Who else gets sleep paralysis?

lol, I know this well. You're conciously awake and for the life of you, you can't move a thing! No, not aliens, just the body hasn't recognized it's awake yet.

DarcyD28:
>Who else gets sleep paralysis?

Yes, but I wouldn't describe it this way anymore. I would call it being in a state of focus on the non physical form.

>I've been getting bouts of sleep para since I was a kid.

It's very likely that you are simply becoming aware during some part of the process of having an out of body experience. Next time you're there, consider attempting to "exit" your body. Leave the phsyical form in the bed, and move away from it. Start with your hand and arms. You won't be able to move your physical body, of course, but don't expect it to move. Move the rest of you.

>Is it aliens visiting me?

Could be. But, again, there are other possibilities. Next time it happens, pay attention to your breathing. If you ARE breathing, then I would say you're on the verge of an out of body experience. If you are NOT breathing, I would suggest that you may be locked in an instant of time, and are about to have an abduction attempt against you. Get ready for a fight. Your body may be immobile, but be aware of what is going on, pay attention, and if you try to kick and scream and generally make yourself unfriendly, you may well be able to get out of it.

>it always feels like there is an evil presence in the room.

I take the middle ground on this. Yes, in my exarly experiences I always felt the evil presence. Now, sometimes I do, soemtimes I don't. Mostly not. I figure maybe there really is some nasty, dark and foul creature lurking just outside my ability to see...waiting for me to come out so it can snatch me up and eat me. Or maybe there isn't. But...why risk it?

You don't even need to believe any of this. Simlpy be aware of the possibility, and pay attention when your'e in this state. Experiment. It will all come out on its own.

>And there is a ringing in my ears.

Yes. You may also feel vibrations throughout your body.

Vorta:
>I always eat something a few hours before bed

Personally I find that this makes the actual exit a little more difficult.

muzzleflash:
>why is all sleep paralysis have descriptions of "terror"
>and "being touched" or "hearing stuff"

Good question. I don't know. But...it's very common. From the reading I've done, sensations of being choked, and "weight on the chest" are also common. I haven't experienced these myself, by I'll definitely vouch for the intensity of the sheer terror that can accompany these experiences. My advice to anyone would be to be willing to explore, but don't feel the need to rush yourself beyond what you're comfortable with.

>anyone have a respectable link that scientifically studies this issue?

"Respectable?"

Well...if by "respectable" you mean you want the standard materialistic view, tryhere.

Mayet:
>The first time it happened i was floating and fought to get back to the bed

Yes. You probably were floating. Out of your body. Don't be scared of it next time. Go explore.

>I am ice cold, the skin is almost blue.

Yes. I have this problem too. Try lots of blankets.

>I have had friends tell me to relax and go with it to see what
>happens but something inside, loss of control and fear of the
>unknown makes me fight it everytime.

...well...again, I'm on the middle ground here. If you read any of the astral projection literature, it will all assure you over and over that none of the fear or monsters are real, just break through the fear, and all will be fine. I'm not convinced. If you're willing to do that, and it works...great. I wasn't. In my case, my first conscious "out" was actually on the way back. I went to sleep, and the next memory I have is merging with my body and suddenly realizing "OH!!! I'm having an out of body experience! Wow!" at which point I left again. After that, the fear on the exit was much less frequent.

Edgio:
>When I have a really bad one, I feel like some weird shadow
>being is picking me up and throwing me round the room

Those are bad. I have seen these. They scare me. I believe they are also mentioned in the books by Carlos Castaneda.

>other times I just can't move or speak, and feel like I can't breathe.

Yes...not breathing, like I mentioned above...possible abduction scenario. Time to fight.

>Research says you are more prone to suffering SP if you sleep on your back.

Yes, for some reason it is easier to have an out of body experience in this position.

pompano:
>The ringing in my head and ears was also weird.
>The best way to explain it would be a scene from the matrix

Be willing to explore.

Jago:
>melatonin

Yes. Anyone who would like help in heaving an out of body experience, melatonin definitely helps. You can buy a bottle of 60 3mg tablets from GNC for five or six dollars. The sub lingual tablets (dissolve under your tongue) are a bit nicer, and affect you much more rapidly. If you go this route, do not be surprised by possible side effects: back cramping, intense sexual dreams, and possibly a great deal of grogginess. Start going to bed an hour or two earlier than usual. It may take a few months before you've really adapted to it, but the results can be amazing.

xxjessyxx:
>i felt a presence lying next to me but i couldnt turn my head to see

When in this state you do not need to turn your head to see. If you're simply aware, and allow it, you'll find that you will be able to see regardless of your eyes being closed, regardless of the lights being out, etc. Don't worry about your body, or its position. Simply look where you wish to look.

