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[Aiii]

Have this quite a bit, every two or three months at least, half dreaming/half awake is the absolute worst state of being. Once you know the science of it it becomes more bareable.

Nowadays it takes me only a short time to realize in my dream what's going on and "will" my way into being fully awake, but there's still the terror at the start of not being able to move and wanting to, along with the sense of dread that something is behind you and you can't see what it is (at least that's what I get). Once I move I always jerk and kick the cat off the bed (she likes to nest between my legs at night), poor thing.

Anyways OP, don't sweat it. You're not alone.

 

[Polarburr]

there was a time back in high school where i had them every day in the bus on the way to school. :|

 

[Roland1979]

Yes. I could not move and there was a sense of dread in the room. On my wall was a 4 foot gigantic centipede, pitch black (glossy) with fluorescent pink parts at the bottom. He had gigantic fangs. His color scheme just screamed "venomous". I tried to get up but couldn't. Then i tried with everything that i had to lift my upper body and it took more then a minute before i could move. After another minute I saw it slowly turn transparent then it was gone. Even though it was not horrifying you could say it was a nightmare.

 

[there]

I had a lot of cases with sleep paralysis when I was a child. The most memorable and first time case happened when I was 9 years old. I was sleeping at night in my room and there was an empty bed just next to my right side. I woke up from sleep and extended my right hand to the empty bed on the right. Suddenly, I felt that my hand fell into another hand like if there was someone sleeping on the empty bed. That's the moment when the creepy movie got started.

I had myself feeling suffocated, unable to move and I was seeing creepy things flying over me and I even felt, like it was a very real thing, that the my bed is flying in the room while I'm looking down seeing how I'm flying above the ground. Although I had many other sleep paralysis cases, that was the most intense one especially since it was the first.

 

[Milestoned]

A year ago I got it nearly every night for a month. Nowadays it occurs less frequently, maybe once a month.

Never had something that was in the same room with me. It is just me being half awake but I can't move no matter how long and hard I try. I'm still afraid of not being able to wake up anymore. Last week I got one and after a couple of minutes my girlfriend walked into the room and talked with someone on the phone. The next day I told her about it and she confirmed the things I listened to. I told her that I tried to scream for minutes but she said I looked as happy as a baby.

 

[SliceSabre]

Yes I have.

I'll never forget it. I had woke up but I couldn't move despite trying and willing myself to move as hard as I possible could. My room was pitch black dark except a little bit of moonlight that was sneaking through my curtains. After a few minutes I stopped struggling and just waited to see what would happen and if it would wear off.

But, as I did I saw a figure kind hovering near my door which somehow had been opened. I had this overwhelming sense of dread as the dark figure approached me with wait I could only assume was a sickle in their hands which was barely visible in the faint moonlight. I went into full panic and tried to scream as the figure leaned over me then suddenly I kind my body kinda twitch and shiver at the same time I blinked my eyes and the figure was gone and I was screaming. I am convinced to this day that was I saw was real because I had never felt something or experienced something so real in a dream.

 

[Daedardus]

I got it quite a few times in my life. The trick is hard programming your brain to breathe when paralysed. Trying to move your arms will only add to the fear. Because you always need to breathe, it's the only thing not paralysed. Taking two to three deap breaths allows your brain and your muscles to relax, waking you almost immediately. After some 'exercise', it never troubled me anymore.

 

[Icyflamez96]

I got it quite a few times in my life. The trick is hard programming your brain to breathe when paralysed. Trying to move your arms will only add to the fear. Because you always need to breathe, it's the only thing not paralysed. Taking two to three deap breaths allows your brain and your muscles to relax, waking you almost immediately. After some 'exercise', it never troubled me anymore.

Well the way I break from it is just by powering through it, lol. It feels like there is a heavy weight on me, but it never feels unmovable. If I try hard enough, I always break through it.

For the record I'm normally not scared during sleep paralysis.

 

[Chao]

Yes I have.

I'll never forget it. I had woke up but I couldn't move despite trying and willing myself to move as hard as I possible could. My room was pitch black dark except a little bit of moonlight that was sneaking through my curtains. After a few minutes I stopped struggling and just waited to see what would happen and if it would wear off.

