My first sleep paralysis

I am sorry, I did a search and I couldn't find the right topic to add this to. The last major one I can remember was a while back. And maybe it should read My first *knowledgeable* sleep paralysis, because I can remember "dreams" where I couldn't wake up so fast, which also may have been paralysis.

So I was having a freaky dream about like cops and environmentalists and a supermarket. Then I "woke up" and immediately felt strange. I remembered the people on this board mentioning that this was not an alien thing but a thing of the mind and body (thus a Medical Issue). I didn't want to open my eyes though because I still felt the "presence", but I fought it. I jittered my arm and forced my eyes open. I saw the funky colors. At first I thought I just had my Pokemon bedsheets from when I was 12. But then as I 'woke up' even more, I realized I just had to fight this paralyzed feeling until it ended, because it is just a natural thing about which I have read right here on ATS. There was a sound like a vacuum by my ears, a borderline "scream" that some may hear. But I think my mind just amplified the noise of my computer. It was really scary but not as scary as it could have been and I don't want to go back to sleep just yet. I can feel the strain of trying to move on my throat as if someone hit me there an hour ago. If you want a conspiracy, the first thing I thought when it was over was that aliens paralyze you so they can beam out of your house before you get up

So can anyone tell me what may have caused this? Perhaps I am dehydrated? Or the way I slept pinched something? I slept differently since it was hard to fall asleep. Any methods of preventing these experiences?

I hope that at least with this repeat thread, more people can learn about and prepare for sleep paralysis, as it would have been a very terrifying thing had I not read about it before this incident.

Hmmm. One thing you want to do for sure is have a doctor check you out. Electrolytes and many other things could be amiss.

How many times has this happened? Just the one time?

Thank God just this once. I feel terrible for the people who believe it's aliens and it happens often.

This is more common than you may think. I suffered from it many years ago. The most common cause is a period of no sleep (usually more than 72 hrs) followed by a normal nights sleep. There are also reports of certain stressors causing it, and there is some evidence to suggest that it is hireditary (?sp).

As for the alien abduction theory, this is slightly outside my realm

Yea it happend to me last week i had a really messed dream about aliens and the sort and at the end i was choking my cat i dunno why but anyways i woke up and i was still a bit asleep and tried sqezzing my hand because i was sqeezing it in my dream and i couldnt i tottaly woke up then and couldnt move and i fainted from the fright and woke up at 6 am

One of the easiest things you can do is sleep with a night light on. The light helps your brain wake up faster, and in the light you can see better and know you are safe at home in bed. I find that if I go back to sleep right away I tend to go back into whatever bad dream or sleep condition I left before I woke up so getting up and walking around, doing something else for a while helps. After about 15 minutes to a half hour, then I can go back to sleep without much problem. Try to keep your room as uncluttered as possible, as piles of clothing, chairs, even coat racks can look like something else when you are partially awake and in a susceptible state, so if you feel like someone is watching and you open your eyes and your coatrack looms over you in the dark--it can look scary. Sometimes people will experience periods where the sleep paralysis recurrs regularly, then I would check with a doctor, but if it has only happened occasionally like once every six months or so, chalk it up to a periodic blip.