mad dreams...

builder22 · 3 Feb 2011 at 16:58

anyone ever heard of sleep paralysis, where you can hear/see what's going on around you but can't move?
I've experienced this loads (and wasn't too bothered about it as I had read about 'sleep paralysis') but recently have had times when I MUST have been dreaming, it's just that the dreams are so vivid I can't tell if it's real or not!!
I mean I must be dreaming that I am waking up in my room/chair or wherever I am at the time I am actually sleeping/dreaming

anyway, sleep paralysis, anyone know of this as none of my friends/workmates have!
is this just some crazy internet tale!

Retromatic · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:05

Yes I've had it since I was a kid, it's very very common. I don't actually get it that much anymore (Now 33) but used to get it loads from say 8-23 it's got less and less over the years for me.

The other types of dreams your talking about - do you mean you become aware your dreaming sometimes? If so it's Lucid dreaming. I've had quite a few of these but not any for ages.

I do have a lot of "nightmares" though, I have all my life, annoying but nice when you wake up and realise you are in fact still alive.

Holliday · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:06

As far as I understand everyone experiences sleep paralysis when they go to sleep, but for most people their minds are asleep before this occurs thus they don't realise.

If you've ever attempted lucid dreaming from an awake state, then you go through this stage everytime, and it can be quite scary if you don't know what to expect. Generally your body begins to feel heavy, you feel the sensation of falling or being sucked into a hole, a feeling of electricity or vibrations running through your body.

People who try to induce lucid dreams do something called reality checks during the day. The one which worked for me was to hold your nose (do it right now) and try to blow out your nose, you obviously won't be able to. When this becomes a habit and, in your case, you wake up in your bed (but are actually still asleep) try this, and you'll see that you can breath through your nose even though you just held it, thus realising you're in a dream.

Sounds crazy but it does work!

Glaucus · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:11

Yep use to get it loads, from the simple something sat on your chest, through to room full of snakes, flaming satan and what i can only describe as a heart attack. Crushing chest followed by peace and being lifted of the bed by a white light. Thankfully haven't had them for a few years.

builder22 · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:13

the other type I mean....for instance,the other night, I was lying in bed and thought it was the sleep paralysis thing then i felt (what I thought) the covers moving then I started to get pulled around my bed!! at that point I relaxed as I knew it must have been a dream, which makes me wonder if the sleep paralysis thing is just a dream that I can't seperate from reality!!

today was weird....fell asleep in the truck at work, when i woke up i could hear cars passing and could see the dash etc but couldn't move fully, I could make my head swing from side to side though but couldn't sit up properly!

tom91x91 · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:14

had it loads its horrible.

lucid dreaming can be awesome when it happens though, usually resulting in waking up with a huge erection.

Glaucus · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:14

builder22 said:
the other type I mean....for instance,the other night, I was lying in bed and thought it was the sleep paralysis thing then i felt (what I thought) the covers moving then I started to get pulled around my bed!! at that point I relaxed as I knew it must have been a dream, which makes me wonder if the sleep paralysis thing is just a dream that I can't seperate from reality!!
!

That is also just sleep paralysis your dreaming and awake at same time.

In addition, the paralysis may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger.[9] Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual because of the vividness of such hallucinations.[8] The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful or dream-like objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for alien abductions and ghostly encounters.

doiks14 · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:14

I've had it.. It's slightly creepy. You can hear and see everything around you but you're not completely sure whether you're asleep or awake

but can't really confirm because your body's asleep

Holliday · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:18

builder22 said:
today was weird....fell asleep in the truck at work, when i woke up i could hear cars passing and could see the dash etc but couldn't move fully, I could make my head swing from side to side though but couldn't sit up properly!

I got that quite a few times when attempting lucid dreaming. I could move my head around but I couldn't lift it, it felt stuck to the pillow. I also tried to shout and I sounded very robotic.

