Violent Sleep Paralysis?

Mods, had a hard time deciding where to post this so do your thing if necessary.

Okay, ATS. had an extremely weird and troubling event happen last night. I'm hoping you can provide some insight into what occurred.

All my life I've experienced sleep paralysis, along with lucid dreaming. The sp comes and goes, sometimes I'll go months between an episode only to have attacks the next five nights.

My typical sp experience is as follows: heaviness on chest, ringing in the ears or hearing heartbeat in the ears, extreme fear, sense of otherness in the room. Standard fare for sp.

So last night I woke up in the midst of an sp, but this one was very different. It had all the hallmarks of the typical experience, with one exception: my head and shoulders were whipping back and forth. I could hear my neck pop (that icky sound when you stretch your neck). Only my head and shoulders moved; everything else remained in that paralyzed state.

The entire time this is happening, it feels like "something" is literally holding my head and slamming it against the headboard.

My head hitting the headboard woke my husband. He grabbed my head and shouted "stop it!". And it stopped, with me fully awake. No more sp events afterward.

I wondered about the possibility of a seizure, but does that make sense? If it was a seizure, why only in my neck and shoulders? Why did it stop on command?

Has anyone else experienced a sleep paralysis event that included body movement?

reply to post by smyleegrl


What you are describing cannot be sleep paralysis if it were you could not move, how was your head hitting anything if it was going back and forth? unless you slept on top of it? You should go see a doctor about it because that is not normal and it dident stop because your husband said stop, most likely it just shook you enough to stop the electrical impulses that were causing it, a seizure sounds to be the most probable thing, but check with a doctor first.

reply to post by smyleegrl


A dream of wakefulness, fed by too many hours on ATS? A la inception?

Seizure?


Imagination running untethered?

Did your husband remember this in the morning, or just you?

Originally posted by CesarO
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

What you are describing cannot be sleep paralysis if it were you could not move, how was your head hitting anything if it was going back and forth? unless you slept on top of it? You should go see a doctor about it because that is not normal and it dident stop because your husband said stop, most likely it just shook you enough to stop the electrical impulses that were causing it, a seizure sounds to be the most probable thing, but check with a doctor first.

In other episodes of sp, I manage to snap myself out of it by making myself move. It breaks the paralysis or something, but it's taken me years to be able to do it.

Thank you for the advice about the doctor. I have my yearly physical next week and I will definently ask her about it.

Originally posted by Chamberf=6
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

A dream of wakefulness, fed by too many hours on ATS? A la inception?

Seizure?


Imagination running untethered?

Did your husband remember this in the morning, or just you?

edit on 4/3/2012 by Chamberf=6 because: (no reason given)

He remembers it and we've discussed it off and on.
Plus I have a good-sized lump on my head and a massive headache. I don't think it was a dream.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Let me ask you, do you believe in the paranormal? as in Ghost or spirits? What do you think happened? and be honest. What does your husband think? and i hope you will sleep farther away from the headboard from now on in case it happens again.

That is called parasomnia.

Im a sleep tech.

I have observed this a few times.

Go see a neurologist and get a 24 EEG if this has happened more than once.

When it happens, can you see fine? Usually when most people have a seizure their vision is that of a "dreamworld" but most of the time they can still hear whats going on around them (I've had one, pretty recently too, it's not fun). Some people who have seizures also repeat a word or phrase; for example, when I had mine I kept repeating the word "Don't" (odd I know) over and over again until I came around.

Did you feel 'disconnected' or 'disoriented' afterwards, did your muscles feel extremely sore, and did you bite your tongue?

I am only 20 years old and have experienced sleep p many many times. My whole body is paralyzed and i can slowly wiggle my toes or fingers and eventually snap out of it, feeling very conscious..but when I snap out of it it is almost as if i'm immediately asleep.
PERSONAL TIP: I always experience SP while sleeping on my back. If i sleep any other way, i do not ever experience it. Maybe try sleeping on your side or stomach more often, but then again I don't know how you lay anyways.

I also think it could be paranormal or extraterrestrial to an extent. Nothing to back it up besides this..
I once awoke to a VERY loud buzzing overtaking my dark room, while sleeping alone, the window was open which is was not in "real life" and I experienced and watched from my paralyzed body, a drone of some sort, or maybe alien drone, fly in my window and around my room. I distinctly remember the very loud vibrating, humming noise.

It was the most terrifying experience i ever had while in sleep paralysis..

Are you an overweight person?

You may have sleep apnea.

You may be depriving yourself of REM sleep.

Which can cause all kinds of crazy dream like states.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Taken from WebMD.com: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)

People with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder act out dramatic and/or violent dreams during REM sleep. REM sleep usually involves a state of sleep paralysis (atonia), but people with this condition move the body or limbs while dreaming. Usually, RBD occurs in men aged 50 and older, but the disorder also can occur in women and in younger people. It differs from sleep walking and sleep terrors in that the sleeper can be easily awakened and can recall vivid details of the dream. In the diagnosis and treatment of RBD, potentially serious neurological disorders must be ruled out. Polysomnography (sleep tests) and drug treatments also can be involved in the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder.

