Sleep paralysis ....

plumrn, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2002

I have had a similar experience a couple of times. I realize I am dreaming, but it seems like I am close to being awake. I felt my little dog (he has been dead for several years) jump on my bed and lay down next to my calf. I actually feel the bed move when he lands on the bed and I can actually feel him against my leg when he lies down. I try to raise my head and look down at him, but I can't move. I can't open my eyes either. I feel paralyzed and then I start yelling in my sleep until I wake up. Then I realize I am now really awake, and my little dog is not there. It was just a dream.

I have also dreamed that I felt a presence of someone come into my bedroom, and I feel them climb up on my bed. I actually feel the bed depress and move as they climb on the bed. It is so real and I am paralized with fear and want to raise up or turn over to see who it is, but I just can't move. It is so scary and I try to scream and eventually wake up yelling. Of course, no one is there. I figure it is just a state between wake and sleep and your dream just seems so real. I have talked to others who have had such experiences.

live4today, RN · Jun 12, 2002

I have had the exact same experiences, and they started when I was 10 years old and stopped in 1990. :eek: Eerie indeed! There MUST be something to this phase of sleep - if indeed we are sleeping or partially asleep when these incidents happen. I hope we get a lot of responses here because now that I know others have felt these experiences, I would love to be able to follow up on it more. I wonder what theory doctors would give to this. Hmmmmm....:chair:

prn nurse · Jun 12, 2002

I had about ten episodes similar to what you describe. I truly thought I would die. If the house had brned down, I don't think I could have awakened myself. It happened over a period of 4-5 months during an extremely stressful time in my life, an never happened again. I didn't know what it was, but have read about it since.

Jenny P · Jun 12, 2002

Would this be like hypnogogic (sp?) hallucinations? That is the sleep paralysis and hallucinations that occur with narcolepsy when a person who has narcolepsy falls asleep and goes directly into REM sleep from the wide awake state. They can also occur when a person is under a lot of emotional stress.

My search engine turned up lots of info on these.

Saltine · Jun 12, 2002

I have had the same problem for 5 or more years now. My mom has it as well! Maybe it's inherited????

I have visual and auditory hallucinations, as well as feeling someone/something on the bed. In the visual ones, I think my eyes are partly open (because I see whatever is right in front of me), but I'm not able to move a muscle. If I happen to be facing my open bedroom door, I will see people peak around the door and watch me, make faces at me, and other terrifying sights! :eek:

The worst is when I'm laying on my side and I feel someone sit down behind me on the bed, lean over and start whispering in my ear. I'm not able to move or make a sound and it is extremely scary! I also have ones where it sounds like there are 10 people in the next room, talking/yelling/crashing furniture around.

My mother has the same thing and is able to bring herself out of it by trying to scream. That doesn't work for me, so I have to wait it out. The only thing that seems to work is to try to realize what is going on, attempt to ignore it and relax, and try to go back to sleep. It's been happening so much that I'm actually starting to be able to do that.

I've heard that this may be caused by a chemical that is released when you are sleeping that paralyzes your muscles (so you don't act out your dreams). And then sometimes people start to wake up, but the chemical doesn't get deactivated correctly. I'll have to see what I can find out about it on the web. They would probably want to make me and my mom their lab rats! :)

Glad to know we aren't alone! I HAD to reply to this post! I've been reading this board for the last 6 months, but have never posted until now. Glad there was a topic I could add something too.

FYI - I'm a pre-nursing student, returning to school to COMPLETELY change career directions. I've learned so much about what it is really like to be a nurse on this board. I LOVE IT and I'm SO ADDICTED!

~ Satine

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The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return.

Tzu · Jun 12, 2002

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer
I have had the exact same experiences, and they started when I was 10 years old and stopped in 1990. Eerie indeed! There MUST be something to this phase of sleep - if indeed we are sleeping or partially asleep when these incidents happen. I hope we get a lot of responses here because now that I know others have felt these experiences, I would love to be able to follow up on it more. I wonder what theory doctors would give to this. Hmmmmm....:chair:

Thanks all for your replies. I just love the little chair icon that cheerfuldoer used LOL).

Well this problem seems common enough I guess. I left a night light on last night for this girl and she slept through with no problems, but I tell you, I was jolly nervous as night time came on. She is a bit of a stressful type of person, so wether that can add to it, who knows.

Must be a horrible thing to live with on a regular basis. I've had it three times in one week and never again. That was about 10 years ago, never forgot it though.

