I know this is a bit long, but I'm going to attempt to describe the most terrifying and real sleep paralysis experience that I've ever had in about my 10 years of dealing with this.
I have suffered from sleep paralysis since high school. They were usually accompanied by hallucinations, which ranged anywhere from beautiful to downright terrifying. The terrifying typically seeing a disgusting/scary looking woman standing/moving in my room or actually being able to feel her sitting on my chest or back.
Well, when I hit college they seemed to happen slightly less, but came back full-swing around my third year. I went to see a therapist about it and she attributed it to most likely being caused by anxiety and mild depression. I was put on a low dose of Celexa to combat it. It would work for a while and then start back up again and then just randomly stop for a while. My therapists have tried both Celexa and Zoloft, but I ended up just staying with Celexa(seems to work better for my daytime mood). But anyway, I've been playing this game ever since. Also, might be important to note I took ambien for about 2 weeks before I decided to put that shit down and never touch it again. Was prescribed it to help with my sleeplessness, which was happening because of my sleep paralysis, but that made my sleep paralysis go into over-drive.
Well anyway, I think, about 2 weeks ago I started to have sleep paralysis episodes again, which I haven't had since around February/March time I believe. They haven't been particularly unusual except for the last 2 nights. Anyway, I had been playing Borderlands 2 on Saturday night and feel asleep around 1 AM. Then, on early Sunday morning, honestly don't know what time it was, but definitely didn't see any sign of daylight when the whole thing was over. Anyway, I "woke" up and knew immediately what was going on. I couldn't move at all and I heard the familiar whoosing/whirling sound. I saw the terrifying girl standing in the corner of our bedroom with that sadistic looking grin on her face. I could hear her breathing heavy and kind of like giggling with it and she was rubbing her hands together. And then I hear growling and I snap out of it. And I actually can't believe I'm saying this, but the scariest part happened after I woke up. My beagle is on the floor growling at the exact same location where the woman was standing during my sleep paralysis. This wasn't any kind of little growl either, she was full out growling, which she absolutely never does, at the wall where the woman was standing. And it was loud enough to wake my wife up. She asked me what was wrong with the dog, because she knows how unusual this is and then asks us where our other dog is. I assumed she was under the blanket with my wife, but it turns up she was hiding in the back of our open closet and would not come out. I had to physically go pick her up out of the closet and carry her out. The entire time her tail is between her legs and then as soon as I put her down she makes a V-line straight out the bedroom door. My other dog has by then calm down and isn't growling anymore but my wife is thoroughly freaked out now and asks me again what is freaking the dogs out. I told her again I wasn't sure, even though by now, I'm wondering if they somehow saw what I did when I couldn't move, even though it's impossible. I went to check the rest of the house just for peace of mind and to find where my other dog ran off too. I find her downstairs hiding in her cage and once again won't come out when I call her. After checking the house, I tell my wife they must have just heard a sound that freaked them out. I honestly think she was too tired to care at that point and accepted it and went back to bed. I couldn't get back to sleep after that and ended up staying up until around 7 in the morning before I feel asleep on our downstairs couch watching TV.