But, as I did I saw a figure kind hovering near my door which somehow had been opened. I had this overwhelming sense of dread as the dark figure approached me with wait I could only assume was a sickle in their hands which was barely visible in the faint moonlight. I went into full panic and tried to scream as the figure leaned over me then suddenly I kind my body kinda twitch and shiver at the same time I blinked my eyes and the figure was gone and I was screaming. I am convinced to this day that was I saw was real because I had never felt something or experienced something so real in a dream.

But it wasn't. When I've had sleep paralysis I could see the dark hallway beyond my open door very clearly because my eyes were open. I couldn't move at all and this guy walked towards me, slowly at first, and then running and screaming with anger

And I don't think sick E.T. was at my place that day.

The other time I've suffered this I was sleeping in couch another Gaffer's couch, JM Romeo's . That time I was wide awake and just couldn't move, no scary shadows or ETs. However I still got pretty scared because I thought I was dying or something, ended up waking up by twitching

 

[hiex_]

I had a string of them when I was in highschool, had them every other night for about 5 or 6 months. Waking up to people in the room with me, all that nonsense. Being awake during it is what fucked with me so much. I'd eventually be able to move and get out of bed, but still hallucinating. That cluster of them eventually stopped, but I still have one or two a year.

 

[Iku-Turso]

Happened 4 times, always different things :

- The first time I was vibrating like a phone on vibrate, it lasted for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity, impossible to move. I was more puzzled than scared. I didn't knew that sleep paralysis was a thing at the time and so I wondered for many years what happened to me, until I stumbled on the wikipedia article.

- The second time something looking exactly like the scrarydemon.gif was sitting on the headboard of my bed, looking at me with a high pitched noise in the background, something out of a horror movie.

- Third time I woke up looking at my wall where was slowwwly walking a giant spider, it was dark in the room obviously so the spider slowly faded into the darkness, the transition was so smooth that I had to turn the lights on and checked my entire room to see if it was a dream or not.

- Fourth time was pretty disturbing. I was having side effects from a painkiller after surgery, the stuff made me VERY sick : fever, head spinning, white veil in front of my eyes... So I woke up in the midle of the night (I was sleeping under the sheets) and someone was trying to get under the sheets with me, face first and close to my face of course. Not willing to share my bed with that person, I tried to push the head away, it was a completely bald head the feeling was weird. I was so weak that I didn't had enough strength to push the thing away. All of that happened without any sound, adding to the weirdness. I slowly woke up and realized it wasn't real but I was so sick that even awake I could barely move anyway.

 

[Drinkel]

Yup I had my suit hanging at the end of of the bed. So I woke up and was terrified of the man in black watching me sleep while I couldn't move. Incredibly scary and fascinating experience. It felt so real but it was pretty obvious that my mind had simply transformed the suit into a person in my dream.

 

[cajunator]

Yes. Last night. Along with exploding head syndrome. Last night was fun.

 

[Pifje]

3 times in the past 3 years. All times happened in my new apartment, haven't had them anywhere else.

Trying to get up but being unable to move is one of the most horrific feelings ever.

 

[StuBurns]

What's your method? I've been trying to achieve this for years but I don't feel like it ever actually worked.

Nothing strange, I haven't done it for years, but I used to use the 'wake back to bed' method, you can google it, it's pretty much the 'default', but it just involves getting up after a shortened sleep cycle, going back to bed after a short time, but staying conscious until the dream begins, instead of attempting to become lucid while already dreaming. Before the dream begins, you'll experience sleep paralysis.

 

[triplestation]

I have a theory that the things u see in sleep paralysis are the ghosts of perverts and rapists and they just roam around and ghost rape people in their sleep

 

[Saint Gregory]

I have a theory that the things u see in sleep paralysis are the ghosts of perverts and rapists and they just roam around and ghost rape people in their sleep

D:

Unfortunately I've experienced sleep paralysis many, many times. I've had a bunch of crazy sleep disorders, including sleepwalking, to varying degrees over time but the sleep paralysis is always the most terrifying.

