There Are 29 Responses So Far. »

1. Comment by Monica Ricci on 8 January 2007:

   I have also experienced sleep paralysis and it is terrifying the first few times until you realize what it is. I don’t see shadowy figures, but I always have auditory hallucinations (footsteps approaching and entering my room) and I sometimes feel a presence standing over me, or I can feel it sit down on the bed at my feet.

   This typically happens when I nap during the day, but has happened upon waking in the morning once. Now if it happens, I just close my eyes and breathe really hard to wake myself up


2. Comment by Paul Healy on 18 March 2007:

   I have suffered from sleep paralysis for as long as I can remember. I am 26 years old. I simply don’t know when it started because I have had so many bad experiences. I grew up in Blackburn, England, in a very old house which I believe is haunted and so can not tell the difference between the SP and the ghostly situations.
   Anyway I remember on holiday when I was 17 asleep in the hotel during the day. I was having a dream about vampires and I saw a church and thought I will go in there and the vampires can’t possibly come in here. Well one of them did, my response was to wait up quick before it gets me. So I forced myself awake, at least I though I did! I could see everything was normal in the hotel room but then very fadly the vampire was there and he chucked me around the room banging me into walls and cupboards. I woke up normal in bed.
   By the time I was 20 my dreams where very intense. My legs where being pulled, my pillow was removed from under my head. I was hearing noises in the room and then the killer blow was an old women in my bedroom on her knees about 4ft away from me. She had white hair and was wearing an old white cloth dress, stained with blood that was coming from her head and running down her face. After that I never wanted to sleep again. I would go for walks in the night to stay awake. I preffered to sleep in the day because I felt safer, but I had to work. Then I drunk heavy just for a good night comatised sleep. I had a lot of time off of work and never any money which only made it worse. People think you are lazy but I just told them I was sick, I was just always tired.
   Sleep paralysis has had a dramatic effect on my life.
   I have moved to the Netherlands and still have weekly episodes of SP but not as intense. Now I accept it and deal with it. I laugh at it even though it still scares me.
   When you suffer from SP you can not move or speak but I have learned to make a moaning noise which is enough for my partner to hear and she gives me a nudge which wakes me up. Sometimes its fine but not always.
   Once I was woken (well thought I was) by my partners daughter (12 years old at the time) in another room who shouts in her sleep. So I led there and the shouting stopped and heard her open her bedroom door and walk towards our bedroom. I thought maybe she has had a bad dream and is scared. She entered our bedroom, I looked straight at her and she had these big Black holes or like black snooker balls as eyes. I though oh my god i’m not really awake and she dived straight for me. She was possessed by a demon. I forced my eyes open but then your body is still paralysed, I could still feel her presence but not see her. Soon after I woke up for real but its nights like this when you don’t want to go back to sleep. The funny thing is that my girlfriends daughter didn’t even stay with us that night she was at her fathers.
   Another time I had a nightmare and my partner failed to nudge me. I woke up (again I use the term woke meaning not really awake) and give my partner a nudge asking why she never heard me moaning and then suddenly she was possesed my the devil or a demon of some sort and was trying to attack me.
   I feel for anybody who suffers from SP because I know how hard it is to deal with not just the nightmares but the day time tiredness after a bad night. Also not being able to explain to people that you really are tired and not lazy.


3. Comment by Ryan on 31 July 2007:

   Last night my mother told me of a dream she had a few days ago where she could not move any part of her body, and an old woman had climbed on top of her and started licking and sucking on her face. She said that the dream was very sick and perverse, but also that it did not feel like a dream. She felt absolutely awake. I had heard of this kind of thing before , such as ‘Old Hag’ syndrome and did not believe it , but my mother telling me of this i felt inclined to do some sort of research on it and add my mothers story to sites such as these.


