Sleep paralysis - my experience

[O.B.]

Some time in 2002, I was resting on my bed in my army camp, about to sleep and somehow there was a numb sensation all over me, and suddenly I found out that I couldn't move my face and it was as if some unknown force was threatening to rip the left side of my face apart from my mouth to my forehead.

I tried to scream but I couldn't, and I was alone at that time. I tried to blink, though I knew I wasn't dreaming, but the feeling stayed even after I managed to blink.

After what seemed like a minute or two, the sensation stopped and I went to wash my face, with my heart beating probably two hundred times per minute.

It was a harrowing and frightening experience and I actually associated it with the paranormal given that in my country we import a lot of variety shows from Taiwan (i'm ethnic Chinese), some of which talk of celebrities' personal experiences with the supernatural.

Thankfully for James Randi's article on sleep paralysis some time ago; if not I may have continued to believe in ghosts.

I am also sure I was awake at that time. My mind is somehow capable of deciphering between dreams and reality which I will post about soon.

I have not had a second experience of sleep paralysis to date.

Does anyone have any other PERSONAL anecdotes of sleep paralysis and how often are they?

[turtle]

Originally posted by O.B.

Does anyone have any other PERSONAL anecdotes of sleep paralysis and how often are they?

Yes. I've had them since I was a kid, and still do, though less frequent. I thought it was normal, scary most of the time, but normal, until years ago I went to a health fair at our local hospitial, and they had a large booth on sleep. On on large display board they had a list of "sleep disorders" -- check here if you have any of these kind of thing -- and I was very amazed to see that I had checked every one.

This is an interesting topic. Many cultures address this in very different ways; not as a disorder. We do. I wonder (I'm sure there must be) if there are studies that show some sort of cataloging, or relationship, to people with sleep 'disorders' and various kinds of so-called paranormal experience. Psi, precog dreams, things like that.

[c4ts]

If you have problems with sleep paralysis while you're still awake, you could have narcolepsy.

However, it's more likely you were experiencing a disrupted sleep cycle. Being in the military might have done that, I don't know what your habits are like.

[Jeff Corey]

This is Ellen Corey

I have had several episodes of sleep paralyisis starting from the age of 11 to 14. I would see a large black figure in my bedroom that would cover my mouth and body with a force that would not allow me to breath. I was completely unable to move during these occurnces and thouth I was awake. I awoke screaming for assistance and my father would come into my room to assure me nothing was there.

When I was 21 my maternal grandmothe died in my home. I believed that I saw her enter my bedroom and sit on my bed to talk to me. I again could not move during this time but was convinced this was real.

I subsequently learned that what had happened is called hypnogogic sleep and sleep paralyus that is experiencd by many people.

[materia3]

This condition normally occurs during REM sleep and may persist for several minutes between REM and waking from REM.

Since narcolepsy by definition includes sleep onset REM and persistent REM state sleep, it is also not uncommon in folks who have this condition. It has nothing to do with ghosts, alien abduction or anything paranormal.

Sleep paralysis along with excessive sleepiness at all times, sleep onset REM (including dreams or hallucinations at the beginning [hypnogogic] and end [hypnopompic] of the sleep cycle) and cataplexy are all hallmarks of this condition. Narcolepsy is now treated with Provigil.

The military is also doing studies with Provigil to see if it will safely help combat soldiers retain vigilance and wakefulness under conditions of long deployment without the opportunity to sleep.

[WildCat]

I don't ever remember having it happen to me when younger, but it's been a semi-common experience for me the last few years (I'm 37 now). It was terrifying at first, I now know what it is and can identify it as it happens. Adding to the feeling of paralysis is the fact that my cat often sleeps on my legs, pinning them down. :p

I think it's happening to me now in mid-life because I sleep lighter these days, especially in the morning hours.

[materia3]

Originally posted by WildCat
I don't ever remember having it happen to me when younger, but it's been a semi-common experience for me the last few years (I'm 37 now). It was terrifying at first, I now know what it is and can identify it as it happens. Adding to the feeling of paralysis is the fact that my cat often sleeps on my legs, pinning them down. :p

I think it's happening to me now in mid-life because I sleep lighter these days, especially in the morning hours.

REM occurs within 90 minutes of falling asleep and every 90 minutes thereafter. Narcolpetics may have the first cycle sooner (as little as 20 minutes) and have longer REM periods than non-narcolpetics. It is also the last stage of sleep before awakening in the morning. REM is a light stage of sleep with the
same eeg pattern as stage 1 (transitional wake to sleep) and being awake with eyes open. You are describing your early morning REM cycle with hypnopompic hallucination or dreaming amplified by your cat. Narcolepsy shows up in late teens and 20s but often gets worse and isn't recognized until one is in their 30s or more rarely 40s. It is much more common in women then men.Narcolepsy is genetic and is the result of a deficiency of a neurotransmitter known as hypocretin.