Another explanation I have had is that perhaps it is something to do with different dimensions overlapping, and that we are coming into contact with other people living in other dimensions. But this is far to complex for me to grasp. I think I will stick with the medical explanation under sleep paralysis.

When we were kids, we used to play a game where you have someone stand behind you and you bend and touch your toes breathing out, then breathe in and raise your arms. You repeat this for about several times, then the person behind grabs you around your lower chest and squeezes tight whilst you still have the full breath in you. You then pass out and have the weirdest visions! Mine were always terrifying ones! I can't believe we did this.

I also love this site. There is always something interesting being discussed. I am going to work in LTC with the elderly shortly, as office work is boring for me.

zumalong · Jun 12, 2002

I have had this 'sleep paralysis' for years. My mom also has it--but hers always involves a man all in black standing over her. Mine started when I was working nights in the early 80's. I feel that there is someone coming in the house. I know that whoever it is means me harm, but I can't move a muscle. I always think that if I could just move my pinky, I'll wake up. I realize I am asleep--but can't move.

Sometimes at the end of these episodes:eek: I fall (in my dream??)out of bed--then I wake up. I notice if I am very tired or take naps in the early afternoon is when these occur. Maybe it means we are more attuned to some psychic level. Whenever my mom has them--she knows something bad is going to happen--each time a family member has died (suddenly) she had these.

I have had them so long that when I have them now--I just tell myself it is that dream again and I am not so scared.:kiss

Weird or what???

NurseExplorer · Jun 12, 2002

i didn't have the hallucinations, just the paralysis!!!

it hasn't happenned in a couple of years. i would be lying down and doze off. i'd wake up and then try to get up but i couldn't!!! i wasn't even breathing!!! my muscles felt so heavy!!! scary shyt!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

some sort of way, i would "channel" my strength, energy or whatever and literally pop myself up. my heartbeat would be racing and i'd be breathing hard and sometimes i would be shaking after popping up.

anyone heard of this? :confused:

Tzu · Jun 12, 2002

originally posted by nurseexplorer
i didn't have the hallucinations, just the paralysis!!!

it hasn't happenned in a couple of years. i would be lying down and doze off. i'd wake up and then try to get up but i couldn't!!! i wasn't even breathing!!! my muscles felt so heavy!!! scary shyt!!! :eek:

some sort of way, i would "channel" my strength, energy or whatever and literally pop myself up. my heartbeat would be racing and i'd be breathing hard and sometimes i would be shaking after popping up.

anyone heard of this?

hi nurseexplorer,

bit scarey with the breathing there hey? i have had it whereby i am going off to sleep and stop breathing. always wakes me up instantly and i have a gasp of air and go off to sleep with no problem.

when i had the paralysis three times in one week, on the second time, i also forced myself to resist it and to try and scream. my husband came running through as he was still up and he said what is wrong. i said to him, it was happening again, what did you hear? he said, you sounded like you were choking. i said i was trying to call you! and in the same week after my three experiences, it then happened to him! he awoke in the middle of the night with paralysis and what felt like hands around his throat trying to choke him! hallucinations? :confused: strange that we had it within a few days of each other, never before and never again, thank goodness!

i guess our bodies do strange things to us, and with the paralysis, it is probably best to try and just lie there quietly and not stress out (easier said than done, i know lol).

i've also read that this paralysis thing happens more when people are on their backs. don't know how true that is, as satine says she has had it happen when she is on her side. oh well, it was interesting reading all this. :)

ruffhouser · Jun 12, 2002

Wow! I don't believe it! I thought that I was the only one that this happened to! What a relief to find others who have experienced it. My episodes started about 20 years ago. I don't have them very often anymore, but I hate it when it happens. I don't feel the presence of anyone. I am in a deep sleep and cannot wake up. It is almost like I want to pry my eyelids open. I can't move, speak, or open my eyes. I feel a great deal of fear. I don't know if it is evil I feel, or just the fear r/t loss of control. It is like I am fighting to wake up. I often wonder if this is what is like for our coma patients. If I have presence of mind, I say a prayer and it brings me out of it. I have noticed it happens mostly when I take an afternoon nap and sleep too long. I will wake up and feel groggy and drugged. If I go back to sleep right away, this will happen. I am so glad that someone started this thread. I thought I was the only one this happened to. Thank goodness that I don't have it as often as it used to happen. How would one bring this up to their physician? Could it be some sort of physical problem? Maybe a place that does sleep studies is familiar with this. Take care and God bless.

jschut, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2002

I have to admit, I've never felt anythig like this, and I don't think I want to!

CREEPY!!!!

:chair:

Julie