4. Comment by racheal hopewell on 21 August 2007:

   I am very interested in the link between lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis. I have experienced this phenomena quite often since my teens. I am now 36. Like most people I found it terrifying to begin with but have now learnt to deal with it (to an extent). I experienced an episode only this morning. I tried to stay calm and control it. I kept slipping into lucid dreams but they were only semi-lucid. By this I mean I did not have full control. To start with it began when I was half-asleep. I dreamt that my pillow was moving over my head and trying to smother me. I began to wake up and became aware of being paralysed so I forced myself back into the dream. I concentrated on keeping my head above the pillow and staying calm (in reality when I did finally wake up my pillow was under my head). I then began to lucid dream. As I always do, I must admit the moment I know I can control my dream I try to make it a smutty one! When awake I tell myself if I reach this state I will do something more creative with it but every time for some reason I always try to make the dream take an erotic turn (maybe I just have a dirty mind). Anyway I was controlling the dream for a while but it is like my dreaming mind fights with me because it keeps taking the dream in a more sinister direction and so I end up in a battle of will within my own dreaming mind. Repeatedly, when the dream got scarry I started to wake and feel the paralysis again. I also experienced a false awakening and a feeling of my face twitching as well as a rushing sound in my ears. A couple of times I actually awoke. One time it was like I tricked my mind by pretending to dream then I thought ‘right now quick, wake up’ and I did. Both times I awoke I was overcome with weariness and I just could not help but slip back into sleep even though I was scared to. The whole experience is like I’m fighting with myself to stop it becoming too terrifying at the same time the element of dream control is exciting. It is a most odd but kind of cool experience. Does anyone know how I can gain more control over my dreams when in this state?


5. Comment by racheal hopewell on 23 August 2007:

   I just wanted to add that I experienced another sp episode the very next day. This time I was able to turn it into an out of body experience (my first ever). This was wicked and not scarry at all. It felt like I left my body and floated down my stairs and then floated around my front room. I do think that all of the recent research and talking about the subject helped me to turn sp into a more positive experience. I think the power of suggestion is strong. Because I had read loads of accounts of sp being a gateway to obe and lucid dreaming and because I have found out so much about the subjects, I now do not feel so afraid. I think this is why I was able to control it and turn it into something positive. However, it is a bit like tripping in that I am not sure weather it will always be good, I still feel slightly wary of the whole thing. When sp comes on it is hard not to panic and it does so often be accompanied with scarriness of some kind. I was wondering if it would happen again this morning, that would have been three in a row - it didn’t though. The key to dealing with sp is to find out as much about it as poss, stay calm when you feel it happen and try to turn it into either a lucid dream or a obe (if you want an obe just ask yourself to leave your body - it worked for me anyway). What I like about the whole thing is that it gives you a little insight into how powerful and amazing your mind actualy is. It gives you a taste of other levels of reality.


6. Comment by gareth on 1 October 2007:

   so baby smutty dreams dirty mind hey


7. Comment by Chuck on 17 October 2007:

   For the longest time, I had no clue what I was experiencing when I had SP episodes. I serioulsy thought I was nuts, or that could quite possibly be supernatural. However, now that I’ve done tons of research on the subject, I realize it’s all haluncinatory. During my SP episodes, all of my hallucination are auditory (footsteps nearing the bed, animal pit-patter under the bed and I have no pets, loud blasts of music I’ve never heard, etc.). I also have lucid dreams and false awakenings. I haven’t quite gotten the grasp of lucid dreams yet… I’ve only realized it twice in my adult life, though I used to lucid dream frequently as a child and know I was dreaming.

   I’ve finally figured out what triggers all of these things for me… Periods of sleep deprivation combined with a lot of alcohol use are almost guaranteed to trigger it for me (i.e., a full weekend of partying). I can predict it coming that Sunday night before I have to be back at work… I also have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep in those instances.

   The only other instances I’ve experienced all or some of the above is when I’m extremely stressed out, or if I try to take a nap during the day.

   False awakenings freak me out the most…especially if I look at a clock to see what time it is when I turn th alarm off, and realize there is something bizarre with my apartment, as well as the lighting for the time of morning. When I go back to check the clock again, it’s a totally different time of day, which makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up because I feel like someone is in the apartment fooling with me…it will usually lead into an unrelated dream sequence until I wake up for real.