[rppa]

Originally posted by O.B.
Does anyone have any other PERSONAL anecdotes of sleep paralysis and how often are they?

Only one that I can recall, and it was just a few months ago. I was lying on my stomach and clearly felt somebody touching my back and the backs of my thighs in a rather... ahem... friendly manner. I felt completely awake. I lifted my head and turned to see my wife next to me. She was not the source. I didn't look down because I was curious to see how long it would last, but it stopped shortly after that. Then I looked down and obviously saw nothing. I remained completely awake.

I knew of sleep paralysis but thought it was always associated with feelings of evil, fear, and paralysis, none of which I felt. Nevertheless I did look up a couple of sleep paralysis websites after that and found that vivid tactile hallucinations (without the classic "Old Hag") are within the realm of the experience.

[littleblackpistol]

Hi. First time poster delurking here. :)

This is a very interesting topic to me as the phenomenon of sleep paralysis is the one that really set me on the path to being a sceptic about the paranormal.

I experienced quite a number of episodes of sleep paralysis in my early twenties. Each followed a similiar pattern - shortly after going to sleep, I would 'awaken' and unable to move, experience feelings of panic. Accompanying this was always the sensation of a 'presence' in the room - either pressing against the bed, leaning on my legs, holding my arm in a tight grip, or on one particularly memorable occasion, trying to strangle me (my report of this the next morning had my roomates in a state of hysteria).

At the time the experiences, which were were incredibly vivid and frightening, had me partially convinced that the rooms I was living in were haunted. It wasn't until a couple of years later, when I saw a documentary about sleep disorders, that I realised that what I had experienced was commonly referred to as a hypngogic state. The documnetary showed a lab experiment where a woman was wired up and had particular parts of her brain connected with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis stimulated. She described to camera every sensation she experienced - identical to everything I had experienced down to having the sensation of someone tightly gripping her arm. I was absolutely fascinated, and began to wonder how many other common 'paranormal' experiences had mundane biological explanations.

[c4ts]

I remember the last time I experienced sleep paralysis, Ed from Cowboy Beebop was tugging my arm and wouldn't let go. I was more annoyed than scared, but that's what I get for watching TV late at night right before I go to bed. But I do remember one time, when my little brother couldn't quite speak yet, he ran into my room when I was trying to sleep going "Ope! Ope! Ope!" or whatever nonsense he'd learned that day, beating his little squeaky hammer against his head, and I had to force myself to yell at him so he'd leave. It was very hard to do it without laughing, or feeling like I was laughing without really doing anything, like the laughs were obstructing my ability to talk whenever I tried. Eventually, I managed to move my tongue, and he disappeared. By then I was awake enough to sit up, I could still hear him make noise with his squeaky hammer downstairs, probably what triggered it.

[O.B.]

After seeing so many posts, I'm glad I've found myself in good company. I have always been shy of telling others about this because I usually get answers from "It's just you having a dream" or "You should go to a temple and have a medium lift the curse".

The sleep paralysis phenomenon appears to have afflicted a lot of people when I served in the military, for it is a story a few of my contemporaries and even a sergeant can relate too.

But unfortunately, "unworldly" encounters appear to be much more believeable (here we use British English, so please understand my occasional "typos") and certainly cook up a better story to tell when sharing army ghost stories at night out in the fields than plain old boring sleep paralysis!

[Jorghnassen]

I've had a couple of similar experiences when I was a teenager, feeling awake and unable to move. Though I felt pressure on my body, there was no horse head or incubus in sight (the absence of the latter isn't surprising since I'm male)... :D

[Bandersnatch]

Although it hasn't hapened in a while, I've had it too. However, I get it in the middle of the night, and I always awaken thinking I've just screamed, find I can't move and think "Any second now, someone's going to come in, and I'll be fine." Of course, the scream is in my head and no one comes, so I try again, make no noise, and I freak out. It hasn't happened in about a year though.

Similar to you, I was telling some friends about it during chemistry class, and it turned out a few of them had had it as well. The teacher heard me talking about it, and said she had it occasionally as well.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by O.B.
After seeing so many posts, I'm glad I've found myself in good company. I have always been shy of telling others about this because I usually get answers from "It's just you having a dream" or "You should go to a temple and have a medium lift the curse".

Well, it is just you having a dream, and as you can see, it's pretty common. And if it is a constant problem, you should work on better sleep habits.

[Xeriar]

I have recursive dreams a lot. Nearly every night. Occasionally some are lucid, but anyway - I will frequantly 'wake up' and not really have woken up.

It can get quite vivid. One day, I hear my mom yelling at me to get up, so I get up, start getting dressed...

And she yells at me to get up again. Get dressed, go to the bathroom, get on the bus-

"GET UP!"

Get dressed, go to the bathroom, get on the bus, get to school, Pre-calc (my first class) begins-

"GET UP!"

Well, that's amusing, but sometimes I will 'wake' into a night terror.