It hasn't happened in a while but I noticed it usually happens most when I wake up on the weekends and then drift off to sleep again. Now once I wake up I just start my day regardless of what time it is.

 

[Gentle Rodriguez]

Not often but at least 10 times during my lifetime, I remember each one. I even had one when I was ten and I still remember. Now whenever it happens I can't move and I can't speak, and quickly a very pale figure appears and tries to choke me while holding his hand over my mouth.

It's fucking terrifying and I refuse to sleep on my back anymore, I'm terrified of getting them.

 

[Hypemaster]

Well the way I break from it is just by powering through it, lol. It feels like there is a heavy weight on me, but it never feels unmovable. If I try hard enough, I always break through it.

For the record I'm normally not scared during sleep paralysis.

Yeah, since it occurs when I sleep on my back I just mentally keep telling my body to turn over to the right until it eventually does.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

I get it once or twice a year. The most recent time was a few months ago after I'd seen the horror movie Mama for the first time.
Woke up stuck in place with Mama herself hovering over me, slowly approaching.

Other times have been creatures from my imagination, though.

 

[Dash_]

A good article to read on the subject.

http://aeon.co/magazine/altered-states/the-terror-and-the-bliss-of-sleep-paralysis/

 

[NoctisVsStar]

seriously OP F U lmao i wrote a thread early today explaining what happen to me after reading this thread

 

[Saint Gregory]

I knew that sleep paralysis was somewhat common but I never realized that people see weird shit during it like I do. I guess since it can be scary it makes sense that you see scary stuff.

 

[bennywhatever]

I had this about 2-3 times a year when I was a kid... probably age 10 - 15. Haven't had one since though (27 now).

It was never super scary, but it was definitely paralysis. I knew I was awake, but I couldn't move, open my eyes, nothing. It always scared me, but there was never really any figure causing it... It was just happening.

 

[eddfromtheriver]

Happened to me once, and i don't buy the explanations that i've read for this... i get that maybe your body is asleep and your mind awakens, but why must it always be demonic shit?, i mean... not trolls, goblins, aliens?

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Happens so often that i think "not this shit again" most of the time.

Once something went wrong, I've see a demon lying beside me, and i thought "oh fuck off" and made a fist to hit it, or "dreamed" about hitting it. Turns out, i gave my gf a nice fist to the face.

 

[Dash_]

Happened to me once, and i don't buy the explanations that i've read for this... i get that maybe your body is asleep and your mind awakens, but why must it always be demonic shit?, i mean... not trolls, goblins, aliens?

Bcause you're mind often awakens or enters into a fear and flight response whilst your sub-conscious has your perception in a chokehold.

 

[eddfromtheriver]

Bcause you're mind often awakens or enters into a fear and flight response whilst your sub-conscious has your perception in a chokehold.

But why would it do that?, i woke up in the middle of the night immediately sensing that horrible dread, something was wrong, and someone was sitting on the lower left corner of my bed, i couldn't move or open my eyes, and i felt every step that thing took to get on top of me, the weight pressing down on the mattress as he slowly advanced on top of me, while being unable to move/speak.

I could understand had i just woken up unable to move/open my eyes, ok... my body was asleep but my brain just woke up... but why the scary ass shit combo?, that makes no sense and science so far has failed horribly to explain that. (plus the reactions that pets have towards the apparitions)

 

[psylah]

Yes, but I don't have nightmares and I sleep on my stomach so nothing scary happens.

 

[Sickness702]

Yeeeeepppppp.... It has happened a few times and it seems to be the same nightmare that goes along with it.....

First I feel like I'm waking up to the sound of someone breaking into my house. I try to get up to get my gun but I cant move! I can hear the people/person coming up the stairs and I try to yell to wake up my wife but I am muted. I struggle to get up but I'm still stuck. At this point I usually know whats going on and I try to wake myself up before the bad guy(s) make it to my bedroom but once or twice I've seen these shadow figures entering my room. One time my wife woke me up because I was apparently yelling at the top of my lungs. Another time the bad guy actually shot me in the chest and I could see the bullet hole but I still could not move.

