Sleepiness......dream/ experience.

[natalie_1982]

A few years ago as I was waking up one morning I felt like my wrists were being pinned down by my sides, I felt very scared and tried screaming but also felt exhausted from trying to move and only little whimpers were coming out of my mouth.  Last night I had the very same thing only this time it felt as though there was something around my throat and I was desparately trying to wake my boyfriend but, again, couldn't even open my eyes let alone shout out loud.  Anyone have any idea why this happened?  I am aware ofeverything else around me i.e. can hear what's on TV, who's moving around in the house, the usual, only I feel paralysed I guess and itonly lasts a few minutes although feels longer when it's happening.  It makes me very frightened!

[Scarlett]

This is a REALLY common experience, and some people believe that it is what causes people to believe they have had alien encounters!! I'm sure someone on here will know the name more than me, but it is very common. It happens during the bit of sleep where you are semi-conscious but cannot move. I had the same experience when I stayed in a new flat for the first time. I was POSITIVE a shadowy man came in and pinned me down (my arms to my sides) and I was trying and trying to scream and move but I was paralysed. Since then I have heard about lots of people having a very similar experience. I think it might be linked with stress? Have a look on the web.

[Scarlett]

http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html

Yes, I remember- it's called sleep paralysis.

http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html#pp

[bernardo]

I am not an expert or anything (so I am not completely sure that this is accurate) but I think I know.

When you are asleep and start dreaming, something happens in your brain to make your muscles paralysed (or at least, to stop your muscles responding properly to the messages from the brain) so that you don't start acting out the actions of whatever is happening in your dream (blundering around and bumping into things, for example).  The paralysis is not total, so that sometimes a person (or dog) who is dreaming can be seen to be twitching or whimpering.

Occasionally it goes slightly wrong - if the paralysis doesn't work properly, then the person might go sleepwalking.  Alternatively, it is sometimes possible for the person to wake up but for the paralysis not to switch itself off properly.

When this has happened to me sometimes, I have woken up but I have found that both the dream and the paralysis are still "on", so that I can "see" the real world, and the events of the dream, at the same time.

I think the answer is just to get used to it happening occasionally, and to recognise what it is.  I have found that as soon as I realise that it's a dream, it finishes.  To wake yourself up properly and stop the paralysis, just shout out in your dream.

I was frightened the first few times it happened to me, but when you realise what it is, it's just a matter of making an effort to make the dream go away.

[bernardo]

Wow!  That was triple synchrography!

P.S. A few weeks ago, I woke up unable to move.  I saw an old woman standing by my bed looking at me and smiling.  After a second or two, I realised that it didn't make sense for an old woman to be in my bedroom, so I realised that it was "therefore" the continuation of the dream that I had been having.  All I did was shout at her and I immediately woke up properly and was bale to move again.

[natalie_1982]

The poor old lady...... ;o)

Thank you so much for your answers, I was sure there must have been some reasonable explaination.  Bernado, last night when I realised it had happened before I tried 'calming' myself (inside my head!) and stop panicking and you're right I did then snap out of the dream.  Scarlett, those sites are really helpful.

And no, I am not one of those who thought I was being abducted by aliens.......

[AB Editor]

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[Elfin]

I had a similar experience about 6 months ago.  During the night, I was laying on my side (facing away from my partner) when I "woke" to find myself being embraced from behind.  The arms were squeezing me really tightly, which was nice at first (I thought), but every time I tried to move the grip tightened to the point where I could barely breathe.  Eyes open, I had to lay still and not try to struggle free or I felt I would be crushed.  It stopped after a little while, so I turned to my partner to ask him what the hell that was all about and he was fast asleep facing the other way!  Eeeek! 

Looked it up and it seems to be related to the Incubus/Old Hag type syndromes.  The associated folklore is a bit scary really.

I regularly suffered from night terrors as a child but this is the only similar experience I have had as an adult.

[landie]

Are there any physical signs of injury on your body? Check your boyfriends fingerprints.

[natalie_1982]

I hope you're joking!  He was asleep anyhow.  I woke him after I managed to wake up/ move.

[natalie_1982]

And no I didn't have any marks either on my wrists or my neck, although I did feel like I couldn't breathe last night which didn't happen before.

[landie]

Try moving your bed to face the other way.

[FP]

It also happens to me frequently.  It is horrible.  I didn't realise it was so common until my son told me he has it as well and had looked it up on the net. 

[natalie_1982]

What good would that do?  I was sleeping not praticing feng shui!

[natalie_1982]

FP that was to landie not you!

[landie]

I thought it was obvious,natalie_1982, your arms and throat would be in a different position within the bedroom. Then whatever's causing it may leave you alone. (perhaps transfer to your boyfriend).

[natalie_1982]

landie, it's not a physical something, it is something that my body does that I can't control when I am waking or just nodding off.  Check the websites posted above.

Anyhow, even if it was a something I don't think moving the bed would trick it as if it had wanted to get me it would!  Thanks anyhow.

[dirtyharriet]

My partner has suffered from this since he was a child. We didn't know it had a name until we watched a documentary on it on tv.
It IS quite frightening and my partner has learned to breathe fast when it happens so I wake up and wake him up.

It seems to happen when he's more tense than other times, could this be true for you?

[landie]

No, forsooth thou dost do me wrong, Perchance 'tis but a draught from yonder window?

[OBonio]

I've read about these in a very good book called Counting Sheep.  Recommended read if you want to find out more!

[bad11thebone]

 

Glad to hear im not the only one who suffers from it, is it strange to enjoy it though? I love that happening to me.