When I was a kid, E.T. scared the crap out of me, and three of my night terrors involved the beginning of abduction sequences. I could move around, but I couldn't make any amount of noise no matter how hard I tried, including beating on the wall.

My last one was a bit of a turning point, because I just saw a documentary on how abduction sequences could be caused in the brain, and went to bed with a focus on trying to cause it through meditating on it.

So I knew it wasn't real, and even attacked it. My arm passed through air and it started bending over and hissing at me like a snake, and I forced myself out of it.

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by turtle
Yes. I've had them since I was a kid, and still do, though less frequent. I thought it was normal, scary most of the time, but normal, until years ago I went to a health fair at our local hospitial, and they had a large booth on sleep. On on large display board they had a list of "sleep disorders" -- check here if you have any of these kind of thing -- and I was very amazed to see that I had checked every one.

This is an interesting topic. Many cultures address this in very different ways; not as a disorder. We do. I wonder (I'm sure there must be) if there are studies that show some sort of cataloging, or relationship, to people with sleep 'disorders' and various kinds of so-called paranormal experience. Psi, precog dreams, things like that.

Do you think this can explain why people experience alien abductions, or other paranormal phenomena?

[O.B.]

Originally posted by c4ts
Well, it is just you having a dream, and as you can see, it's pretty common. And if it is a constant problem, you should work on better sleep habits.

The first part I don't agree (that I was dreaming) but the last part I do. I've not had very good sleep habits since 4 years ago (don't ask me why, it's not something I'm proud of). I still don't have good sleep habits but that sleep paralysis experience has occurred just that once.

[The Mighty Thor]

What a terrific thread.

I experienced sleep paralysis over a period where I was very ill.The experiences were very frightening, so I sympathise with sufferers.

I think it was Dr Susan Blackmore in Dr Persinger's lab that did the experiment mentioned above with the "magnetic helmet" and sensory deprivation. I remember that she sounded genuinely scared by the experience.

So, my question is -- is it electrical states in the brain that causes SP, or outside magnetic influences. I don't mean in a Coghill way, but maybe there is a common cause?

Also, look at how spooky these stories would be if told on a believers forum, omitting the scientific element.

Such phenomena could be the answer to most abduction and 'visitor' stories.

Next question: Is there a similar state that some people experience when "wide awake"? Something like intense daydreaming?

[Oleron]

I had a sleep paralysis incident many years ago when I was a student.
At the time I was, like a lot of students, a bit wild and indulged in a lot of alcohol and 'herbal' cigarettes (allegedly!).

One night after indulging quite heavily in the above pleasures, I went to bed at about 1am. After sleeping for about 2 hours I woke up and attempted to get out of bed to get a drink of water but I couldn't move a muscle.

It felt like someone was pressing down on me very hard and I found breathing difficult. My girlfriend was lying next to me and I tried to move my arm to wake her up as I was now convinced I was dying. I couldn't even turn my head never mind move my arm.

I remembered an article I had read about sleep paralysis and it said that the feeling would pass naturally. The real problem is the feeling of rising panic - utterly overwhelming and terrifying. Luckily the article was right and after what seemed like an eternity (but was probably about 3 or 4 minutes) the feeling passed. It just kind of gradually receded, first my head/neck then my fingers and arms and then my legs.

I got up, walked around for a bit and then, fearing the feeling would return, decided to just go and watch TV for a while instead of going back to sleep.

I never experienced sleep paralysis again until just recently when I fell asleep one evening, slumped forward on the sofa, while watching a film. My wife woke me to say she was going to bed and I found that I couldn't respond. I tried to talk but she says it just sounded like garbled nonsense. I knew what it was this time around and felt no panic. It was more of an inconvenience really.

[Dr Adequate]

I have a version of this where I stop being able to move and my thinking stops making sense and turns into word salad just before I go to sleep. And because my mind isn't working properly, I find this scary even though it's happened hundreds of times, and come round with a jolt thinking "OMG, what's happening to me... insanity and paralysis setting in... oh, I'm falling asleep like I do every night". Bah.

[The Mighty Thor]

What causes that "start" when sometimes you are falling asleep and feel as though you fell off a pavement, or took a misstep?

Is this to do with autonomic reaction to stopped breathing -- sleep apnea?

[Dancing David]

I have had sleep disturbances going back to childhood, where I frequently sleep walkes, the last episode I rememebr was when I was eleven, and it was a dream fugue state that I could recall when I awokee.

Throughout much of my twenties and thirties I had frequent night terror, where I would awake and stare at a dark corner and be inconsolable and unresponsive. We lived on a busy street and at times I would awake in a dream state because of the noise of the street, suauly people talking, these would be weird hypogogic experiences, with bizzare content.
The most extreme case I have had of this half dream half awake case came later when I saw a spirit door in my room, I aroused in a dream state and there was this glowing door in my room.

Since I have had treatment for depression, left an abusive marriage, I no longer have night terrors. I am considering getting an evaluation for sleep apnoea.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Here's the part I don't understand. I cannot remember having any episodes like you folks have described, so I'm just talking out of my hat.

