Naughty_Felid
kneesy earsy nosey
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,919
Hello everyone, 'sort of' new in town (see New Members post here).
I regularly experience episodes of sleep paralysis, so this thread and the subject in general are of particular interest to me!
I won't detail all my 'episodes' here (I'm at work on my lunch break, I don't want to monopolise the thread, and I haven't kept detailed records (though maybe I should!), though if there's interest I'll dredge up and post what I can, but I wanted to share a few observations prompted by recent discussion in this thread:
Re: sleeping on your back. I've experienced sleep paralysis in all sleeping positions - front, back, left side and right side. Most usually right side these days, as that's the side I generally sleep on.
Sleeping on my back or left side is least likely, as I find these positions generally uncomfortable when trying to doze off, and I don't seem to move around a lot in my sleep (unlike my partner, who would appear to be several hundred squirrels inhabiting a Goth suit when she's asleep).
Screaming etc: It's been reported to me that when I'm having an episode, I make weird sounds like I'm trying to speak, shout or scream, but can't. Which tallies with my 'in dream' experience - I'm really trying to cry out one way or another, but can't.
General theme: I'm either being haunted by a vague shadowy figure in the doorway, or 'abducted by aliens' who's presence is only ever implied or evidenced through disembodied voices murmuring reassuring (well, that's the aim, it fails!) telepathic messages.
Occasionally I will feel a hand grab my wrist or ankle, but not very often.
Sometimes there is a 'normal' dream preamble - I'll be walking somewhere, see a light in the sky (always the same, 'ball lightning' leaving angular Tron-like lines in its wake) and go home so as to be 'in' when the experience kicks off.
Or a deceased friend will visit, and we'll be well into our cigarettes and coffee when I'll suddenly realise - "Wait up. You're dead!" and then the paralysis kicks in and the furniture starts to fly around the room, Poltergeist (the movie) style!
I should note I don't believe I'm actually having an abduction experience, its just the form the attendant dream/hallucination sometimes takes.
Nor does the furniature actually fly around (I'm sure witnesses would have reported this had it done so!), although the deceased friend in question was also prone to sleep paralysis in life, and always reported it as 'a horde of Satans little helpers come to drag him to hell'.
Dream pain: I've experienced it in conjunction with sleep paralysis - notably when bitten by a dog (I'm a cynophobe!) on my hand, shot in the neck with a bow and arrow by a ninja (that was an odd one!) and that time I dreamed/hallucinated my big toe exploded (I woke up to find an enormous spot had erupted on it during the night...). In most cases it can be ascribed to having slept on the affected area, and usually resolves as 'pins and needles' upon waking - except with the one about the toe!
I think I'm starting to ramble, so I'll call it done there for now.
Yes, seconded! 2, 11, 15, 19 and 21 are all relatable
Really good account - if anyone needs a visit to a sleep clinic it is you!