Had a terrifying "event" last night...

JudgeDredd · November 14, 2016, 04:48:47 PM

...I woke up and couldn't move, speak or open my eyes.

I could feel my body moving...like inside it was like my body was trying to move but I couldn't move a muscle and felt like I was suffocating. I was pure petrified. Never experienced anything like it before. I honestly thought I was going to die.

I mentioned it at work today and a guy said "Oh yeah...night terror" I was like "WTF?".

I told my sister about it tonight and she said "Oh...sleep paralysis. Yeah I get it now and again. You get used to it and just lie there and think "stay calm...everything will click""...I was like "WTF"??

When the hell did "sleep paralysis" and "night terror" become a thing???

Honestly the worst feeling in my life. I eventually was able to move and I sat bolt upright hyperventilating.

I had never heard of it before and it shook me right up. I honestly don't mind if I never suffer that again...like EVER!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

mirth · November 14, 2016, 06:11:46 PM

I've had it happen at various times over the years. Mostly it seems to happen to me when waking up after being overtired. It's pretty scary in the moment. The feeling like you can't breathe part is the worst. I never knew it was a diagnosed thing. It always felt like I was fighting my way awake out of a dream. I thought of it as a bad nightmare.

Gusington · November 14, 2016, 06:16:24 PM

Just for the record, sleep paralysis is different than night terrors.

mirth · November 14, 2016, 06:19:32 PM

I've experienced both. Sleep paralysis more than night terrors though.

bayonetbrant · November 14, 2016, 06:22:52 PM

never had the night terrors, but sleep paralysis at least once every 2-3 months

Gusington · November 14, 2016, 06:24:10 PM

My older daughter had night terrors when she was 1-2 years old, brought on by getting potty trained. For a year we didn't know what to do and then finally, in one of my finer moments, I cured her of them by preemptively taking her to the bathroom around midnight every night. That got rid of them.

I have not had sleep paralysis or night terrors myself but they are pretty common. I also haven't slept a full night in 10+ years so that may be the reason.

mirth · November 14, 2016, 06:25:40 PM

Quote from: bayonetbrant on November 14, 2016, 06:22:52 PM
never had the night terrors, but sleep paralysis at least once every 2-3 months

Yikes. That's much more frequent than I experience it. Maybe 1-2 per year for me at most.

Staggerwing · November 14, 2016, 06:51:27 PM

I've only experienced Sleep Paralysis a few times in my life so far and that has been more than enough. IIRC, it was usually during times of great stress and little sleep.

Gusington · November 14, 2016, 08:42:27 PM

So every day of adulthood?

mirth · November 14, 2016, 09:13:25 PM

Day terrors.

Staggerwing · November 14, 2016, 09:54:31 PM

Quote from: Gusington on November 14, 2016, 08:42:27 PM
So every day of adulthood?

No, those are days of terrible stress and not enough sleep.

bayonetbrant · November 14, 2016, 10:01:33 PM

Quote from: mirth on November 14, 2016, 06:25:40 PM
Quote from: bayonetbrant on November 14, 2016, 06:22:52 PM
never had the night terrors, but sleep paralysis at least once every 2-3 months

Yikes. That's much more frequent than I experience it. Maybe 1-2 per year for me at most.

yeah, at this point, I've kind of figured out how to shake my body out of it. Still scares the shit out of me up to the point that I get that first finger or toe to move, though

BanzaiCat · November 14, 2016, 10:14:39 PM

For some reason I'd always equated both events as the same thing (night terrors and sleep paralysis). Or, were at least in the same category. I used to have night terrors a lot when I was a kid but thank God they went pretty much away when I was in my mid-teens. I've had a few episodes this year whereas it happened maybe once a year or once every two years, though nowhere near as intense as I recall as a kid (like waking up out of a sound sleep to find I was banging my head against my headboard, terrifying my mother - I recall that one very, very clearly, but don't remember yelling like she said I was doing).

Nowadays it's a more intense version of when you're just falling off to sleep and suddenly jerk awake because you're dreaming about falling or having a car accident or something like that; usually that just wakes you up, startled, but for me the dreams tend to be a lot more lucid and longer-lasting, and usually it only happens if I've been sleep deprived. I try to make sleep a priority just so I'm not having to deal with that shit regularly, but stuff happens unfortunately.

Swatter · November 14, 2016, 10:17:10 PM

Sounds like sleep paralysis, I have experienced it several times in my life.

One time I woke up and saw and felt half of my body floating above me, while the top of me was weighted to the bed. My legs were ghostly looking, like millions of tiny points of light, floating above me.

Only happened once, and no I'm not a new age noodle brain.

BanzaiCat · November 14, 2016, 10:21:07 PM

I've also heard of stories of the 'shadow people,' which sounds absolutely silly but is apparently a thing as there's a lot of stories out there on it. Enough so that I'm good not reading any more of them.

In the early 2000s I had a brief membership with a local ghost hunting group but I didn't last long, as it started to freak me out. One of the reasons I didn't stick around is I really didn't want to bring anything home with me, especially not with kids in the house.

It might be a bunch of gobshite, but why take chances, you know?