Sleep paralysis ??

Hi Diane, Yes that's sleep paralysis (ST). I get it too, and have had it for 50 years now.

The hallucinations can affect any of your senses. Mine are mainly tactile, like yours - hands grabbing at me and all kinds of strange feelings. They are also occasionally auditory - running footsteps, doors being slammed, taps being turned on. I don't get visual hallucinations, but many people do.

First of all, it can't harm you and it's very unlikely to be a sign of any kind of disease. Some people may write in and tell you you have narcolepsy or even something scary like MS. There's something in the narcolepsy theory. Virtually everyone who suffers from narcolepsy has SP. However, only a tiny proportion of people with SP have narcolepsy. (I'm a former neuro nurse, btw, as well as having SP myself.)

It's down to a harmless brain glitch. We're all paralysed during the REM (dreaming) phase of sleep by a hormone secreted by our brains. This is to stop us jumping up and acting out our dreams. In some people, this hormone carries on being secreted for a couple of minutes after we wake, or may even kick in before we've fallen completely asleep. The incidence is difficult to assess. Everyone has one or two attacks in their life, usually without hallucinations, but it's thought 2-5% of the population experience it on a regular basis, and with hallucinations. The reason why the numbers aren't precise is that most people who hallucinate prefer not to discuss this with others!

SP is strongly hereditary, so it might be worth asking other family members if they have it. In my case, I eventually found out that my father, at least one of his brothers and their mother had it. My father even had olfactory hallucinations (unpleasant smells) during his attacks.

If you want to stop it immediately, go to your doctor. Unfortunately, some doctors have never heard of the condition, but most have and will prescribe antidepressant drugs. These completely block REM sleep, which is the part of sleep where SP arises. However, whether you want to spend the rest of your life on antidepressants, which have many side-effects and can be difficult to stop, is another question. Personally, I've never taken anything for it, in spite of suffering very severe hallucinations, though I believe a majority of people with SP automatically go on antidepressants these days.

It can still be managed without going the drug route. Fortunately, SP is very susceptible to triggers. The trick is to identify, and then avoid your own triggers. This won't stop attacks altogether, but they'll come much less often. In my case, overheating during sleep has always been the main trigger, followed by sleeping too much. However, some people have more  attacks when they're not sleeping enough. All the usual suspects can play a role too - coffee, alcohol, too much mental stimulation late in the evening, and anxiety. Unfortunately, the first few attacks (or at least the first ones with hallucinations) produce so much anxiety that you can initially go into a vicious circle. There are various other, less common factors too, such as sleeping under overhead high-tension cables or too close to an electrical junction box - even a home fuse box. We each need to find our own triggers.

During attacks, it's best not to try struggling or screaming, though I know from long experience that can be hard sometimes. You probably won't be able to scream anyway, due to paralysis of the vocal cords during this state, but it's often possible to squeeze out a prolonged wailing, squawking noise, which is probably what your son heard. The best way to break out of an attack is to concentrate very hard on the position of your body and try to wiggle the last joint of your fingers or the tip of your tongue.

We all develop our own way of dealing with the hallucinations - which are entirely generated by your own unconscious mind, as I'm sure you realise. Some people find it helps to ask these imaginary "entities": "What do you want?" (mentally, as you can't really speak). I've found the best course of action is to reassure "it" (which is really part of me, of course): "It's all right, I like you". Others find mentally reciting a prayer, a poem or any other set of words can help. The thing to remember is that you'll eventually break out of it anyway.

For tonight, do you have any old-style antihistamines in the house? The type that make you sleepy, I mean. For example, Phenergan (promethazine), Piriton (chlorphenamine) or Benadryl (diphenhydramine). I've given the UK proprietary name followed by the generic name in brackets, as I don't know where you are in the world and proprietary names vary. A dose of one of the stronger cough medicines like Night Nurse (dextromethorphan) or pholcodine can help too, though a simple linctus wouldn't be very effective. I'm not suggesting you take these every night - they'd soon stop working if you did - but often a dose on one or two consecutive nights can be enough to give you the confidence to sleep again.

You can try getting yourself referred to a sleep clinic, but unfortunately people rarely have attacks of SP while in the sleep lab (something to do with feeling safe there). They could, however, determine whether you have an abnormality of REM sleep patterns, though these are often completely normal in people who have SP. But most of all, try not to get too scared about it. Scary as it is, the condition is completely harmless. I started getting it at the age of 23 - at a time of extreme stress in the run-up to my nursing finals - and I still sometimes get it now, at age 72. However, the good news is that it improves with age. I had about 10 years of frequent attacks (several times a month) after which it came less and less often.

Please feel free to send me a private message if you want. Private messages on this site don't carry viruses or reveal the email address of either party. Just click on the little envelop icon under my avatar.

I hope you manage to get some sleep tonight.

I too was and astill am afraid of going to bed , to sleep.

I found relaxation tapes helpful. If ou listen to one just before you would normally go to bed then listen to one or a diddferent one whilst in ed this may help you. ANOTHER TIP i PICED UP WAS HAVING A HOT DRINK OF MILK. hot milk cntains a sleep inducing and relacxing enzyme.

Paul Mckenna has made tapes and written books on I can make you sleep etc.

I think there may be examples of this on U Tube.

You may need a couple of sessions of CBT . tis is the up and coming thing favoured by the NHS.

Obviously you are seeking help like NOW and not in 10 weeks time so the only way to get it imho esp if in the UK is to go privately. You can self refer. Just google CBt and hyponotherapists then give your locality.

Regards