8. Comment by Chris on 23 October 2007:

   What an interesting topic! I have had many sp experiences myself, starting when i was very young. Although it was very frightning as a child, it has now become an exiting experience in which there are no limitations. There seems to me that there are 2 different things you can do when experiencing sp, one is waking yourself up by moving a part of your body. I always try to move my head, but this proves to be difficult and doesnt work well. So i guess moving a finger would probably work better as the larger muscles of the body are more affected by the brains paralyzing of the body. During this state, If there is light i can see and hear everything around me, although i do not know if my eyes are open or closed. Not everything seems to be in the same order when i wake up. I cannot begin to describe the rush that flows through my body when i start to wake up, but its probably similar to the feeling of jumping out of an airplane.
   The second thing i can do is let go. This is also very exciting, especially since there is a lot to explore in dreamland. Consiously letting go of your body during sp can be frightning and/or mesmorizing. When this is happening, just before i let go, I focus on somthing i want to dream about, then i fall into a lucid dream. Well the skys the limit. Most of the time though, when I am completly aware i am dreaming, i feel somewhat bound to reality and cannot always dream something outside the walls of reality. Sometimes I like to play with sp, and i find this quite fun. I will let myself wake up, and then fall back in numerous times just to feel the rushes and tingles of doing so. Anyways hope i have given some good feed back here, and sweet dreams everyone! -Chris. Feel free to e-mail me chrislg24@hotmail.com


9. Comment by Nicky on 30 October 2007:

   An interesting site. I have also experienced sleep paralysis since I was 12 years old (32 now). I can experience these up to three times a week at the worst. Although I now realise that I am not some ’strange woman’ that has visits from scary demons from another realm! I still find them scary as hell the majority of the time. I have only had a few experiences that were pleasant and would love to try control the experiences better and see what happens, but I always end up concentrating on moving that foot as soon as I’m faced with strange creatures staring in my face! Although there are many theories on the internet, there is not much explanation on the unbeleivably loud strange noises that you can hear (my ears physically hurt from them). Anyway, nice to read about it and know that your not alone experiencing these awful things. Like Reachel says in her post though, it proves the power of the mind - very fascinating.


10. Comment by Heather on 2 December 2007:

    I had no idea so many people experienced this phenomenon. I first experienced it at probably 8 or 9 and I remember I was sleeping on the floor at my dad’s house because I didn’t have a bed there. I tried to scream for so long, so someone would wake me up and eventually I woke up and screamed anyway, just because it frightened me so.

    The second experience I can remember, I was sleeping at a friend’s house and I was having a regular dream, when I suddenly snapped awake and when I was able to focus my eyes, I was looking at a very sharp set of enormous teeth! When I tried to move, the thing lunged toward me and screamed, waking up my friend. It was about 4 in the morning but we drove to Denny’s for breakfast immediately because I wasn’t willing to go back to sleep. Another friend of mine later told me about the Hag Syndrome, and we thought it was probably related.

    It was a few years later when I started to experience SP regularly. It is now usually accompanied by a sense of dread and a presence in the room. It helps if I sleep with all of the doors closed. I struggle to wake up but noting works. I’m going to try astral projection next time.


11. Comment by Johnathan Monks on 25 May 2008:

    I my self suffer from SP, I have had about 10 episodes within the last few years and its true…… you can never truly explain to your friends and family how its feels. They either think your over sensitive or just imagining things or even just dreaming, well maybe it is just a dream but I really don’t know for sure.

    My first episode happened when I went to work abroad in Majorca. My flat mate had just moved out which meant I had the place to my self. It was an ordinary night, well as ordinary as it can be for a Holiday Rep that is. I got into bed and fell asleep. In the middle of the night I woke up to a feeling of someone being in the room with me, I looked to my right and in the corner of my room about six foot away there stood a tall (Man?) about seven eight feet tall with a long dark coat and a gray colour to his face. Straight away I thought that it was the Devil himself. Don’t ask me why I thought this I just did. Then I had the feeling of being pinned down starting with my legs then spreading up my body until it had reached my neck. It felt as if I was being held down buy a number of small (Spirits, Demons). Then I had a dark mist surrounding me. I was so scared and some how managed to wake my body and slammed my hand against the wall coursing a large brose the next day. After realising my self I ran to my friends Flat and pounded on the door crying and screaming. She said it was probably a dream but it felt real, I still do not know weather it was or not. Because at the time I knew nothing about SP I convinced my self that the Flat was haunted. So in search of some answers I went on the Internet and found a guy who had experienced something very similar. He went on to say that if the Devil was to come to you he would not do any of his dirty work himself he would get his demons to do it for him while he watched. He also says that the devil will only come to you if he can see something within you that he likes, wants, or can corrupt.