These are extremely terrifying and they make you feel like shit when you wake up. It feels so real you almost don't know if you should trust reality or not. It's a trip.

 

[Dash_]

But why would it do that?, i woke up in the middle of the night immediately sensing that horrible dread, something was wrong, and someone was sitting on the lower left corner of my bed, i couldn't move or open my eyes, and i felt every step that thing took to get on top of me, the weight pressing down on the mattress as he slowly advanced on top of me, while being unable to move/speak.

I could understand had i just woken up unable to move/open my eyes, ok... my body was asleep but my brain just woke up... but why the scary ass shit combo?, that makes no sense and science so far has failed horribly to explain that. (plus the reactions that pets have towards the apparitions)

From the above link:

The biological underpinnings of sleep paralysis have become less mysterious in recent years. The psychologist Kazuhiko Fukuda at Edogawa University in Japan explains the likely involvement of the amygdala, a brain region that signals fear from threats in the environment and triggers our primal ‘fight or flight’ reactions. Waking up paralysed constitutes an environmental threat, yet we cannot react. The amygdala is in hyperdrive, and REM physiology has invaded our consciousness. We are left stuck in a state of overwhelming terror, leaving us dreaming awake and set upon by our deepest fears.

In 2012, University of Toronto neuroscientists Patricia Brooks and John Peever reported the physiological process behind the altered state: GABAA and GABAB, the receptors that regulate the body’s muscle tone, combine with glycine, an amino acid, to switch off motor-neurone activity in our voluntary muscles during REM sleep. Normally, they switch our motor-neurone activity back on before we wake up. But, sometimes, we wake up during REM, and the GABA and glycine keep hold of us – the scary result is dreaming awake.

 

[PK Strawstorm]

All the time, but I don't get the hallucinations. It is the worst. I thought I was dead the first time. Now I just try not to panic and start trying to move my feet and then panic until I wake up.

For me it's almost always when I'm asleep on my back, and far more often when I'm over-tired.

 

[LastNac]

Yes, a few times. I had to fight violently to get out of it.

 

[dan2026]

Yes quite a few times.

And every time I am terrified I will be paralysed forever.

Then my body snaps out of it.

 

[MechaX]

The very first time I had it, it was definitely a frightening experience.

These days, it tends to happen when I "hear" something interesting on the TV or hear the phone ring, and cannot get up. I never actually remember what the former is, the latter still happens though (and it is annoying as fuck because I can't just fall back asleep). After having sleep paralysis problems for so many years (and not really telling anyone I know about it), I just treat it as a massive annoyance even while having it.

 

[The_Reckoning]

I quit smoking about 2 weeks ago, and also started a vitamin regimen. I have had some crazy vivid dreams ever since, and I am able to remember most of them, and jump back into some of them after I wake up, if I want. Two nights ago, I had my first sleep paralysis in years. I woke up and realized shit was awry, I started trying to scream for help, and finally after what seemed like 30 minutes of mumbled yells my cat jumped on my chest and started purring loudly, woke me up. Shit is scary. I forced myself to sleep awkwardly the past few nights to avoid it happening again. I was lying on my back when it happened. Moral of the story is, if you want crazy dreams, etc. take B6, and if you want sleep paralysis sleep on your back.

 

[Kylarean]

Once. I couldn't move or breathe but didn't see anything. At first I thought that I just woke up with the cat laying on me so was having trouble breathing, but couldn't move to get her off my chest. Eventually I was able to gasp for breath and start moving. The cat ended up being downstairs sleeping on the couch.

 

[Sickness702]

I quit smoking about 2 weeks ago, and also started a vitamin regimen. I have had some crazy vivid dreams ever since, and I am able to remember most of them, and jump back into some of them after I wake up, if I want. Two nights ago, I had my first sleep paralysis in years. I woke up and realized shit was awry, I started trying to scream for help, and finally after what seemed like 30 minutes of mumbled yells my cat jumped on my chest and started purring loudly, woke me up. Shit is scary. I forced myself to sleep awkwardly the past few nights to avoid it happening again. I was lying on my back when it happened. Moral of the story is, if you want crazy dreams, etc. take B6, and if you want sleep paralysis sleep on your back.

