Freaky, paralyzing dreams

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oliveu2cm

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I'm posting this because I want someone to give me an explanation for it!!!

I just woke up a few minutes ago from a real bad dream, but not a nightmare.

Once in a while (on random nights) I get these really scary dreams in which I become paralyzed and - today was more vivid than ever. it was scary. I feel something pressing on top of my stomach and I've learned it's best not to move or anything (b/c then I panic, try to scream but can't) and I heard my radio going on and off and I saw like a light but couldn't see.. it's so weird. This time I didn't scream but most times I try to scream and scream and no one can hear me. Also usually I open my eyes (or at least I "see" my bedroom) so I feel like I'm awake while I'm usually not fully conscious.

Ugh, do I even wanna know if it's something worse than a nightmare??? :(

and now i'm scared to go back to sleep (because it always happens more than once).
 
Scary stuff. Do you mean literally paralyzing? Like you are really sufferingf a paralysis that will still be there when you wake up? I'm curious. I dont really have any learnings on dreams, what I believe them to be is not all that interpretation stuff, so I'm not the best person to give advice if that is what you believe too.
First off, I guess you have already done this anyway, but rule out any actual external influence for this sensation you dream about. Ie, a cat you may have walking onto your stomach, or your partner throwing their arm over you in their sleep which in turn seeps into your dream. I know I am forever getting outside things filtering into my dreams, like a car outside or the alarm or a phone ringing etc. These things are odd as it seems like they really are part of a dream, but dream experts and such say we finish dreaming a while before we actually wake. I believe that, but then we get scary dreams that actually wake us up, so perhaps the fear we feel is so apparent, that it IS occuring while we are having a dream.
Then I suppose the next thing for your to ascertain is what came first. A fear of paralysis, or the paralysis occuring in your dreams lending to your fear. I have this theory about fear in dreams, and it especially relates back to those that recur. I dont think the recurring aspect is so important, as to what you are actually dreaming of. Of course it is terribly unnerving to have this same or similar dream crop up every so often, but I think the human brain simply relives a fear that has previously been planted. So therefore every time you dream this, it adds a little more to that fear quotent, until you reach this point in time, and it seems to be so much bigger than what it really might have been. The first time you had it may have had a fairly innocent start. A tv doco on paralysis, meeting a person in a wheelchair and having the usual thought of how terribly difficult and frightening that would be, maybe a conversation with someone about becoming paralysed. The roots could be from anywhere, and I may not be right, I only guess at all this.
Maybe try experimenting when you have it. Sounds stupid I know as we cant control much when we are asleep, but giving this a lot of thought will help your brain associate these thoughts with it next time you have it. Try finding out what it is that is on top of you, reach out for it and feel it. Its not easy, but it is only a dream and whatever you are dealing with is not tangible. It cant physically hurt you. Argh I hated the Nightmare On Elm St movies!
Sorry to have raved on! You have probably gone to bed by now anyway, but I love talking about dreams cos they are usually so wacky. I dont have a clue on how you could stop it. I have had a recurring nightmare since I was in my teens and still have no clue why I get it or how to stop having it. Its as frsutrating as anything.

Anyhow, sleep tight and think of only good things!
 
:scratch:
Hi, Don't worry I used to get this some times too, I've had a number of explanations as to what it is from various people that i've mentioned it to:

1. The part of your brain that you use to move your body is still asleep and the other part of it is awake.
2. Astral projection, Your astral self leaves your body and you wake up before it has returned.
3. Alien abduction?! (Hmmm).
4. A dream.

I guess tou just have to take your pick really, and hope that it doesn't happen too often :yuck:
 
I used to get the same thing ALL the time. It's called "awareness during sleep paralysis." If you do a search on the internet, you can find a lot of sites that talk about possible causes and explain it a little further.
 
thanks!

Angela thanks for your response!

I love dreams too- even the interpretation side (www.swoon.com has some of the most accurate dream interpretation around. it's sorta freaky how accurate it is!) but I dont like this aspect of it.

Basically what happens is I feel like I'm awake but I can't moveeeee. and there's this intense pressure on my stomach like a hand pushing down. if I'm on my stomach then it's like something's over my back- you know how your back sort of wiggles in that way, and you get all goosebumps on your neck! good thinking- but I don't have a cat or anyone in bed with me, or any other external thing. Plus my alarm wasn't even set today even though I "heard" music from it! the light could be from my curtains, though. it was just weird.

the fear of paralysis.. that's the odd thing, i've neeever been afraid of it, don't watch tv on it or anything. obviously I dont want it to happen but it's not something I think about except when I'm slamming on my brakes in the car or something. ;)

the point about reliving a fear that has been previously planted is interesting- when I was a kid i had similar nightmare to this about me going to the top of the stairs and then being FROZEn there, where i couldn't move and tried screaming but couldn't make a sound. lol I feel like I need to pay you guys $200 for this session.. ;)

Angela Harlem said:
with it next time you have it. Try finding out what it is that is on top of you, reach out for it and feel it. Its not easy, but it is only a dream and whatever you are dealing with is not tangible.

ack! *scared*

blondeann13 said:
1. The part of your brain that you use to move your body is still asleep and the other part of it is awake.
2. Astral projection, Your astral self leaves your body and you wake up before it has returned.

