totally not TTCAL related...but super creepy!

Laurakat81

Has anyone ever experienced sleep paralysis?

UGH!!! Its awful. I've experienced it 4 times now, with the first three times being in my early twenties. I've read that it usually goes away by the time you reach your 30s so since I haven't dealt with it since I hadn't really expected to! It's basically when you are caught in between sleep and actually being awake, literally caught in the middle but completely conscious of the fact that you cannot move...at all.

So today I got home from work and immediately went for a nap. I was so exhausted. I fell asleep for about two hours. I woke up and quickly realized that I couldn't move. My first thought, was okay, deep breaths, it'll go away and I'll finish waking up. But it didn't work. I laid there for what felt like twenty minutes completely unable to move. All I could do was barely open my eyes and breath. I could see my dog laying nearby. I could hear my husband washing dishes and kept trying to call out to him. All I could get out was a weird moan. It was awful. The worst experience with it I've ever had. I think it really only lasted five minutes rather than the twenty. I was literally panicked. I think I eventually fell right back to sleep and then awoke again and literally jumped up! And screamed for my DH.

I feel like a lunatic. Anyone else experience this? They say it effects like 80% of people at least once. And that stress is a huge factor in it. And well, i'm definitely stressed.

Oh and my husband didn't believe me at first. He kept telling me it was a dream until I asked him if he was really washing dishes and he was totally caught off guard. Said he was washing dishes for about five  minutes. I could hear the water running the whole time. But he said it was ten minutes after he finished that I yelled his name so I'm guessing I really did fall back asleep.

 

 

biddy53178

its happened to me twice but because of medications ive taken- i didnt know it actually had a name- the first time it happened my friend gave me a pill to take to sleep on the plane back from europe- i have no idea what it was but i was "awake", able to listen to everything around me etc and couldnt move- the second time, id had a migraine x5 days, desperate for some relief but not wanting to go to the ED, i took my bf at the time tramadol, the bf who weighed 275lbs, i can still very vividly remembring lying in bed next to him, thinking i am going to stop breathing and i cant even move to tell him i cant breath- totally terrifying!

GuppyAmy

I've never had it but it does sound super scary!

Lissa832

My mom and I talked about this the other day.  It has happened to me a couple of times.  The first time, I was a senior in high school.  I only went to school for half a day each day,and I would always come home for a nap in the afternoon.  I was lying in the couch the first and my phone started to ring.  I woke up, but I couldn't move at all.  It is really freaky.

stillbaking

Yikes, that does sound super scary.

ColleenS629

That's never happened to me but it sounds terrifying!

liveforhim

Yes this has happened to me a few times and I HATE it..I never knew there was a name for it, I just thought it was just being half conscious and my brain wasn't responding with my body!  The feeling sucks and I have had episodes last like that for longer than 5 min too!  I had no idea what caused them!

Gummybear

I've had that happen a few times too. I hate it. it def. has not happened in a while so maybe I have grown out of it.

jay-tea

This used to happen to me ALL THE TIME.  I hate it.  My triggers were stress, sleeping on my back and no circulating air.  It hasn't happened in a while - I sleep with the fan on and on my stomach when I can... even if the triggers are psychosomatic, sleeping with the fan on and on my stomach seems to keep the paralysis away.

millejj1

That's scary! I've had something kinda like that happen when I was on some heavy duty pain killers but I wasn't thinking clearly either. I hope that doesn't happen again!

Laurakat81

Good to know I'm not the only one! I used to be able to calmly talk my way through it if that makes sense. Since I had read about it after the first time it happened and learned that since you are conscious you can actually learn tricks to snap yourself out of it so I've always been able to. This time I think because it had been so long since it happened (and I was even sleeping on my side, all the others were on my back) I couldn't get past the panic.

 

sunflowr0803

OMG, that sounds super scary!!!