...

[hondarobot]

I don't know what it is, Angela, but I know what you're talking about. It can't hurt you.

I had a "ghost" turn on a light on one of our dancefloors earlier today. Myself and two other people saw it. There was, once again, no logical explanation for it.

We live in a haunted world. Nothin to be scared of really, it's interesting.

[TJT]

Interesting isn't Leora? I've had it since I was a kid along with waking dreams.

With sleep paralysis you get stuck in that window between light sleep and deep sleep. You're somewhat aware of your surroundings but the lil' switch that keeps you from moving in deep sleep is still on.

Getting my sleep cycle screwed up does it for me. I have had it so long it's not a big deal,just an annoyance.

BTW,once you realize you're dreaming you can have all sorts of fun controlling your dreams. I like to fly.

[youcancallmeclaire]

omg. that happened to me recently too! I was startled awake, but as I started to gain consciousness I felt extremely messed up like I was on nitrous oxide. I couldn't move my limbs and my body felt like clay and it was all in slow motion.
I thought maybe I had taken drugs and forgotten about it.

And another time there was a cd playing on my stereo and I woke up during this weird abstract ambient part and I felt paralyzed with fear because I don't think my brain could understand what the sound meant...

I love dreams and weird stuff like that.

[ballzNnutz]

you wouldnt happen to be a satanist would you? not being an asshole either incase you are wondering.

[youcancallmeclaire]

Who? Me or the other girl?

[TJT]

Lol. My first clear memory of having sleep paralysis was seeing Jesus at the foot of my bed when I was about 5. Mebbe he and Lucifer work shifts?

[mBomb]

They're night terrors. They're pretty common. They're usually caused by over abundance of stress / shit like that, try to give yourself a time period where you know you're going to sleep -- fall asleep with soft music playing or just read til your about to fall asleep and let it happen naturally.

[TJT]

They're night terrors. They're pretty common. They're usually caused by over abundance of stress / shit like that, try to give yourself a time period where you know you're going to sleep -- fall asleep with soft music playing or just read til your about to fall asleep and let it happen naturally.

Night terrors are actually the opposite of sleep paralysis. The part of the brain that stops you from moving while your dreaming never kicks in with the night terrors. If you're in bed with someone with that lil' disorder when a nightmare kicks in it can be dangerous. The sleep drug Ambien causes me to experience night terrors. I had a dream I was fighting on the stuff and punched my wife.

BTW,heavy drinking can cause you to experience seizures in your sleep that can seem similar to sleep paralysis. It's how I first got a clue I had epilepsy.

I'd roll in drunk,doze off, then wake up suddenly with a jerk and a choking sensation. I'd go back to sleep and feel very weak the next morning. I thought it was the same old shit that had been happening since I was kid and a monster hangover? Had an EEG to check out what was going on after a few months of it and had a seizure during the procedure.

I see my neurologist later this week to schedule a sleep study. Plug me in Nurse Rachett,I've got a bad brain.

[danifan]

Hi, Leora

I don't suffer from sleep paralysis but a good friend has suffered with it from childhood. He'd wake up and be immobilised and hear strange sounds and voices and see strange people (funny dwarves and such) running around and up to him. The doctor told him there's not much you can do but he's learnt to stay calm and wait for his body to "wake up" at its own pace. He deals with it fine, but one night we shared a room when we stayeover at a friend's house, and while actually asllep, he was thrashing about and at one point literally bouncing off the walls.

There is a condition called (IIRC) Old Hag Syndrome...hundreds of years ago in Nordic/Scandinavian countries, a myth formed where people would wake up and there would be an old hag sat on their chest sucking the air out of their mouths: this was actually used on Skinner in an episode of The X-Files. It's now thought that these stories are rooted in sleep paralysis. Interestingly, by stimulating the part of the brain resposible for these hallucinations, many people expereienced the same phenomena, not of the hag but being abducted by Grey aliens. Some researchers now believe that many abduction stories are the result of sleep paralysis!

Danifan

[BlackAdder]

I feel left out!! I wanna see funny dorfs running around and stuff too!

All i see when i wake up is the chaos my room is in, which i guess is pretty frightening in and of itself.....

[the_corner]

Hi Leora,

It happens to me on a seasonal basis... usually like once every 10 to 15 days... but I might get sleep paralysis every two or three days for a couple of weeks, and then it'll stop for a month or so.

Last episode I recall was maybe a week from now..... and longest episode ever about 4 weeks ago.... lasting a fare couple of minutes.

Usually I try to stay calm, since I know that it will eventually pass away, and that's what I would recommend all to do if you ever feel in that situation (even if you're hallucinating - in my case seeing someone standing in front of me, or sitting on top of me, not letting me breath).

A link about this topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_awakening

[TheShyGuy]

hey! You know what? I used to get something like this years ago. It only happened during final exams so I guess it happend b/c of lack of sleep and stress. Some of what you describe is right on but I never had a feeling like there was anyone else there. I consciously figured that a part of my brain was probably sleeping and thats why I couldnt move even though I was thinking clearly. It's scary and I'll bet its because you've had some recent stress or big change. Maybe you could exercise hard so you're too tired to be awake at all before you go to sleep. If it doesn't fix up though i think you should see a doctor.

[TomSelis]

I used to get them when I was a child and just moved from the UK to the US. It was almost exactly what you described. There's a few causes, one is stress (you are in a new environment), watching TV or playing video games right before bed keeps a certain part of your brain active even when you are asleep or eating spicy food right before bed. You haven't been going to the local Lechoneria before bed time have you?

[Realgirls4me]

Leora,

If we are talking about the same thing, I use to get them for a period, but it's been a few years since my last episode. They were terrifying to say the least, as it felt as if I were wide awake, yet not in control of anything, much less my body(for flight reasons). The best description I can give of these experiences was seeing myself lying in bed as some major danger loomed, but I could not flinch to save my life, and it didn't feel like a dream. It felt too real. It was like a nightmare within a dream, and not being able to wake out of either of them. I don't remember any monsters or dieties at the foot of my bed, but it did feel like something or someone was about to get me.

[alfredog]

I used to get that all the time growing up. It used to terrify me, because I thought I was dying. A couple of times I even had out of body sensations-- a warm, tugging feeling in my stomach and then just lifting out of my skin, floating around the room. But the paralysis was the worst. I felt like I was being held down and suffocated.

No idea why I don't experience it much in adulthood.

[trapmasta]

happened to me a couple times
it sucks