    Ever since I have had very similar experiences. Lately I have been having a lot of audio episodes where I hear people’s voices screaming and shouting in the next room to me even though I am alone in the house. I really find it strange that it only happens when I am alone never when my Partner is next to me.

    I feel as if I am alone to deal with this, know one around me can understand and when I am shock up the next morning or when It has jus happened all I get is “you will be ok” to them it’s a dream…… to me it’s a reality.


12. Comment by Steven Aitchison on 26 May 2008:

    Hi Jonathan, sounds scary as hell. Reality is a personal experience so this will be real to you. I have spoken to a few people with jobs like yours i.e. stay up late. This is when my episodes occurred most, as I would be at the computer until 2 or 3 am, go to bed and have an SP episode. I think it’s a lot to do with sleep pattern i.e. the body is knackered but the brain is still awake. I think this is one reason why we can get SP episodes.


13. Comment by Joey on 30 May 2008:

    I had SP for about 4 years till it stopped altogether ( hopefully it wont come back ) its been 3 years now since i last had one , they used to be quite frequent and very scary , it was made worst by the fact that i watched quite a number of japanese horror movies and have always been scared of the dark . I was only a teenage at the time ( 21 now ) I cannot describe how scared i was. i felt that there were terrifying spirits holding me down and screaming at me . Another SP experience i felt like i was on a roller coaster ride my heart was beating very fast and i felt upmost terrified .
    Because i thought these were spiritual attacks i were to my local church and spoke to the pastor describing my experience , however he simple just told me to stop watching too many horror movies !!


14. Comment by Pete on 14 June 2008:

    In the last few years I had some experiences like mentioned above, regarding paralysis. Likewise mentioned above these incidents make me prevent me from trying things myself like projection.
    They only happened just before I wake up. The first time I remember should be about 5 years ago and the last about 6 months. It happened during night , in darkness and with turned on lights too , and also during morning time , but I keep my bedroom relatively dark.
    The common thing in all experiences was a presence, which strangely after the first experiences , I can feel something unique from it, a feeling that I can sense it before I actually see it. Sometimes I saw it as a dark smoky or liquid metal form spining around the air , giving me the impression that is something that desperately tries to get a form , and all the rest like the shadow thing others mention , but it always had the same familiar sense.
    The shadow form likewise gave me the impression sometimes that it was either smoke or something kinda liquid . Its hard to describe completely accurately . Indeed like others mentioned, red eyes, it floats , saw no legs, and no apparent arms. Its Size like a human but with a bulk that gives an impression that it wears armor , and maybe seemed that it has horns but I am still not sure. It can move very fast , and 2 or 3 times I saw it above me and at that times it was like a hand formed of it reaching to my chest. Descriptions of others say that they felt something was ripped off them at that point, but the feeling I got was like lighting shock, both powerful and painful (maybe some kind of drain?)…


15. Comment by Pete on 14 June 2008:

    … Once, I saw it staring at me, and strangely it was like it was torn almost in half. Strangely enough for myself , I felt much much more anger and rage with that thing than fear. Now, I noticed that this paralysis happened to me all times while I was lying back , and some of these while I was in minor effect of alcohol , and sometimes that I was frozen cause I left some window open. Oh , and also once that I had eaten too much and got asleep. So I think thus far that whenever something lowers my blood pressure , my body temperature , and generally whatever brings me closer do a deep sleep (maybe closer to death state?) I am much more prone to such thing . I think good sleep with ideal room conditions and calm positive mind will prevent it. I ll keep looking about the subject like many of you will. Thank you about all above interesting posts, and sorry for my huge posts. Please add some more to it


16. Comment by Ikarius on 19 July 2008:

    After practicing relaxation for a very long time (many years), i recently discovered binaural beats and isochronic tones.
    I’ve used binaural tones for almost 2 weeks now. I “jumped in” isochronic tones, with a very special tune called ‘Kunlun’.

