Anyone ever experience sleep paralysis?

[Anonymous]

I have been having this recurring nightmares where some evil force was pinning me down in my bed. It was almost as if I wasn't even dreaming because it's the exact setting in which I fall asleep, but the force would apply so much pressure to my jaw... extremely painful and it felt like my teeth would shatter and the jawbone break. I always manage to snap out of it before anything physically bad happens.

I did some google searches about the significance of these dreams... I don't tend to believe that new-age dream analysis shit but apparently sleep paralysis is a common sleep disorder that can be prevented with things like avoiding the supine position.

Has this happened to anyone? It's pretty scary and it happens enough to where I don't look forward to sleeping because of the high probability of it occurring.

[ValleyofDrakes]

This is a very common occurrence around the world. It is usually seen as some form of entity of orange color that appears in peoples dreams in the median between sleeping and being awake. The creature attempts to sort of lock you down in sleep whilst appearing to suffocate you by sitting on your chest.

I personally think it is a sort of out of body experience, this is why you appear to be in the same place that you fell asleep while experiencing this "dream".

Sometimes I never encounter the creature but I'm aware that I am asleep and am trying to wake up but can't. I sort of step out of my own body. I maybe move a few feet before flinging back into sleeping position. I try to get up to do things but I can't move or speak. I've in fact seen myself laying down before while doing this. (it's trippy) When this happens I get frustrated while experiencing the dream because it's so annoying. A few times I'll get up thinking i've actually awakened until I get as far as say... my bathroom before flinging back into my body and my heart will begin to race.

While asleep your body does not move but your muscles and eyes still do. As such, in a dream, when I get stuck like this I'll gyrate or move around using very wild and very hard movements that "in theory" eventually will move my body in real life and by moving myself I'll wake myself up.

Sometimes however, this does not work. I see that as the very same creature, because I've stopped seeing him but still feel his effect, stopping me from getting out of my sleep paralysis. When I finally do wake up however (and mind you I sometimes can't wake myself up for what feels like 10 minutes straight after realizing I'm asleep) my heart will be pounding like I've been sprinting for a while. It is quite scary. Luckily I haven't experienced this for months but I reckon it will continue to happen. It's always been a part of me and I don't see it going anywhere any time soon.

[Asker]

Yeah it's quite terrifying. I was only asleep for about 10 minutes when it happens. Apparently it's more prevalent when you've either just started to fall asleep or you're just about to wake up... the transition periods of sleep when one area of the brain is active but another hasn't synced up yet.

When I woke up last night I googled the symptoms and kinda got off on a tangent reading up on it. I didn't realize it was so common. There is folklore in almost every culture about it... usually a demon, ghost or witch sitting on your chest to explain the difficulty breathing or screaming.

[ValleyofDrakes]

When I was little I pretty much thought it was Satan.

[Dudeshaun]

One of my friend had this experience and after we googled, we found some causes,
Do not sleep on your back (This factor is very important because it can induce paralysis directly by crushing the nerve)
Do not drink caffeine or tea but have herbal tea instead that calms the mind
Never sleep with electronic gadgets near the pillow or on the bed – keep them as far away as possible (The electro magnetic waves perturb the brain)
If you are a movie buff or a television addict, stop watching anything to near of your sleep time (the light of the screen perturb the hormone of the sleep)
See more at : sleep-paralysis-info.com/.../

[Venatrix]

Oh god, yes it sucks so bad because it happens to me so often that I once I decided instead of fighting it I would give up and it tripped me out more since when I had that thought the pressure around my neck got stronger and I felt like I was about to be strangled so I kept pinching my eyes since I honestly really didn't want to see whatever it was even though I know it's not something that can psychically hurt me it still makes you think it can lol sucks but you gotta live with it I haven't visited a doctor about it though maybe they'll be able to do something about it?

[Asker]

Some of the websites I've read say that if you don't resist and roll with it, you can eventually convince yourself that it's a dream. You can get to the point where you control your dreams and do whatever you want, like fly or other things :D It's called "Lucid Dreaming"... some people actually try to induce sleep paralysis cause it's the first step in getting there

[Venatrix]

Ill try next time it happens but it's so freaky that it's hard not to try to resist

[Anonymous]

Its definitely happens to me, I did reseach on google too because I was scared to sleep. But its been happening to me years, it has gotten to a point to where I saw something in my room over me, to where I heard two men talking. The crazy thing is the 1 of the man asked if I could hear them. Anyway I dont wana freak you, sorry if I did. But now I fight it off. Its hard to do but its possible.

[jmr2191]

What you're experiencing is a semi-dream state or a visual or auditory hallucination. As for me, I do literally experience sleep paralysis, but for me, it's caused by narcolepsy and occurs upon waking up for a duration of a few seconds to a few minutes. I literally cannot move until the episode is over. I'm conscious through it and it isn't easily treated. As for while I'm asleep, I couldn't tell you.