Sleep paralysis

[Curr]

I often suffer from this incredibly annoying... thing. It's increased since I moved in with my Master. It is only when I wake up. Consciousness is restored, but I can't move my body, and I usually vividly hallucinate calling for him to come and wake me up. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share, or help/suggestions as to get rid of this? I mean, it's not frightening so much as it is... boring.

[Melamphoros]

I often suffer from this incredibly annoying... thing. It's increased since I moved in with my Master. It is only when I wake up. Consciousness is restored, but I can't move my body, and I usually vividly hallucinate calling for him to come and wake me up. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share, or help/suggestions as to get rid of this? I mean, it's not frightening so much as it is... boring.

 
I would recommend seeing a doctor about it,

[RandallS]

I would recommend seeing a doctor about it,

Agreed. It's a medical condition. I'm pretty sure there are treatments for it.

[veggiewolf]

I often suffer from this incredibly annoying... thing. It's increased since I moved in with my Master. It is only when I wake up. Consciousness is restored, but I can't move my body, and I usually vividly hallucinate calling for him to come and wake me up. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share, or help/suggestions as to get rid of this? I mean, it's not frightening so much as it is... boring.

It happens to me when I nap sometimes and I actually know quite a bit about it from working in sleep medicine.  

What you're describing is called 'postdormital sleep paralysis'.  No one is really sure what causes it, but the theory is that it happens to prevent you from acting out dreams.  It is a REM sleep 'failure', meaning as you shift from one stage of sleep to another it lingers when it isn't supposed to.

It is more common if you have some sort of circadian rhythm disorder (shift-work disorder or jet lag).  Missing sleep due to stress can also cause it, and people that suffer from panic disorder often experience it as well.

Sometimes avoiding sleeping on your back will prevent it from happening, as will regular exercise before bed, but you should see a sleep specialist if it is persistent, severe, or distressing as there are treatments out there, including medication.

[Annie Roonie]

I often suffer from this incredibly annoying... thing. It's increased since I moved in with my Master. It is only when I wake up. Consciousness is restored, but I can't move my body, and I usually vividly hallucinate calling for him to come and wake me up. Does anyone have any similar experiences to share, or help/suggestions as to get rid of this? I mean, it's not frightening so much as it is... boring.

I've had issues with sleep paralysis my whole life. When a kid, it was not whole paralysis and I'd sleep scream and even jump up which frightened everyone in the house. Thankfully that stopped with age.

I agree with the others that seeing a doc is a good thing. I've asked my docs about it in the past with no answers or advice just more questions. I had to see a neurosurgeon about another issue, chiari malformation, and asked him too. He didn't know if it was related or not, but he said much the same as the others did. Which is, to paraphrase, if it is not interfering with my life and not causing any other health issues then let it ride. One or two have mentioned sleep study, but I cannot predict when it will happen so that's out for me.

Not sure how I figured this one out but it has worked for me the last few times when I wake before .. I wake. Once I realize that it's happened again, I calm down in dream and rock my hips. Within a few dream motions, the motion becomes real and I wake fully. I usually sleep on my side so it is easier to do this rocking. Have not tried it while on my back.  

I am not sure why it works for me. I tried other things like screaming and you know how that goes. At best a mumble and if nobody is around to hear, you're stuck waiting it out. No luck with hands, toes or fingers either. For some reason though, at that hip area there seems to be an earlier waking. I've done my amateur guessing and wonder if that area (near root chakra) has different alarm bell wiring. After all, it wakes me up for a night time bathroom visit sometimes, and sometimes when I don't want to be wakened! In any event, it's worked for me and in short order too.

Best to you. I know how strange it can be and am glad you are to the place where it is now more boring than terrifying. It took me ages to get to that point, but once I researched what it was, it did become kind of boring.