    Today, precisely two hours ago, i relaxed myself with a binaural beat tune from a well known program, and tryied Kunlun afterwards.

    After feeling a warm “wave” (i don’t really know how to qualify it) in my legs and arms, i opened my eyes and realized that i could not move an inch ! My body was entirely paralyzed except from some part of my head (eyes, i could swallow but uneasily, and i could breathe)
    I read some articles about sleep paralysis recently, but i really did’nt want to experiment this weird state of conciousness.

    At first, i felt a little scared, because that really wasn’t what i wanted to do. I just wanted to relax, and i found myself unable to move.

    But i somehow relaxed myself, and let it go, enjoying and analyzing this strange feeling.

    I was able to move my fingers after a while (10 minutes or so) and then i began to be able to move some others parts of my body and progressively fully “wake up”.

    A very strange experience indeed, an i will try some further experimentation with isochronic tones.


17. Comment by gary topham on 20 July 2008:

    im 33 years of age and have been having sp since my teens.I like many people thought i was being visited by ghosts in the night or that may be i was going mad.i dont really see any dark shadows just the terror of some 1 watching me and pinning me down,i even once was spun round my bedroom along with my quilt in the air,but now ive read up on it i feel like a weight as been lifted and realise im not on my own infact ive ad two attacks this wk and im going to try and be more positive about this,i just wish these attacks were not so frightening.


18. Comment by Jayson on 21 August 2008:

    My name is Jayson, I am 27 years old .I woke up this morning and had the most frightening thing happen to me in my life. I sleep on a king size bed by myself. I went to sleep normally like anyone else. my son sleeps in the same room as I. he woke up first and came to my bed to wake me up since he sleeps much earlier than I. Morning came, I woke up …but my body was completely stretched out flat on the bed, arms spread out and legs spread…I was completely awake my son was looking at me and wondering why am I was making struggling sounds but could not move at all , I felt as if a giant invisible wrestler was pinning me down. I was trying to scream for my other family members to help me and I couldn’t ..I felt as is my neck was being held down so i could not move it ..i could breathe but unable to talk or scream but with no pressure on my neck to hold me from breathing . I am there freaking out, trying to get this thing that was not physically there but felt like an iron grip and had a lot force pinning my down ..off of me, when after 5 to 7 minutes of trying to move and almost in tears. I felt it get off me..I jumped out of bed and grabbed my son who was in horror watching this happen to me get out of that room so fast. and woke my mother who was in another part of the house and started explaining what happened. I feel really bad for my son. who had to see this. we never see horror or even r rated movies at my home. my son has never seen any scary movies EVER. seeing the horror on his face..I will never forget that look on his face looking at me. as if i was dying. I am so scared of this happening again. it is near bedtime now .THANK GOD ,I have a new High definition camera with the most sensitive night vision features that records on to a 100 gigabyte harddrive , so i will record in high quality to see if this happens tonight to have some proof to show. I admit I am scared to death. my son is sleeping with his grandmother tonight. I am not taking no chances.

    Sincerely,
    Jayson


19. Comment by Yves on 9 October 2008:

    That’s really nice to know that other people had experienced that also. I mean its good to know that I’m not the only one. I have had many dangerous experiences during my live; I like climbing, parachuting, rafting, and for two times I had a gun over my head. Those are the kind of things that scary people, but not me. I was 21 when I first had SP. The fear I had was extreme, it was like my own soul was in danger. It different when only the body is at risk. I have never read anything about SP and I would never believe that. In the morning after the event I googled for and answer. I wasn’t as the images on the internet like a deamon, but definitely the shadow person was there over my body, kind of holding me there. It was scary but I so curious about it, I want answers! I wanna try it again.


