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Adventures In Sleep Paralysis

So I now am curious - and I don’t intend to change the topic to lucid dreaming as it is its own topic - but reading the individual experiences and comments I am wondering how many of you who’ve experienced sleep paralysis, also experience lucid dreaming? I do have experience with both. I wonder if both occur in the same stage of sleep? I never considered that before as most of my friends and family have experienced neither so I have never really had a discussion about it with people who have had experiences.
 
Tempest63 said:
Give me a shake if it Works.
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I DID IT! :hapdan: I don't remember too much about falling into the sleep paralysis (there was something before the crushing down on my chest -which I don't always get) but when I felt the crushing I knew that this was sleep paralysis, remembered the Out Of Body thing, sort of rocked forward and PING I was floating above my bed. I didn't go anywhere, it didn't last for long and my recollection is that I quickly found myself sitting down drinking tea. But it was cool and I am definitely trying it again if I remember!
 
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hunck said:
That's heading towards lucid dreaming.
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All my three girls have had lucid dreaming experiences in the past, also one of my sons (but not the other, oddly).
 
catseye said:
All my three girls have had lucid dreaming experiences in the past, also one of my sons (but not the other, oddly).
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How do they do it - do they have a special technique or does it just happen?
 
Tempest63 said:
I read somewhere that if you know you are in SP and are able to keep a clear mind and not panic, you would find yourself in the best place to try and induce Astral Projection.
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SP doesn't don't panic me at all, I just think 'Oho, here it is again, good old sleep paralysis, it's natural, now do I need a wee?'

Next time it happens I will try moving on to astral projection. You'll know when I succeed as I intend to float over and moon you all.
 
escargot said:
SP doesn't don't panic me at all, I just think 'Oho, here it is again, good old sleep paralysis, it's natural, now do I need a wee?'

Next time it happens I will try moving on to astral projection. You'll know when I succeed as I intend to float over and moon you all.
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I will make loud 'raspberry' noises.
 
hunck said:
How do they do it - do they have a special technique or does it just happen?
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It just happens. They grew up with me talking about my 'lucid dream' experiences and it became quite a talking point when they were younger, so they are quite accustomed to it, but none of us do it 'on purpose'.
 
catseye said:
It just happens. They grew up with me talking about my 'lucid dream' experiences and it became quite a talking point when they were younger, so they are quite accustomed to it, but none of us do it 'on purpose'.
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When I have my SP I go straight into Lucid and run around the streets like a PC game.....next stop Astral ?
 
I often wonder if you mist the past in your sleep and the reason why I wonder is a ex neighbour from where I used to live told me how he went to sleep and next thing he was experiencing a Viking raid and he said it was as real as with women screaming, tents on fire etc and then a Viking ran at him and hit him in the head and he blacked out and then woke up in his bed ????? Imagine that.
 
Min Bannister said:
I DID IT! :hapdan: I don't remember too much about falling into the sleep paralysis (there was something before the crushing down on my chest -which I don't always get) but when I felt the crushing I knew that this was sleep paralysis, remembered the Out Of Body thing, sort of rocked forward and PING I was floating above my bed. I didn't go anywhere, it didn't last for long and my recollection is that I quickly found myself sitting down drinking tea. But it was cool and I am definitely trying it again if I remember!
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I had another sleep paralysis last night and it combined a couple of sleep cliches. I dreamed that I tried to go to the toilet but when I opened the bathroom door I was attacked by a large winged animal. I thought probably a fruit bat. It enveloped my face and chest. I tried to then go for the OOBE but just drifted out of the paralysis instead. My sleep paralysis experiences are rarely unpleasant but this one was and left me with a horrible feeling which probably hasn't quite gone yet.
 
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I saw a commercial last night for a pharmaceutical and, for the first time I recall, it identified sleep paralysis as a symptom of sleep apnea. I am wondering if any of our SP experiencers have ever been diagnosed with this condition.
 
SkepticalX said:
I saw a commercial last night for a pharmaceutical and, for the first time I recall, it identified sleep paralysis as a symptom of sleep apnea. I am wondering if any of our SP experiencers have ever been diagnosed with this condition.
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I haven't but it makes sense. There is no mystery for me as to why I keep getting it at the moment as I am sleeping with an eye mask because of the light and it smothers my face.
 
SkepticalX said:
I saw a commercial last night for a pharmaceutical and, for the first time I recall, it identified sleep paralysis as a symptom of sleep apnea. I am wondering if any of our SP experiencers have ever been diagnosed with this condition.
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Sleep apnea and sleep paralysis are two different sleep disorders or effects. The most direct overlap between the two concerns an inability to breathe normally. This defines sleep apnea, and it's not uncommon as an aspect of a sleep paralysis episode.

I have no problem believing an episode of sleep apnea would be disruptive enough to cause the mind to wake while the body remained disengaged from voluntary control (i.e., sleep paralysis).

This 2009 survey of sleep apnea patients indicated approximately 4% of the apnea patients reported having experienced sleep paralysis as well.

