I'm just curious if any here have sleep paralysis?

Question

There are other names for it --- sleep paralysis is just one of the big ones. I even read that in Iceland they call it the "Old Hag".

I had it at least a few times a year going back as far as I can remember. Typically you are paralyzed and either think that someone is breaking into your home or that an evil spirit is in the room with you. Mine tended more toward the latter but it was sometimes the breaking in variety. They are terrifying because they feel much more real than regular dreams.

For whatever reason, after I became a Christian, they stopped. This isn't a loaded question though --- I don't mean to imply that those who currently have them aren't saved or that they are only demonic in origin. I honestly don't know.

I'm just curious if any of you have them, what your experiences have been like, and what you think they mean?

Just in case you want more info:

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

Answer 1

WOW, yes. I didn't think anyone else knew about it. I was diagnosed with sleep paralysis when I was a kid.

I used to be half awake and half asleep, completely unable to move and I could hear sounds like claws scrapping at my window right next to my bed. I was paralyzed so I couldn't move the curtain to see who was out there. My parents said it was the bush outside my window scrapping against the glass when the wind would blow, but it sure didn't sound like that to me.

Now that I'm saved it doesn't happen anymore thankfully! =]

Answer 2

Not quite like how you described. I've had the ocassional dream where, when I tried to walk, I could just barely move. It was as if I was trying to walk against very heavy wind. I don't recall feeling anything heavy on the chest. I know sometimes when I'm tired, just laying on my back, in bed, the room will slowly become darker, and sometimes it seems like I'm seeing objects appear out of the walls, foating around the room above me. I've pretty much discounted it though, and believe it's really just my pupils relaxing and shutting down, in preparation for sleep. There have been the ocassional dreams where something bad is happening or about to happen, I want to jump and get out of the way or yell for help, but am "frozen" with fear. In those particular dreams, it's a bit of a struggle, it takes some energy to "break free" from it and wake up, but so far, I always have.

Answer 3

I didn't know that it had a name. I have had those in the past, but not as frequently.

When I was very little I would imagine some very weird things; things that I would probably get off of a movie (I watched a lot of horror films back then).

I do remember this one time when I thought I heard the back door of my house open, and I thought I heard someone enter into my room (I was probably imagining this too, but I thought that someone was breathing on me while I was under the covers of my bed). Truly frightening, but it probably happened to me because I was alone in my house.

There are some other factors that could possibly contribute to the paralysis. I won't give too much detail as to what they were, but it's good to know that Jesus can break the malignant chains that we have.

Answer 4

Yes, I did experience this. It was the most terrifying experience I have ever had. I thought 3 men were breaking into my home, they stood over me and watched me. I couldn't move, and I didn't dare allow myself to breathe....

Eventually I fell back asleep, despite the fear. However, I remembered it vividly and I just couldn't understand. In my ignorance I thought it might have been ghosts.

Then I heard of sleep paralysis, and it was describing everything that I had felt. It happened 20 years ago, and the memory is like it was last night. Now I know, what it truly was.

Just like I always say, just because you don't have the answer "now" doesn't mean you won't find it later. Save conclusions for after you have received your facts.

Answer 5

Seep paralysis is simply where you are aware you are dreaming and cant physically move your body. Has nothing to do with evil spirits or thinking ppl are breaking. Has nothing to do with religion. Although there are old wives tales about it, this is one of them that I do not believe.

I experience this usually when I have taken benzodiazpines (sp). I have been on cancer treatment through the last 3 years and have panic attacks so I have had my fair share of this class of drugs. And while on these meds are the only time I have experienced this.

I will be aware I am dreaming, or I will be starting to wake up, and unable to will my body to move. When I finally can move, it takes a few mins of concentration.

So, in my case, it is drug induced.

Answer 6

When I lived in the desert it happened to me a lot. I vaguely remember a severe, sharp pain in my left nostril and up into my sinuses. This year I went to a specialist for my sinuses. The left nostril is almost totally blocked by a deviated septum. I didn't break my nose until this fall. This happened when I was a teen. When the doctor ran a numbing medicine up my nostril I instantly remembered the pain. It feels like something is lodged in there and my septum is holding/hiding it up in there. I had not thought about, or remembered that pain up until then. The pain is associated with the paralysis.

Answer 7

It's happened to me several times (and will probably keep happening). I'm an atheist. It doesn't mean anything to me. My dreams are usually about trying to help somebody, but not being able to move.

As I've said, it means nothing. There's probably a physiological cause to it. I don't really care.

Don't remember the last time it happened, though. It's been quite a while.

I also have another sleep disorder. It might or might not be related to sleep paralysis. It doesn't affect my life much, so I haven't researched it.

Answer 8

Yes, after my first child was born. She was only a few days old and I woke up, but couldn't move. I knew what sleep paralysis is, so I knew what I had experienced, but man, was that gollum crawling around on my walls ever real. I later saw a picture of that creature posted by someone who had taken a random picture of a cave wall in the desert in Syria or somewhere in the Middle East. Creeped me right out. When the picture was processed, the creature was in it.

Answer 9

I had this throughout my pre-teen and teenage years. Maybe once or twice a week.

Now I have it maybe once a year. I'm not scared by it anymore, but I used to be petrified. It's a small glimpse into the world of paralysis, and that's not something I would wish on anyone. It was a terrifying thing.

Answer 10

Suspect I have, several times when I was on night duty. I wasn't frightened, but I was able to repeat conversations that took place when I was supposedly snorning.

Spirtuality had nothing to do with it. it's a state of mind.

& BTW I agree with some key Wikki points. I've long thought it was the cause of the medieval cases of being "Hag Ridden" & current ones related to UFO abductions.

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