Can anyone else predict when they are gooing to have an episode of sleep paralysis

Hi Reece. 

My personal experience is that,

I get the “jumps”

It feels like my body is vibrating

I hear voices, bells etc

My eyes will be closed yet can see the tv show or read the words in my book

I see dark people wearing black monk type clothing

There were no books or internet when I was growing up to know what was going on. 

Im glad you found this site. 

I now now have learned that when I’m unable to moveI try to “roll” out of my body and “walk” or “fly” around the neighbourhood. It’s fun and less scary. 

I guess some call this an OBE. 

Hope me this helps. 

Buffy

 

Oh yes Reece - I think that's quite common. The problem is, once you get the feeling it's too late to do anything about it, isn't it? You seem to be getting sleep paralysis mainly while falling asleep. I get it more often when waking from sleep - always from a dream, of course, as sleep paralysis arises from REM (dreaming) sleep. I suddenly get a feeling of dread, the dream immediately becomes lucid - by which I mean I know I'm dreaming - and I know it's going to happen.

I've had sleep paralysis for more than 50 years now, so have pretty much got used to it. I've found it tends to decline very slowly with age, but I still average two or three episodes a month, some of them with severe hallucinations.

Have you managed to identify what triggers your attacks, or at least some of them? My main trigger has always been getting too warm in bed. I can never sleep under any kind of quilt or duvet, and mainly sleep under a sheet with a light rug at the foot of the bed, even in mid-winter. Stress and anxiety will trigger attacks in me too, as will drinking a bit too much alcohol late in the evening (though I think that's mainly because I tend to overheat after drinking). Recreational drugs - particularly cannabis - are also a common trigger. Some people find eating certain foods too late in the evening can trigger attacks too. Also, sleeping too close to electronic equipment can act as a trigger, as can sleeping near overhead high-tension cables. I always had far worse attacks in my mother's house, which was only about 20 yards from overhead power lines. None of this is very surprising, as the brain works by electrical impulses. There's not much you can do if your house is close to power lines (except move) but you might find switching off your phone at night, or at least leaving it in another room, could help.

I found that once I started to identify my own triggers, and avoid them as much as possible, I managed to reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. I hope you'll be able to do the same.

Regarding your last paragraph, I won't tell you the details of my episodes as they frequently involve vivid (and unpleasant) hallucinations. I've found from long experience that if I tell people about my hallucinations, they may end up "catching" them too! This isn't very surprising either, as our hallucinations arise from our own unconscious, which is very open to suggestion.

Have you found anyone else in your family with sleep paralysis btw? It's quite strongly hereditary, though all these things have to start somewhere of course. My father, his mother and at least one of his siblings all had it.

Hi Reece, my episodes are different to yours. I am awake and can hear everything but unable to move or speak - I have to really concentrate on not falling back to sleep as I feel I would not wake up. Eventually parts of me come to life and I am OK but it takes it out of me and I feel really exhausted after one of these episodes. I was told that it was a brain thing - instead of the whole brain waking up one side does - hence the paralysis. Happily I have not had an episode for a while and hope it continues this way as it is so frightening.

Regards