Very odd sleep experience - repeating wakings & falling asleep - disturbing feelings

So there are a couple of things that I get once in a while that are very unsettling and were terrifying the first few times I experienced them.

The easiest one to explain is when I'm falling asleep I sometimes start to feel a disconnection from my body and something between a falling feeling and weightlessness while there is a feeling like being sucked into the middle of my body (like a vacuum pulling me into the "center"). Most of my body feels a bit numb and I get a strange feeling in my brain like increased electrical flow, somewhat like being shocked but prolonged and mild - it isn't necessarily painful or uncomfortable but very unsettling. Sometimes I think I am dying and I have to fight to move and wake up. I have to really fight to move for a few seconds and kind of thrash until I gain control of my consciousness, then "reality" comes back and everything is normal again but I have elevated heart rate, maybe some sweat and anxiety. If I try to go right back to sleep, it sometimes happens again, so I usually walk around and sleep in a different position (more upright) and it seems not to happen again, that night.

The other thing is when I'm sleeping and I think I'm waking up. I see the room as if I had just opened my eyes and I walk to the door, just as I would when I normally wake. As I walk to the door, I feel a lot of resistance against moving forward and like I'm being held back and it is very difficult to get to the door. Then I am suddenly back in bed and just waking up again, and it starts over. It might happen a couple times before I realize I'm asleep or waking or whatever state I'm in. The thing is each time I "wake up" I think it is me really waking up, so I feel brief relief that I'm awake again, but then $hit starts again.

Sometimes it is difficult to sit up and feels like I'm fighting against 200lbs pulling me back down. Then the room can start to spin on a horizontal axis as I walk towards the door (like walking in a tunnel with an arched roof turning above you, throwing off balance, or walking after spinning on a chair very fast). Then my vision starts playing with me, like I can't focus on anything I'm looking at, if I look directly at something, it is like 90 degrees right or left, so I turn my head to look at it, and it turns more & it just keeps getting worse. Sometimes I can figure out the vision thing and I look up or the opposite way (if it is to the right of me, I look left and can see it) but if I walk towards what I see, it isn't what I'm now looking at (so vision & movement don't seem linked specially).

So I may go through this wake up phase, 6-20x before I get out of the "loop" and really wake up. I can usually tell difference when I really wake because the room looks different (it may be dark while really awake, or messy, lol). The room is always the same in the dream, same light, same door just open a few inches and it is most always diff IRL.

I get a lot of other odd things during sleep/dream and in the house (just odd things happening like things disappearing and I look for hours then appearing in the middle of a clean(ed) desk where I had looked 20x - like the mouse for my computer). I've never had anything like this happen before or in other places but where I live. IDK if it has to do with just the period of my life, or if it can be related to the house, which I find unsettling.

Are these sleep things normal or is this not a normal sleep abnormality like sleep paralysis. I used to see a black "cloud" in the top right corner of the room where no light from the LED's on my radio/clock/fan seemed to reach, even though nothing blocked it which would spook me out so I'd turn a dim light on in the room while I slept. Only once did I feel a "person" near the bed while I slept but it was a scary thing and I was paralysed while I tried to wake myself but my vision was clear and I seemed to be awake as when I woke the room remained the same (messy and lighting), which really scared the $hit out of me - no more sleep for a few days after that.

That's some really strange sheat. How are you during the day when you are awake? Do you notice any physical anomalies when you are awake and functioning? I don't have a clue. Just questions.


Do you suffer headaches?

originally posted by: CharlesT
That's some really strange sheat. How are you during the day when you are awake? Do you notice any physical anomalies when you are awake and functioning? I don't have a clue. Just questions.

Do you suffer headaches?

Used to get headaches (REALLY bad migraines) a few times a year. Even strong narcotics wouldn't do anything and tylenol was the only thing that would help at all - that and a dark room & pillow on head.