I think in both cases it's a mix of conciousness with light sleeping and sleep paralysis, until you're completely awake it's hard to determine if it was in fact all a dream.

friddela · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:26

builder22 said:
the other type I mean....for instance,the other night, I was lying in bed and thought it was the sleep paralysis thing then i felt (what I thought) the covers moving then I started to get pulled around my bed!! at that point I relaxed as I knew it must have been a dream, which makes me wonder if the sleep paralysis thing is just a dream that I can't seperate from reality!!

today was weird....fell asleep in the truck at work, when i woke up i could hear cars passing and could see the dash etc but couldn't move fully, I could make my head swing from side to side though but couldn't sit up properly!

I must get these type of dream every night, sometimes multiple times before I get to sleep and it's horrible. It normally feels like I'm being dragged somewhere and my heart races. Try and last as long as I can but even though I know it's a dream I still wake my self up. Feels like an adrenaline rush but not in a good way. I want to be able to push past it and do what people say they can do in lucid dreams, not really worked as of yet!

Glaucus · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:30

friddela said:
I must get these type of dream every night, sometimes multiple times before I get to sleep and it's horrible. It normally feels like I'm being dragged somewhere and my heart races. Try and last as long as I can but even though I know it's a dream I still wake my self up. Feels like an adrenaline rush but not in a good way. I want to be able to push past it and do what people say they can do in lucid dreams, not really worked as of yet!

they are two separate things and I have never had one lead to the other. With sleep paralysis, best just to remember what it is and relax and you soon fall asleep again.

simon22 · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:43

In almost every dream, I somewhat go blind, I have no idea why... It's like I'm somewhere with someone, but I can't see them and I go blind, usually the blindness is so strong I can't see nothing in the dream, so weird...

friddela · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:44

Many people who commonly enter sleep paralysis also suffer from narcolepsy. In African Americans, panic disorder occurs with sleep paralysis more frequently than in Caucasian Americans.[14] Some reports read that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:

Sleeping in a face upwards or supine position
Increased stress
Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode.
Excessive consumption of alcohol coupled with lack of adequate sleep.

That's from Wikipedia so it might be possible. I'll keep trying.

builder22 · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:56

so today when I could only move my head....could I really move my head or was I dreaming that ?!?
if someone was looking at me would my head be swinging about ?? :rolleyes:

Glaucus · 3 Feb 2011 at 17:59

As I understand it you can only moves eyes when in sleep paralysis allthough you get loads of odd feelings. So head would have been still.

Coolasmoo · 3 Feb 2011 at 18:04

AcidHell2 said:
Yep use to get it loads, from the simple something sat on your chest, through to room full of snakes, flaming satan and what i can only describe as a heart attack. Crushing chest followed by peace and being lifted of the bed by a white light. Thankfully haven't had them for a few years.

I have also experianced this often, and its scary as hell

I sometimes feel i am being pulled out of bed

builder22 · 3 Feb 2011 at 18:14

I always try to move to snap out of it, always feels like I can move a bit of my body, but can't get up
if i try to speak i can't, just make a groan noise, is it likely I'm making that noise for real?

I still don't fully get this btw

am I using the vision from my eyes as a dream?
instead of something completely made up

Glaucus · 3 Feb 2011 at 18:20

When in rem sleep your body is paralised, in sleep paralysis you are still in rem sleep but awake. So body is paralysed and your eyes work so you can see your room, but often you have hallucinations that are overlayed on what you are actually seeing.

builder22 · 3 Feb 2011 at 18:32

cool, glad there's an explanation for all this!

shimy182 · 3 Feb 2011 at 18:57

This is all telly knowledge but they explained it really well.

the most common way caused is by having that Saturday lay in where you drift in and out of sleep, perhaps because there is no reason to get up.
When you're experiencing sleep paralysis thing, your're actually sleep with your eyes closed, but you see your room because that's the last thing you saw, and of course parts of your brain think you are awake, so they pull what's in your memory.

This very state, where parts of your brain think you're awake and others that think not is also the cause of why you cannot breath. When asleep, some other parts of the brain kick in to keep you alive by breathing, lowering temps etc etc. However this is not needed when your awake, hence you can control your breathing.

Hope its not Japanese telly telling lies again, but I remember it shown on a reliable program

also, even after knowing the above, i still dose on Saturday