Arghya,

Sleeping on your back does increase the likeliness of SP.

Lauren,

You could try seeing a Doctor but in my experience they haven't always helped. SP is quite natural and it doesn't really harm in physically.

Michelle,

If you are scared of it, then chances are your body won't go into it anyway. I found that I really had to believe and want it for it to happen.

Dan,

Try wiggling a finger or tow next time. This may help the rest of your body break out of it.

Fizzz

I used to suffer from this about 3 times a week then it went away... now it has come back and I hate it, im not stressed, i dont sleep on my back and i have a normal sleep pattern. It has started happening a lot lately and it is truelly terrifying!!! I have horrible visions, it feels as though I could die any minute but cant do anything about it because i cant move, and can have more than one episode in a night, it is making me scared to go to sleep. Anyone have any suggestions to make it stop or calm down?

Sophie
It can be scary alright- But if you tell yourself that it will not do any harm and while it is happening use it to have a Lucid Dream then it can be fun! When you feel it coming on, think great I can now do whatever I want to do during this! have fun with it and it wont bother you again! good Luck

Just found this space and very interested, having had many sleep paralysis incidents when in my 20's. They have now stopped. I was terrified for weeks after the first few incidents because I thought I was being haunted or that aliens were trying to abduct me. Sounds stupid now, but until I found out what it was it was convincingly real. I would "wake up" completely paralysed and hear the bedroom door and footsteps coming towards the bed. Sometimes a male voice would say my name and I would be able to feel my shoulder being shaken as if someone wanted to wake me up. Most of the time I would "see" the room in all its detail except there would be a tall grey figure at the end of the bed. It made no difference where I was sleeping, at home or otherwise. The figure would grab my hands and try to pull me out of the bed, and I would "know " that I would die if I went with them, so I would try to fight the paralysis and really struggle to move, especially to open my eyes.I always woke up breathless and terrified. After a year or so I managed to get rid of the scary episodes once I knew they were not real. Here's what I did, in case it helps anyone: I decided to take control of the lucid dream and "shouted" at the figure with the hands as I struggled with it to go away. The hands and figure melted away and I found myself feeling really peaceful standing on the bedroom floor opposite the long mirror, only I could not feel the floor and I had no reflection....I was having an OBE...as I turned to see myself lying on the bed I went back into my body and woke up properly. I have had sleep paralysis a couple of times since then, but it wasn't scary. I only get it if I'm really stressed (those first times were after my Mum died). I would say to people not to mess about with OBEs etc. Although it's a nice feeling it's not a natural or functional state to be in. When it happens in situations other than sleep paralysis, it's usually because you are under some physical strain like illness or injury and may be on the edge of leaving your body permanently. Don't mess!

Sophia, hope what I posted earlier today is of help to you. You can get over the fear, even if you still get sleep paralysis. All the best; you will be fine.

Sophia, if there is a certain saying that comforts you or a prayer or a song, the next time it happens focus on those words, just keep repeating them to yourself and the paralysis will let up. Just remember that you will make it through whats happening and that whats happening though it's not normal is explainable. That's what I do.

p.s. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

sarojini21,

I have found the opposite. An OBE is perhaps the most relaxing way to escape SP. You don't have to wake up and disrupt your night. Instead you can float away.

Sophia,

Try putting on the radio or the TV on n the background when you go to sleep. You can also try to wiggle one of your fingers or toes. This can sometimes break you out of it.

Fizzz

Hi all, it's a huge relief to read that other people experience what I have been experiencing for some years.
Every experience has been identical. I'll 'wake up' and see the time on the clock. I'll be completely unable to move. I'll try to shout and nothing comes out. I'll try to move my arms etc and absolutely nothing. Without fail I hear someone downstairs, either coming throught the front door or just loud footsteps. I'll then hear 'them' come up the stairs and I'll be convinced I am being burgled. A figure will then enter the room and try to attack me. I will try to lash out but I cannot. Recently, I've told myself when it's happening that if I can move, maybe I'll wake myself up if I make contact with furniture and I literally 'throw' myself around the room. On wakening properly, my partner will tell me that I have been completely still.
I find it absolutely terrifying. I have experienced dizziness and headaches on wakening if it's particularly bad
Sometimes the whole episode will occur 2/3 times a night. Does anyone else feel unwell afterwards? Do these experiences ever go?

lou s
the last time it happened to me . just a few weeks ago, i tried knocking a bottle off my locker , but it was still there when i woke. During the sp i was really frustrated and kept trying to fling myself all over the bed,pinching and slapping myself and swinging my arms and shouting i was so stressed during it, then when i did wake up my eyes were very red and i felt wrecked but releaved to have woken! it has happened again since but i was just clam and let it pass.

