Possible sleep paralysis... need some insight

The past few months I've had the same phenomenon happen to me. Back in September I got back from Iraq and this happened more frequently. I attributed it to adjustment issues like everyone has when they get back from Iraq. The most terrifying experience was a series of night terrors.

I was on a base in Iraq, looking outside the wire fence, saw a man dressed in traditional Muslim garb staring up at the sky. I heard a loud whooshing sound. The best I can describe it as in the movie Saving Private Ryan when they are on the beach head. Every time there is an explosion, you hear that whooshing sound to simulate going deaf. Then I heard several loud explosions (I assumed they were mortars) and then the woman who lives below me screaming. I sat straight up in bed and woke up.

The second night, I had a very lucid dream of an old man with a big head and lots of wrinkles standing over my bed. I was laying on my side in the same position as I feel asleep in, staring at the man. I tried to get up to subdue him for breaking into my house, but I was unable to move. Then I woke up and had the very distinct feeling of being real.

These dreams are among a few that I vividly encounter. The dream with a man standing over the bed looking at me was absolutely terrifying.

Again, I attribute these to an adjustment issue. Problems sleeping and nightmares are common with periods of adjustment; especially trying to reintegrate into society after being in a war zone.

More recently (the past month or so), I've had 2 or 3 experiences of laying in bed having a very vivid dream. Last night I was dreaming I was on a cruise ship (I got back from a cruise in November) and I was in the same room. I opened up the curtains to the window to see the moonlight hitting the water, when I felt the ship lurch violently. I tried to grab on to something and the movement became more violent. This accompanied a feeling in my body of surging electricity, or blood rushing. It also accompanied a feeling of falling in my stomach. At some point in the dream I realized I was dreaming and tried to wake up desperately. I was convinced there was an earthquake in real life and I needed to wake up and get myself and girlfriend to safety. I started trying to scream but couldn't.

My girlfriend noticed I was twitching violently and hyper ventilating and she shook me awake gently. She is accustomed to me having nightmare and knows how to handle me when I am in that state. I woke up and said "DID YOU FEEL THAT!?" and she said no. She told me I was hyper ventilating and mumbling something about banks. Makes sense; we are both working on economic research papers for school and it rather consumed me all day yesterday.

My theory; I'm either holding my breath when I sleep. The feeling I get in my body is almost like the feeling you get just before you black out, that tingly feeling all over your body. Mixed with the hyper ventilation, I believe this is possible. My second theory is that I am experiencing sleep paralysis. The dream with the man over my bed is just like many have described on here of a presence in the room.

As a side note; I think my subconscious was telling me something about the economy with all my mumbling nonsense about the banks. That ship is sinking! Just a funny connection I made later.

Thank you for your service and glad you got back home safely.

I only had night terrors when I was married to my X. Ever since I got rid of him, I haven't had anymore night terrors or anymore sleep paralysis.

Maybe it's someone near you that is making you have these terrors?

I had Night terrors as a kid and sleep paralysis on an off for years. You know when you have sleep paralysis.
It gets to the stage you have a fear of sleeping at night. And to compensate you sometimes sleep during the day or whenever, so long as its not at night.
You said you were in Iraq, that should have provided you with plenty of trauma to upset your sleeping habits, it may just take some time to settle back at home.
I overcame my sleep paralysis by taking more control of my daytime activities, I found when I was worried about work or my wife or kid or basically anything, the night terrors would appear. I think they are somehow stress related.
So worry less, find time to relax, meditation is good if you can do it. Basically get a better balance of life.

reply to post by Manhater


Could be? I have a very happy and loving relationship with my girlfriend. I live close to her family in Germany and they all treat me well like a son. My own family is far away, but I talk to them often and maintain healthy relationships with my parents. Not sure who it would be that is causing me such distress.

reply to post by kudegras


I originally thought the nightmares were somewhat PTSD related. I don't have PTSD, but perhaps a symptom or 2 was cropping up. The focus of my nightmares have been moving away from anything related to being in Iraq and are now seemingly mundane situations that turn terrifying. I have been stressed lately, and my girlfriend and I have maybe gotten a bit too far "down the rabbit hole". Time for a breather maybe.

Sounds like Post traumatic stress disorder. Stress aggravates sleep paralysis something shocking.
It's not nice and I can sympathise. My SP episodes have kicked up a notch lately. Last night every damn time I drifted off it started up. Obviously didn't get a decent nights sleep, so I'm absolutely shattered.

Funny you should mention thinking you might be stopping breathing when you drift off. Whilst I typically shudder and hyperventilate during SP episodes, about a week ago I had the distinct feeling that I was ceasing to breathe. The air itself didn't smell right, felt like I was suffocating on pure ozone.

