Sleep paralysis -- the most terrifying experience of my life.
By asandifer87
@asandifer87 (99)
United States
September 3, 2008 12:22am CST
I had no idea it was a real medical condition until I was researching narcolepsy and read the symptoms of sleep paralysis. Although I don't have narcolepsy, this is my experience.
It was the second night in the hospital after giving birth to my first child. I couldn't sleep the night before because I was too excited at the arrival of my daughter. So instead of taking one percocet, I decided to take two to help me go to sleep. (Given to me by the nurse of course.) I fell asleep much better that night, but then the most terrifying thing happened. I woke up, unable to move anything, but my eyes. It was dark, my husband was sleeping on the couch and my daughter was sleeping in the baby hospital bed. Standing in the corner by the bathroom, was a man in a white lab coat with glowing red eyes and sharp teeth staring right at me. I wanted to scream, but I was unable to do anything. The image of the malevolent man, like a broken tv image, flashed towards me until he was right at my face. I was so scared, I wanted to cry. Then as he looked at me one last time, he went over to my daughter's bed and leaned over sticking his hands and face in the bed. I was so afraid he was hurting her. Then finally, he was gone and I could move again. I was too scared to go back to sleep. So I yelled for my husband to turn the lights on and tried to figure out what the hell had just happened.
Now that could not have been any worse of a time to experience sleep paralysis. And I am lucky to have only experienced it once, besides maybe a few times when I was a kid. Was it the percocet, which I refused to take anymore. Or maybe the stress and lack of sleep. You know just writing about it and reliving the moment is kinda making me feel like that man is here right now. Anyone else ever experienced anything like this?
5 people like this
9 responses
@k1virus1978 (543)
• Singapore
4 Sep 08
Sleep Paralysis happen to me once, sleep paralysis or out of the experience I'm not sure. But it was during the night when i was asleep, i think it was about early morning of 3 am when i was bout to wake up to take a pee. I realise that I'm unable to move my body, i was awake and my soul seems to be floating out of my body. I was freaked and scared, i just be like that in like bout 30 Mins or so and things became normal again. I was confused, was it out of the body experience or is it just sleep paralysis.
@asandifer87 (99)
• United States
4 Sep 08
I'm not too sure. I think I remember reading that you can feel like you are floating in sleep paralysis. But an out of body experience sounds like the best way to explain that. I had that happen to me one time when I was a kid, except I was watching myself floating out of my body. Dreams and stuff are so strange.
1 person likes this
@irdsm1 (288)
• United States
3 Sep 08
What you likely experienced was not sleep paralysis, but a nightmare (given the amount of nightmarish things that happened). Or maybe it was a hypnagogic hallucination (a vision or series of visions that occur in the early stages of sleep, well known to lucid dreamers) coupled with sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis can be very scary because you have no control at the time, but it is not dangerous and as long as you stay calm it isn't a bad thing. Sleep paralysis sometimes affect lucid dreamers when they use WILD method (wake induced lucid dream). The goal is to stay conscious until you reach a dreaming state, where you can control and interact with your dream. Sleep paralysis is a way for the body to keep you from moving during a dream which could cause self injury.
Dan
1 person likes this
@asandifer87 (99)
• United States
4 Sep 08
It was definitely scary. I had no control. But I don't think it was a plain nightmare because it was so real even after I "woke up". There wasn't a blurriness that there is in all my dreams. It looked just as real as being completely awake.
1 person likes this
@pitstop (13791)
• Australia
4 Sep 08
I have had sleep paralysis a few times and its a terrible experience. I usually am in the same state as yours - unable to move but apparently able to see everything around. Most of the time I have a thief trying to break into the house or coming to harm someone and I am unable to scream or anything.
1 person likes this
@underdogtoo (9579)
• Philippines
4 Sep 08
I have experienced something similar to that. In my country, it is quite common and it is called "bangungut". It usually happens when you go to sleep after a very big meal with lots of rice. Very often, it is fatal and people are quite used to that condition so they caution against sleeping on a very full stomach. You are conscious but unable to move or speak.The trick is to move or wiggle your toes and fingers until you get enough blood circulation going.
1 person likes this
@mrowland (14)
•
3 Sep 08
Hi just wanted to day you are not alone. I frequentley get Sleep paralys episodes and yes it is very terrifying. I know this might sound strange but sometimes if you just go with it you will find you can hav an out of body experiece and start floating around everywhere and you can make it into a pleasent episode.... Very hard to do you need to be very calm to just ride it out. I my self end up just desperaltley trying to shout out or shaking my head slightly up and down.
Luckily my wife can see when i'm having an attack and wake me
@asandifer87 (99)
• United States
4 Sep 08
That's not strange at all.. when I was little, I used to get nightmares pretty much every night. I ended up learning how to control my dreams for the most part. I could almost always wake myself up by pulling my eyelids open really wide in the dream. I even made myself dream about something I wanted to dream about one time. But now I can't do any of that stuff now. I don't dream as much anymore either. And fortunately, I haven't experienced anything like that night in the hospital again.
@sooz48 (34)
•
1 Dec 08
Like you say, sleep paralysis is a real condition and there are websites that can tell you more about it. I have suffered from this for many years, I don't get it very often, maybe two or three times a year but it can be a terrifying experience. Sleep Paralysis is often accompanied by some form of 'being' in the room with you.
Although during sleep paralysis I am unable to open my eyes I always know what the 'being' looks like. The 'being' takes different forms. It quite often sits on the bed beside me pulling the bedclothes tight around me so I find it hard to breath. I know this is not a dream, I am awake and can hear everything that is going on around me. I also know that the 'being' is some form of hallucination that is common with sleep paralysis. As soon as I am able to move the hallucination is no longer there and I can breath properly again.
If you would like to discuss this further then feel free to message me. I hope that you won't have any further episodes, but if you do just remember that you won't come to any harm and it is quite common.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
5 Sep 08
hi asandifer 87 I bet you anything that was not a real person but a halucination brought on by the t wo percocet. I had a similar experince in the deliveryroom brought on by some narcotic dont know what, bbu I saw a dog,looked like my dog, wandering in the deliveryroom and called out, get that dog out of here, and the gyn. told me I was having a halucination, there was no dog there. but i did give everyone a laugh, and i had to laugh too but it was so very terrifyingly real to me.
@fifileigh (3615)
• United States
10 Sep 08
i have seen similar in dreams or nightmares.
was yours a nightmare u had in a dream?
@quinnkl (1667)
• United States
4 Sep 08
How horrible. I am sorry you had to go through that. I don't know much about sleep paralysis, but have had nightmares all of my life. Very real, very horrifying nightmares. Night terrors I think they are sometimes called. Too scary. I am glad you are not taking the percocet any longer, as that seems to be the culprit if you never had them before or after! Good luck to you
