Sleep Paralysis, or something else?

[Linaeve]

It is a pleasure to meet you all.

My name is Linaeve and I am 23 years old. I've been having 'bad dreams' since as far back as I could remember. However, from reading these posts, I'm wondering what exactly it is I'm experiencing. If anyone wouldn't mind reading one or two of my experiences and maybe letting me know I'm not crazy, that would be very, very helpful.

The first one I remember, I was around five years old. I woke up to my room pulsing madly, as if I was in a big sub-woofer. I ran for the door and pounded on it, but it was locked. I screamed and screamed, and no one heard me even though I could hear them easily beyond the door. My mom found me curled up on the floor in front of the door the next morning with my hands bloody from hitting it so hard, and the first thing I asked her was why she locked the door. The door only locked from the inside, so that didn't make much sense.

My 'Terrors' today consist of being half-awake. I am very, very aware when these happen. I know exactly when a (night terror?) episode is about to begin. It starts with my body falling asleep first, but my mind still being somewhat sharp. I'll be in the middle of thinking about food shopping, or what a friend had said earlier, when suddenly I know something is wrong. My entire body tingles. The level of tingles varies depending on the episode; sometimes it'll feel like minor goosebumps and other times it'll feel as if I'm about to shake into tiny pieces on the atomic level. I know that sounds stupid, but it's the only way to explain it. I'll try to keep my eyes closed so I can fall into a deeper sleep before it gets out of control, but it's as if my eyes don't want to stay closed. I'll open them despite trying so, so hard not to, and then I'll see something. Sometimes I can get away with keeping my eyes closed, but if I can't.....these things are terrible looking. Fuzzy, made-of-noise looking creatures with Cheshire grins spazzing out above me. Grudge girls staring at me from the side of my bed. Shadow people staring at me curiously.

And, if I don't see something (say I keep my eyes closed) then by the sky above I feel them. Hands have grabbed my legs and tried to pull me from my bed. Just this afternoon, I was lying on the couch, and I felt like my body was going to shake itself to pieces when it felt like hundreds of hands had grabbed me and yanked like crazy, trying to pull me from the couch. But it felt like, if they managed it, they would pull my very soul out of my body and I would be dead. I fought to open my eyes, because (as I stated above) I'm still very aware and managed to pull myself out of sleep enough to stop the episode. It's not an easy feat to accomplish, stopping myself from sleeping, but sometimes I can manage it.


These happen often. I know my biggest trigger; sleeping on my back. I can't move, I can't scream, I can't talk, I can't thrash around....so are these really sleep paralysis attacks? Except for the heart stopping terror, the only time I actually moved was when I was younger.

Thank you for reading, and I apologize for the length. I'm just ready to figure this out.

Linaeve.

[overun]

Hey Linaeve,

I used to have similar experiences to the ones you had. I remember several occasions clearly where I was sleeping in my bed (usually in one particular room with the head of the bed facing east) and then all of a sudden, I would get this "heavy" feeling in my body.. like I couldn't move it. Then, I would hear some weird noises and stuff - usually sounded like some type of vibrating or buzzing noise - and then even though my eyes were closed, I could still see vague shadowy shapes and "feel" presences in the room.

At first this stuff scared the bejeezus out of me and I would lay in bed fervently praying to God and Jesus to banish these demons or such. To be honest, it actually worked! I don't know if the power of prayers made it work or if my mind was being distracted from all the scary stuff that made it work, but either way, it worked, and I wasn't as afraid of it anymore.

Later on, once I became more accustomed to these episodes, I would "know" they're coming and prepare for it by deliberately trying to move my body. Usually once I can move a body part, the whole episode would be over. Or, I would try and wait it out and see what would happen...

Recently, it's only happened maybe like twice in the past 3-4 years. But after reading about some of the stuff on here, it seems like it could be the precursor to astral projection, so in some ways, I'm hoping it'd happen more - I mean, if it really WAS a stepping stone to astral projection.

Anyway, don't be afraid of these episodes. As far as I know, they're harmless and it's only a mental thing. Just do what I did initially, pray like a madman and it'll be better!

[cacheborn]

I used to have them. Now they have become less frequent. Also, I have learnt not to scream when they occur. (Once I woke up while I was screaming and it was really eerie.) Had one of the worst just last night. I tried to snap out of it a number of times and failed. It was the strongest I have experienced in a long time.

I would like to try and wait to see what happens but as soon it occurs I am terrified and want to wake up.