During day/while awake I'm usually fine except for some back & stomach issues, sometimes I get occasional "brain zaps" (IDK how to explain them, have heard that term before) and they would happen once in a while while trying to fall asleep.

Do do you think either of these can be related to sleep paralysis?

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I really do not know but if it's sleep related I'd possibly look at sleep apnea as well. The occasional headaches may have been sinus related. I use to to suffer extreme headaches associated with sinus infection but not much any more.

Your Dr. may say this sounds nuts, not implying anything here, but you should print out, or write down what you posted, take some time to further elaborate on it and take it to him/her to read. My Dr. once told me to write down what I wanted to discuss with him so I wouldn't forget about it when I visited him. That's good advice. You can better explain your situation sitting at the kitchen table and taking the time to precisely describe what is going on than trying to get it all in during a very short face to face interview. Type it out, print it and take it to him/her to read.

That's my best advice. Take it to your Dr. in printed format.

I have personally suffered from sleep paralysis since I was at the young age of 5 I am now 24. Like clockwork at least once or twice a month it comes. Everything you have explained I have experienced in some form. The electric buzzing is something I’ve learned to be more aware of. I also have taught myself when I am close to hitting that right feeling to stay up or ride it out. It’s a crazy phenomenon and I wish there was more studies and information on it. The only advice I have which I was told years ago and helps me if you ever find yourself paralyzed focus on wiggling a toe and only focus on that. Do more research find out what is stressing you out.

I look at the science and spiritual aspects of sleep paralysis. I think there’s more to it than what we know. a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Also someone once told me I was lucky when I first began to talk openly about my night terrors and I was told if you practice your mind enough you may be able to lucid dream. But I hate it. a reply to: tasher882

I occasionally experience dreams where I think I am awake.
At some point I realize I'm in a dream and think I wake up again.
But then I realize I'm still in a dream.
This can happen a few times before I am confident that I am in the waking world.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

The easiest one to explain is when I'm falling asleep I sometimes start to feel a disconnection from my body and something between a falling feeling and weightlessness while there is a feeling like being sucked into the middle of my body (like a vacuum pulling me into the "center"). Most of my body feels a bit numb and I get a strange feeling in my brain like increased electrical flow, somewhat like being shocked but prolonged and mild - it isn't necessarily painful or uncomfortable but very unsettling. Sometimes I think I am dying and I have to fight to move and wake up. I have to really fight to move for a few seconds and kind of thrash until I gain control of my consciousness, then "reality" comes back and everything is normal again but I have elevated heart rate, maybe some sweat and anxiety. If I try to go right back to sleep, it sometimes happens again, so I usually walk around and sleep in a different position (more upright) and it seems not to happen again, that night

This is contact with your soul, trying to deliver a message or teaching. Next time don't struggle, go with it.

I know its unsettling, we are so conditioned to physical sensation thru our senses, the spirit is like this whole other realm. The real you resides there, thats your 'center'. When the spirit stands at the door and knocks, open the door.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I often get the same feelings.
I will be laying falling asleep and suddenly it feels like my feet lift into the air.
Before long it feels like im standing on my head. But theres no pressure anywhere in my body.
Its a complete weightlessness like every part of me is floating but my head is still grounded.

I also suffer from sleep paralysis. I have had SP since I was a kid - long before the internet was a thing in everyones home.

The black cloud from your accounts also caught my eye.
Take a look at a thread I made some years back of a shared SP episode my wife and I had.
The black cloud was present in this one:
Shared SP

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I have the feeling of my legs are running, when first falling asleep.. I feel it's too early for rapid eye movement and wake up.. next thing I know it's an hour later and I'm really hazy, I just figure I'm really that tired and sleep really hard. sleep is strange for me anymore and sometimes don't even want to do it and other times don't want to get up. I'm not really sure about yours as I think most people's sleep habits are way different. I'm a 3rd shifter for near 12 years now so I basically have no sleep habits.