Thanks blondeann ... number 1 sounds like it could be it, scientifically!! and #2 is what i'm afraid it is!! Ever since I read that stupid book like 8 years ago about people leaving their bodies and restless souls swooping in to take over!! :ohmy: :reject:

Lol what an interesting morning!!!
 
meegannie said:
I used to get the same thing ALL the time. It's called "awareness during sleep paralysis." If you do a search on the internet, you can find a lot of sites that talk about possible causes and explain it a little further.


omg thanks meegannie! looking..
 
Maybe it's "Night Tremors"??? This is often common with little children but maybe it could also happen to adults. They are not fun...I used to have them all the time when I was a child.

Basically, you are having a nightmare but you are kind of awake. My mom said she would find me sitting up in bed, trembling or crying, with my eyes open and responding to her. All this while still being in the middle of a nightmare.

It may not be exactly the same, but it's kinda similar.:slant:
 
this is it

meegannie said:
I used to get the same thing ALL the time. It's called "awareness during sleep paralysis." If you do a search on the internet, you can find a lot of sites that talk about possible causes and explain it a little further.


Meegannie you used to get it too??? Looking it up online.. this is IT, this is exactly what happens!!!!!

i'm sooooo scared right now I don't want any sort of out of body experience or being thrown out or whatever!!!!! :no: :no: :no:
 
Re: this is it

oliveu2cm said:



Meegannie you used to get it too??? Looking it up online.. this is IT, this is exactly what happens!!!!!

i'm sooooo scared right now I don't want any sort of out of body experience or being thrown out or whatever!!!!! :no: :no: :no:

I used to get it A LOT, especially my last year of college when my sleep pattern was all screwed up. I would have the hallucinations sometimes, which were the worst parts. I never had an out of body experience or anything like that, but it WAS very scary even without the hallucinations, especially that feeling like the bed is shaking. :no: :huh: :eek: :uhoh:

Do you get these very often, and have they been going on for a long time, or is it just something recent?
 
I don't get them often although I DO very often have lucid dreams, where I can control what was happening!

WHen I was a kid (i guess this was part of it!) I had those nightmares of walking to the top of the stairs to go downstairs, and then getting STUCK. Like I can't physically move. So then I call for help but I can't scream. and I remember being v. v. scared like there were evil stuff around ?? and somehow I'd wake up.

I get this other thing once in a while, recently. Mostly when I was going home to sleep (from school) and not in my own bedroom. once I saw someone too but I convinced myself it was my imagination. he was in the doorway but floating or something, up near the top of the door.

and then this morning happened and I figured I'd post here.. even if someone told me some thing was trying to take over my body i want know!! (not that I necessarily believe that but..)

*sccccared*
 
i used to get those all the time, even as a kid and thru adulthood. i would get them more if i was going thru a stressful time in my life. its been almost a year and a half since i had one, so im pretty happy about that.


i seriously thought they were anxiety attacks. any thoughts on that?
 
stuck

I can't say I've ever had the sensation of a weight and paralysis. That does sound extra distressing. I know I wake up distressed (sweating, sobbing, generally freaked out) but can rarely recall the events in the dream. Just a general sense of foreboding(I have had 2 pleasant dreams in the past year that I can recall, that was rather nice)

But anyway, your childhood dream about going up the stair case and then feeling fearful to move. THAT was a recurring dream I had for a few years. Just awful. Although not a staircase, it was always outdoors, usually involved setting off on a pleasant walk and the terrain getting rougher and steeper. Ultimately, i'd always end up clinging to a cliff, to scared to go up or down, and then I'd wake up.
It was becoming distressful so I told a friend about it who I knew had read quite a bit about dream interpretation. He said, "that's easy, next time it happens, let go and fly"

What a beautiful solution...but I've never had the dream again to attempt to control it's course. i don't know if that is possible anyway. Maybe that bit of advice will serve someone else here. I apprecaite the discussion and shall use the link provided. The site name is a surprise.."swoon" if only...more like
"babboon,
with large teeth trying to eat me" I don't think that many people want to interpret their 'swoon' dreams, just be grateful for those:)

I think some dreams are meaningless, but others are our minds trying to get our attention. Goodluck
 
I suffered this most of my life. Sleep paralysis is kind of interesting, I read somewhere that another reason it happens, is that your body tries to shut down your muscle system so you don't move when you're asleep, but sometimes you wake up when this is happening, and you're paralyzed.