It's been happening for years but only once in a while... these past few months however i can count on it happening every time i wake from any sleep, a full night or just a nap. i hate it i am always uncomfortable in the position i am stuck in, even if im in a totally normal position, i feel hot and often panic a little that i wont wake up even tho i know i probably will. if i try to move little body parts like fingers i become extrmemly exhausted and out of breath, i cannot control my breathing, when i finally can move i have to get up and out of bed cause i feel like i will slip right back into the paralysis... Joe (25) California,US

Hello all. I've been getting Sleep Paralyis for about 6 or 7 years now, but only today have I come across what it is I have had all these years. I always thought I was having some sort of fit or seizure while asleep, it was horrible I actually felt like there was something serious wrong with me and that I was dying, but now I have looked into it I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders in the comfort that this may not be as serious as I thought.

For many years I noticed when I was very stressed out I would have these episodes. The first time I did I was about 13 years old and I remember trying to call out to my mum because I wanted to say I loved her before I 'died' , that is how convinced I was that it was going to kill me! Nowadays the condition has progressed into lasting longer then before, and feeling like I am unable to breathe as well as not move or speak. I can flicker my eyes a little but they snap shut again most of the time.

The most worrying time I had it is when I fell asleep on the sofa with my then 9 month old baby girl. I began to 'wake up' I could see and hear the TV but instantly knew when I tried moving and my eyes snapped shut that it had begun! Then I felt and heard my daughter waking up next to me. It was so scary because anything could have happened and there was nothing I could do to bring myself out of it.

I wouldn't go as far as saying I am 'glad' to see I'm not the only one with this condition as I wouldn't wish it upon anyone, but its comforting to know I am not alone :) .

Lou.

I've had some intense episodes of SP but thankfully they are the normal kind and not the Lucid SP kind.

I've had my first episode of what I think was SA (Sleep Apnea). I felt myself stop breathing during SP. When I tried to breathe, it felt like I was choking. Eventually I woke up. It was so scary.

I keep feeling like I'm falling when I'm drifting to sleep and I keep punching the wall to steady myself. Recently I have also started to act out my dreams, so last night I dreamt I there was a swarm of bees and I lashed out. I have found myself sleep walking too.

My sleeping is definitely getting worse.

Fionn xxx

I have had sleep paralysis for years now and while at first it is scary you do get used to it and learn to relax. somewhere on this site it mentions concentrate on your breathing and try and concentrate on moving one part of your body, just like uma thurman with her big toe in kill bill hehe. Those who mention breathing problems in these posts this is also normal as your breathing naturally slows down when in a sleep state, this can make your chest feel tight or as though someone is sat on top of you. the first time i experianced SP i was convinced it was a ghost pinning me down. It is scary stuff at first but once you know the cause its much more easier to cope with and i actually find it quite intresting when they now occur

last night i had yet another episode, probably the worst one yet. it occured as i was drifting off to sleep, a pins and needles type feeling radiates from the centre of my lower back, i was laid on my side at the time, and it felt like i could sense something stood behind me while i laid in bed. i tried to roll over but it was to late it had kicked in. what happened during this episode involved a devil who took over my body and willed me to do things, i have these sp's so often that i know its not me really doing anything but it is so terrifing and i was alone this time as my husband works nights. they are starting to get more frequent now 2 or three times a month and i am really nervous about going to bed. i have had sp since childhood and have scared the living daylights out of my parents when i have told them about the "ghosts" in our house, my mother has told me about the problems she had with me when i had really bad night terrors as a small child, and that i was prone to sleep walking quite often. she found me once at the bottom of the stairs with a broken arm, i had fell down them, but i couldnt remember at the time. i am 52 now and it worries me that the sleep walking episodes will restart, especially if i start to act out what happens during a sp event. My husband understands what is happening and will wake me. he has told me that he has also noticed that i will sometimes stop breathing and he has had to jolt me so i will start again, this i have seen the doctor about, sleep apnea, my brother and sister also suffer this, i can cope with it knowing that it is a family thing but the sp is making my life hell. i am not a religious person, but after the latest episode i must have said the lords prayer a dozen times so that thing would leave me alone. It makes you feel like you are going insane and that talking to a gp will result in being put in a lunatic asylum, but now i know so many other suffer from it i will approach my doctor

I recently visited a GP and they have put me in touch with a new sleeping clinic. If I choose to book an appointment, they may monitor my sleep over night. I'll keep you all updated on how it goes and maybe they can give us all some more insight on how to combat SP.

Fiz