I hate sleeping!

I never take naps but Sundays I usually am able to since I work til about 5 AM. Well sometimes I get this thing where I feel trapped in my sleep. Its like my mind is awake but I cant open my eyes or move. So I start screaming in my head and its terrifying. Sometimes it feels more like a dream but my thinking is awake and sometimes its real because if DH will see me struggling or feel my finger tapping him if my hand is on him (sometimes I can slightly move my finger), and he'll wake me up. They dont happen all the time, usually when I nap, but often enough and I hate it

I hate those kind of dreams

its actually not a dream. i suffer from this too and it is called sleep paralysis. basically you are waking up during REM sleep - your body is paralyzed during your deepest sleep so that you dont act out all of your dreams. . . but if your mind wakes up then you will experience this. It is the most terrifying experience - i HATE them. For some reason it has happened so much less since living with DH and when it DOES happen I forget that he is there until I am fully awake so i never think to try to contact him. . .

Ugh, my eyes just started tearing up thinking of the last one that I had - trying to get your throat to cry out. . . I would love to know what it looks like from the outside. . .


for you bc i know after i have one of these, i am scared to go to sleep for a few nights!!!

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Posted by ant n tilde

its actually not a dream. i suffer from this too and it is called sleep paralysis. basically you are waking up during REM sleep - your body is paralyzed during your deepest sleep so that you dont act out all of your dreams. . . but if your mind wakes up then you will experience this. It is the most terrifying experience - i HATE them. For some reason it has happened so much less since living with DH and when it DOES happen I forget that he is there until I am fully awake so i never think to try to contact him. . .

Ugh, my eyes just started tearing up thinking of the last one that I had - trying to get your throat to cry out. . . I would love to know what it looks like from the outside. . .


for you bc i know after i have one of these, i am scared to go to sleep for a few nights!!!

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wow that is crazy, never had this happen to me but can only imagine how scary it is. sorry ladies who deal with it

i do remember my mom saying a few years ago this happening to her and was talking about what it felt like.

Wiki Link

This has happened to me a few times. its sooo awful!

Sylvia Browne, a psychic once explained it as your soul going home to the 'other side' while your sleep and your mind waking up before it is back yet.. or something... hmmm

i still love sleeping though!!!

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Posted by BunnyBears

This has happened to me a few times. its sooo awful!

Sylvia Browne, a psychic once explained it as your soul going home to the 'other side' while your sleep and your mind waking up before it is back yet.. or something... hmmm

i still love sleeping though!!!

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most cultures associate it with the supernatural. one time ( the worst time ) i felt a cold hand stroking my arm the whole time. . . i felt like the hand was trying to comfort me and the fear still came from the paralysis. . . i hate to even think of it though. . .

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Posted by ant n tilde

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Posted by BunnyBears

This has happened to me a few times. its sooo awful!

Sylvia Browne, a psychic once explained it as your soul going home to the 'other side' while your sleep and your mind waking up before it is back yet.. or something... hmmm

i still love sleeping though!!!

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most cultures associate it with the supernatural. one time ( the worst time ) i felt a cold hand stroking my arm the whole time. . . i felt like the hand was trying to comfort me and the fear still came from the paralysis. . . i hate to even think of it though. . .

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OMFG I dont think I would ever want to sleep again!
How scary

wow ive never heard of this or experianced this either.... it sounds extremely scary

I am thinking you have unresolved issues from that day that your mind will not allow you to forget or at least rest. My friend who did sleep therapy internships use to tell me that sometimes people who are so detailed oriented or work focused to the point they can't drop it before going to sleep, their minds go into overdrive and try to work out items. You being the sleeper feel trapped and try to wake up but your mind saying OH no your sleeping but we are going to keep your head working in overdrive.

Best solution, no booze or wine or beer, coffee, any soda, candy nothing that can remotely be a stimulate for about 4 hours prior to sleeping and before you lay down do a detox of about 45 mins in a bath or something that relaxes you.

Worked for Dh - he no longer sleep eats (he would get up EAT everything then come to bed and have no memory of eating, leave the fridge open all night - scary).

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Posted by nifheim

I am thinking you have unresolved issues from that day that your mind will not allow you to forget or at least rest. My friend who did sleep therapy internships use to tell me that sometimes people who are so detailed oriented or work focused to the point they can't drop it before going to sleep, their minds go into overdrive and try to work out items. You being the sleeper feel trapped and try to wake up but your mind saying OH no your sleeping but we are going to keep your head working in overdrive.