20. Comment by Thomas on 10 November 2008:

    I have suffered from sleep paralysis for a number of years now, I am 38. It usually occurs when I’m overly tired. I work nights & days alternatively so it upsets what sleep regime I have.
    The strange thing is I actually find it well exciting is not the word but I don’t find it scary at all, I can pull myself out of sleep paralysis at any time I let it go for a while just to see where it goes. I know I’m conscious & kind of aware of my surroundings but if you can assure yourself that all the strange noises & movements around & on you are not real its actually exciting.


21. Comment by Emma on 8 January 2009:

    I came across this website by just googling what happens to me when I sleep, after all these years of experiencing it have only thought about checking up on it. I never knew it was SP… my experiences is as follows. I am now 28 I have been having these experiences since childhood ever since I can remember.

    It usually happens when I am falling into a deep sleep lying on my back. I can feel myself dozing off when all of a sudden I get (and this is the only way I can describe it) sharp, loud noises in my head. Sounds crazy but thats how it feels, I get these sharp, and by sharp I mean it sounds like someone cutting a piece of metal with a electric saw, and these noises get louder and louder. At this point I know I am not asleep, yet I can’t move a single inch of my body. I become completely paralyzed I try my hardest to open my eyes but its such a struggle and I can’t, and I try to move any part of my body, my arms, legs, and I just can’t and these sounds are really loud in my head, but at the same time I feel so tired and just want to sleep. I do eventually manage to move when the noises stop but then its like a big relief and I usually turn on my side and go to sleep normally.

    I have had these as I mentioned since childhood I have never really told anyone. It doesn’t happen as much as it used to however it still does happen, I had one few weeks ago.

    Can anyone tell me if they have experienced anything like this, or even know what it is?

    Thanks

    Emma


22. Comment by Steven Aitchison on 8 January 2009:

    Hi Emma

    Thanks for your question.

    This is definitely a symptom of sleep paralysis. I have experienced something very similar only not with the screeching noises, i have had a ‘white rushing noise’ which wasvery loud.

    I think it’s important that you mentioned that you get this when falling into a ‘deep sleep on your back’. I have never experienced sleep paralysis if i have been lying on my side or my stomach, i don’t quite know what this means, if anything.

    Anyway I still like the feeling of sleep paralysis, although scary sometimes, it kind of makes me feel as if i am entering another world which i am just trying to get a hold on.


23. Comment by Emma on 9 January 2009:

    Hi Steven

    Thanks for your reply. Yes, I am suprised that this is what I have, all these years and I have never ever looked it up, thinking it was just me. I can only recall maybe 3 times when I have been experiencing SP and have seen like a dark shadow next to me, or even feel a strong sense of something / someone standing besides me.. apart from that its always the screeching noises and paralysis and knowing I am awake. It used to frighten me a lot, but now I am not so scared of it, I just let it happen because I know eventually I wake up. And as you said it does make you feel like you are entering into another world or even dimension.

    Thanks for clarifying this for me.

    Emma


24. Comment by Bluesfrau on 19 January 2009:

    Yep, I’m familiar with the SP as well as the shadow people, Steve. When I had my first couple of episodes I was freaked with fear. Eventually I tried communicating with the odd and uninvited seeming visitor, and that worked. My shadow man walked through the wall out of my room upon recognition.
    The question is, are they really uninvited? Or did one call them subconsciously? If they are governed by an outside force and not projections, then it would seem logical to me that one could have called them oneself, yet possibly one forgot or didn’t realize one was doing so. The feeling of unprotectiveness comes from the learnt behaviour against that which one doesn’t seem to know, I think, and therefore one reacts panicky in the first place. Since learning and perceptional changes help dealing with these situations, I feel that it’s really the dreamer/experiencing person themselves who are projecting fear onto that which they don’t know (anymore).
    Dreams in general are a great tool to learn pretty much anything one wishes to learn, and the interim body situations are part of this learning (or maybe the word should be “rediscovering”).
    I also like to leave an edge of surprise to the dream happening, not trying to be completely in control, because I realize in awake life that some things are out of my direct conscious control and I need to let things fall into place through “flow” instead of “forced force”. Btw, this “forcing the force” (as a friend of mine calls it) seems to make the forced force conscious about itself, and this seems to have the effect for quite a few people to be catapulted back into their bodies. I’ve been wondering whether this could be a sort of “protective shield” for the lodged soul not to wander “too far”.