Are you on the patch? If so that shit fucks your dreams up bad. I slept with the patch a few times and my dreams were all "youtube poop" type of bizarre.

Also, if you have sleep apnea and sleep on your back you could be struggling for air which does some crazy shit to your dreams as well. I guess its the lack of oxygen to your brain or something... .

 

[Sickness702]

I just remembered another scenario I have had with sleep paralysis. This has only happened 2 or 3 times but hasn't happened in a few years thank god. This one is rather quick and snap out of it a lot faster than the home intruder one but it's creepy none the less.

So.... I fall asleep but I still feel like I'm awake. The times it has happened I was having issues with sleep.... tossing, turning, looking at the clock, etc. At some point I fall asleep but continue to toss and turn in my dream. I then feel something on my foot/leg and look down and see a big ass, gnarly looking black widow. This thing has to be at least 5-6 inches. I get scared as fuck but can't move. I try to kick it off but can't. I snap back to reality and will be standing next to my bed scared as all hell. The last time this happened I woke my wife up and made her look through the blankets, sheets and pillows with me but obviously we could not find the spider. I was not satisfied with this so I actually made her bust out some new bedding she had been saving. She wasn't too happy but IDGAF.... I was not going to get back into that bed knowing that some huge ass black widow was just there lol

 

[Spira]

So why is it that we all percieve shadowy figures during sleep paralysis?

Last time I had sleep paralysis was when I was lucid dreaming and all of a sudden I lost all control and felt like my limbs couldn't move beyond the bending points. Weird stuff...

 

[littlegrasshopper]

 

[geomon]

Once, scariest thing I've ever had happen to me.

Woke up one night to find that I couldn't move at all, couldn't open my eyes, couldn't speak, etc. Scariest part was I couldn't breathe either. My mind was fully awake though and I remember desperately trying to think and remember how to breathe, all the while I felt like I was falling into darkness. I just kept falling and thinking "this is it, I'm going to die soon". I then got pissed off and started rage screaming in my own head. Only then did my body start reacting and started breathing again.

I opened my eyes, it's pitch black, can barely move my arms and legs, and I'm sucking wind like I just ran a marathon. I'm sweating bullets, even though I keep it a constant 70 degrees in my home. Finally got fully out of bed about 5 minutes later. Had to take a sleeping pill to get back to sleep.

That was years ago and thankfully hasn't happened since.

 

[SargerusBR]

One time, i was half-asleep when suddenly i felt like something else was in my bed, a presence of sorts behind me, my body was completely froze, 2 minutes later I decided to look the other way and there was nothing, only darkness.

Demons? Ghosts? My brain tricking me? Who knows.

 

[whiteninja]

Happens to me almost every morning due to extreme laziness.

 

[cheststrongwell]

When I was stressed and not getting enough sleep, I would "wake up" soon after falling asleep. Unlike a dream, everything was very real. My room looked just like real life. I'd try to get out of bed, but it felt like i was moving in super slow motion.

It's hard to explain, but after it happened a number of times, I could actually feel it coming on right before I fell asleep and was able to shake myself out of it. I would hear the sound of a train and feel a heavy vibration in my head.

Scary shit.

 

[matty2Dfraud]

Yes, I get it frequently when I fall asleep on my back.

 

[BloodMoney]

Only once... When the aliens probed me.

But seriously, it happens to my gf once or twice a month, sound terrifying, though I cannot identify with it. My dreams are rather luicid and it's pretty easy for me to figure out when reality is altered, at which point I simply wake myself up if it's something I'm not into.

 

[niunhuiio]

No, in fact I'm sometimes able to be self-conscious and tell my body to wake up from a dream I don't want to continue

 

[Inukage]

Yes, I get it frequently when I fall asleep on my back.

Same here, doesn't really effect me anymore, I just go with the flow of being stuck untill I wake up and my dreams no longer leak into reality like they used to when I was younger. I'm still very paranoid of "the greys" though :S

 

[Kisaya]

I used to get them a lot on my old mattress, but since moving and getting a new one its rare that it happens. Glad it doesn't happen anymore because it was the absolute worst and I would never wish that on anyone.