I had a really freaky experience last night that I assume was sleep paralysis and maybe something else, and it really rattled me at the time. Some of it’s already fading, but what I remember is having what felt like an out of body experience and seeing myself tossing and turning, banging on the walls, but my friends in the other room say this never happened, so maybe it was a waking dream and was what I wanted to do? I also remember yelling “Help!” a couple times, but all that ever came out was a low moan that those same friends heard.
I woke up soon afterward, but I was really shaken afterward, and completely awake. I’m not a religious or spiritual person at all, and have no belief in the supernatural but if I were, this felt like what I’d imagine a possession would feel like. It was so bad that when I went to the bathroom a moment later, I was hesitant to even look in the mirror.
I feel okay today – my friends coming into the room and talking with me helped a lot – but now I am curious about what the hell I experienced which, I assume, was sleep paralysis. Has anyone else experienced it? If so, was it anything like this, or is my impression of the subjective experience entirely off?
I think I’ve had it when I sleep on my back and I get some kind of apnea to where I can’t breathe. If I am dreaming, then I start dreaming that I can’t breathe in the context of the dream. Then, as it continues, I get more of a panic that leads to me actually waking up. Once awake, I realize I am on my back and can’t breathe, speak, or move. As a little time passes, I start to be able to make a grunt. A few seconds later, a regain the ability to move and breathe.
The first time it happened, I was freaked out. Now, it’s not so freaky as I know I’ll be able to move if I just give it a few seconds.
This has happened maybe 5 times in my life, all in the last decade or so.
Yeah, I used to get it napping on my back (especially teens/into my 20s)-- comes with auditory hallucinations, so I can’t move AND the axe murderer I can almost see out of the corner of my eye just opened the door and is walking up behind my bed/ the whatever that is just out of my field of vision that has leapt up and is sitting on my chest is breathing on me, etc. Unpleasant.
There’s a line I’m frequently straddling when I’m still ‘dreaming’ yet getting audio/visual info from the waking world as well. It’s always pretty mundane, though, such as last week when I had some fairly bad cramping and thought I was trying to ask my sweetie to get me some Aleve and soda cause I couldn’t move to get them myself. I wasn’t awake yet, apparantly, because I then woke up and got them myself.
But none of it’s ever been paralyzing; I’m just not all the way awake yet, and somehow I have always known this.
Many years ago, in my second apartment, I woke up and couldn’t move and there was a man standing over me in my bedroom. He had a “menacing” feel to him and I felt like he was there to kill me.
The really creepy part was this: The hall light was on. I never leave lights on when I sleep. I got up to turn it out and the living room light was on. I would never leave that on either. I went to the living room and the front door was slightly ajar. This I would never ever do.
But despite those weird incidents, I still believe it was sleep paralysis a weird dream and an odd set of coincidents.
Just happened to me about 30 minutes ago. Napping, I thought I was conversing with my wife about wanting some ice cream, I decided to get out of bed. Only I could not move and no amount of willpower would allow me to move. Only after a minute or two did I realize I was asleep (yet conscious), no conversation had taken place, and that I had to ‘awaken’ before I could move my arms.
Sounds like a typical hypnagogic dream. I have them from time to time. They are always terrifying and leave you feeling unhinged and fearful for a day or so. Sometime I would like to ask Cecil why these dreams are invariably terrifying. I’ve never had one that was pleasant or even just neutral. It’s always demonic dwarfs taunting me from the hall or the personification of evil hovering over the bed. Not much fun but fortunately they are pretty rare.
I have them occasionally too, usually when I’m under a particularly high amount of stress. I feel like if I don’t get up or move or something I’m going to die, but I can’t seem to do anything or talk or yell. Nowadays I try and either make noise or move enough to wake my partner so he can help me, but I can’t seem to do that either.
When I experience sleep paralysis, I’m waking up, but cannot move or speak. There’s no amount of energy or focus I can apply that will mobilize me or emit a sound. I used to wonder if my old man could tell I was struggling beside him. I knew I wasn’t moving, but was hoping at least a loud whisper or tiny shriek would escape and indicate my distress. Nope. It’s frustrating and used to be terrifying, but now that I know what’s happening, I’ve taught myself to relax.
Huh. Most of mine are neutral. But not that time an angry guy broke into my dorm room and trashed the place while I was frozen in fear and couldn’t make myself turn over to get a good look at him.
There’s one thing I don’t understand about bad nightmares, though. Aren’t we supposed to be immobile when we dream, which is why MeanOldLady and others sometimes experience sleep paralysis as they wake? If so, why am I able to get ahold of my right hand/wrist and squeeze hard enough to leave bruises? I wake up from bad nightmares with thumbprint-shaped bruises every few months and I sleep alone.
Might be come out of it by wriggling your little fingers, the last time I had sleep paralysis I didn’t try to move, just lay there to experience what would happen which was… nothing I just woke up normally and have experienced it again.