The weird thing is, is that I realize this is happening, but I really fight to wake up and hopefully snap out of it.

Has anyone here ever let themselves actually ride it out and fall asleep? I think this a step to getting to astral projection.

The weirdest thing to ever happen to me was one night I was sleeping on my back and my girlfriend was sleeping next to me, and I thought she was talking in her sleep, because I kept hearing voices, but she wasn't, and all the sudden I felt something above my chest, but not on it, then I heard 2 voices, and one of them said "holy shit, there is too much negative energy here" and that is when I started moaning really loudly, and my girlfriend woke me up.

I think I had an out of body experience too, I remember floating above my body by just a few feet, and I could see myself lying on my bed, on my stomach, and my head was laying sideways on a pillow, then I felt this rush and I was back in my body and woke up.

Lately I only experience sleep paralysis in the earlier mornings, when I am laying on my side. Lately the experiences have felt weird, I am usually stuck and I feel muscle spasms in my back, which I guess is my body trying to shut down my muscle system so I don't move while I am sleeping, I guess. I haven't experienced a really good SP episode as of late.

It really fascinates as much as it scares me, I always wondered what would happen if I didn't fight it, if I just let myself sleep. When I hear about people dying in their sleep I always wonder if they experienced sleep paralysis and died from it.
 
sleep paralysis

it is scary.

I could have typed David's post word for word (almost). Each time it occurs it keeps getting weirder. I think the key is too not panic, but it's hard when you are hearing those voices, and you realize you are awake. UGH
 
U2DMfan said:
sleep paralysis

it is scary.

I could have typed David's post word for word (almost). Each time it occurs it keeps getting weirder. I think the key is too not panic, but it's hard when you are hearing those voices, and you realize you are awake. UGH

Have you ever heared high pitched ringing noises in your ears when this has happened? One time I did, when I was sleeping on my left side, I had this high pitched ringing sound in my right ear, and I also heard other strange things.
 
I used to get these dreams all the time. Usually, something (usually a creature, or someone from a story or whatever) had paralyzed me, and I had to fight it. I used to get these dreams very, very often. Then, in 2000, I was asleep on my bed with my dog under my arm, and all of a sudden I was jolted awake and I could feel the pillow pressing down on my face, and I could see too, but all the colours were messed up -- the pillow (which is maroon IRL) was black, with green wiry lines all across it. I was completely paralyzed, and I couldn't move at all, and I felt like I was being smothered -- I couldn't breathe. It felt absolutely horrible, and I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. Then, what I saw changed, to a black background with some blue, and these words: "Contact spacestation MIR." :huh:!! A second or two went by, just enough time for me to read it, then all of a sudden I woke up, feeling like I hadn't breathed in hours.

Ever since that, I've never had any dreams where I was paralyzed. Now, for some reason, I have dreams where I'm just floating away -- flying, really. And the sensation is very, very real -- just as real as the dreams where I was paralyzed. Very weird.
 
david said:


Have you ever heared high pitched ringing noises in your ears when this has happened? One time I did, when I was sleeping on my left side, I had this high pitched ringing sound in my right ear, and I also heard other strange things.

I've heard the high-pitched noises and voices before too. The voices usually come at the beginning and the ringing noises usually happen when the shaking part begins. I've also had the floating experience you mentioned. :huh:
 
Interesting stuff.

Something interesting about sleep paralysis is that there are two kinds of it: CSP (common sleep paralysis) and HSP (hallucinatory sleep paralysis). I remember having CSP now that I look back, and, yes, I had the ear ringing. It sounds like david had HSP episodes, especially in reference to the "bad aura." CSP is fairly common, while HSP is rare.

http://www.nightterrors.org/paralysis.html

Melon
 
olive, david, et al - I had exactly those same kinds of experiences, too, as kid through young adulthood--lots of astral projection, voices, noices, etc. It all just stopped at some point. There are all kinds of explanations in mysticism and esoteric spirituality with regards to the voices, the music, the high-pitched noises...but I don't know how much you want to know. david, I'd love to hear what other strange things you heard. Feel free to pm me.
 
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Since I wrote this I have had a few more pretty bad experiences.

One I was lying on my stomach and it felt like someone was lying on top of me. I knew it was a man and I thought he was Chinese. I could feel the pressure of him (that heavy feeling) and really started to panic for a second, especially when I got the feeling he was trying to hurt me. There was this INTENSE shuffling under my pillow- the only way to describe it is as if a small dog was under my pillows and running back and forth. I have no clue what that was but it was very scary. I reminded myself if I relax, then it goes away. And it did.

