woke up with very heavy breaths.

Yeah it's pretty terrifying. Only happens once every 6 months or so for me, though. Doesn't put me off going straight back to sleep though :laugh:

Im not even joking here, but you were partly in the dream I was having :worry:

I think I've had it a few times, I'm basically conscious in my mind but unable to move my body and I get loud ringing in my ears, the past few times it's happened I've managed to snap myself out of it pretty quick though & it's never been as traumatic as some of the stories you see.

So basically I sat on you. OK cool thanks Marc, good morale boost. :sad:

I read up on it, and apparently a lack of sleep is one cause of it? That's probably true in my case

nearly 4am ffs

I don't think I've ever experienced this... I've had lucid dreams and out of body experiences, but nothing quite like what's being described here. Sounds terrible, though.

Shaun's under t'bed?

no that bit wasn't you. You were playing the ps4 with someone I knew but it seemed as if you knew them too. However, yous were playing it somewhere else and I was watching you play it through a TV in the dream

Yes I get it, it's horrible.

I feel as if I've woken up normally by hearing something or someone and which ever way I'm facing the noise or thing that disturbed me is behind me, out of sight and I'm unable to move or turn etc to see it, only lasts a few mins each time but it's terrifying.

Yeah that's exactly it, shouldn't happen too often but it's ****ing terrifying when it does.

i haven’t had this but i used to have night terrors (not had one for years now though)

it started when i was hatching ducklings and i had them in the incubator in my bedroom and i would wake up screaming about a snake trying to eat them :skull:

probably not as scary as paralysis but i was still shook

Not had them personally, my son does though.
Quite terrifying, when we looked into it we found out that you need a trigger word to stop it or come out of it.
Concentrate on that word and hopefully everything goes back to normal, not sure how it works but it does seem to help.

Yeah I get it quite a bit, when I'm starting to wake up and can't move at all. It's usually accompanied by me thinking there's someone in the room trying to get my attention and I can't respond to them. It's basically your mind waking up before your body so you're completely aware that you can't move (though thankfully I've never had the ones where you think there's someone dangerous in the room which sounds extra terrifying)

no wonder you have it awake to all bloody hours :rolleyes:

when will people realise that SLEEP is one of THE most important parts of health

go to bed at a regular time, get up at a regular time and your health will vastly improve

stop lying in at weekends and never stay up past midnight
its not big or clever

Yes, that's it. I chose to stay awake until 3am so I could get it.

why are you staying awake to 3 am?

what time are you getting up in the morning?

Don't think I've ever had it before, sounds horrible though

i've had it a few times, you do get used to it

When it happens as long as some people are describing, for me it's usually when I feel really lethargic. So I guess, it could be tied to poor sleep quality. Medication can make it more severe as I've had that happen when taking certain medications and especially strong painkillers after a kidney stone attack. Those almost always lead to fatigue dreams. I've done the lay awake bits where I can't move, but I guess because I was so lethargic, I wasn't particularly bothered by the paralyzed portion :laugh:... I just rest until it passes. What I don't like is it when it feels like a suction cup on my brain and like I'm slipping further into my body. It's like a strong reverse gravity... I guess that is similar to what others here have mentioned, about feeling held down...

As for noises, I sometimes woke up to a false alarm clock in my head. One time I fell back asleep (forgot to get up for school) and an alarm rang in my head and I shot awake... I've also had intense dreams that ended up in a massive thunderclap in my head, which is frightening, except there isn't a storm... it's kinda weird because it reverberates until it's gone, but fades slowly and then I just ease into a waking state... very interesting discussion

sounds horrible, but never had it before so idk what you mean

It sounds bloody terrifying.

Omg. I thought I literally escaped death the first time I had it. Hate it so much. Havent had it in years but it used to happen fairly regularly at one point (head injury).