Sleep Paralysis

Post Reply New Topic

I've experienced lying in bed half-asleep but unable to move multiple times. There's an odd feeling when I try to will myself to move. I will think I'm rolling over or sitting up, but then I suddenly "snap" back into the position I was in before with a strong buzzing sensation / brain rush feeling. I've come to believe that some of these "willed" movements are like hallucinations where I think I'm fully awake but in reality I'm still asleep and frozen still.

When I was younger (before I knew what sleep paralysis was) I would get highly paranoid that there was someone in the room watching me from just out of sight or think I was seeing moving shadows near the corner of my eye. I've also had freaky auditory hallucinations like hearing my name yelled or a loud crashing noise when I've been drifting in and out of a really light sleep.

First of all, a lot of people have already made some very good comments, but I must admit it was difficult for me to even read this thread as it brings about a slew of emotions. I have experienced sleep paralysis, out of body experiences (vestibular disturbances), false awakenings, lucid nightmares, sensations of intense pain and things that can only be compared to a psychedelic acid trip since I was a child. I won't write the epic post that is busting out of me, but I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable on this topic.

My mother recalls me telling her of dreams where I could not move and I would swear I screamed for her and that there was a stranger in the room. I'm 37 years old now, and for most of my life, sleep paralysis has occurred 1-2 times a week. The false awakenings and lucid nightmares are more frequent, and the out of body experiences are something I can predict and even cause. I lived in fear for most of my life, not learning of sleep paralysis until I was 32 years old. I've contacted the leading experts in the field for help because the doctors were putting me on anti-psychotics because they thought I was hallucinating.

As for the seizures, that's something you'll need to talk to a doctor about but I do know that some seizures are not harmful and there's reason to believe I have seizures since I had them when I was 6 years old due to a high fever. I often feel intense pain in my jaw and as if an electrical storm is going off in my brain. In fact, I have a vivid memory of being paralyzed by sensations of being shocked repeatedly when I was a child. I have to assume that if I have seizures, then I've had them my entire life and so far, I'm healthy. I also feel like I'm shrinking which there is a term for but I can't think of it right now. Macro something.

Anyway, there's a book by Dr. Jorge Conesa called Wrestling with Ghosts. Conesa is one of the few scientific researchers in this field that actually experience the phenomena. It's a very poetic scientific reference book and it helped me a lot. Plus, I emailed him with questions and he responded immediately and offered further assistance. My sensory integration issues are best defined by my sleep issues. I've spent my life researching this and I have dream journals dating back to when I was 11 years old.

I think it's important to check out any issues relating to seizures but I hope you find some comfort in knowing that I experience what you're talking about weekly. In fact, I do not know what it's like to sleep normally. I remember all my dreams, and for me, I have a waking life and a dreaming life. Both require an equal amount of energy. I spent my entire life afraid that there was something critically wrong with me and no one should go through that because there is information out there.

I've never had anyone to talk to about this and people think I'm crazy when I bring it up. Although most of the experiences are utterly terrifying, I do have moments where I experience complete euphoria. I just wish I had people to talk with about it and I'm glad you mentioned it.

For the longest time I told people a story about when I was in high school and I was sleeping. I was talking with a good friend of mine in the dream, we talked about ghosts a lot, and there was somebody standing at the bottom of her driveway. I could only see it out of my peripheral vision. I was afraid to look at it. I was kind of a blob in the shape of a man that was changing color and looked like what you see if you stare at a light and then close your eyes. I thought it was a ghost and I asked her how I could tell. She said if it bobs. I looked at it and it let out a scream that was nothing like anything that I had heard before. It was like a thousand buses comeing to a screaching halt, a wolfl and man at the same time. I sat straight up in bed, only to see the thing right at the foot of my bed. I screamed, but it made no sound. I closed my eyes, so that I couldn't see it. After a couple of seconds, I was able to lay back down, but it took a lot of will to do it. I caught glimpse of the clock and memorized the time so I could prove to myself whether it was a dream or real. After I thought that a few minutes had passed, I opened my eyes and the thing was gone. To show you how terrified I was I was eighteen and I was trying to scream for my Mom, but nothing would come out. I looked at the clock and I was right it was real, it was a few minutes later than when I had looked before. Again I kept screaming until I finally made a noise. My Mom came running in and everyone laughed at me and said that it was a dream. I guess this was really the first time that I had told anyone even though I thought that I was telling a ghost story.

I have had some very weird sleep experiences. I have seizures all throughout the day and night. Usually when I have violent dreams, I'm having seizures in my sleep. But, the realism of the manifestations can be extremely scary. I haven't had a "diagnosis" of the seizures because I could not afford to continue seeing my doctor, but we talked about it a lot before and he said I was having a form of seizure (just no official paperwork to go along with that).