Reoccurring Nightmare

[Shawn Cameron]

Thank you in advance for any advice anyone might be able to offer on this…

At first I wasn’t sure if I could even call it a dream or a night mare because it takes place when I am half asleep… either about to fall asleep or just waking up but usually when I’m “Just resting my eyes”

It always takes place where ever it was I happened to be lying down, and what is more unusual for me is that I see, or rather feel everything in first person… which is very new to me as I have always dreamt, imagined, and even remembered things in third person O.o

Anyway I’m trapped… trapped in my own body, it’s like I’m conches (though I’m not or not fully) but I can’t move, I try to move because I’m slowly becoming more and more uncomfortable in my current position and I want to roll over or shift in someway then drift back to sleep… but I can’t, and the more I try the more heavy I seem to become, to the point where it gets hard to breath. If there are people around when I lay down I can feel them walking by me, sometimes saying things like “is she asleep? Haha guess she was really tired we shouldn’t wake her up…” I try to call out to them, to tell them to touch me, to wake me up, that I’m trapped but I know somehow that if they where to shake me awake I would become fully conches again and wake up.

It always ends the same, after trying to scream my lungs out or rip my muscles apart moving my heavy body, I jerk violently awake gasping for air and my heart beating a million miles an hour… but the real funny thing is… I lay back down, like I want the dream to happen again, but this time I want to defeat it, to move or speak and win against it…

[Seren_]

It sounds a lot like sleep paralysis - http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html It's one of those funny things the body/mind can do sometimes, like when you're falling asleep and suddenly you'll jerk awake because you're convinced you're falling, or whatever. Only this time you can't do anything.

Stress, lack of sleep or poor quality sleep don't tend to help. I've experienced it myself a few times in the past, though not recently. Sometimes I'm very disoriented and it's just like someone's sitting by the bed (I usually decide it's my granddad, but just a dark shadow of him), but he tells me it's OK even though I can't move and I go back to sleep.

Sometimes it really isn't pleasant - one occasion was terrifying, in fact, I was staying in a fourteenth century castle that was reputed to be very haunted and I woke up unable to move and convinced I was under attack. The general atmosphere of the hotel was very oppressive, which didn't help, and I'd had a really bad day (my graduation, I'd spent all day with my parents together for the first time since their divorce and my mum had brought her boyfriend along, who was a complete dick...). I woke up convinced there was someone in the room - pacing and agitated, just beyond my peripheral vision - and there was a general air of menace, and try as I might I couldn't do anything. Either I strained so hard trying to wake up properly that I started convulsing, or something like that, or my perceptions really were that screwed up because I was convinced the bed was shaking uncontrollably. My husband snored soundly beside me so I can only conclude that whatever was going on, it was me and not the bed...

Anyway, you'll probably find it's more likely to happen if you're lying on your back. Try sleeping on your front or side and give yourself some extra time to unwind after a stressful day, that should help.

[Malehedectar]

I have to agree with Seren, this sounds like sleep paralysis, which can be really frighting. I would advise that you do try different sleeping positions, this has helped for me. I only rarely suffer from this type of thing any more, rarely.

Do keep in mind though that OBEs can manifest during this time as well. I have found that those can be quite frightening as well.

The sudden feelings of pressure, or being pulled down a tunnel, or cramped dark space while being unable to move and hearing a vibrant buzzing sound are all things to look for when classifying an experience as OBE, rather than sleep paralysis. As well as a sudden feeling, or lack of feeling of heart beat, lung inflation, temprature ect.

Hope I added something of intrest here. :weirdsmil

[bellamandu]

i had the same problem several years ago. i agree with what the other said, especially about the OBE. Also, be mindful of psychic attacks. you are not only physically vulnerable with this problem but you can become unknowingly sensitive and receptive to ghosts or spirits or such... and from my experience there is no way to just "turn it off" like when you are more or loss conscious.

i had a horrible experience with this once. there was a particular entity (dont know if it was a ghost or what) that appeared to me as an older man. i remember being utterly terrified. i couldnt move or scream or anything, my body was asleep but my mind was wide awake. he would simply stand in the doorway and laugh at me. and i remember being able to know about everything that went on in the house but it kind've went in slow motion. it would get to the point where i would jerk my head back and forth in my dream to the point where i would start jerking and jumping physically in bed untill i was either woken up by someone or just fell of the bed.

it can be very frightening, so i feel for you.

[Shawn Cameron]

Thank you everyone, you've all been a lot of help. I admit that it hasn't been happening quite as often but it hasn't stopped either... I think a lot of it is stress for me, but at the moment, though I have minimized it as much as I can, as long as I'm in my current place and situation the stress isn't going to get much better.

but again thank you for the advice, so far I don't feel like I have been attacked by anything or anyone, though I have heard other people in the house talking to each other or themselves about "aw she's sleeping again." or "we shouldn't wake her up if she is that tired" when all i want is for them to touch me just enough to snap my body out of it! *sigh*

[SphinYote]

Yep. Sleep paralysis....

One thing I've discovered: do NOT drink coffee or alcohol for at least 2-3 hous before you go to bed, no caffeine, no alcohol. Both interfere with your sleep cycle and make sleep paralysis much worse. So do a lot of medications.

For me, after the first couple of times, I learned to expect what was happening and channel it into a semi-lucid dreaming experience, which can be fun. However, sometimes I can't and even though I know what it is, it can still be scary as hell.

I've only once had anything remotely similar to the classic "presence" associated with sleep paralysis, but have had the feeling of vibration, a strobe light effect of lighting with shadows dancing, and the pressure, feeling unable to breathe.

Although I've never read of it being implicated in sleep paralysis, for me, I also could not for many years have anything plugged in near my bed without having some wildly scary episodes (the caffeine and very occasional alcohol induced ones are much less frightening for me). Now, I've become accustomed to my alarm clock and the lamp, but radios are still bad, and if my computer is plugged in I've noticed that it causes problems, too, even though it's across the room.

Good luck,

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