Sleep Paralysis?

[Kaity]

.. has anybody ever had this before? Call me crazy but I think I just had it. Weird thing is, I was watching a movie earlier that said something about night terrors and sleep paralysis. As far as I know, never happened to me before that I can remember.
I used to wake up when I was little though screaming and crying, parents would bring me a glass of water, I'd go back to sleep or go sleep beside their bed in their room.

felt a huge sense of panic and not being able to breath. Definetly freaked out a bit here but.. since I used to read up about insomnia and junk I came across this too.. After like 10 minutes after I woke up I stopped flipping out over it and googled it, ended up putting my experience in the SP category.

Very, very scary thing. I'm still thinking "what if I didn't wake up?!"

[Wetdog]

There are doctors that specialize in sleep problems. And there are a number of things that can be done for sleep related problems. Maybe you need to get an appointment to discuss what is going on with one and find out if there is something that can help.

[SouthernThistle]

There's a sleep disorder colloquially called "Old Hag Syndrome." Sounds a lot like what you were feeling. You "wake up," but you can't move, feel like you can't breathe, can't speak...even though you can see and hear. At times, it's said that it feels like someone is sitting on your chest. I think the alternate name is like "Old Witch Syndrome" or something, and I'm sure it's coined from a period where people blamed everything on evil witchcraft - lol.

If it happens on a fairly regular basis, or you're unable to get a solid night's sleep...I'd also recommend seeing a sleep specialist.

[Chris Wild]

It is normal for the body to be paralyzed during REM sleep (the dream state). This is called atonia and is as I said, perfectly normal. This is what keeps people from acting on what they are dreaming. People who sleep walk do so because the natural paralysis that is supposed to happen during dreaming doesn't.

Being awake and paralyzed can certainly happen if things get out of whack, though is most likely to occur if the sleeper is suddenly awakened from a dream state and the neuro chemicals that cause atonia have not yet dissipated. This also explains some of the panic involved, because the brain may also be very aggitated from whatever the dream was and then the sudden awakening.

For it to occur on occasion, especially if there are a lot of external environmental occurrences that can disrupt REM sleep, isn't unusual. If it becomes chronic, seeing a doctor or sleep specialist would be in order.

[DorianGrayFFM]

Originally Posted by SouthernThistle

There's a sleep disorder colloquially called "Old Hag Syndrome." Sounds a lot like what you were feeling. You "wake up," but you can't move, feel like you can't breathe, can't speak...even though you can see and hear. At times, it's said that it feels like someone is sitting on your chest. I think the alternate name is like "Old Witch Syndrome" or something, and I'm sure it's coined from a period where people blamed everything on evil witchcraft - lol.

If it happens on a fairly regular basis, or you're unable to get a solid night's sleep...I'd also recommend seeing a sleep specialist.

I've had it fairly regularly since I was a kid. I also sleep walked as a kid due to some traumatic events early on.

I literally have to focus all my energy to move from side to side or up and down until I can pop up. Then it's gone. Until then it's horrifying because I am completely aware but paralyzed.

[Raziel]

I used to get this often as a kid, now I sleepwalk & sleepeat.
I dont know if they are related, but maybe you should get it checked out.

[SouthernThistle]

Sleepwalker/random whatever here as well.

Andrew will say to me, "you really freaked me out when I came in the room last night." I'll ask why, and he'll say, you were sitting upright on the bed and gave me this evil look. I asked, what? and you just tracked me with your eyes until I walked out of the room. This is after I've been sleeping.

I still wake up at night sometimes thinking I see someone standing in the room (usually a dark human-form shadow) or think I see something moving. When I lived with my parents down in South Georgia, I had the same shadow-form in my room about two feet from the foot of the bed on the side I slept that would just be there (so I thought.) When I moved north for college, I never saw it again. Who knows?

I particularly remember a sleepwalking episode in which a friend of mine was spending the night with me. I woke up...walked to the light by the door...turned it on, and when she woke up and asked, "what's wrong?" I said, "Shhhhh - everything's going to be allllll right," and then I turned the light back off and went back to sleep. The next morning she looked awful. I asked if she slept okay, and she said, "no, you freaked me out!"

Sometimes when I wake up, I remember doing things...other times not so much.

I think my mind gets in overdrive

[Lin]

Originally Posted by DorianGrayFFM

I've had it fairly regularly since I was a kid. I also sleep walked as a kid due to some traumatic events early on.

I literally have to focus all my energy to move from side to side or up and down until I can pop up. Then it's gone. Until then it's horrifying because I am completely aware but paralyzed.

This happens to me occasionally. I also have found that if I go right back to sleep after, theres a good chance that its going to repeat in the same night. So I typically get up and watch some tv or something before I can go back to sleep because I'm scared of it happening again.

[Kaity]

Angel you are skinny as heck (very jealous over here!) .. SLEEPEAT MORE!
Kidding. but my mom sleepeats and like a week later she'll be like kaity, you ate my chocolate bar and I'm like no I didn't!

SouthernThistle.. Shel? Sounds like a scene in Paranormal entity when the mom is sitting upright on the bed and her feet are pointed upwords, almost looks like her toes are curled. freaky!! I don't think I ever used to sleepwalk. But then again I don't even remember chewing on my hair when I was younger and I've been told I was around 7 when I did it.

If I saw something standing in the room, my heart would probablllllly stop. Biggest wimp ever when it comes to anything remotely resembling paranormal activity. Been paranoid for a bit that a demon was following me everywhere! I get especially freaked out when I wake up anytime during 3am.

I did a bit of research and I COULD blame the SP on working graveyards. I found a link between it, because working graveyard shifts disrupts the circadian rhythm. Which in turn, is supressing the bodys production of melatonin, a chemical involved in the c. rhythm.
Then this is on wiki:

In particular, low levels of melatonin may stop the depolarization current in the nerves, preventing the stimulation of the muscles and any consequent enactment of the dream activity by the body (e.g. preventing a sleeper from flailing his or her legs when dreaming about running

So, in english.. graveyards disrupt whatever is needed to produce melatonin. Low levels of melatonin are very much so, proved to provoke sleep paralysis.

Like we all know graveyard shifts have pshocological (sp) effects and health effects. Just don't know the extent.

I haven't had 2 days off in a row in a while. Sorta getting to me. At work, about 3am I started having chest pains. So I pressed on my chest although I shouldnt have.. It hurt to breathe is all. Got worse, so I sqautted in the back for a few minutes then got told to get my butt back in the front unless I was helping production. 6 am rolls around, really feeling the chest pains. 620, I can't speak. 625, run to the back because I couldn't breathe and my heart was POUNDING like, not pounding as if I just ran a few miles but pounding as in hurting, a lot. Went to the bathroom, tried to calm down but it wasn't working. Left the bathroom and just stood there hyperventilating extreemmmmmely badly for 5 minutes. Arms got tingly, started sweating and was freezing rarar.
My coworkers wouldn't let me leave unless somebody was picking me up. One of them told me it was pretty much a panic attack. never had it before!
craazy. And scary!

[SouthernThistle]

Originally Posted by Kaity

SouthernThistle.. Shel? Sounds like a scene in Paranormal entity when the mom is sitting upright on the bed and her feet are pointed upwords, almost looks like her toes are curled. freaky!! I don't think I ever used to sleepwalk. But then again I don't even remember chewing on my hair when I was younger and I've been told I was around 7 when I did it.

Eh - it's never a dull moment