I attributed everything to coincidence even though I was still thoroughly freaked out by it all still. And then last night it happened again. I woke up early this morning unable to move and everything seemed kind of hazy. If you've had sleep paralysis you probably know what I mean. What you can see has a dreamy kind of look to it, but mentally, everything is as clear as if you are awake. Anyway, I see colorful swirls in my peripheral vision and hear the swirling sounds. Typically, these types of sleep paralysis episodes aren't very terrifying if you just ride them out. Well, then I hear shattering glass, and the swirling colors fade and everything just gets darker. Then in front of our body long mirror(I don't know what they are actually called) I see the same woman as the night before. I really wish I would have paid attention to the mirror to see if it was shattered during the episode, but I assume the sound I heard was of the mirror. I try closing my eyes, but I can kind of see right through my eyelids(which happens a lot during these) and since I can't move my head or anything, I'm forced to look at her. She gives me that same weird/evil looking grin and opens her mouth and shows her bloody teeth. And when I say bloody, I mean it literally. And then she lets out this terrifying scream. This has happened on several occasions, but usually when she's sitting on top of me or right next to my face, but something was different this time. I could feel the scream inside my ears. I don't how to describe it, but I could physically feel the vibrations of the scream in my head. And then I wake up. Now this is where shit gets truly weird. I snapped out of it because my dog was barking and growling and she's standing a few feet back from the mirror looking straight at it, acting like she wants to tear the thing to pieces. My wife and I both simultaneously get out of bed. Her, because, she was wondering why the dog is barking at herself and me because I'm fucking terrified. I see our other dog's nose under the bed. She must have hid under there, which is something she rarely does and once again she would not come out. And it's important to note, that when this dog is called, she usually comes, but my wife had to grab her and pull her out. Once again, her tail is between her legs and she looks terrified. Our beagle has since stopped barking at the mirror and is seeing what my wife is doing with the other dog. My wife asks me if I knew what she was barking at and I told her that I guess she just freaked herself out in the mirror. I didn't want to freak her out for the second night in a row. My wife kind of laughs and lays back down and falls back asleep pretty quick. I'm guessing she didn't think much of it. I never actually got back to sleep last night. I am still way too freaked out.
I know it's been quite the read, but I figured I would share. As terrifying as it was, I would still like to figure out if this was pure coincidence both nights or something more is going on. My wife knows I have sleep paralysis, but since she has never had it, she puts it in the same category as nightmares in her mind. And anybody who has had SP, knows that saying that nightmares and SP are the same is saying that apples and oranges are the same. It's just not the case. I don't have a particular belief in anything paranormal happening, especially since I've always considered sleep paralysis hallucinations to be generated by my subconscious, but after the last two nights I'm open to any interpretations of what might be happening. Honestly, if it keeps happening and freaking my dogs out as well, I need to get some kind of help, but I don't even know what to do. I wouldn't even know the first person to talk to, because if it's scaring my dogs, then a therapist won't be able to do jack shit about it. At this point, I'm open to anything.
I have suffered from sleep paralysis since high school. They were usually accompanied by hallucinations, which ranged anywhere from beautiful to downright terrifying. The terrifying typically seeing a disgusting/scary looking woman standing/moving in my room or actually being able to feel her sitting on my chest or back.
Well, when I hit college they seemed to happen slightly less, but came back full-swing around my third year. I went to see a therapist about it and she attributed it to most likely being caused by anxiety and mild depression. I was put on a low dose of Celexa to combat it. It would work for a while and then start back up again and then just randomly stop for a while. My therapists have tried both Celexa and Zoloft, but I ended up just staying with Celexa(seems to work better for my daytime mood). But anyway, I've been playing this game ever since. Also, might be important to note I took ambien for about 2 weeks before I decided to put that shit down and never touch it again. Was prescribed it to help with my sleeplessness, which was happening because of my sleep paralysis, but that made my sleep paralysis go into over-drive.
Well anyway, I think, about 2 weeks ago I started to have sleep paralysis episodes again, which I haven't had since around February/March time I believe. They haven't been particularly unusual except for the last 2 nights. Anyway, I had been playing Borderlands 2 on Saturday night and feel asleep around 1 AM. Then, on early Sunday morning, honestly don't know what time it was, but definitely didn't see any sign of daylight when the whole thing was over. Anyway, I "woke" up and knew immediately what was going on. I couldn't move at all and I heard the familiar whoosing/whirling sound. I saw the terrifying girl standing in the corner of our bedroom with that sadistic looking grin on her face. I could hear her breathing heavy and kind of like giggling with it and she was rubbing her hands together. And then I hear growling and I snap out of it. And I actually can't believe I'm saying this, but the scariest part happened after I woke up. My beagle is on the floor growling at the exact same location where the woman was standing during my sleep paralysis. This wasn't any kind of little growl either, she was full out growling, which she absolutely never does, at the wall where the woman was standing. And it was loud enough to wake my wife up. She asked me what was wrong with the dog, because she knows how unusual this is and then asks us where our other dog is. I assumed she was under the blanket with my wife, but it turns up she was hiding in the back of our open closet and would not come out. I had to physically go pick her up out of the closet and carry her out. The entire time her tail is between her legs and then as soon as I put her down she makes a V-line straight out the bedroom door. My other dog has by then calm down and isn't growling anymore but my wife is thoroughly freaked out now and asks me again what is freaking the dogs out. I told her again I wasn't sure, even though by now, I'm wondering if they somehow saw what I did when I couldn't move, even though it's impossible. I went to check the rest of the house just for peace of mind and to find where my other dog ran off too. I find her downstairs hiding in her cage and once again won't come out when I call her. After checking the house, I tell my wife they must have just heard a sound that freaked them out. I honestly think she was too tired to care at that point and accepted it and went back to bed. I couldn't get back to sleep after that and ended up staying up until around 7 in the morning before I feel asleep on our downstairs couch watching TV.