Few years ago I was getting bad headaches and it seemed sleep was the only thing that helped. Now I don't get them so often and sleep less, but my dreams are sometimes so messed up that it's pretty scary, like being with my sister in a car and going up a very steep hill and the car dieing. I try to get out and hold the car with my hands and feet but I can never get over the hill and wake up. A reoccurring dream I have and don't like it, not sure what any of it means. I always thought that I need to overcome certain obstacles in my life and it's never easy so that's why I shake, sweat and have real vivid dreams.. Who know's I think it's best to get it off your chest.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I often get the same feelings.
I will be laying falling asleep and suddenly it feels like my feet lift into the air. Before long it feels like im standing on my head. But theres no pressure anywhere in my body. Its a complete weightlessness like every part of me is floating but my head is still grounded.

I also suffer from sleep paralysis. I have had SP since I was a kid - long before the internet was a thing in everyones home.

The black cloud from your accounts also caught my eye.
Take a look at a thread I made some years back of a shared SP episode my wife and I had.
The black cloud was present in this one:
Shared SP

Wow, you describe the feeling very well. Did you get the idea from the way I described it? I really didn't know how to explain it but when I read yours it really struck a chord! What happens when you feel this, do you fight it or do you drift off into sleep? Anything odd happen afterwards? I thought something was sucking my soul out of me, lol !!

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Check your pm, you will find something else weird.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I often get the same feelings.
I will be laying falling asleep and suddenly it feels like my feet lift into the air.
Before long it feels like im standing on my head. But theres no pressure anywhere in my body.
Its a complete weightlessness like every part of me is floating but my head is still grounded.

I also suffer from sleep paralysis. I have had SP since I was a kid - long before the internet was a thing in everyones home.

The black cloud from your accounts also caught my eye.
Take a look at a thread I made some years back of a shared SP episode my wife and I had.
The black cloud was present in this one:
Shared SP

Started reading your post and it is freaky how similar they are to mine. I had night terrors since I was about 4-5 and never slept well until I went to college (drinking helped sleep then, not to sleep, but drinking at times socially...). More recently, since I've lived at the current location, sleep has been REALLY odd. I've had the sleep paralysis with an immense sense of fear/evil and I thought I was awake and could see the dark cloud moving in the top right corner of the room. I wanted to move, scream, run but couldn't move or open my mouth. When I finally woke I could still see the cloud and thought it way my eyes not focusing so I looked with my peripheral in all directions and it was still dark in the corner. It's hard to describe the cloud as I can just tell that the white trim around the corner is very dim compared to the usual brightness from the LED's (blue & yellow) that point in that direction and light the room a good bit in the dark. It is very noticeable compared to when it isn't there.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I used to try to fight it.
It used to scare the hell out of me when I was a kid.
And like you, I thought i was dying and that if i didnt break free, I would surely die.
I did a lot of reading on the subject over the past 15 years now.
Now I only fight it now when I get scared.
Most of the time I welcome it now.
I learnt how to lucid dream. And feeling this is usually a fast way to take control of your dreams.

Its really hard to let it take over you. Your instinct is to fight it, because you think your fighting for your life.
Getting over that barrier is hard, but once you do...
You will feel like youve discovered a whole new world.
You will start to look forward to that feeling because its your gateway to lucid dreaming.
Some claim even out of body experiences.

I had that happen to me in my early 20's.

Dreams within dreams too.

I thought I was abducted by aliens.

Bizarre stuff.

Sleep paralysis is like that.

Tied to the bed, struggling to get up.

Then going into a dream and then another.

I wrote it down in my psych journal but that was 40yrs ago and I don't have it anymore.

Still vivid tho.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Check your pm, you will find something else weird.

nothing there..

False awakenings and sleep paralysis. A few minutes of googling would have led to the answer.