Sleep is a weird thing. Even if you don't have any obvious episodes of sleep paralysis, it's clear that falling asleep is a funny thing, dreams are odd, you wake up during the night for short periods, your body doesn't move even if you're dreaming of moving, people sleep talk and sleep walk, and so forth. So why would anyone except young children interpret sleep paralysis in a paranormal way? Isn't it clearly just an extension of the normal oddities of sleep? Why the jump to supernatural explanations?

~~ Paul

[Hastur]

So far, I've only had one instance of sleep paralysis. I was in my junior year of college and I had woken up from a nightmare/night terror (Can't remember what it was about) and I felt the sensation of a weight on my chest. I didn't see anything that looked like an alien or demon or whatever. There was no way anyone or anything could have been in the room with me; I was in a rather small dorm room by myself with the door locked and the windows covered by heavy wire screens. I just layed there waiting for anything to happen (if it's an alien, I figured it had to shift its position at some point). After a while, I finally mustered up the courage to move my arms and yes, nothing was actually on my chest.

[Dragonrock]

Originally posted by The Mighty Thor
What causes that "start" when sometimes you are falling asleep and feel as though you fell off a pavement, or took a misstep?

Is this to do with autonomic reaction to stopped breathing -- sleep apnea?

I get these once a week or so. I consider them to be the opposite of sleep paralysis in that instead of being unable to move while awake I end up moving while asleep. What I've found is that sometimes while falling asleep, I'm thinking about moving around like walking or cooking. Then, for some reason, in my dream/thoughts I need to move quickly. This is translated by my half asleep brain as a real need to move which is sent to my body which moves in the way I was dreaming about. Feeling my body move when prior to this I was still causes a start and wakes me up.

[jambo372]

Interesting.
Something weird happens to me on quite a regular basis when I wake up, often in the middle of the night. It's happened every few months ever since I can remember.

I have a dream in which my body is falling in a horizontal position and I'm facing upwards towards the sky, or sometimes I feel I'm sliding backwards down a steep hill. I then wake up feeling myself 'land' flatout on the bed facing up towards the ceiling. I feel as if I'm being spinned around on a turntable facing upwards towards the ceiling and I see all different flashing colours and if I don't immediately close my eyes and roll over onto my stomach and press my face down ino the pillow I feel very nauseous and usually vomit everywhere.

Is there a term for what I've just described ?

[Operaider]

Originally posted by jambo372
Interesting.
Something weird happens to me on quite a regular basis when I wake up, often in the middle of the night. It's happened every few months ever since I can remember.

I have a dream in which my body is falling in a horizontal position and I'm facing upwards towards the sky, or sometimes I feel I'm sliding backwards down a steep hill. I then wake up feeling myself 'land' flatout on the bed facing up towards the ceiling. I feel as if I'm being spinned around on a turntable facing upwards towards the ceiling and I see all different flashing colours and if I don't immediately close my eyes and roll over onto my stomach and press my face down ino the pillow I feel very nauseous and usually vomit everywhere.

Is there a term for what I've just described ? I get that when I drink some times

[Dr Adequate]

Originally posted by jambo372
Is there a term for what I've just described ?
"Weird".

The syptoms sound similar to migraine. But I've never quite heard of anything quite like this, I must admit.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by jambo372
Interesting.
Something weird happens to me on quite a regular basis when I wake up, often in the middle of the night. It's happened every few months ever since I can remember.

I have a dream in which my body is falling in a horizontal position and I'm facing upwards towards the sky, or sometimes I feel I'm sliding backwards down a steep hill. I then wake up feeling myself 'land' flatout on the bed facing up towards the ceiling. I feel as if I'm being spinned around on a turntable facing upwards towards the ceiling and I see all different flashing colours and if I don't immediately close my eyes and roll over onto my stomach and press my face down ino the pillow I feel very nauseous and usually vomit everywhere.

Is there a term for what I've just described ?

Migrane or epilepsy. Or some problem with your inner ear. The fact that you throw up means you should probably ask your doctor about this.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Yup, time to talk to your doctor, Jambo. They might want to do an EEG of some sort.

~~ Paul

[rppa]

I seem to be the only one here whose sleep paralysis experience was more of an succubus experience than an Old Hag, and more pleasant than frightening. Does that mean there's something deeply freudian wrong with me?

Edited: "incubus" -> "succubus"

[Soapy Sam]

There have been threads on this here before.

My experiences seem typical:- Disturbed sleep patterns (dozing after a work shift for example), wake up unable to move, sensation of a "presence", or of a weight pressing on me. Extreme fear. It all fades after a couple of minutes and I wake fully and can move normally.

First time was very, very frightening. Subsequent events much less so, because I recognise the phenomenon. (The fact that stroke victims describe similar paralysis is of course worrying as I get older, but stroke does not seem to have the associated sensation of presence or suffocation-the "unknown force" OB describes).
I suspect that force, or presence, is one's self- a normally integrated system which is operating as separate processes in this case. I think the phenomenon may give us a window into such matters as personality, consciousness and schizophrenia.