The mental thing is I don't actually have a great reason to feel stressed. I know folks might say "Yeah, yeah but you are on ATS and that's probably enough reason", but nah it's not.

You spent time in a war zone.

Under constant stress.

It hasn't even been a whole year since you got back from Iraq.

Could be? I have a very happy and loving relationship with my girlfriend. I live close to her family in Germany and they all treat me well like a son. My own family is far away, but I talk to them often and maintain healthy relationships with my parents. Not sure who it would be that is causing me such distress.

It's probably you. Give yourself some more time to adjust. And in a healthy environment like the one you described, it will happen eventually.

Seems to me you need to spend a few days not having to worry about a single thing... I'd suggest some time off.

Originally posted by Suspiria
Sounds like Post traumatic stress disorder. Stress aggravates sleep paralysis something shocking.
It's not nice and I can sympathise. My SP episodes have kicked up a notch lately. Last night every damn time I drifted off it started up. Obviously didn't get a decent nights sleep, so I'm absolutely shattered.

Funny you should mention thinking you might be stopping breathing when you drift off. Whilst I typically shudder and hyperventilate during SP episodes, about a week ago I had the distinct feeling that I was ceasing to breathe. The air itself didn't smell right, felt like I was suffocating on pure ozone.

The mental thing is I don't actually have a great reason to feel stressed. I know folks might say "Yeah, yeah but you are on ATS and that's probably enough reason", but nah it's not.

I really doubt it's full blown PTSD. I know many people who have experienced far more and had no symptoms of PTSD. I did some research on "adjustment disorder" which is a disorder where the brain has a hard time adjusting to new surroundings. I think this is more along the lines of what I have experienced. When I first got back, I didn't want to be around people and had some social anxiety. Now I'm back to my old self; going out to the bars with friends, traveling, spending time with the girlfriend's family. But the nightmares persist.

With all the doom and gloom of ATS and my personal realization that the world is way more screwed up than I was led to believe, it does cause some stress. But, in my day to day life I live healthy. My girlfriend and I are happy. We have friends, go to school, travel as much as possible, make a good amount of money to live well above the means of the average 20-30 age bracket. I have little to stress about, but this problem won't go away.


I was also scared, particularly last night, of falling back asleep. I stayed awake for an hour or 2 after.

Do you find anything in particular that you do during the evening or day can either set off the symptoms or alleviate them?

reply to post by Wooster



No, nothing really. All is very relaxed and normal. Had a great day, read a little before bed, but even that was as benign as a book on where everyday phrases come from. It doesn't even start with a nightmare. I can have nightmares that don't trigger SP, but just random thoughts that come with drifting off suddenly take this sense of horror and foreboding.

Originally posted by Wooster
reply to post by Manhater

 

Could be? I have a very happy and loving relationship with my girlfriend. I live close to her family in Germany and they all treat me well like a son. My own family is far away, but I talk to them often and maintain healthy relationships with my parents. Not sure who it would be that is causing me such distress.

It might be your girlfriend's Aura not necessarily her or her parents.

Later down the road, it's a sign that things won't work out.

Just like me.

You need to drop her and find someone else.

It can be 3-5-10-or even 13 years before you find out, but later down the road the relationship will crumble.

I'm thinking it's her Aura.

My x's parents did the same thing for 13 years.

I know.

Originally posted by Manhater

Originally posted by Wooster
reply to post by Manhater

 

Could be? I have a very happy and loving relationship with my girlfriend. I live close to her family in Germany and they all treat me well like a son. My own family is far away, but I talk to them often and maintain healthy relationships with my parents. Not sure who it would be that is causing me such distress.

It might be your girlfriend's Aura not necessarily her or her parents.

Later down the road, it's a sign that things won't work out.

Just like me.

You need to drop her and find someone else.

It can be 3-5-10-or even 13 years before you find out, but later down the road the relationship will crumble.

I'm thinking it's her Aura.

My x's parents did the same thing for 13 years.

I know.

edit on 2-7-2012 by Manhater because: (no reason given)

Well I'm not too inclined to drop the best woman I've ever known and built my entire life around based on one person's interpretations of my nightmares. In fact, she's the one that comforts me when these occur.

reply to post by Wooster


Don't say I didn't warn you.

Mark this day okay.



I know from 13 years of wasted experience.

reply to post by Manhater

It might be your girlfriend's Aura not necessarily her or her parents.

Later down the road, it's a sign that things won't work out.

Just like me.

You need to drop her and find someone else.

It can be 3-5-10-or even 13 years before you find out, but later down the road the relationship will crumble.

I'm thinking it's her Aura.

My x's parents did the same thing for 13 years.

I know.

Seriously what's wrong with you? Go get some fresh air!

One of the most stupid comments ever posted!

That was definitely cynical... intentions be damned.