Sleep Apnea Linked To Sleepwalking, Hallucinations And Other 'Parasomnias'
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609072705.htm
 
I only had one bad example of sleep apnoea and to be honest it really frightened me.

It was shortly after my dad had died. A strange coincidence being that he would wake up in the night not being able to breathe.

In a deep sleep I recall slowly coming into consciousness, my brain must have been screaming "breathe, breathe..." I felt like I couldn't wake up fast enough. There was a gap between me reaching consciousness and my ability to breathe.

I have heard it described as feeling like you are dying, and I concur with that. It is the only time it ever happened and hopefully it won't again. But it did scare the crap out of me.
 
Spudrick68 said:
I only had one bad example of sleep apnoea and to be honest it really frightened me. ...
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That would be classified as sleep paralysis (the inability to immediately breathe version). Sleep apnea incidents don't usually wake the afflicted person, and he / she remains unaware it even happened. The rule of thumb is that if the sleeper consciously felt unable to breathe it was sleep paralysis rather than sleep apnea.
 
New activity on this thread reminds me - whilst I haven't had any full blown SP episodes since wondering if my thyroid meds could be affecting it, I have had a couple of 'drifting towards SP but managed to snap awake before it got going' in the past month or so, whilst drifting off to sleep.

Hmm, not conclusive, but ineresting. Though I have had my thyroid meds increased this week, so we'll see.

Also, with teh warm weather lately I'm surprised not to have had any migraines (I'm lucky in that I only get visual disturbances and get completely spaced out) - again, a couple of false starts, but not the whole enchilada. Hmm, I wonder if this might also be affected by the meds. Migraines started about ten years ago, out of the blue, unlike SP which I've known all my life.

Anyway, enough blather about me and my meds ;)
 
Another brush with Sleep paralysis night before last, but managed to groan myself awake just as it got going.

The content - bumping into colleagues from a former job that I haven't seen in almost a decade morphing into an angry crowd and then an alien abduction sequence (I woke up just before that last got going properly) was almost certainy anxiety based on my returning to work yesterday for the first time after my brush with cancer back in Feb/March and the advent of Covid19 lockdown.

So, tantalisingly close that time - closer than I've gotten to a full episode since I started on the thyroxine.
 
That combination of circumstances would certainly explain any stress contributing to the sleep paralysis incident.

Here's hoping your "brush with cancer" is now behind you and / or you're recovering / recovered.
 
This new Scientific American article provides a nice overview of the phenomenon and discusses the cultural (etc.) differences that seem to impart variations in the experiences and explanations thereof around the world.
Sleep Paralysis and the Monsters Inside Your Mind

Research suggests that cultural beliefs about the phenomenon may make it more terrifying to experience

... About one in five people have had sleep paralysis at least once. But despite its prevalence, it has largely remained a mystery. For centuries, cultures across the world have attributed these hallucinations to black magic, mythical monsters, even paranormal activity. Scientists have since dismissed such explanations, yet these cultural beliefs persist. In fact, my and my colleagues’ research, conducted over roughly a decade in six different countries, suggests that beliefs about sleep paralysis can dramatically shape the physical and psychological experience, revealing a striking type of mind-body interaction.

Sleep paralysis is caused by what appears to be a basic brain glitch at the interface between wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During REM, you have intensely lifelike dreams. To prevent you from acting out these realistic dreams (and hurting yourself!), your brain has a clever solution: it temporarily paralyzes your entire body. Indeed, your brain has a “switch” (a handful of neurochemicals) that tilts you between sleep and wakefulness. Sometimes the “switch” fails, however—your brain inadvertently wakes up while your body is still under the “spell” of REM paralysis, leaving you stuck in a paradoxical state between parallel realities: wakefulness and REM sleep. During sleep paralysis, the crisp dreams of REM “spill over” into waking consciousness like a dream coming alive before your eyes—fanged figures and all.

These hallucinations—often involving seeing and sensing ghostly bedroom intruders—are interpreted differently around the world. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sleep-paralysis-and-the-monsters-inside-your-mind/
 
EnolaGaia said:
That combination of circumstances would certainly explain any stress contributing to the sleep paralysis incident.

Here's hoping your "brush with cancer" is now behind you and / or you're recovering / recovered.
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Thanks @EnolaGaia - bit more info up thread here about my medical adventures. Got my first follow up consult next month. As long as I make it through the next 5 years, I should be sorted :cool:

I'll have a read of that at lunch time - second day of the phased return today.

And who should I see on my way into work this morning? Yup, one of those former colleagues I haven't seen in 8 years... Not too surprising, perhaps, when i let slip that my route to work now takes me right past the back entrance of the court house I used to work at!

I was running late today, so I'll have to make time to set off early one day, see if I can catch them and say hi.
 
Hmm, that article was interesting as far as it went - I'd like to have seen a broader swath of cultural/regional comparisons.

An old friend of mine (deceased these last 22 yrs- brain tumor) used to have similar SP experiences to mine - but whereas mine resolve mostly as alien abduction sequences, his where always described in terms of 'Satan's little helpers, come to drag me to Hell'. Given he was an avowed atheist, I always found that amusing.