Jambo's experience sounds quite different to me. Frankly, it reminds me of "the whirlies", which we have all had on lying down after taking too much alcohol- an inner ear / balance problem. Assuming alcohol or drugs are not implicated, I would suggest that if it gets worse or more frequent, a doctor should be consulted.

Any growth spurts in the last year or two, Jambo? Remember teenaged nervous systems are often changing at an incredible rate to cope with body growth. It can have wierd effects. You literally change from day to day. Great fun. Once was fine, thanks.

[jambo372]

Only on one occasion that it happened had I been drinking.

Can you get migraine without the headache ?

Don't think it's anything to do with age - it's happened every few months for my whole life.

If it had something to do with my inner ear why would it happen only once every few months ? Same with epilepsy - I've known epileptics and it looks nothing like it.

[The Mighty Thor]

Originally posted by jambo372
Interesting.
Something weird happens to me on quite a regular basis when I wake up, often in the middle of the night. It's happened every few months ever since I can remember.

I have a dream in which my body is falling in a horizontal position and I'm facing upwards towards the sky, or sometimes I feel I'm sliding backwards down a steep hill. I then wake up feeling myself 'land' flatout on the bed facing up towards the ceiling. I feel as if I'm being spinned around on a turntable facing upwards towards the ceiling and I see all different flashing colours and if I don't immediately close my eyes and roll over onto my stomach and press my face down ino the pillow I feel very nauseous and usually vomit everywhere.

Is there a term for what I've just described ?

This is really disturbing, jambo. Have you ever told ANYONE about this -- even your parents? I suffer from migraine and you can get the flashing lights (the aura) and nausea without the headache. But I don't think you would get these without the headache ALL the time, although I may be wrong.

No matter what, something very unusual is going on, and you really must see your GP and describe these symptoms to him. If he says it IS migraine, the good news is that they have pills that can virtually eradicate the attacks.

There's been a lot of banter here, and you say you don't like us -- that's fine. But with all the visual problems you are having, you really need to see a proper doctor. He/she WILL listen to you. If you feel you might get flustered --

WRITE THE SYMPTONS DOWN ON A BIT OF PAPER and read from it when the doc asks what's wrong.

Forget about all the "hole in the eye" stuff. What have you got to lose by having a checkup? Why suffer these uncomfortable attacks, when here might be an easy remedy?

[Xeriar]

Originally posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Sleep is a weird thing. Even if you don't have any obvious episodes of sleep paralysis, it's clear that falling asleep is a funny thing, dreams are odd, you wake up during the night for short periods, your body doesn't move even if you're dreaming of moving, people sleep talk and sleep walk, and so forth. So why would anyone except young children interpret sleep paralysis in a paranormal way? Isn't it clearly just an extension of the normal oddities of sleep? Why the jump to supernatural explanations?

For some (myself included) the terror and hallucinations involved feel, for lack of a better term, paranormal.

It's like the brain turns its fear setting into overdrive. It's a very real emotion and the only visable cause seems to be this hallucination of this fairy/angel/demon/alien/whatever you are seeing...

I could not believe that it -wasn't- an alien abduction until someone showed me just how such a hallucination could occur and provoke such an emotion, and experienced it myself to prove - to myself - that it was indeed a hallucination.

[c4ts]

Some seizures can result in nausea, dizziness, even uncontrolable vomiting, and warnings or indicators can include things like a smell that isn't there or seeing flashing colors. And the inner ear can go nuts if you drink too much, spend too much time moving around, or just plain get dehydrated. Lots of things can give you that whirling feeling you describe, I don't know them all, it's not my area of expertise.

However, it's hard to tell from what you describe, and you may be imbellishing for all I know. Just because it happened while you were asleep does not necessarily mean it was sleep triggered. I really suggest you pay attention to your symptoms if it happens again, and tell a doctor (and be honest). A doctor is more able to treat your problem than a bunch of posters on the internet, and I take it you don't want to vomit uncontrolably every few months. Even if there is nothing wrong with you, there is really no harm in seeing a professional.

[BillC]

I've had just the one sleep paralysis event, when I was a student. I had been given to reading a pile of ghost and paranormal stories that had been left in the basement of the house we had moved into. Although I was moderately sceptical at the time, they were vivid enough to give me unpleasant dreams. One morning, I awoke before dawn, convinced that a vampire, or something supernatural was coming into my room. I thought I was still asleep, so I had to awake, to warn the others, or make my own escape, or something.

Yet I couldn't move. I had no feeling of something grabbing hold of me or smothering me, yet I knew I had to get up and move, I simply had to. It felt like I was yelling inside my head to force my legs to move. After a short while, the sensation passed entirely and I was fully awake. No-one else in the house commented that they had heard anything that morning, so I suppose the yelling had been entirely inside my head.