On second thoughts it was probably more to do with those hotdogs I had for my tea.
I'd hate to dump my fella over some dodgy fried onions.

reply to post by Hellas


Nothings wrong with me, stating the facts of life.

If you can't handle that; then, it's not my problem.

....


Cheaper being single.

You'll learn that as life goes on though.

How exactly do you know for a fact that my girlfriend's "aura" and my "aura" are incompatible? Seeing as how you've never met either one of us, I'd like to know.

Of course it's cheaper being single. But who the hell wants to go out to eat to a dinner for one?

I experienced "sleep paralysis" about 3 or 4 times earlier in the decade and since then I haven't suffered it again. To this day I even question whether it was just a case of sleep paralysis or even some form of demonic manifestation--I really don't know! The most scariest of the 3 was feeling an evil presence weighing heavily on my chest and it was growling like a wolf. I woke up and couldn't move my body and worse I couldn't even open my lips up to scream! So I started mentally crying out to Jesus Christ to save me--I was that terrified! The "wolf" started mocking me and repeating my cries, "Geeesus...geeesus" as if it was upset with me doing this. And then suddenly my whole body became free and I was able to move and open my mouth! It was seriously crazy! I later learned about sleep paralysis and wondered if that's what I experienced or if it was something more sinister. I've shared my experience with others and one lady told me after I had told her of my experience (leaving out the part that I could sense it was a wolf) that she once felt a foreboding presence on her chest while asleep and to she could sense the manifestation was a dog! She then rebuked it in Jesus Christ's name and she "saw" it get off her and limp dejectedly away. Again I have no idea what these experiences were--real or imagined, but our subconscious minds seem to be a totally different landscape or "dreamscape." I remember one time, for instance, when I woke up in my apartment bed and I saw a huge tarantula-like spider on the wall! I jumped in fright and it ran down the wall. I was about to jump out of the bed to grab something when it suddenly disappeared before my eyes! It was that experience that made me wonder if it was a lucid dream I was having or I was actually awake, but my subconscious mind was not yet fully off--I don't know. One thing that I reckon might help is doing exercise. So some jogging or sprinting or swimming along with weight training might aid to release any hidden stress. I think this has helped me heaps. Anyway all the best in your efforts to overcome the disorder!

reply to post by Wooster

Originally posted by defcon5
reply to post by Wooster

 

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

Originally posted by Wooster
The past few months I've had the same phenomenon happen to me. Back in September I got back from Iraq and this happened more frequently. I attributed it to adjustment issues like everyone has when they get back from Iraq. The most terrifying experience was a series of night terrors.

What you're describing here is not a “night terror”, its a nightmare, possibly due to PTSD. There is no “dream recall” in night terrors, and they generally happen to children (in slow wave sleep). If you woke someone from a night terror, they would be unable to tell you what it was that caused them to have it. This is because you do not dream in slow wave sleep, and children have elevated levels of that stage. Slow wave decreases with age, so adults do not experience them very often.

Originally posted by Wooster
The second night, I had a very lucid dream of an old man with a big head and lots of wrinkles standing over my bed.

Similarly, this is not a “lucid dream”. A lucid dream is one where you become aware that you are dreaming and are able to control certain aspects of the dream. If you force a lucid dream, you can experience a lucid nightmare, or sleep paralysis, however.

Originally posted by Wooster
My girlfriend noticed I was twitching violently and hyper ventilating and she shook me awake gently. She is accustomed to me having nightmare and knows how to handle me when I am in that state. I woke up and said "DID YOU FEEL THAT!?" and she said no. She told me I was hyper ventilating and mumbling something about banks. Makes sense; we are both working on economic research papers for school and it rather consumed me all day yesterday.

My theory; I'm either holding my breath when I sleep.

Your theory is basically correct, but you're giving it a bunch of improper names. What it sounds like you're having is Sleep Apnea, which is causing you to fight for breath in your sleep. It can also cause you to jump violently as you break your airway open. This is called myoclonus, though it can be caused by other issues as well as Apnea. You're talking in your sleep as you are going into higher stages of sleep from REM sleep, where you are dreaming. So, for example, you are in REM sleep, dreaming, then you choke, wake to a lighter stage of sleep, and you speak out about whatever it is you were dreaming about.

It is possible that you could have other issues going on, but sleep apnea is the most common, and will account for most of what you are describing here.

Either way though, its usually an easy fix. You need to find a Board Certified Sleep Physician (normally these are neurologists or pulmonologists), and have a sleep study (polysomnography) run. That will tell them what is going on with you for certain. You can usually have your Primary Care Physician write you a script and referral to a sleep center and sleep doctor to get this preformed.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

Thanks for the info. I have debated going to a doctor. My worst fear however is being diagnosed with PTSD because of these nightmares and they put me on mind numbing drugs or sleep medication. I want no part in either of those.