This is a type of sleep paralysis. It probably doesn't adequately describe your experience, but it may offer you some peace of mind to know that it's been observed. I've experienced two sleep paralysis incidents that are similar to your own, neither of which involved a headboard (thankfully). Let me ask you something- have you been meditating a lot recently or focusing a lot of energy on your thrid-eye chakra?

Originally posted by CesarO
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

Let me ask you, do you believe in the paranormal? as in Ghost or spirits? What do you think happened? and be honest. What does your husband think? and i hope you will sleep farther away from the headboard

from now on in case it happens again.

I'm open-minded about the paranormal, like to research it but I've only had 2 or 3 unexplainable events happen to me. I don't immediately jump to a paranormal explanation though. I do think there are ghosts or spirits but I've never seen any.

My husband thinks I was simply having a bad dream. Heck, he could be right.

Tonight I'm putting an extra pillow between the top of my head and the headboard, just in case

Originally posted by Frankenchrist
That is called parasomnia.

Im a sleep tech.

I have observed this a few times.

Thank you very much! I will read up on this immediately.

Originally posted by ArrowsNV
Go see a neurologist and get a 24 EEG if this has happened more than once.

When it happens, can you see fine? Usually when most people have a seizure their vision is that of a "dreamworld" but most of the time they can still hear whats going on around them (I've had one, pretty recently too, it's not fun).

Did you feel 'disconnected' or 'disoriented' afterwards, did your muscles feel extremely sore, and did you bite your tongue?

This is the first time it's ever happened, and during the event my eyes were closed. But when it was over, I was pretty much back to normal (except for the lump and a headache). No muscle soreness and I didn't bite my tongue.

Originally posted by AguyAndAgirl
I am only 20 years old and have experienced sleep p many many times. My whole body is paralyzed and i can slowly wiggle my toes or fingers and eventually snap out of it, feeling very conscious..but when I snap out of it it is almost as if i'm immediately asleep.
PERSONAL TIP: I always experience SP while sleeping on my back. If i sleep any other way, i do not ever experience it. Maybe try sleeping on your side or stomach more often, but then again I don't know how you lay anyways.

I also think it could be paranormal or extraterrestrial to an extent. Nothing to back it up besides this..
I once awoke to a VERY loud buzzing overtaking my dark room, while sleeping alone, the window was open which is was not in "real life" and I experienced and watched from my paralyzed body, a drone of some sort, or maybe alien drone, fly in my window and around my room. I distinctly remember the very loud vibrating, humming noise.

It was the most terrifying experience i ever had while in sleep paralysis..

I only have sp when sleeping on my back, too! Maybe there's a connection.

SP is absolutely terrifying. I once had an episode where I saw a menacing man standing in my room. That was terrible bc he radiated evil and I couldn't move.

Originally posted by Frankenchrist
Are you an overweight person?

You may have sleep apnea.

You may be depriving yourself of REM sleep.

Which can cause all kinds of crazy dream like states.

Not overweight but the doc had me do a sleep apnea test bc of constant insomnia. Everything came back normal. Which is good bc my husband has sleep apnea and has to wear the face mask and hose. It's like sleeping next to a jet pilot or Snuffleupigys.

Originally posted by smyleegrl
This is the first time it's ever happened, and during the event my eyes were closed. But when it was over, I was pretty much back to normal (except for the lump and a headache). No muscle soreness and I didn't bite my tongue.

No nausea or dizziness afterward?

If not, I wouldn't think it to be a seizure.

After you have a seizure you go into what's called a postictal state, where you feel disconnected, disoriented, confused, etc. It's basically your brain rebooting and recovering from the trauma of what happened. After mine at the end of February I was in this state for about 3 days (not exactly normal, but it happens. most last 5-30min). I was so out of it I couldn't remember how to get to my friend's house (who lives right down the street).

I stick by my first statement though, if it happens again go see a neurologist.

Originally posted by preezy120
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

Taken from WebMD.com: REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)


This is a type of sleep paralysis. It probably doesn't adequately describe your experience, but it may offer you some peace of mind to know that it's been observed. I've experienced two sleep paralysis incidents that are similar to your own, neither of which involved a headboard (thankfully). Let me ask you something- have you been meditating a lot recently or focusing a lot of energy on your thrid-eye chakra?

Thanks for the info, I'll look into it.

As for meditating, I try but I'm very inconsistent.

Interestingly, a few episodes of sp have led to very short periods of (possible) astral projection.

That's fascinating. I've had sleep paralysis for most of my life too. On one occasion, I was dreaming about a ghost that was coming for me and I couldn't move at all. In my dream, the ghost picked me up and smashed me through a glass top table and I was laying there face down on the floor unable to move. Then, I woke up, face down on the floor under the glass table.

The curious thing was that I couldn't crawl under the table to get into that position. The table was small. If I was sleepwalking, I have no clue how I could have gotten under the table like I was even if I were awake. It really made me wonder what the hell was going on. I was only 14 at the time....I've no clue what happened to this day.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I'm not sure if my experience was precisely Sleep Paralysis, but I had a weird dream where I was being thrown around the room by an evil force. I could move my head but that was all, everything else was under complete control of this evil force. I would be swung from side to side while my body would jerk back and forth. When I awoke, I was doing the same jerking movements as I was doing in the dream.