It is curious that there is often a 'supernatural' element to these sleep paralysis events.

[DeVega]

I have been lurking here for a while - it's such a great forum - this discussion made me really want to join in.

I have the experience someone else described - I think I HAVE woken up and started the day. It is so vivid, get dressed, brush teeth etc, go downstairs... then I'm back in bed trying to wake up... get dressed, brush teeth ect.

The whole cycle can repeat as many as about ten times. It is accompanied by a feeling of increasing desperation because I know I am in the loop. Very frightening. I find that I have to concentrate and make my hands or feet move to physically jerk myself out of the dream. I guess it is sleep paralysis. I am an insomniac writer so bad sleep patterns do not help.

Jambo - I think what you described is very likely to be migraine - with an occular content. I agree you should get this checked by your doctor - why suffer if you don't have to? - I would also go to an opthalmic optician. Do you see flashing lights which look like neon strips?

Good to be here!
DeVega

[The Mighty Thor]

Originally posted by DeVega
I have been lurking here for a while - it's such a great forum - this discussion made me really want to join in.

I have the experience someone else described - I think I HAVE woken up and started the day. It is so vivid, get dressed, brush teeth etc, go downstairs... then I'm back in bed trying to wake up... get dressed, brush teeth ect.

The whole cycle can repeat as many as about ten times. It is accompanied by a feeling of increasing desperation because I know I am in the loop. Very frightening. I find that I have to concentrate and make my hands or feet move to physically jerk myself out of the dream. I guess it is sleep paralysis. I am an insomniac writer so bad sleep patterns do not help.

Jambo - I think what you described is very likely to be migraine - with an occular content. I agree you should get this checked by your doctor - why suffer if you don't have to? - I would also go to an opthalmic optician. Do you see flashing lights which look like neon strips?

Good to be here!
DeVega

Welcome DeVega. Glad you came out of the lurker's closet.

That loop is really weird and it seems that quite a lot of people have had it. Does the good old advice to "pinch yourself hard in the dream" break the cycle quickly?

[Stereolab]

I always used to get sleep-paralyzed on airplanes. I had to fly from Baltimore to Cincinnati every Monday morning at 5AM. I'd fall asleep before the plane even took off, but I'd go into sleep paralysis around the time when the plane was preparing to land. I remember hearing the pilot telling us we were preparing to land, and I was scared as hell that I wouldn't be able to wake up and get off the plane.

This happened to me just about every week on the plane...but other than that, I can only remember having sleep paralysis once or twice in my own bed.

[The Mighty Thor]

Originally posted by Stereolab
I always used to get sleep-paralyzed on airplanes. I had to fly from Baltimore to Cincinnati every Monday morning at 5AM. I'd fall asleep before the plane even took off, but I'd go into sleep paralysis around the time when the plane was preparing to land. I remember hearing the pilot telling us we were preparing to land, and I was scared as hell that I wouldn't be able to wake up and get off the plane.

This happened to me just about every week on the plane...but other than that, I can only remember having sleep paralysis once or twice in my own bed.

That must have been really frightening. It sounds almost like subconsious stress and anxiety about landing and taking off (the two most dangerous phases of flying) might even have played a role.

[thatguywhojuggles]

One night when I was six years old and living in South America I woke up and saw this lion next to my bed. I reached for a broom that was next to my bed and started beating the hell out of the lion. My mom rushed into the room, flipped on the light to find me attacking our poor dog.

[The Mighty Thor]

Doesn't this thread show that enough frigtening things can happen to us in our mundane world without making up even more fearful paranormal ones? -- see my sig.

Note, Burns was religious, but despised organised religion.

[The Mighty Thor]

Also, look at how spooky these stories would be if told on a believers forum, omitting the scientific element.


Here is a good example. At least someone does mention sleep paralysis. It seems to have turned out all right in the end. She seems to have reported a remote Satanist to the police. I wonder what they could charge him with -- spectral visitation? Unwelcome spirit manifestation? Being "The Entity"?

http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=121244

[Soapy Sam]

The times I've experienced sleep paralysis, I was acutely aware of my immediate environment. I had no visual hallucination and certainly never confused the experience with alien-napping. I really don't believe these experiences are related. I've seen the comparison elsewhere, but it does not ring true to me.

A suggestion to Jambo. If your experience is periodic, perhaps there is an environmental cause? I'm thinking of stuff like allergies (for example to seasonal food). You would be best able to spot any patterns in your own life. Next time it occurs, make careful notes of what you did and ate the previous couple of days. You might spot a pattern. It might even be a response to stress- Exams for example.

[jambo372]

But it's happened my whole life once every few months or more.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by jambo372
But it's happened my whole life once every few months or more.

Jambo, have you seen a doctor yet?

[Dr Adequate]

Originally posted by jambo372
Can you get migraine without the headache ?.
Well, I get the appalling semicranial pain without the flashing lights. I obviously have half of your medical problem. Do you want it back?

