Sleep Paralysis

[FailingAcension]

Does anyone ever get this? I have had it since I was rather young. It comes in bouts every few months. I've kinda gotten used to it but its never particularly fun but it can be really really weird. Like I'll have gone into it and then had some of those dreams that you are 110% certain are real. And once I felt like I was being levitated and there were crazy noises. It only happens when I'm sleeping on my back too. And there is always a buzzing noise.

Anybody else?

 

[Karasu]

Nope, can't say I have.

On the other hand, I now know what sleep paralysis is. Wikipedia for the win.

 

[Frank the tank]

part of me says that that actually sounds kinda cool. never had it

 

[metal_wrath]

I have had sleep paralysis once. Twas like a nightmare, I tell you, I woke up in a completely paralyzed state, unable to move. Suddenly three succubi women approached me from out of the darkness and had their way with me. This went on for hours...........and hours!!! I must have fell back asleep cause I woke up suddenly.....with my pants unzipped two days later.I am lucky to be alive after that encounter!!

 

[FailingAcension]

part of me says that that actually sounds kinda cool. never had it

Yeah, once you get over the shock its a very interesting experience. Like dozing off in the afternoon sometimes when I have gotten it you can feel it start to come on as a buzzing that gets louder and louder, and you know that you're falling into the paralysis and sometimes you can stop it and wake up but sometimes you'll "fall into it" and be like dang. I also think it is herditary because my dad has told me he gets it. But it is also a gateway into lucid dreams. I have never had one but I have tried before when in sleep paralysis. I'm not really sure how it works, but just the fact that you can be aware enough to remember things and try to go lucid while "asleep" is a testament of how weird the experience is.

 

[jojoNZ]

I've had it a couple of times. But i got 2 more 'extreme' sleep paralysis episodes earlier this year..

The first was in April, woke up early in the morning to find a silhouette of a tall man in my room. I was sleeping on my left side. He started stroking my cheek, i couldn't move my body or scream at all. All i could do was open and shut my eyes. He whispered something in my ear, and then he put his hand over my mouth. and i woke up..

The second was in June, where i woke up early in the morning again. I felt something heavy on top of me. I somehow made out the figure of a person.. it was a man, and he was all blue and was bald.. and his eyes REALLY stood out. I panicked and tried to scream, but i couldn't. Couldn't move my body. Just lay there, and it got harder and harder for me to breathe. It seemed like it went on for half an hour or something, until it was over.

Eh, i hate sleep paralysis. I read somewhere that some people have experienced feelings of being bitten and choked.. i'm so glad i haven't gotten those.

 

[scitzo]

It's been years since I've had any sleep problems, not even sure if my experiences can be considered sleep paralysis as Im too lazy to look into it. Whenever I sleep on my back (which I never do anymore) I tend to have weird experiences ie. suffacation, being pinned down and sometimes floating.

 

[metal_wrath]

I have once had sleep paralysis where I felt like somebody was in my room. It seemed to me like an old maid, or something. She seemed to be folding my clothes, and tidying up the place. I, obviously shocked, struggled to speak or even move to no avail. Nonetheless my room was VERY clean the next morning.

 

[NaTaSMAI]

I've gotten sleep paralysis every other month or so since I was a kid. Even though it's happened to me lots of times, it still creeps me out each time it happens.
I also experienced the levitation feeling a couple of times. I opened my eyes and felt like I was floating then I slammed back onto my bed.
The worst is when I'm struggling to sit up and open my eyes, but I can't manage to keep my eyes open and it feels like I'm being pushed down. Last time that happened, which was the other day, it felt and sounded like jello.
The sounds I hear when it happens are definately creepy. One time a stuffed cow growled at me.
It also only happens to me when I'm on my back.
Does anyone else get frequent recurring dreams or dreams with recurring themes? Most of my dreams have the same theme from when I was 3. Sleepytime is scary for me. Sorry for rambling on.