I attributed everything to coincidence even though I was still thoroughly freaked out by it all still. And then last night it happened again. I woke up early this morning unable to move and everything seemed kind of hazy. If you've had sleep paralysis you probably know what I mean. What you can see has a dreamy kind of look to it, but mentally, everything is as clear as if you are awake. Anyway, I see colorful swirls in my peripheral vision and hear the swirling sounds. Typically, these types of sleep paralysis episodes aren't very terrifying if you just ride them out. Well, then I hear shattering glass, and the swirling colors fade and everything just gets darker. Then in front of our body long mirror(I don't know what they are actually called) I see the same woman as the night before. I really wish I would have paid attention to the mirror to see if it was shattered during the episode, but I assume the sound I heard was of the mirror. I try closing my eyes, but I can kind of see right through my eyelids(which happens a lot during these) and since I can't move my head or anything, I'm forced to look at her. She gives me that same weird/evil looking grin and opens her mouth and shows her bloody teeth. And when I say bloody, I mean it literally. And then she lets out this terrifying scream. This has happened on several occasions, but usually when she's sitting on top of me or right next to my face, but something was different this time. I could feel the scream inside my ears. I don't how to describe it, but I could physically feel the vibrations of the scream in my head. And then I wake up. Now this is where shit gets truly weird. I snapped out of it because my dog was barking and growling and she's standing a few feet back from the mirror looking straight at it, acting like she wants to tear the thing to pieces. My wife and I both simultaneously get out of bed. Her, because, she was wondering why the dog is barking at herself and me because I'm fucking terrified. I see our other dog's nose under the bed. She must have hid under there, which is something she rarely does and once again she would not come out. And it's important to note, that when this dog is called, she usually comes, but my wife had to grab her and pull her out. Once again, her tail is between her legs and she looks terrified. Our beagle has since stopped barking at the mirror and is seeing what my wife is doing with the other dog. My wife asks me if I knew what she was barking at and I told her that I guess she just freaked herself out in the mirror. I didn't want to freak her out for the second night in a row. My wife kind of laughs and lays back down and falls back asleep pretty quick. I'm guessing she didn't think much of it. I never actually got back to sleep last night. I am still way too freaked out.
I know it's been quite the read, but I figured I would share. As terrifying as it was, I would still like to figure out if this was pure coincidence both nights or something more is going on. My wife knows I have sleep paralysis, but since she has never had it, she puts it in the same category as nightmares in her mind. And anybody who has had SP, knows that saying that nightmares and SP are the same is saying that apples and oranges are the same. It's just not the case. I don't have a particular belief in anything paranormal happening, especially since I've always considered sleep paralysis hallucinations to be generated by my subconscious, but after the last two nights I'm open to any interpretations of what might be happening. Honestly, if it keeps happening and freaking my dogs out as well, I need to get some kind of help, but I don't even know what to do. I wouldn't even know the first person to talk to, because if it's scaring my dogs, then a therapist won't be able to do jack shit about it. At this point, I'm open to anything.
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