As his illness progressed and he began to lose his lucidity of thought, he did on occasion as folks to check his back, see if his wings had started to grow in yet - in anticipation of his going to Heaven.

Given his Irish family background, would be interesting to know how religious the family had been, and of which denomination if so, to see if that fed into his SP experiences at all. Too late now, I guess.

I've devoured all manner of ufological and paranormal-related tomes since I was about 10 years old, so easy to find where my influences come from :pop:

Interesting about the fear factor too - that enough fear of the phenomenon could lead to it causing actual harm/trauma. I mean, I feel abject terror whilst in the midst of the experience, but never before going to bed do I worry that the SP might 'get me' tonight, and after an episode, after the first few moments of alarmed disorientation, I look back on the experience with same sort of fondness as a good horror movie.

Be interesting to hear how other posters in this thread feel about their SP experiences and any possible influences (cultural, regional or personal)- I know some hate them, so no obligation, but if anyone wants to share, I'm all ears :cool:
 
Another disconcerting episode last night. It started with me feeling a pressure on my hands as if someone was comforting me. This was quite nice but then that pressure went away and I knew something bad was going to happen so I was prepared. The hands came back, this time crushing down on my chest as if to crush the life out of me. As I was expecting it I was already trying to twist myself out of the paralysis and so it didn't last long. It wasn't nice though. Like someone was gaslighting me by being kind then trying to get me.
 
Yesterday I spoke to a friend who told me he experienced an episode of sleep paralysis this past week. He used to experience it a few times a year but hadn't done so for several years. He said he saw a monster in his bedroom doorway and described the intense fear he felt because of his inability to move away from the threatening creature. Eventually he managed to turn on his bedside light. The monster disappeared but it took some time for the feeling of dread to dissipate. He said his awareness of the passing of time became distorted.

My friend is an IT professional who, like many of us, has been working from home most days during the pandemic. The incident happened after he logged off his computer around 5 pm and lay down for a nap. After he regained his senses, he checked the clock and realised he couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour and a quarter. He told me he had been sleeping on his back during the incident. I've read that sleep paralysis is more likely to occur when the person is lying on their back so I wasn't surprised at that bit of information. My friend said he is now considering taping a tennis ball to the back of his sleep shirt to stop himself sleeping on his back.

I consider myself fortunate never to have experienced sleep paralysis *touches wood*. It sounds absolutely awful.
 
Min Bannister said:
Another disconcerting episode last night. It started with me feeling a pressure on my hands as if someone was comforting me. This was quite nice but then that pressure went away and I knew something bad was going to happen so I was prepared. The hands came back, this time crushing down on my chest as if to crush the life out of me.
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As I re-read your post Min Bannister, I thought, "oh no! What if this sensation was due to a physical cause, like an irregular or rapid heart beat?" (Tachycardia.) Even if it were fleeting, could there be an underlying health issue?
Well, probably not, since the search I just did revealed no medical literature regarding nightmares/sleep paralysis caused by tachycardia, but you don't need me to tell you they can cause tachycardia!

I did find this interesting article however:
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arti...is-can-be-indicator-neurodegenerative-disease
The title is scary (it relates neurodegenerative disease to narcolepsy, not sleep paralysis) but I thought it might be of interest for its mention of sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences:
"The strong association of sleep paralysis with out-of-body experiences in the near-death experience subject is curious and unexplained". . .
 
IbisNibs said:
As I re-read your post Min Bannister, I thought, "oh no! What if this sensation was due to a physical cause, like an irregular or rapid heart beat?" (Tachycardia.) Even if it were fleeting, could there be an underlying health issue?
Well, probably not, since the search I just did revealed no medical literature regarding nightmares/sleep paralysis caused by tachycardia, but you don't need me to tell you they can cause tachycardia!

I did find this interesting article however:
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arti...is-can-be-indicator-neurodegenerative-disease
The title is scary (it relates neurodegenerative disease to narcolepsy, not sleep paralysis) but I thought it might be of interest for its mention of sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences:
"The strong association of sleep paralysis with out-of-body experiences in the near-death experience subject is curious and unexplained". . .
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A buddy of mine and his wife have both been prescribed statins for high cholesterol and both are experiencing vivid dreaming, in his wife’s case the dreams are nightmares which are so bad she is arranging an appointment with her GP to discuss the problem.
I read once that vitamin B6 can help you remember your dreams, but it has to be taken in large doses that can be harmful. I suffer with vitamin deficiency due to IBD, this may be why I can very very rarely remember my dreams. The article in the link outlines 5 vitamin deficiencies that can affect sleep, and therefore potentially your dream state
https://thesleepdoctor.com/2019/02/...ies-that-can-affect-your-sleep/?cn-reloaded=1
 
Interesting article, about vitamins affecting sleep. However it does seem to be ascribing lack of various vitamins to causing sleep apnoeia, whereas i understand being overweight to be the chief cause of it and the medical advice is usually 'first off, lose weight'. If vitamin deficit was as prevalent as the article seems to think, wouldn't medical advice be 'try a vitamin supplement'?
 
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