 

[FailingAcension]

I've gotten sleep paralysis every other month or so since I was a kid. Even though it's happened to me lots of times, it still creeps me out each time it happens.
I also experienced the levitation feeling a couple of times. I opened my eyes and felt like I was floating then I slammed back onto my bed.
The worst is when I'm struggling to sit up and open my eyes, but I can't manage to keep my eyes open and it feels like I'm being pushed down. Last time that happened, which was the other day, it felt and sounded like jello.
The sounds I hear when it happens are definately creepy. One time a stuffed cow growled at me.
It also only happens to me when I'm on my back.
Does anyone else get frequent recurring dreams or dreams with recurring themes? Most of my dreams have the same theme from when I was 3. Sleepytime is scary for me. Sorry for rambling on.

Nah, its cool. I find sleep paralysis and the dream world facinating. I have had the sensation before of struggling to breathe and being afraid that since I was paralyzed that my breathing would stop. But on your note of dream themes, many times when I remember my dreams they all have one thing in common. I would be doing something, interacting with someone but would not be able to really do anything because I was so sleepy. I could still see and stuff but I couldn't move much or speak because of how tired I was. Lots of times this happens while I am swimming, or scuba diving or something. Like I'll just float because I'm too tired to swim to shore. These dreams have happened sometimes on the same nights I get sleep paralysis.

 

[Pessimism]

Never had it before, but it is something I owuld like to experience.

 

[xenophobe]

Yes, I love sleep paralysis... I try to move and talk when I know I'm halfway inbetween sleep and waking up...

I love the sensation of going back and fourth from this state.... it feels really intense.

 

[metal_wrath]

^ Thats cool. I like to listen to music when I'm in constantly shifting between sleep and awakeness. Probably one of the best ways to listen to music. Definitely recommended.

 

[sh0kr0k]

I've experienced it twice. I can say with completely certainty, I have never been more terrified in my life.

I feel for ya, pal! I can't imagine going through it again, much less regularly..

 

[sh0kr0k]

I love the sensation of going back and fourth from this state.... it feels really intense.

There's a term for that state: hypnagogia (hip-nah-gO-zah)

Some good friends of mine call their band Hypnogaja, taken in reference to this dream-state...

Hollywood rock band Hypnogaja takes its name from the hazy dream-like state between wakefulness and sleep, known in psychological circles as hypnagogia. “Throughout history, this enigmatic state has been thought to be a heightened period of creativity for the human mind,” says keyboardist Mark Nubar Donikian. “We really connected to the whole feeling of that state — when you really love a song, it’s the same kind of thing.”
​

myspace.com/hypnogaja
hypnogaja.com

 

[Valerie]

I get it once every couple of months, I have since I was around 10, I'm 21 now. I suppose the trend is being on your back when it happens, that's how I've always experienced it, though it has happened once or twice while I was on my side. I never hear a noise and I never dream, I'm always kind of awake and fully aware of what's happening, and when I get myself out of it I just shrug it off and go to sleep. I never feel a sensation of being pinned down or anything, the only thing that happens is I can't breathe or move. It only lasts a few seconds.

 

[MattV]

I've had it happen to me a few times. I experienced the buzzing sound, as well as the pressure and inability to breath. Most of the time it happened while I was taking a nap on the couch, but it happened once or twice a few years ago when I'd fall asleep in school. The first couple of times it scared the shit out of me, and I thought I was suffocating. After a while I got used to it though. When it happens I always just try to open my eyes, as that always makes it go away. It's really fucking hard to do though.

 

[Scourge of Malice]

I think I've gotten it mildly a few times. Always felt like a dream, but I remember not being able to turn my body or lift my arm and open my eyes which is a weird feeling. Also I remember having it happen and trying to call out to my mom but I couldn't.

Apparently some people get the feeling that theyre being pulled in different directions or up walls... which would scare the shit out of me. Seems the majority of cultures believe it has to do with some sort of spirits.. creepy.