Sleep paralysis?

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Dull man
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Anyone experience or someone who's gone through it?

My son has this happen to him every now and then. Says it's pretty scary because he basically wakes up, but can't move for a little bit. Usually gets ability to move muscles within a minute or so and gets back online.

Wife talked to regular doctor about it and was referred to ENT. Appointment coming up and I'm afraid I'm guessing they are going to try and say it's sleep apnea. It's not. Would like to have some talking points for the doc in case they have a lazy approach to diagnose everything as sleep apnea.

So, if you've been through it, do you have a grip on it now? Daily habits impact it, diet, etc? Meds?
 
Yeah, wake up, can't move, can't breathe, gotta struggle until I can, then I'm ok. Dunno what causes it, but it's happened for as long as I can remember.
Movement/breathing comes back in tiny portions, like I can wiggle my head and feel tiny bits of air moving, then eventually break free and roll or move my body however it is and then I'm good.
 
I get this on a regular basis. Often comes with a feeling of dread that there is something evil in the room with the intent to harm me. My eyes are often cracked open when I sleep and I can see through them when this happening but I cannot move anything else. I can't even change my breathing rate.

All you can do is just know that it is normal, no harm will come of you. Don't panic and just focus on moving one specific part of your body. As soon as one part moves, you will regain full control within moments afterwards.

My understanding is that there is a hormone that your body releases to paralyze yourself so you don't whip around in response to stimulus in your dreams which would cause you to wake or harm yourself. When this happens the release hormone hasn't been released despite your brain returning to an awake state. Eventually the hormone is released and off you go.
 
Russell said:
I get this on a regular basis. Often comes with a feeling of dread that there is something evil in the room with the intent to harm me. My eyes are often cracked open when I sleep and I can see through them when this happening but I cannot move anything else. I can't even change my breathing rate.

All you can do is just know that it is normal, no harm will come of you. Don't panic and just focus on moving one specific part of your body. As soon as one part moves, you will regain full control within moments afterwards.

My understanding is that there is a hormone that your body releases to paralyze yourself so you don't whip around in response to stimulus in your dreams which would cause you to wake or harm yourself. When this happens the release hormone hasn't been released despite your brain returning to an awake state. Eventually the hormone is released and off you go.
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house haunted by any chance? :laughing:
 
Had no idea this was so common.
What he describes sounds just like you guys are saying, he can move a finger or toe at first and then more and more movement comes in.
One time he woke up and made a sound like "ugh" and it was him hearing his own voice bounce off the walls that fully woke him up. Very weird stuff.

Interesting theory about the hormone release, this is something I'll ask the doctor about.
None of you take meds for this, do you? I'd rather not have him on any meds.

Have you experimented with changing your eating habits or daytime activity or what time you go to bed or anything at all, or have you just come to terms with it and move along in life knowing this is just part of the deal?

Thanks for all the feedback.
 
I only get it when falling asleep, and I can pretty well put myself into it at will, if sleeping on my back. Wiggle a toe or finger to snap out of it
 
Snoring, sleep apnea, and sleep paralysis are all exacerbated by sleeping on your back. I have to sleep on my side and sometimes my stomach.

Here's an interesting phenomenon that's been described for centuries and I have personally experienced:

en.wikipedia.org

Night hag - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Seems like a strange thing to make a special trip to the doctor for

If you don't want meds, what is your concern about a lazy dr approach? The best answer is "do nothing" but at the same time, go ahead and experiment with food and exercise. Don't need to spend $200 for a visit to say that
 
I used to get it as a kid. Had it numerous times as an adult. I think it is an adrenal dump thing where your mind rushes awake (sometimes still in a hallucinating phase of sleep) and you get stuck in limbo before your mind can move your body. As others have said, usually it is "Something is in the room RIGHT NOW and it is going to KILL ME unless I MOVE!" ....and I cannot. It definitely triggers a 'Fight or Flight' response. I've also had it where I have been looking across the room during one of these episodes and the shadow of the door open for the closet or bathroom or something gets turned into something like a human silhouette and that becomes "THE THING TRYING TO KILL ME". The only way I can think to accurately describe it is like you have a VR overlay on what you see and things are superimposed from your dream state, crossing over into reality.

Creepy and most unpleasant, but I attribute it to nothing more than something like a bad dream.



I think the worst I have ever experienced is waking up and having the sensation that the room was miles large, yet I was too big to fit in the room at the same time like I was trapped in a box.. Let that one roll around in your mind for a bit. It is hard to describe.
 
grapehead said:
How old is son? I remember reading somewhere it's common during puberty years.
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i would also like to know how old the son is.


as someone whose daughter was having trouble sleeping and it was actually apnea caused by enlarged tonsils and adnoids, the trip to the ENT, if they are good, could be a good/great thing.