I used to get something like the light effects migraine sufferers describe doing Zen meditation... I also heard the distinctive sound of one hand clapping...

[Soapy Sam]

Literally, since infancy? And this has never been checked out?

When you say every few months or more, can you flesh that out with some numbers? eg three times a year , but maybe two of those in one month, or regularly once every six months- see where I'm going? Is there any link between the pattern, if any, and the rest of your life? eg is it related to holiday times, school term end /start, Christmas and Easter-( I know a man who , as a kid, always got ill after Easter. Turned out to be allergy to cocoa from chocolate eggs!He didn't eat it the rest of the year-wierd family.)

Or something seasonal?

Or an annual visit from your uncle Vlad the Poisoner?

[jambo372]

No - Incidentally last night was the night.

It doesn't bother me for more than about 30 mins maximum, it would be a waste of time going to the doctors - they would think I had a screw loose going to them with something as daft as that.

[Soapy Sam]

No they wouldn't. If they do, get a new doctor. Something as persistent as you describe requires an explanation. Doctors deal with far more trivial stuff than this. It's part of the job.

[jambo372]

It just happens completely at random.

PS Who is Vlad ? Tee hee hee.

But it doesn't bother me - why should I go to the doctor ?
I know someone who goes to the doctors everyday with every ailment - I think they just make it up.

[Ashles]

And apparently Jambo sees orbs all the time as well.

According to Jambo his optician said this was fine and didn't send him for testing.

Of course there are those who think that if anyone has anything then Jambo has to have it too...

[c4ts]

Originally posted by jambo372
No - Incidentally last night was the night.

It doesn't bother me for more than about 30 mins maximum, it would be a waste of time going to the doctors - they would think I had a screw loose going to them with something as daft as that.

NO THEY WOULD NOT! Unless you really are making this up and don't want to go because you know it's not real. But if this really happens to you, and you want to stop throwing up and feeling miserable, no doctor is going to ridicule you for going to him or her for help. Did you write down a list symptoms since you had it last night?

Wait, it doesn't bother you???? You said you it made you vomit uncontrolably! Vomiting is bad! That's a sign something is wrong with you, even if it doesn't bother you.

[Soapy Sam]

I know someone who goes to the doctors everyday with every ailment - I think they just make it up.


Yes, some people are hypochondriacs. They exaggerate symptoms, or totally make them up to get attention or impress others in some confused way. Do you think that description fits you? I'm taking what you say to be the truth, as I see no sane reason for you to make it up. I can't imagine why a doctor should doubt you.

Up to you of course, but at least keep a record of anything that might be related. If it gets more troublesome, you may find it useful.

[jambo372]

For the last time - I don't want to go to the doctor because it's not an illness and I can avoid the nausea by rolling over onto my stomach and closing my eyes as soon as I wake up and feel my self spinning - if I don't do this within seconds I vomit.

And no I certainly am not a hypochondriac.

[Soapy Sam]

Are you sure it's not "the whirlies"? I'll bet your mother put Mcewan's Export in your bottle to get you to sleep.

So you won't risk the NHS*, but you want that voodoo doc's phone number? I'm getting a bad feeling about this.
Hey, if you get his number , PM me. I have a couple of targets in mind myself.
;)

* In Monklands- Death Capital of The World? You may be right.

[jambo372]

It couldn't have been "the whirlies" except that one night we finished that bottle of vodka.

I wish I had his number. Don't know how much he charges. I know a few wiccans but that's a fat lot of good - they're not allowed to curse.

PS What have you got against Monklands ?

[The Mighty Thor]

jambo666: No - Incidentally last night was the night.

Do you have gas heating? Even one of those heaters with the gas bottle?

Carbon monoxide poisoning can be deadly.

[Soapy Sam]

Jambo-

The old Monklands district had the highest death rates from heart
attack, atherosclerosis and lung cancer of any area in the NHS, or indeed the western world. Square sausage,soft water, beer and fags largely to blame. Of course, the whole central belt has a poor record in those areas- hence the health initiatives coming out of Holyrood- notably the new public smoking ban.

Funnily enough my only real connections there were with the sports centres. I used to belong to Bell-Monklands Archery Club.

[jambo372]

No I don't have gas heating.

[jambo372]

Soapy Sam
The people in Old Monkland are already dead.:confused:

[Soapy Sam]

Nah, you nit! "Monklands District" as was, prior to the last local government rejig, when the Fabled Lost Kingdom of Strathclyde Region sank beneath the waves.

Actually I love those photo books you get of Old Monklands, Old Motherwell and the like. Makes me feel young.

[jambo372]

Old monklands ?
What do you mean ?

Old Monkland is either just another name for Kirkwood or the cemetery in it.

[Soapy Sam]

There's a series of books- Menzies or Smiths have them- "Old Monklands", "Old Carfin" (Old Torremolinos??) Photos from the 1880s and onward. Quite interesting actually.