>This was accompanied by a loud roaring/vibrating sound that
>ive head is a symptom of being close to astral projection

I would personally separate "astral projection" from "out of body experience," but yes. During an astral projection, you tend to be in fantasy land. During on out of body experience, what you see is really there. The vibrations usually accompany the process of shifting ones focus from the physical to the non physical form. You will generally (but not always remember) go through this stage before you're able to actually exit your body. It is entirely possible to no longer be "focused" or "attached" to the physical, but still be observing from within where your body happens to be. From that state, all you need to do is "go somewhere else."

>if it gets to be a problem try seeing a psych doctor or
>sleep clinic or somthing maybe.

Personally I would advice against this. I think they'll try to indoctrinate you with very silly ideas. Just as, no doubt, they would find everything I'm saying here ridiculous.

I have no fear of monsters so to speak, its the loss of control, the unknown ahead and the exit from my safety zone. Trust and faith Im afraid I don't subscribe to.

See in my case i have 6 children to think of and as dearly as i would love to let go and experience it all, I need a guarantee that I am going to come back to my children who need their mother. Its a practical sensible way to think but I can't just "trust" the fact i will come back, I have to "know". Unfortunately with my practical attitude I will not find out something that i have always wanted to know.

In an OBE state your will is what is in control. You have every reason to return and you will.

If you do not wish to have the full experience then don't. But it seems to me that most of you does and only a small part of your rational mind is afraid. Right now you have 4 choices:

1) Continue to suffer from the effects

2) Seek medical assistance

3) Find Mystic help to stop the events

4) Release your fear and let it happen

The choice is up to you and I am not even going to make a suggestion as to what you should pick. My only worry is that if you go with #1 that it might begin to have other effects, we cannot live in fear for very long before it impacts our lives.


A.T
(-)

This has happened to me several times, usually while Im sleeping. It feels like an electric wind of pure fear freezing you. The world turns into hell for a moment.

While I was falling asleep, but still awake it happened once. There was this very fast pulsing sound going through my ears and I was completely paralysed. I was extra freaked because the pulse seemed mechanical or electrical in nature. After verifying there was nobody in my room with some kind of ray gun and eventually falling asleep, I accidentally slept 17 hours. Very weird.

>THE CAUSE
Excess melatonin in the blood stream. For those who do not know, it is a substance released by the body during sleep which keeps the muscles from moving.. The reason why people sleep walk is due to lack of it in their blood stream.. So once the melatonin levels are low you are able to move.. But when the levels are high you feel like your in a semi-awake state-- frozen.. Well in fact.. You are.. But it is a natural occurence.. Just happens to some more then others..
>Jago

I've heard this a few times, but it doesn't explain the feelings associated with it. Especially the very strong feeling of another presence in the room and the ringing. It's strange, as I might be having a dream then the dream starts to merge with the paralysis if that makes sense. I realise that the dream is turning into paralysis and that I'm not dreaming anymore but I'm not awake. It's like when an external source - say someone talking to you or the tv - can influence your dreams just before you wake up to it. I'm not sure if anyone will undertand what the hell I'm woffling on about about!

[edit on 28-7-2005 by DarcyD28]

Originally posted by DarcyD28
I've been getting bouts of sleep para since I was a kid. Is it aliens visiting me? Doesnt matter how often it's happened, it always feels like there is an evil presence in the room. I've read research that suggests it is to do with the hormone that's released when we sleep that stops the muscles acting out our dreams - kind of like the opposite of sleep walking. Problem with that theory is that although I'm not fully awake, I'm definately not asleep! Anyone got anyhting to add?

If you drink a lot make sure and take vitamin D, and that cures it.

Originally posted by glan
If you drink a lot make sure and take vitamin D, and that cures it.

Do you mean drink a lot of water or booze!!! I drink heaps of water and I take lots of vitamins and no cure I'm afraid. I've been in the fitness industry for the past 10 years, I know quite a bit about nutrition and I've looked quite closely at any links between my diet and SP.