I woke up hovering over my bed twice and fell onto the mattress. The doc said it was most likely sleep paralysis or a hypnic jerk but I fell a good 2 or 3 feet. And I clearly remember right before that dreaming that I was floating through my window but it didn't open. I just went through the wall and I could see the pink insulation between the studs behind the paneling. Only a second or two of being transfered through the window, then I woke up above my bed and fell onto it.

originally posted by: hombero
False awakenings and sleep paralysis. A few minutes of googling would have led to the answer.

False awakening is probably the best description. You think you're awake, but you're not. I've had plenty such experiences, a pretty simple one recently.

I had a cold and was sleeping really, really poorly and being awake long periods... But then in the middle of the night I thought I heard someone put a key in the door, both lower and upper lock. My immediete response was of course to get up... only to find out I couldnt. Everything was fuzzy but I could still "see" my room in the dark, my head was buzzing and it felt like I tried to get up but I just couldnt no matter what I did, arms didnt move and if I tried to move my upper body it felt like it was being pushed back down again. That's when a thought popped up... wait how could I hear a key in the door that clearly from the second floor with a closed door O.o. And the way I heard it was like just by the door (as if I had opened it myself). I literally forced myself to wake up at that point because I realized it was all wrong.

IMO sleep paralysis in general is nothing more than just plain sleep. When one know that, it becomes easy to wake up from it. It doesnt exactly help if one have... vivid... dreams to begin with. Some of my "normal" dreams end up with staring at the roof and going "dafuq was all that about, brain?!"

I going to give you a few examples of whats happened to me and then tell you what I think is likely he cause of your problems.

I had a period of a few years as a teenager where I started delving into drugs and Occult type practices like trying to astral project and stuff like that and I began to have 1) Sleep paralysis more and more often, a few times I felt my feet pulled but I couldn't do anything until I forced myself to wake up.
There were other times where I wouldn't go to bed until very late like 1-2 in the morning and sometimes it was like my mind tried to quickly fall into deep sleep but my body didn't catch up It felt like I went to this in-between place like I fell into a well of consciousness inside my head. I would hear indistinct voices.. whispers that sounded close but I could never make out what they were saying and understandably it freaked me the hell out so I would go to my sisters room and sleep next to her. Or stay up a few more hours. I believe the term is 2) Hypagognic.
Third there was one time where I had whats called a 3) " false awakening" I had this vivid dream ( I usually don't event remember dreams) I was inside some house walking and I think there was someone else in the house but it all felt so real... I went to sleep and woke up in a different house which I thought was reality only to be scared and wake up finally in my real room.


As far as having things moved around in your house on top of all these different weird sleep related problems and the black cloud. Sorry for being blunt but its Negative spiritual entities/demons whatever you want to call it. There might be a few causes as too why .
1) You might have opened up " spiritual doors" Playing Ouija board, trying to contact spirits of any kind, messing with astral projection or heavy meditation, heavy drug use, psychedelic drug use etc things of that nature are you allowing these being access to you where they would otherwise not be able to.
Now I tell you this as someone who has done almost all of those things dabbled with drugs, certain Occult or "spiritual" practices as well as had friends who messed with Ouija board and their houses became haunted afterwards.

2) It might not have anything to do with you. It might be the house. The previous owners could have possibly have done something to allow access to these things and they for the time being have " legal rights" to be there and mess with anything or anyone( you) there.

3) I have seen spirits before, been attacked by some, delt with similar things but I am now a born-again Christian and can tell you whole heartedly if you are bothered by this type of pheneomena calling on the name of Jesus in good faith will help you.
4) ultimately I would say and hope you search out the truth of Jesus and God for yourself and become a Christian as well he saved me and many others from situations just like this.

5) From a more " strategic" point of view the enemy of your enemy is your friend so if these entities are harmful/ evil and try to scare you and they are afraid of Jesus and are weaker than him then it would behoove you to consider what i'm saying.
Be strong and don't be afraid because thats part of their goal anyway, don't give them the satisfaction. God bless hope this helps

P.S research stories like these and stories of people calling on the name of Jesus in similar situations ( even UFO encounters) and you'll get a better idea of what I mean)