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Originally posted by seabhac-rua
From what I understand about SP it occurs most often when the sleeper hasn't yet entered deep sleep.
Sleep paralysis. People with narcolepsy often experience a temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or upon waking. These episodes are usually brief — lasting one or two minutes — but can be frightening. You may be aware of the condition and have no difficulty recalling it afterward, even if you had no control over what was happening to you.
This sleep paralysis mimics the type of temporary paralysis that normally occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the period of sleep during which most dreaming occurs. This temporary immobility during REM sleep may prevent your body from acting out dream activity.
Not everyone with sleep paralysis has narcolepsy, however. Many people without narcolepsy experience some episodes of sleep paralysis, especially in young adulthood.
Originally posted by Myomistress
For some reason, I think napping is more correlated for it just for the sheer fact that you are not sleeping for as extensive as an amount of time you would be if you were going to sleep for the night. It's also limiting you from entering REM because you haven't really dipped yet into the deeper parts of the cycle within a few minutes.
Originally posted by Myomistress
I've also noticed that if you sleep on your stomach, it is less likely to happen if at all. If you sleep on your back, try napping while rolling over and see if there is any difference.
In a typical sleep cycle, we initially enter the early stages of sleep followed by deeper sleep stages and ultimately (after about 90 minutes) rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. For people suffering from narcolepsy, REM sleep occurs almost immediately in the sleep cycle, as well as periodically during the waking hours. It is in REM sleep that we can experience dreams and muscle paralysis -- which explains some of the symptoms of narcolepsy.
Originally posted by seabhac-rua
From what I understand about SP it occurs most often when the sleeper hasn't yet entered deep sleep.
Originally posted by horseplay
I have started to wonder about narcolepsy too. Is it caused by poor sleep at night? not getting enough REM time? aging?