Lord Bucket, funny you should talk about out of body experiences, although I'm not totally convinced that is happening to me - open minded though and it does sound like a pretty cool ability to possess! - but I do feel as though I can not neccesarily "see"myself and my partner, but feel us from above the bed if that makes any sense. I can always breath, but its always long deep breathes

I've had it several times and it always scares the bajeebus outta me.

One time last summer I had it, just as I was drifting off. I was laying on my side curled up, then I felt footsteps stepping over my body of both sides like they were walking over me. I was freaked out and sat straight up.

I had several spiritual experiences last summer. One night I was sound asleep and had my leg hanging off the bed, then I felt a sensation like a feather boa was being wrapped around my leg from the bottom to the top. I usta to have these little pearly pinkish white orbs come blasting at me. I would actually duck. I also saw like darkish/see through shadowy billows. Very strange. It happened for about 3 months then stopped.

Originally posted by DarcyD28

Originally posted by glan
If you drink a lot make sure and take vitamin D, and that cures it.

Do you mean drink a lot of water or booze!!! I drink heaps of water and I take lots of vitamins and no cure I'm afraid. I've been in the fitness industry for the past 10 years, I know quite a bit about nutrition and I've looked quite closely at any links between my diet and SP.

Lord Bucket, funny you should talk about out of body experiences, although I'm not totally convinced that is happening to me - open minded though and it does sound like a pretty cool ability to possess! - but I do feel as though I can not neccesarily "see"myself and my partner, but feel us from above the bed if that makes any sense. I can always breath, but its always long deep breathes

I have my share of booze at night after work, and I started having a similar problem as yours, and it scared the !@#$ out of me. It ended up being I was drinking too much, and Vitiman D did the trick.

Its one of the worst feelings – to wake up and not, as hard as you strain your willpower be able to move a single muscle. This happened to me a few days ago, had a dream in which I realized that I was dreaming and tried to wake up, which I have done successfully many times. This time however, when I woke up I couldn’t move my head after I opened my eyes, in fact only one eyelid opened because the other was in my pillow. I could move my 1 eye trying as hard as I could, and what I saw in the darkened room scared me. There was a black shape next to the bed, no joke. I prayed for strength and did my best to shake my whole body awake, but couldn’t. After what I think was a half min, I violently launched out of bed onto the ground throwing punches. That was the worst thing ever, and I also noticed I was numb for about a minute

The purpose of this post isint only another story, i think you get this problem when you are in deep sleep from times when you didn't get enough for nights before, or its at a very early hour

[edit on 29-7-2005 by drakefist]

Mayet:
>I have no fear of monsters so to speak, its the loss of control,
>the unknown ahead and the exit from my safety zone.

It's the monsters that scare me. The unknown is something we deal with every single day of our lives. Do you know what tomorrow will bring? I don't.

>I need a guarantee that I am going to come back to my
>children who need their mother.

There are very few gauruntees in life. For what it's worth, I've personally never failed to come back to my body. Actually, quite the opposite...I have a difficult time staying out. Anything more than a minute or two and I end up being snapped back inside. I find distance to be difficult also. I don't think I've ever made it more than five feet past my front door.

>Unfortunately with my practical attitude I will not find out
>something that i have always wanted to know.

There is no reason to rush anything. You mentioned flaoting above your bed...so you've already made it out. Next time, maybe look in on your children?

DarcyD28:
>although I'm not totally convinced that is happening to me

No worries. Maybe it isn't. But, next time whatever "it" is does happen, maybe keep it in mind as a possibiliity?

>I do feel as though I can not neccesarily "see"myself and my
>partner, but feel us from above the bed if that makes any sense.

Yes. Sometimes you may be "missing" certain senses. In my experience, vision is actually the most difficult to have while out of body. (Though I don't think I've ever tried tasting anything.) Touch is the easiest.

And if you'd ever like to try something really neat...during an out of body experience, go through an object and stop halfway so you can "see" its insides.

Probably at the age of 17 I started having sleep paralysis to the point that it scared me to go to sleep for fear of not being able to move. How did I get over this fear? I learned the cause of the paralysis and realised that it would not hurt me. I also wrote my senior project on it in high school. (Eight Pages or so) This was enough for me to expel the sp bouts from my nightly sleep routine. Pretty interesting stuff if you ask me.

