Sleep paralysis?
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hey! I hope everyone is doing good. I’m writing on here wondering if anyone has had any experiences with sleep paralysis? I’m 25 years old and I had my first episode when I was probably 19. Well I hadn’t had it in years since then, but I’ve recently started having it again. It started at the beginning of January, just like the first time I had it I woke up and couldn’t move any part of my body except barely my toes and fingers. I tried to y’all or call out but I could tell I just made a whimpering sound. I was hoping it was a one time thing again but no! I’ve probably had it around 25 to 30 times since then. The other night I had it twice in one night and once when I was trying to fall asleep which is also new for me. Just two nights ago I had it to where I thought my boyfriend was whispering things to me really fast but consciously I knew he wasn’t, he was asleep right next to me and one day I was home alone and I felt like someone was holding me down and it felt literally just like there were hands on my arm but I knew no one was there with me. I also cannot open my eyes at all when I’m experiencing this, which to me is a good thing because I’ve heard some terrifying stories of things people can see.
Does anyone else experience sleep paralysis and does this sound similar to your experience? I’ll also mention that I’ve been under quite a bit of stress so I’m wondering if it’s my anxiety that I need to get ahold of or if there’s a chance it could be a sign or some kind of neurological issue or something?!
Thank you all in advance and I’d love to hear your experience with this.
0 likes, 6 replies
michelle70460 taylor_17978
Posted
Hi taylor. I havent personally experienced what you are but without sounding like a doctor u mention that u r under considersble stress & anxiety. Stress & anxiety can do very strange things to our mind & body. U mention the sleep paralysis . Again without sounding like a doctor sometimes when we sleep & wake up suddenly whats possibly happening is that your brain has'nt caught up with your body yet. Try & get your stress & anxiety under control & see if things improve. If not then maybe a trip 2 the doc or a sleep study maybe able to tell you more. Good Luck with it.
taylor_17978 michelle70460
Posted
thanks for your reply! i completely agree about getting the stress under control, its so weird feeling like you dont have control over your own body. ill give it a little more time and ill see a doctor if it doesnt go away. thank you!
lily65668 taylor_17978
Posted
Hi Taylor,
Speaking from personal experience, I'd be a bit wary about seeing a doctor. Most doctors - even including a few sleep specialists - have never heard of sleep paralysis, and may diagnose mental illness in cases where hallucinations are involved. (I note you say that you felt someone holding you down, which is a tactile hallucination, and quite normal in sleep paralysis.) I've been around sleep forums - I mean serious ones, like this one - ever since the start of the internet, and have heard some disturbing stories about medical intervention. (I'm also a former neuro nurse, btw.)
I don't know where you are in the world, but these dangerous misdiagnoses seem to be slightly more common in the US.
The potential danger is that you might be put on antipsychotic drugs. These can be useful for people suffering from real psychosis, but they also have terrible side-effects and can't be stopped once you're on them.
You'd do better just trying to identify your triggers and avoid them, which will bring down the frequency of attacks. Sleep paralysis is something that can easily be managed and lived with once you overcome the initial anxiety.
If you're determined to see a doctor anyway, I'd strongly suggest that you insist on being referred to a sleep specialist, where there's less risk of being diagnosed as psychotic.
michelle70460 taylor_17978
Posted
you're welcome. but at the same time i dont know much about sleep paralysis but there may be a trigger such as stress & anxiety. These particular triggers can have many effects on our body & not just our sleep. I suffer from, where if u read my post, a sensation of where i sleep but it doesnt feel like i have. (had it again last night). Not fun. But what i started doing was leaving my phone next 2 me (always used to turn it off at night) in bed & when i woke up the next morning i'd have like 16 emails but didnt hear at least 12 of them. But ask me if i slept & i'd tell u i didn't but yet my emails say different. I know it's not the same as your problem but if it makes you feel better, we all have some kind of sleep issue at some point in our lives.
lily65668 taylor_17978
Posted
Completely familiar, Taylor. I've had sleep paralysis (I'll call it SP) for more than 50 years, together with the hallucinations that go with it. Most of mine are tactile (touch) like the one you describe, but occasionally auditory. However, the hallucinations of SP can affect any of our senses. During his attacks of SP, my father used to see and smell revolting things.
Which brings me to another point. SP is strongly hereditary though, like other genetic mutations, it has to start somewhere. It might be worth asking around in your family though.
I won't go into the mechanisms of SP, as I'm sure you'll have looked them up already. However, if you have any questions about this, please don't hesitate to ask me, either by posting here or by sending a private message via this site. (Click on the envelope icon next to my ID.)
You probably know by now that SP arises from the REM - or dreaming - stage of the sleep cycle, which is when our unconscious mind gets loose. This accounts for the hallucinations we sometimes experience.
Just to clear one thing up: SP isn't a neurological or psychiatric condition, provided you're not having hallucinations when you're wide awake and going about your daily business - as opposed to just before falling asleep or just after waking up. So you can put all those worries out of your mind. It's a perfectly harmless brain glitch that affects something like 5% of the general population on a regular basis, though most people will experience one or two one-off experiences of it in their lifetime.
So what can you do about it? The most important aspect of management of this condition is identifying your triggers. These vary from person to person, but stress and anxiety are always high on the list. Other triggers are: sleeping too much or, paradoxically, not getting enough sleep; getting overheated when you sleep (my own top trigger); use of recreational drugs, especially weed - even the milder, pre-skunk types; drinking too much alcohol late in the evening; and some people find eating particular foods late in the day can trigger attacks. I don't like to be boring, but sleeping too close to electronic or radio-controlled equipment can trigger episodes too. This isn't surprising when you consider that the entire brain works via chemically-induced electrical transmissions. It might be worth considering switching off your phone at night, or leaving it in another room. However, the foregoing isn't an exhaustive list. We all have our own triggers, and we need to identify them for ourselves. Unfortunately, avoiding all your triggers won't mean you never get another episode of SP, but you should be able to reduce the frequency over time. Also, the feeling that you can do something about it will often reduce anxiety, which in itself will reduce the number of attacks. Finally, the good news is that it tends to decline with age, but this doesn't generally manifest until after you reach middle age.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
taylor_17978
Posted
thank you for your reply! at first mine started out with me being aware i was awake but being unable to move at all or open my eyes. my dad said hes experienced Sp a few times but without the hallucinations or anything. the first time i started hearing and feeling things was so weird and scary and even though i have my eyes shut its like i can see through them and start seeing strange things in my room.
luckily i havent experienced an episode since i posted last week but ive also been waking up with my boyfriend before he leaves for work so as soon as i sleep in i have a feeling it might happen again. its such a strange feeling to be afraid to go to sleep!
thank you for your reply and i will probably end up messaging you at some point!