Levy78

Hi,

I have had sleep paralysis as long as I can remember. When I was younger it would come and go and was never that big of deal. I didn't think anything of it and thought it was 'normal'.

As I grew older (teens), the sleep paralysis became more frequent. I would have phantom movements where I had the senstation of moving my limbs, etc. but of course they weren't actually moving. I also had wild hallucinations and the ever so common loud buzz in my ears. There were times when I wouldn't experience it for some time, and there were other periods I would have it virtually every night. I had no clue what it was, but I knew I was getting sick of it.

With the advent of the internet, and some self analysis, I learned more about it. Here is what I have found out about sleep paralysis, relative to myself:

I can completely control sleep paralysis. It took me years to realize, but I would only experience the sleep paralysis if I had taken a nap that day. If I do not take a nap, I do not have sleep paralysis. If I take a nap, I will almost certainly have it that night. If I wake up in the middle of the night for some reason and have a break in my sleep for more than an hour or so, when i finally go back to sleep, I will have sleep paralysis.

Without question, sleep paralysis is somehow tied into the sleep pattern and breaking of that pattern. I also think that stress increases the chances of it happening.

I have learned to how to wake myself up from it if I want to. I can usually kick my legs hard enough that I can wake up within a minute or so. Also, one of the benefits of having a wife is she will usually wake me up when she sees or feels me jerking around a little. Sometimes, I simply just go with it and don't try to wake myself up. The other night, I managed to stay in "it" for over 9 minutes. (I watched the clock).

I have never heard of anyone being hurt by sleep paralysis. If you don't like, practice on brining yourself out of it. Move your eyes around, kick your legs. Any body movement will usually do the trick. Also, pay attention to what you do on the days that it happens. I know my is directly related to taking naps, and breaks in my sleep. Now, because of this, I seldom take naps, but if I do take a nap, it is no big deal.

I know this is getting wordy so I will try to wrap this up. Remember, if you have an episode, once you come out of it, get up and walk around for a few minutes. For me, this prevents myself from falling into another episode. For years, I would wake up and then go right back into to it. Sometimes all night long. Sleep paralysis does not have to have an impact on your life. Just take the time to study what might be causing it and then you can go into prevention mode if you want.

Lastly, I will say this. I don't think this is any sort of out of the body experince, etc. I think it is simply the brain chemicals going haywire a little. For those of you that know, I have seen the "old hag" many times, she isn't real! Take care.