Originally posted by LordBucket

Edgio:
>When I have a really bad one, I feel like some weird shadow
>being is picking me up and throwing me round the room

Those are bad. I have seen these. They scare me. I believe they are also mentioned in the books by Carlos Castaneda.

>other times I just can't move or speak, and feel like I can't breathe.

Yes...not breathing, like I mentioned above...possible abduction scenario. Time to fight.

>Research says you are more prone to suffering SP if you sleep on your back.

Yes, for some reason it is easier to have an out of body experience in this position.

LordBucket, what do you think these beings are?

I have had several of these scarier experiences - usually I feel pretty much asleep, but then I open my eyes to find I can't move, breathe or speak. This is followed by a large black shadow which grows as it approaches. When it gets close, I start to fight and struggle and once have felt like the thing is throwing me round the room.

I was quite happy to accept the scientific explanation for this stuff, but one time after I had been thrown around, I remember crawling across my floor and grabbing the door handle to get out - after which I woke up on the top of the stairs, just outside my room.

It really freaked me out.

[edit on 29-7-2005 by Edgio]

Yeah had this a lot, possibly the most frightening thing ive ever experienced when i got it for the first time

Experiences vary from the mentioned 'beings' or 'monsters' being just out of field of vision, to feeling like you are being held down.

Bizzare thing ive noticed (long after my first episode and when i'd learned to almost controll it and snap out of it) is that sometimes when it happens i try and remember something in the room that i would only know if i was concious e.g one time i made a point of remembering how the duvet was crumpled up as it resembled a face or a shape or something, when i snapped myself out of the s.p. the shape was there clear as day i cant explain it.

This led me to think that maybe theres some plausibility in the out of body experience phenomena?? i dont know?? i really cant explain how i would of known the shape was there if my eyes were closed during the s.p.!!!!

edit- i should add that i 'saw' the shape in a wierd half dream/ half reality sort of vision, maybe as a previous poster experienced i may of slightly got one eye open to observe the surroundings. Scary stuff anyway, also ive noticed it has always happened when ive been slightly uncomfortable in my surroundings eg new house, sleepover elsewhere , sleeping on sofa etc.

And ALWAYS during daylight, NEVER had an episode where it was middle of the night, strange.......

[edit on 29-7-2005 by kungfubeats]

When I first han an episode I was in school with my head on my desk. (You know the feeling when you drift off to sleep with your head on your desk looking down and you almost slip) I did this and slipped into what felt like a seizure. I could hear everybody talking and knew what everybody was doing. Really weird!!! After I awoke I took off my shirt, went to the teacher and asked her if I could go to the clinic. She asked "why?" "Because I think I just had a seizure" I responded. So I went to the clinic and laid down on my back. Once again I drifted off and had another episode not 10 mins after!!! As was the case before, I could see everything that was going on around me I even felt as if I was screaming for help but upon waking up people just looked at me quite puzzled by my actions. Another time I had an episode was at my dad's house. I was sleeping in my bed over there for the weekend and once again drifted off into half-sleep. This episode was quite strange though. Not only could I not move but I also had the feeling of being choked (by my covers I guess) and being pulled out the window by my feet!! Very vivid. I was 17 years old when all this occured but like I said once I learned all about it the problem went away. I hope whoever suffers from this will read up on it and get a better view into what is going on in them medically. As for the oobe I can atest to this. Yes it is almost an out of body experience.

A little bit of info

SP has also been associated with REM states, particularly with sleep-onset and sleep-offset REM (SOREM) (Nan'no, Hishikawa, & Koida, 1970). In both REM dreams and SP hallucinations a general atonia is maintained during REM by marked and sustained hyperpolarization of the motoneurons (Chase & Morales, 1989). One likely function of the general atonia is the prevention of the physical enactment of the motor components of dreaming. There are at least two major traditional hypotheses concerning the connection between neurophysiological events and visual imagery in dreams. The visual imagery of dreaming may arise either from the direct stimulation of visual areas of the cortex during the PGO spike, in which case the rapid eye movements may reflect attempts to scan the images (Ladd, 1892; Roffwarg, Dement, & Muzio, 1962), or conversely, the mages may be produced by the oculomotor impulses in response to direct stimulation from the gigantocellular pontine reticular field (Hobson & McCarley, 1977; McCarley & Hobson, 1979).

watarts.uwaterloo.ca...

