Do any of you suffer from sleep paralysis?

Yep! I've been having it for the past few years and possibly when I was younger too. It's normal apparently but if you mention it to a doctor they just look at you like you're making things up!! Well at least that's what happened to me. It's scary but I'm getting used to it. I also feel like I'm levitating sometimes which is marvellous. All seems very real but it isn't. It's just your mind waking up before your body can.

Yes, I've had it most of my life too. Totally agree with Bird - most doctors know squat about it and may try and make out it's a psychiatric condition. Best keep it to yourself! The few scientists who've investigated it say everyone experiences it a few times in their life but some of us get it on a regular basis. Incidentally, have you ever asked your parents or siblings whether they get it? It's strongly hereditary. A note of caution there, though. When I told my mum about it when I was young, she went ballistic, accused me of all kinds of "dirty" things. It wasn't till I was in my early 40s that my father admitted he'd had it all his life too - but my mother had warned him never to tell me about it as she was convinced it was a sign of insanity! Families, eh...?

It's down to a minor (and harmless) brain glitch. When we're in the dreaming phase of sleep our brain secretes a hormone that paralyses our voluntary muscles - like arms and legs, as opposed to muscles used for breathing, swallowing etc. There's a reason for this - if we weren't paralysed we'd all run around acting out our dreams! Normally the brain stops secreting this hormone just before we wake up, but sometimes it gets out of synch and we wake us still paralysed for a few seconds.

The best thing is not to worry about it. I'm in my 70s now and it's never harmed me! If it's bothering you, you can try and identify what triggers the attacks. In me, it's getting too hot in my sleep. Another one of my triggers is sleeping too much, but it's the opposite for some people. Often things like drinking coffee or alcohol too late in the evening can trigger an attack, and stress is often the culprit. Try keeping a diary of when it happens and what you ate/drank/did before falling asleep, how hot you felt when you woke, how much light there was in the room etc.

And above all don't worry about it. Your instinct is correct - its completely harmless.

Just take a peek at the article "Sleep Patalysis" in Wikipedia.

Yes I've been experiencing it since I was 17, and however scary we find it it's apparently nothing serious. Im 21 and it still happens to me, but much less. Here's a thing that helped me with that if you sleep on your back this is really gonna help you: stop sleeping on your back. Sleep on your side it really works for some reason. Hope this helps, and don't worry about it