Sleep Paralysis

[Tambourine Man]

I've had this. Definitely scary as hell. You try to scream but no sound comes out.

So are you actually awake, or do you just think you're awake?

You really are awake. For some reason your brain turns on but your body doesn't. I haven't had it for years, but it was terrifying.

That's a great way to describe it. I wasn't even able to open my eyes and was always trying to roll over, anything to snap out of it.

[StatmanCrothers]

"I have no mouth and i must scream"

[haltz]

Crap.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms
Common sleep apnea symptoms include:

Waking up with a very sore and/or dry throat
Occasionally waking up with a choking or gasping sensation
Sleepiness during the day
Morning headaches
Forgetfulness, mood changes and a decreased interest in sex
Recurrent awakenings or insomnia

A decent amount of these describes me. I guess I need to make a visit to the doctor.

Yeah, me too. I have crazy sleep patterns and woke up choking the other day, in fact.

I've thought I should get this checked out, ever since I started doing some serious snoring a few years ago. I should just go to a clinic I guess, but I'm an idiot and just ignore it.

[Windy City Flyer]

Odd, I was about to post a topic about this after my teacher told us about his experience.

[Arthur Dent]

I used to occasionally have this problem where I'd be aware I was asleep but be unable to move or open my eyes. I'd keep trying without success which would induce a bit of panic. If I calmed down and tried a few more times, I could get them open. I don't know if that's the same thing, but it was always unnerving.

[Bo Hart]

We talked about this in psychology once, only it had a strange twist: in some foreign countries there's this phrase that states "the witch is riding you." Basically, the belief is that when you wake up with sleep paralysis, it's the result of a witch paralyzing you and visiting you... something to that effect, at least.

I'm sure it's scary to wake up and be frozen like that, but can you imagine have cultural/psychological hallucinations being a part of it, too?

I've heard a lot of correlation between sleep paralysis and alien abductions, too; it's kind of like a modernized, localized version of the witch-riding or whatever -- instead of a witch coming, people imagine aliens coming for 'em (how often have you heard "I couldn't move a muscle" during an interview of an alleged abducee?).

Pretty interesting to hear stories about people experiencing paralysis, though... I'm sure it's frightening.

[ThatGuy]

Heh Heh Heh, I could tell you why.

What did you watch before bed. Richard Simmons? Brokeback Mountain?

Well, I doubt I knew who Richard Simmons was, and Brokeback Mountain was not yet in existence.

Nice try, pervert.

[Cronos]

Wow; I've never even imagined anything as creepy as this situation.

Only about two or three times growing up have I ever awakened at night feeling like I couldn't breathe no matter what, like I was suddenly going to asphyxiate and die (like the sleep apnea symptom usually describes), but after about three seconds it's like my mind always suddenly kicked in telling me to breathe in and everything was fine. I don't have sleep apnea, but that symptom has happened to me a couple times in my life.

Something interesting that happens to me: if I'm suddenly awakened from a nap(not so much deep sleep, but more a nap like while watching TV on the couch or something like that) my heart feels like it's beating a million times a minute. I don't have a history of high blood pressure or any heart problems so far. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this happenstance?