The other was scary in a different way. Someone, something, was trying to get my attention. I was refusing to pay attention, despite hearing the music (from the direction of my alarm clock) and then what I *distinctly* remember are seeing two hands flash into my right field of vision and clap intenstly twice to get my attention, and I totally fucking paniced and made myself relax to wake up. It was scary b/c whatever it was wanted me to look and I just instinctly knew I didn't want to.

joyfulgirl said:
There are all kinds of explanations in mysticism and esoteric spirituality with regards to the voices, the music, the high-pitched noises...but I don't know how much you want to know. david, I'd love to hear what other strange things you heard. Feel free to pm me.

It's like looking at a car wreck.. because I do want to know. I'm afraid if I find out it'll make me more paranoid (i've also had a couple dreams where I *thought* I was having a paralysis attack because I'm so afraid of them). I just, don't want any of that leave-my-body kinda think :uhoh: or anything like that :no:. But I'd like to know what the music & voices are about.
 
mind rules over body
Dreams are only a message from your mind. Don't fight the dream, but make it your own. if you try not panic and try to say "let there be light" or "stop the music" you can change your dream.
 
oliveu2cm said:
One I was lying on my stomach and it felt like someone was lying on top of me. I knew it was a man and I thought he was Chinese. I could feel the pressure of him (that heavy feeling) and really started to panic for a second, especially when I got the feeling he was trying to hurt me. There was this INTENSE shuffling under my pillow- the only way to describe it is as if a small dog was under my pillows and running back and forth. I have no clue what that was but it was very scary. I reminded myself if I relax, then it goes away. And it did.

this happened to me about a year ago except for the shuffling under my pillow. and it was some crazy woman. i could feel her breathing on my neck. i could not get her off of me. it was horrible. i've also had one where i was lying on my back and i was looking the woman in the eyes. it was a true struggle and then i did what you did - i relaxed eventually and she went away. except i was totally terrified to sleep for about two weeks. for all i know it was just a horrible nightmare in my case.

i also have night spider issues but that's a whole other thread.
 
oliveu2cm said:

The other was scary in a different way. Someone, something, was trying to get my attention. I was refusing to pay attention, despite hearing the music (from the direction of my alarm clock) and then what I *distinctly* remember are seeing two hands flash into my right field of vision and clap intenstly twice to get my attention, and I totally fucking paniced and made myself relax to wake up. It was scary b/c whatever it was wanted me to look and I just instinctly knew I didn't want to.

I've had the same thing. :uhoh:
 
Screaming Flower said:


this happened to me about a year ago except for the shuffling under my pillow. and it was some crazy woman. i could feel her breathing on my neck. i could not get her off of me. it was horrible. i've also had one where i was lying on my back and i was looking the woman in the eyes. it was a true struggle and then i did what you did - i relaxed eventually and she went away. except i was totally terrified to sleep for about two weeks. for all i know it was just a horrible nightmare in my case.

i also have night spider issues but that's a whole other thread.

that's the classic "old hag" described on the websites I read. Apparently many people see "her" during a paralysis dream. wtf. :uhoh: :eyebrow:


Night spiders.. my boyfriend has that too. Or says at least he's "woken up" in the middle of the night pounding the bed b/c he dreamt there were spiders there :huh:

Meegannie we have a lot in common! :lol: Those two hands clapping- that's WEIRD you had it too, cuz it totally freaked me out!

really weird stuff huh? :coocoo:
 
Olive, I had not seen this thread before, but this sounds very much what I posted about in Melon's "Night Terror" thread in Zoo Confessionals. I don't remember a weighted down feeling like you described, but just a feeling like I couldn't wake up. It happened more than once on a recurring basis, but eventually it went away on it's own.
 
Screaming Flower said:

i also have night spider issues but that's a whole other thread.

What do you mean by night spiders? I've never heard of it before.

This thread is inspiring me to make a premonitions thread.. and possibly a ghost thread, too. :hmm:
 
melon said:
Those appear to be classic cases of HSP.

http://www.nightterrors.org/paralysis.html

This is a really interesting link about it, if you're interested.

Melon


Thanks Melon.

Interesting they say it could be hereditary- I know my mother has these too. And I *usually* get them when I'm on my back (which sucks b/c i like sleeping on my back) but since the summer I've consciously fallen asleep on my stomach. Still when I wake up I sometimes have a paralysis or panic that I'm going to have one.

I wonder why this happens. Dream stuff has always interested me, and I find dream analysis fascinating & oddly accurate.
 
Off the page Melon provided was a link here that said in regards to the aliens.. "Perhaps, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, the greatest intelligence coup the aliens ever pulled was convincing humans that resistance was futile."

Quoting C.S. Lewis? :huh: Did he speak up on this issue?
 
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