Best solution, no booze or wine or beer, coffee, any soda, candy nothing that can remotely be a stimulate for about 4 hours prior to sleeping and before you lay down do a detox of about 45 mins in a bath or something that relaxes you.

Worked for Dh - he no longer sleep eats (he would get up EAT everything then come to bed and have no memory of eating, leave the fridge open all night - scary).

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This makes sense from a psychological standpoint. Im a very obsessive person where even the smallest thing will stick with me. I guess maybe thats why they happen mostly when I nap during the day. I take Valerian before I go to bed at night and it hasnt happened at night for a while.

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Posted by Songstress

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Posted by nifheim

I am thinking you have unresolved issues from that day that your mind will not allow you to forget or at least rest. My friend who did sleep therapy internships use to tell me that sometimes people who are so detailed oriented or work focused to the point they can't drop it before going to sleep, their minds go into overdrive and try to work out items. You being the sleeper feel trapped and try to wake up but your mind saying OH no your sleeping but we are going to keep your head working in overdrive.

Best solution, no booze or wine or beer, coffee, any soda, candy nothing that can remotely be a stimulate for about 4 hours prior to sleeping and before you lay down do a detox of about 45 mins in a bath or something that relaxes you.

Worked for Dh - he no longer sleep eats (he would get up EAT everything then come to bed and have no memory of eating, leave the fridge open all night - scary).

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This makes sense from a psychological standpoint. Im a very obsessive person where even the smallest thing will stick with me. I guess maybe thats why they happen mostly when I nap during the day. I take Valerian before I go to bed at night and it hasnt happened at night for a while.

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Totally makes sense for me too! I obsess over everything and I actually keep having POLITICAL dreams at night bc I spend so much time during the day researching the candidates, now THAT is bad. Maybe I should just ask DH if I say anyone's name out loud when I am asleep and I will just vote for that person.

Yep, these episodes s u c k. I had a guy standing over me staring at me once. Of course, in my head, I knew he couldn't possibly be there, and if he was, it was pitch dark and I shouldn't have been able to see him, but there he was. I think I was about 13.

I've gotten better at directing my dreams since my first episode though, so I feel like I'm getting more and more control. Just feeling like I can control things a little bit helps tremendously, even if all I can do is think 'This is not real, this is sleep paralysis, if someone was actually there you'd be screaming and flailing already.'

If you can get yourself to the point where the paralysis is actually the reminder that you're safe, instead of being the threat itself, it's a huge trigger for stopping the episode.

It really does put the witch hysteria and alien abduction stories into a realistic perspective. I can completely understand why people are so insistent that there were aliens, succubi, the devil, whatever, standing in their bedroom. In another interesting aside, I've heard that this was the inspiration for the Nightmare on Elm Street series.

I have had these episodes a number of times, and I definitely feel like I can control them a little more now, even while I am sleeping. While I am in that state of being awake inside but sleeping on the outside, I actually fully know what is happening, and am able to tell myself to basically just wait it out. The first couple times was the scariest, but now it's like I know what's going on, even as it's happening and I'm asleep.

This has hardly ever happened to me during the night. For me, it's MUCH more likely to happen during a nap.

I read one time that it tends to happen when you are really, really tired, like if you haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a while. For me, this seems to be true. It used to happen in college a lot when I never got good sleep at night, but i would nap during the day. I think the whole thing is actually kinda interesting (although creepy).

ETA: Also, this has only happened to me while I have been sleeping on my back (so far). If you normally sleep on your back, maybe try lying on your side instead, to prevent it?

my goodness this scared the out of me!! so sorry you have these!!

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Posted by ant n tilde

its actually not a dream. i suffer from this too and it is called sleep paralysis. basically you are waking up during REM sleep - your body is paralyzed during your deepest sleep so that you dont act out all of your dreams. . . but if your mind wakes up then you will experience this. It is the most terrifying experience - i HATE them. For some reason it has happened so much less since living with DH and when it DOES happen I forget that he is there until I am fully awake so i never think to try to contact him. . .

Ugh, my eyes just started tearing up thinking of the last one that I had - trying to get your throat to cry out. . . I would love to know what it looks like from the outside. . .


for you bc i know after i have one of these, i am scared to go to sleep for a few nights!!!

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this happens to me as well, and it terrifies me. I really wish this did not happen but it does. I always fear that I am not going to ever wake up properly and stay that way.