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Discussion

Sleep paralysis

Has anyone ever experienced sleep paralysis or have a chronic narcolepsy disorder?

I have been experiencing this for three years now where I wake up at different times, sometimes being at the beginning of sleeping, the middle, or end, and I will not be able to move. I know that some people experience visual and auditory hallucinations with sleep paralysis events. When I wake up, I usually always am in a dream, but I am wide awake and not able to move and I typically hear a noise that sounds like wind blowing in my ears. At times when I awaken and am paralyzed, I am also unable to breathe. The event usually lasts for anywhere from 15-30 seconds, but I have also experienced this for what seemed like a couple of minutes. I don't always experience a sleep paralysis event every night I go to sleep. In fact I just had one for the first time in about a week or two. Also, there have been nights where I experience this several times, and one night I had 11 events that caused for me to have no rest.

It took a long time for me to tell anyone about this because I thought I must be crazy and slowly losing my mind. When I went to a psychologist/counselor for the pre-marriage counseling (to get a discount on the marriage license) and I mentioned it to him and he told me that it is experienced by many people and that most people will experience it at least once in their lives. Also, I don't feel so crazy anymore now that I found it under narcolepsy in some of my old nursing school books. He also suggested that it would likely be a temporary thing, but this is now three years of this. I am tired of it, I guess I ought to tell my doctor, but like I said, the only people who know this about me is my parents and my husband.

I just want to know if anyone has ever experienced this or lives with this chronically?

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    • Experts

    This isn't going to be something we can answer. Please see your doctor.

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    I had this happen 3-4 times over the course of my life.

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    Right here!

    disclaimer ... no medical advice here ... just commiseration!

    OP, I am a diagnosed narcoleptic and have lived with what you describe (sleep terrors) my whole life. I wake up paralyzed and hallucinating that there is someone walking around the room or looming over me who's going to hurt me. My eyes roll around wildly in my head and sometimes I can barely manage to crack them open for a split second or two.

    Needless to say, this was terrifying when I was a kid and had no idea what was going on. As I got older, I became familiar with the experience and have found a couple ways of dealing with it.

    The most important thing I've learned about these episodes is 1. they have distinct triggers and 2. there's always a "warning feeling." My number one trigger is sleeping during the daytime - any type of nap ends up in one of these episodes without fail. Couches are terrifying death-traps at any hour of the day. Also the smell of fabric stores makes me uncontrollably sleepy, and if I give in to that sleepiness I end up having sleep terrors non-stop. Weird I know.

    In terms of a warning feeling - my narco is now well-controlled with drugs but when it wasn't, well, there's a pretty unique sensation that comes with narcolepsy and being 30 seconds away from unconsciousness. It's sort of like the ground opens up under your feet and starts to suck you in. Then the uncontrollable eye-rolling starts. If you're narcoleptic, you know what I'm talking about!

    Sleep terrors suck. The best thing you can do is try to be aware of anything that sets them off and then avoid it (easier said than done). Like I mentioned earlier, as I've gotten older I've gained a certain level of awareness when these things happen to me. If possible, talk yourself through the experience. Rather than trying to fight it or wake yourself up, just keep yourself calm. Remember that you know what is happening and that a lot of what you are experiencing isn't real.

    The best way to take care of sleep terrors is to manage your narcolepsy, if you are truly narcoleptic. There is a huge medical component to managing the disease, and only a good neurologist can help you with that part.

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    • Author

    It seems like high periods of stress tend to trigger my episodes. I didn't even start to have them until after my first semester in nursing school. I have an appointment on Friday to go to my primary, so I will mention my sleep problems to him. Thanks for the posts!

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