Dont go in with negative thoughts, have an open mind, speak your mind and have a real frank discussion with the doctor.
 
the conservative atheist said:
Snoring, sleep apnea, and sleep paralysis are all exacerbated by sleeping on your back. I have to sleep on my side and sometimes my stomach.

Here's an interesting phenomenon that's been described for centuries and I have personally experienced:

en.wikipedia.org

Night hag - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
Click to expand...
Yep, ive had it happen a couple times 10+ years ago. I heard that once she finds you she sticks with you for life.

In my experience I wake up (or not really) to see a lady/ ghost/ demon thing thing in a long black robe over the foot of my bed... Basically the scariest thing you could open your eyes to.
As soon as you realize what it is enough to get scared, it climbs on top of you feeling like it weighs 1000lbs and forces you down into the matress making it unable for you to even wiggle a toe. Then 5 seconds later you can move again and its gone.

After the 2nd or 3rd time I just would get frustrated and wait for it to be over.

As soon as I stopped being scared of it, it seems to have stopped.


Feel pretty crazy/ dumb typing that out. Its also weird how its a common ish thing.
 
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Happens to me often. Pretty sure I mentioned it here before. You feel 100% awake but can't control your body. If it is what a coma is like, that would suck...

I have found the only thing I can control in that state is the rate at which I breath. If I attempt to breath abnormally heavy and fast enough like I am freaking out, either I will eventually wake myself up, or my wife will punch me and ask what's wrong.
 
Russell said:
My understanding is that there is a hormone that your body releases to paralyze yourself so you don't whip around in response to stimulus in your dreams which would cause you to wake or harm yourself.
Click to expand...
I've read this is a primate thing. Sleeping in tree branches makes dream thrashing a bad move.
 
Russell said:
My understanding is that there is a hormone that your body releases to paralyze yourself so you don't whip around in response to stimulus in your dreams which would cause you to wake or harm yourself. When this happens the release hormone hasn't been released despite your brain returning to an awake state. Eventually the hormone is released and off you go.
Click to expand...
If this is a thing (which sounds neat), mine was broken for the longest time.

For YEARS every night I'd wake up thinking I fell asleep while driving. I'd slam straight up clamoring for the steering wheel. Arms flailing and me in a full panic.

It somehow stopped and hasn't happened for a while though.
 
woods said:
If this is a thing (which sounds neat), mine was broken for the longest time.

For YEARS every night I'd wake up thinking I fell asleep while driving. I'd slam straight up clamoring for the steering wheel. Arms flailing and me in a full panic.

It somehow stopped and hasn't happened for a while though.
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Hypnic jerk
 
I lived with many ghosts for many years and thankfully I've never had this happen.

I cannot imagine how it must feel.
 
Happens to me , usually 2-3 times a year, not sure what the trigger is . I will be honest that I was excited to read this thread .
I have never met anyone who has this problem besides me .

It can be terrifying. it seems like you are doomed , cant wake up no matter how hard you try , however you are fully aware of the situation.
it usually ruins my night.
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
maybe you are a bad person and they are following you :laughing:
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Wouldn't that just be wonderful? My own personal chest hag...

Someone above mentioned that once they realized what is going on the feeling of dread left them. I've had the same experience. I wake up with the sense of dread but I know what is going on now and just immediately set to working on moving a part of my body. I know it will end and that there is nothing in the room with me so I no longer fear it. I used to see moving dark figures and stuff when I was a kid and it would send me into a full on panic. The feeling of weight on the chest is simply that you can't change your breathing rate despite your fight or flight response going on in your brain so you feel like you can't breath.

I almost exclusively get this in the morning if I've woken up ready to go for the day but decide to go back to sleep and I am just dozing on and off. I haven't had that luxury often since having kids, so this hasn't happened to me much the past 6 years. I used to get it freqently, at least a couple times a month.
 
Provience said:
Seems like a strange thing to make a special trip to the doctor for

If you don't want meds, what is your concern about a lazy dr approach? The best answer is "do nothing" but at the same time, go ahead and experiment with food and exercise. Don't need to spend $200 for a visit to say that
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It's about the hormones, as stated above. So we'll do a sleep study and get that info into the hands of an Endocronist or whatever they're called. Make sure hormone levels are normal and address it if anything is out of whack. If levels are normal, we move and on just deal with it.

Gonna suggest for him to try sleeping on side in the meantime. He's about to graduate and go off to college so I'd rather do whatever we can right instead of trying to consult him over the phone later.
 
woods said:
For YEARS every night I'd wake up thinking I fell asleep while driving. I'd slam straight up clamoring for the steering wheel. Arms flailing and me in a full panic.

It somehow stopped and hasn't happened for a while though.
Click to expand...


I used to have variations of that quite frequently.
 
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