    Cheers,
    Christine


25. Comment by Jenna on 15 February 2009:

    I used to suffer from sleep/dream paralysis all the time - the trick I taught myself when I was in that state is to force my mind back to sleep. It does work - what ppl have said above (to try and move a finger and to force ureself awake seems to do more harm than good to me - with mega thumping pain in the back of my head amongst other things). No one has mentioned it above but I can actually feel physical pain when I suffer from SP. For example, I had one episode where there was someone next to my bed screwing something into my stomach - I felt that pain so vividly! The strange thing was I knew it wasn’t real (because I have suffered SP for so long) but I could do nothing to escape it - the more I thought about it and feared it, the worse it seemed to become. PS I do recognise that I suffer more if I have been drinking the night before - maybe this creates a weaker or disillusioned/dissfunctional state of mind?


26. Comment by Len Willis on 3 March 2009:

    I am so encouraged by everyone here. Last night (thats 3rd March 2009) i had a struggle getting sleep and the last time i looked at my clock it was 0516. What seemed like short time later i felt as if someone or thing was slowly working their way up the inside of my legs on the outside of the bedcover and before long whatever it was seemed to stop and pinned my arms against my sides (i was laying on my back) and pinning my top half of body down as if it was sitting on my chest. I believe i could see a faint watery outline of an object - i could not say it was the outline of a person but it seemed quite bulky. I remember not being able to move but had just enough breath to well, sort of shout at it to get off me but my shout wasn’t very load as i didn’t have enough breath to. The next thing i remember is sobbing to my wife about what had happened as i thought i was awake. THEN the next thing I know is actually waking up what seemed to be second time with my wife asking if i was okay - and yes i was actually awake then but totally breathless and bemused at he whole episode. I write this now knowing i will going to bed soon hoping there will be no repeat tonight as i never experienced such a thing before (did wonder if it was spiritual as we live in 16Th century Old Quaker House in the UK)??


27. Comment by Hermes on 20 March 2009:

    Its 3:08am right now, I had my first episode of Sleep Paralysis in months just 20minutes ago and I can’t return to sleep.

    Normally it happens to me when I’m laying on my back, and I feel like there is something or someone else in my room with me, but not much as far as anything visual, sometimes my roof appears to swirl. In all cases i have total paralysis from my neck down and trouble breathing.

    This time, I fell asleep in a right lateral recumbent position (laying sideways facing my right). Within minutes of falling asleep I simply opened my eyes and realized I couldn’t move anything and I then realized I was having SP. I started trying to yell but only heard myself moaning, thankfully I physically woke up within seconds. This time I didn’t feel a presence with me, it was actually the opposite, I felt totally alone and I felt so much loneliness and fear.

    I can’t go back to sleep now.


28. Comment by C on 23 March 2009:

    Wow - my episodes of sleep paralysis are very undramatic compared to others but the first time it happened I was completely freaked out and thought that I was in an irreversible coma. I haven’t had one in a few years and when they were happening they were very infrequent.

    They always happened when I was napping and on my back. It always happened when the day outside was bright but I don’t know if my eyes were open. It just felt like they were and that I could see everything. I’ve never heard noise or dark shadows. I would try and shake my head a bit in order to wake my body up. Boy, is that hard.

    Perhaps related, perhaps unrelated, both my sister and I hallucinate spiders. I can often see them crawling along the ceiling when I’m in bed but then realise that it’s the middle of the night and I wouldn’t actually be able to see them. I had a very nasty experience of a huge furry spider descending onto the bed a couple of months ago during a daytime nap (sleeping on my back again) and by herculean effort managed to wake up and run off. I thought it was absolutely real until I thought about it a bit and put it down to being just another hallucination.


29. Comment by Sarah on 12 May 2009:

    I’ve only just recently experienced my first episode of sleep paralysis and …the noise!… I’m so glad to have stumbled across this posting to see that I’m not alone. I was really upset by the whole situation and since then I’ve found that if I meditate and try to enter a silent state, I now can hear the noise consciously. I can’t seem to move past it.

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