I had it from I was about 24 y.o. , and it was pretty crazy before I knew what it was. It went away gradually when I stopped smoking and started to exercise. Rarely have it now. I had it several times each night at the worst. Oh, and dont try to move, it somehow makes you exhausted when you wake up, and it would also ruin my concentration the following day if I tried to move, atleast that is what I experienced. Just try and relax, if you get afraid you mind might play tricks on you and you will hear/see people in the room etc, but it is all in your head so don't worry If you are smoking or in a bad physical shape then I would look into exercising to see if it helps you as it did me.

[edit on 30-7-2005 by anorwegianguy1972]

I experienced this paralysis several times in my mid 20's just before the end of my first marriage. A horrible feeling of being unable to move and the dread feeling of being helpless. They disappeared with my marriage and I put it down to stress.

A few years later while living in Denmark and working as a deep-sea fisherman I had the following experience.

We were steaming to the fishing grounds and apart from the man on watch, myself and the other two crew members were in bed. I read for a while and then put out the light to go to sleep when suddenly I got the rushing in my ears feeling and I was paralysed. I was in a total panic and somehow broke out of it and sat up on the edge of my bunk. I remember feeling groggy and scared to go back to sleep in case it happened again.

I decided to go to the wheelhouse and made my way to the galley and was half way up the stairs to the wheelhouse when suddenly I felt really tired so went back to my cabin and on opening the door realised that I was still in bed sleeping so I just laid down on top of myself and the next I knew was being called to go on watch a few hours later.

Whenever I have recalled this incident I always regret not carrying on into the wheelhouse as I would have liked to know if the crewman on watch at the time would have known if I was there or not.

I would like to add that my father had died about three months previously to that episode so again I put it down to stress. It has never happened since although now and again I have had the ringing in my ears and the approach of paralysis although now I just seem to fight myself awake.

>what do you think these beings are?

I think that they are predators. And I think they are preying upon on.

>I was quite happy to accept the scientific explanation for this stuff

"Scientific?" It's odd to me to see how this word is sometimes used. For instance, is there anything "unscientific" about my theory above? I can show you plenty of examples of predators in your daily life. You are one. I can show you examples of prey, too. What did you eat this morning?

We can speculate all we want about whether these predators are "aliens from another planet" or "creatures from another dimension" or "demons from Hell" or anything else you'd like to propose. They might be all three of those things, or something else entirely.

The part I'm fairly sure of is that they're predators.

I challenge you to find me any detail about the "night time terror" and "UFO abduction experience"that I can't find a parallel for in day to day life.

People may say "Oh...well, predators eat prey, and I don't see people disappearing all the time. Why would they bring us back, or just scare us then leave?"

And I have plenty of ansers for this. Do we eat everything we prey upon? No. What about chickens and cattle we harvest for eggs and milk? They get "put back" when we're done taking what we want from them. And we come back again regularly for more, just like abductees report recurring experiences. Is the apparant preoccupation of "aliens" with sexual organs and functions really all that different from ours with chickens and cows? Do you not see the similarity between "Aliens took me away and inserted strange probes into me" and "Humans took me away and attached strange metal tubes to my udder?" It sounds like the same thing to me. Can you just imagine a chicken being released, and telling all of the other chickens: "I was taken by strange creatures! I think they impregnated me and stole my baby!" But isn't that exactly what we do? Isn't that exactly what a lot of abductees are saying is being done to them?

And it's not just us. Ants harvest nectar from aphids without killing and eating them. All sorts of animals will take fruit from a tree without harming the tree. Do trees sit down and have conversations about the "strange small creature that came and took all my babies away?"

Are reports of "aliens" telling abductees that they're here to save the world and make everythign all nice and better really all that different from a Farmer telling the cow "It's ok, Betsy. Don't be spooked. Just come with me."

And let't not forget that people do go missing.

Have you ever wondered if maybe not all the tens of thousands of children who go missing every year and are never recovered are taken by satanists and child prostitution rings?

I got sleep parathingy a few weeks ago. I felt so afraid that it felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. I heard my name said in a strange voice. When I was able to move again I thought it was just a strange dream. The next day I had a ringing in my right ear and a huge headache. Also I had three strange marks on my right palm.
I've been interested in other peoples views on what happened to me.