Sleep Paralysis

This is something I'd normally go to eHealth for, but we all know how that went! Anyway...

I believe I have experienced sleep paralysis. The few times I've experienced a lack of movement when asleep have both been what could be defined as "naps" (which is listed as one of the triggers). I would sometimes take naps in the student union at my college, lying sideways, curled up on a couch with my friends all around. Sometimes in this napping state, I would feel partially awake, as if in a heavy haze. I would not be able to move. Breathing was also difficult and shallow, though I didn't seem to be low on oxygen; I simply thought I should be breathing more but didn't apparently need it. I flt dizzy and light, almost like I was rotating or floating. Sometimes my body would feel numb or jut like it wasn't there. No effort to move worked, and I often either fell back asleep, or was jolted out of this state by someone moving or stimulating my brain in some other way like talking to me.

I don't have any hallucinations though, and normally don't feel any terror or even fear. Frustration and bemused interest is normally all I feel.

http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html

We are all normally paralyzed when we are in the dream stage (REM) of sleep. It sounds like you are partially regaining consciousness while still partially in this sleep stage.

maybe the reason as to why you find it hard to breathe is because your laying on your side.
i know when i lay on my side i sometimes find that i have a hard time breathing.
plus with people around you it may be hard to fully fall asleep with noises or distractions.

futureshock wrote:

We are all normally paralyzed when we are in the dream stage (REM) of sleep. It sounds like you are partially regaining consciousness while still partially in this sleep stage.

That IS the definition of sleep paralysis lol.

krystineM wrote:

maybe the reason as to why you find it hard to breathe is because your laying on your side.
i know when i lay on my side i sometimes find that i have a hard time breathing.
plus with people around you it may be hard to fully fall asleep with noises or distractions.

I've had the breathing issue when laying on my back too I think but it more often happens when I'm on my side. But I always sleep on my side, so I don't think that's all this is...

EiriForLife wrote:

krystineM wrote:

maybe the reason as to why you find it hard to breathe is because your laying on your side.
i know when i lay on my side i sometimes find that i have a hard time breathing.
plus with people around you it may be hard to fully fall asleep with noises or distractions.

I've had the breathing issue when laying on my back too I think but it more often happens when I'm on my side. But I always sleep on my side, so I don't think that's all this is...

Do you have sleep apnea?

A single incident, sleep paralysis occurs most frequently at the beginning of sleep. One person even if he knows and claims to be awake, be subdued, and has great difficulty moving. Atonic This situation is similar to the weakness experienced during sleep REM. This experience can also produce great anxiety and fear, while the person struggles to wake up.