Sleep Paralysis

[grannypat]

I had sleep paralysis a lot as a teenager, not so much as an adult. I have had it both in a hammock and a bed. It's very scary.

[IRONFISH45]

GREAT Thread.
Some of you are describing SLEEP APNEA the way I did before I knew I had it. You need a Sleep Study it could save your life. Sleep apnea is lined with Heart Conditions, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and other chronic conditions. It is easy to treat with out drug therapy.

I have sleep paralysis scares me half to death. I have had it most of my life, just thought it was a bad dream. I have also had problems sleeping for many years, made high school difficult because I could not sleep at night. I was always dreaming I had dived too deep and needed to get to the surface to get air, I would also feel too cold.

What I think was happening were two things. My breathing was stopping along with my heart. I now know that my heart has a electrical problem. My heart does indeed stop. I now have a computer in my shoulder that acts as a defibrillator, it delivers a jolt to my heart when it stops beating, it keeps shocking me until my brain stops or someone shuts it off with a magnet. I think maybe that has something to do with the sleep paralysis. Two years ago I stopped taking the medication for my heart, I promptly had a Stroke, scared the heck out of me. Now when I have Sleep Paralysis I am scared to death that I have had another Stroke. I know if I get upset my defibrillator will shock the sh-- out of me.

I have no idea if others are having the same basic type of problem or not. Doctor's are not normally very helpful, they do not know how to put all these events together. I complained about not being able to sleep for years, I was just given drugs to force me to sleep, I was afraid to take them. Turns out I was 100% correct. Can't breathe have to wake up to breath, can't wake up, die? Dying in your sleep is not gentle if you can not breathe.

Just as an aside, my step-son, has sleep paralysis if he eats something ridiculously sugary before he goes to bed. I thought maybe he had a problem with his Pancreas.

Very interesting thread and thank you for starting it. I hope people will use it as food for thought.

[JToon]

After reading this I feel I should go to a doctor. I thought this was a normal thing. It happens to me often enough that I am able to mind or matter it and just chill until it passes. I could see how it would scare a person that expierences it rarely. It is weird that this is a condition I feel I have and had to google what the term meant.

[Old Dog]

I've never had it or even heard of it. I've been sleeping in a hammock every night for something over 2 years now and love it. I'm so comfortable when I wake up that I don't even want to get up except that my bladder demands it. Would never go back to a bed by choice.

[sliver]

I've been worried about that since I started using curare to minimize the worry lines on my face.

Well, to be honest, I just told my wife I had sleep paralysis to avoid having to get up early and mow the lawn. She says, "Get up and mow the lawn before it gets too late." I just lay there giving her shark eyes and drooling until she gives up in disgust and fixes me some coffee and breakfast.

I'm just wondering if, when she says, "You are such a jerk." I should agree with her and mow the lawn OR tell her I'm going camping for the rest of the weekend.

I don't know - what do you guys think?

;-)

[Dead Man]

I've had this happen to me only one time and I never want it to happen again. I was the Baptist Student Union Director at a small junior college and was a dorm dad. When it happened I could sense someone in the room but I could not move. Not my arms, my legs or anything other than my eyes. I could see the figure start at the head of my bed on the left dragging the tip of a large knife along the bed cover down to the foot of the bed across to the top of the bed on the right side. I knew he was there and wanted to get up and, well, I have no idea what. Fight, run, soil myself. I have no idea only that I wanted to move but it was completely impossible. Then suddenly he was gone and I could move. I bolted from the bed, grabbed the bat I had next to the bed and made a tour through the entire building looking for who the heck was ballsy enough to walk in my room like that. I've never been so terrified in all my life. I've been in some pretty hairy places and done some truly dangerous things. Been scared respecting the situation and the moment but nothing and I mean nothing like that.

Never had that since, absolutely never in my hammock praise God and pray I never do again. I feel entirely safe in my hammock. Something like that would ruin it for me

[nothermark]

FWIW - It would seem to me that if you can all asleep in a lounge chair and wake up OK then sleeping on your back in a hammock probably will not be any different. The hammock will be more comfortable. ;-)

[IMScotty]

Never had this happen, never heard of it. Hopefully, never will.

[Mouseskowitz]

There are a couple of things that have been mentioned that are not exclusively sleep paralysis. So, just for the sake of clarification here are some definitions.

Sleep paralysis — Sleep paralysis is the complete inability to move for one or two minutes immediately after awakening. It may also occur just before falling asleep. Episodes of sleep paralysis can be frightening because the immobility may be accompanied by hypnopompic hallucinations or a sensation of suffocation. The feeling of suffocation may be related to slight reductions in tidal volume that occur during sleep paralysis.

Hypnagogic hallucinations — Hypnagogic hallucinations are vivid, often frightening visual, tactile, or auditory hallucinations that occur as the patient is falling asleep. They probably result from a mixture of dreaming and wakefulness during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Hypnopompic hallucinations are similar hallucinations that occur upon awakening.

Obstructive sleep apnea — Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by recurrent collapse of the pharyngeal airway during sleep, resulting in substantially reduced or complete cessation of airflow despite ongoing breathing efforts. This leads to intermittent disturbances in gas exchange (eg, hypercapnia and hypoxemia) and fragmented sleep. The severity of OSA in any given individual is likely influenced by a combination of factors, including upper airway anatomy, arousal threshold, body habitus, and stability of the respiratory control system.

[theretroking]

Just stumbled on this thread. Was out this week in the hammock in a lean to and had the paralysis/ hallucination in the middle of the night. Mine wasn't so creepy, just thought I heard a park ranger walking around the lean to and thought he slipped a 10 year old receipt in my pack. By the time I could move, realized it was a dream, but was still creepy nonetheless...