I just meant the now defunct "Monklands District", the old administrative area as was. I'd forgotten about Old Monkland cemetery. That's the one just north of the A8? And Kirkwood was the area on the west of it? Seems to be nothing but "little boxes" over there these days. I remember when it was periglacial tundra with wooly mammoths wandering all over the place...

Senile dementia.

[jambo372]

Kirkwood faces down on to the cemetery, the cemetery is between kirkshaws and kirkwood.

[PaulB]

Since everyone else seems to be delurking in order to contribute to this topic, I thought I might as well follow the herd and add my experience of sleep paralysis.

It was quite a few years ago now, at the point when I'd gone from my youthful believing (In particular I was big on UFO conspiracy theories, as well as being a Christian) through a period in which I'd lost all interest in the paranormal and into a period where I had recovered interest and was moving toward my current state of highly skeptical.

Anyhow, at the time I'd been reading some book on the UFO phenomenon, which was mostly from a believers standpoint, but also included some entries on things such as sleep paralysis. It was the first time I'd ever heard of this and it (along with some of the more nightmarish "Type 3 encounters") was in my mind as I went to bed one night.

I'd been sleeping quite normally through most of that night but after waking to visit the toilet I had a somewhat strange prelude experience on the verge of going back to sleep - I could actually feel myself dropping asleep whilst still being aware of my surroundings. I felt my head rolling to the side on my pillow, began to dream (or at least experience dream like images) and generally felt like I was losing control of my body. It was not an entirely pleasant experience and after it happened led to the thought of "If this keeps happening I'm going to suffer sleep paralysis and think I'm being abducted by aliens". This was annoyingly accurate.

Now the experience itself. I'm fairly sure that both the above thought, and my knowledge of the classical abduction story led to it being as textbook "Alien Encounter" as it is:

I woke up and felt myself unable to move in the dark. This discovery gave me feelings of panic and terror. I noticed a blue light shining through the curtains. It periodically brightened and dimmed and this was accompanied by a mechanical humming noise that got louder in time with the light brightening and got quieter as it dimmed (for the noise think of a lightsaber humming). Looking around the room I could make out a shadowy figure in the corner, right on the edge of my vision. The figure seemed hostile to me, despite not taking any action at all during the experience. Now I knew exactly what was happening from the moment I woke up as the experience was so exactly like the explanation of sleep paralysis in my book, but this did nothing to stop the feelings of rising terror as the source of the blue light (presumably a spaceship. And since it's my ordeal, when I say it's a spaceship, it's a spaceship.) got closer and closer, causing both the blue light and humming to intensify. The experience then abruptly stopped, leaving my sitting there and blaming that bloody book for introducing me to the whole concept.

I didn't read that damn thing again for months.:D

[Soapy Sam]

Interesting. My experiences have been non visual- I had an "awareness" of a "presence" (in one case an awareness that the presence had gone, which is pretty wierd when I think on it).

There was a streetlight right outside my room. Yet it never "featured". My first experience was in daytime though. (working an early shift- I came home around noon and napped for an hour).

I think this was before I heard of alien abduction. 1970s.

Welcome aboard PaulB. Ignore the last few posts- Jambo and I live only a few miles apart- just discussing local features.

[rppa]

The connection to abduction reports made me think of this.

One of my guilty pleasures is to read new age books over coffee in my local coffeehouse/bookstore. I've scanned a number of "how-to books" along the lines of "how to become psychic", "how to develop PK", "how to contact ghosts", "how to do out of body experiences".

In this latter category I've read descriptions of a buzzing noise and light much like PaulB described. More significantly to me, the author (possibly more than one author) has described that the ideal state of consciousness seems to lie between sleep and waking. Basically you do relaxation exercises but try not to let yourself fall all the way asleep.

In other words: "Out of Body Experience" = "Self-induced sleep paralysis".

[Soapy Sam]

One of my guilty pleasures is to read new age books over coffee in my local coffeehouse/bookstore.

Get thee behind me, satan! Do you get crumbs and coffee rings on them, then put them back on the shelf? A Daniel! A Daniel come unto judgement!

The hypothesis sounds feasible too.

[B.S]

Once, a few years ago, I got up at night to open the window in the bedroom because it was too warm in the room. My wife woke up as I went to the window and watched me as I struggled to open it. When I got back, she was terrified and told me she had seen a tall man in a long, black, old fashined, wool coat standing over me, holding a large knife in his hand, ready to stick it in my back. She had tried to yell and warn me, but was unable to say anything, or move in any way. When I got back to bed she came out of it and was really scared. She could describe everything I was doing correctly, as I was having some trouble with the window. No more sleep that night.

[rppa]

Originally posted by Soapy Sam
One of my guilty pleasures is to read new age books over coffee in my local coffeehouse/bookstore.

Get thee behind me, satan! Do you get crumbs and coffee rings on them, then put them back on the shelf? A Daniel! A Daniel come unto judgement!

No coffee rings or chocolate stains anywhere you'd notice till you got the book home. Does that help?