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when i fall asleep some times, i wake up but cant move or talk. can only move my eyes!

it started when i was younger! i later found out that its called sleep paralasis!

during sleep paralasis ive witnessed a few strange things?
i one saw a black figure of a guy by my bed and also on another instance it felt like i was lifting off the bed.

has anyone else had such an experience? or have an opinion or theory on such events?

There was a disscussion /thread on this v3ery thing not long ago,I couldnt remember the name of the topic,but its in the archives.There is a lot of info on it.Ive had it happen once4 or twice,but it didnt bother me all that much .

Ok,here is the link to that thread.There are links and everything there,as well as accounts from others.

https://www.vampirerave.com/forum/message.php?message=16031&group=1&catid=1

I've had it happen and had a doctor tell me exactly how it occurs, it's from coming out of a deep sleep, like being awoken suddenly. This happens to me occasionally, I am not a very deep sleeper to begin with but when I do fall into a deep sleep and I am disturbed, my body freaks out like that.

As for the other things you've witnessed, well I won't get into that discussion here

I have been through that once or twice myself. I have also seen things when waking up that I will not disclose here in the forums.


Thank you Oceana for the information my friend.

ZorayaAurora,it is called Atonia,and it is a safety mechanism of the body when transistioning into REM..And the thing Normski experienced is very common.As are alot of other scary things.


http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/8/12/4790

You are most welcome Dear DarkAngelDevina...but I would love to disscuss what you all have witnessed here,I think you might find that many of your accounts are a very common and real part of this process.And perhaps if talked about and learning how /why it happens it could put a rest to your fears.Or,that would be my hope.

I have woken unable to move speak this paralysis indeed. I have seen dark figures on both sides of my bed. and at the foot the shape of something not human and its figure reached to the ceiling of my room. This I have had happen to me several times. I do not know if perhaps its me waking from the dream of these things and pulling their images from within me to manifest within my room as a figment of my imagination or if it truly is more..

Ok yes,that happens a great deal.It is also been called the crushing ghost or old hag phenomenon and it can be terribly frightening.There are many accounts of apparitions,sucubus and even voices and sound.These Hypnopomic and Hypnagogic experiences can cause bad insomnia too because those who experience it dread going to sleep.

Thing about it is,if we dont have this mechanism in place,we are in real danger of hurting ourselves.

There are some good links in that old thread I postsed for you above,I thikn you might find them really helpfull.I brought two of them on over..
http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/anderson/NCR.html



http://neurology.health-cares.net/sleepwalking-causes.php

Also did you know that this phenomenon accounts for many Alien abduction? Or that is what is believed.

i'm not exactly sure if this would count as well, but i have woken up in mid scream with the scream stuck in my throat from a dream unable to say anything or move with tears streaming down my face

I noticed the same effect when I have been knocked out by a chest to the blow, Boxers will look (and talk to, the a ref. that is aside from where they are looking.) I have had this happen, Sometimes the strain to the perifial vision gives a ghost effect, this can be helpful if one wants to scare someone.. or perform a magic trick. The pressure in the eyes, that want to be looking about, splotch the vision.. a very spooky thing paralisis, especial when (like a friend of mine) when someones mother is a crack dealer, and she tells her son that a ghost roams his house, to keep him in bed at night during traffic hours.

Thankfully I've never had any experiences with sleep paralysis. I was looking around and tried to find some pages with other explanations regarding this sleep disorder.

* * * * * *

Sleep paralysis is a condition that occurs in the state just before"The Nightmare" by Johann Heinrich Fussli, 1781 dropping off to sleep (the hypnagogic state) or just before fully awakening from sleep (the hypnopompic state). The condition is characterized by being unable to move or speak. The paralysis may last only a few seconds.

The experience may involve visual, auditory, or tactile hallucinations. The description of the symptoms of sleep paralysis is similar to the description many alien abductees give in recounting their abduction experiences. Sleep paralysis is thought by some to account for not only many alien abduction delusions, but also ghost sightings and delusions involving paranormal or supernatural experiences (e.g., incubus and succubus).

People frequently report feeling a 'presence' that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on the bed. On some occasions, the presence may attack, strangling and exerting crushing pressure on the chest.

References and further reading:

Sleep Paralysis
Sleep Paralysis

Then there is a sentimental (hug) memory.. that moment when we sync. a memory with a recollection, I can swear my grandma is next to me when I sit in front of her paintings, like that is the one place that she would know to connect with me.

Like going to the grave of a deceased loved one, a loved one that you regularly went to the graveyard to visit the graves of other family with, I think it would re-enforce the sentimental (hug) memory.. I recall things my grandpa said in trying moments.. when I was care taker for an autistic boy he would state things with "Grandma says.. or Said.. "

Thoughts are being studied and they are finding things.

I might mention that in that other thread,we also talk about some ways you can deal with it if it happens.I would suggest reading it for sure,as I had gooten alot of posative feed back later that some of the techniques where very helpful..

Brought another one over...


http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050709/bob9.asp

I have heard of it, but never experienced it. To wake and not be able to speak.. hmm some days i think that might be a blessing...

Crawlies .. I have witnessed crawlies in the army.. it is when you pressure the nerve in the side of your neck and shoulder, usually when proped up to rest.. and when you move there is a sweeping "crawling" feeling all over that side of your body. Medications have caused this in a friend of mine, he has lashed out at things that where not their, thinking animals where on him. These are sometimes meshed with visuals from lucid nap dreams.

ive been having this since i was 12 but my mom just made me feel like i was crazy when i told her i thought it was just me makes me feel better to know im not the only one who has it. kinda creepy really because exactly the same cant move or talk but theres a strange black figure

No dear,you are not crazy.It is a very real and documented function of the body.Accounts of it happening occur in the hundreds of thousands and that is being conservative.

I am so stoked to see an application to something tangible in the threads.

It's a normal occurance. When your body is in stage 4 sleep, or the deepest sleep, your body cannot move. When you awaken suddenly in from that stage, you remain that way for just a little bit.

Stage 4 is where nightmares occur, so it's your body's way of staying safe, not to fall off the bed or swing your arms because you are terrified, etc.

Normal dreaming occurs in REM sleep, which is considered the lighest sleeping stage, right above stage 1 sleep. Your body enters different stages throughout the night and at random intervals and times.

hey Oceanne!
thanks for all the links and advice !

i will go study it later as it is very interesting to me?

ive also had a dark figure stand beside me and say your coming with me? that was the only time i was frightened!! other wise i can just play with it ! if ya struggle against it it gets worse but if ya relax it goes away!!
i once went clubbing and took some naughty stuff shall we say and the paralisis was real bad for 2 weeks ! so didnt do that again lol

my brother said he got it once and had an outer body experience?
ive never had that but can well believe him as i felt as i was lifting?

im glad there has been some good response in this thread! its interesting to see everyones opinions


thanks guys keep it coming!!!

special thanks to you Oceanne !!!

Sounds pretty unerving,sure hope you get to the bottom of it one day.
And you are more than welcome,sure hope it helps.

The sad part is that sibling will use this after a younger sibling shares it to spook the younger sibling, often refered to as "The Crushing Geist" in Germany, or various names in spanish culture. Some play up their experience to others to show them how "brave" they where. People like to see people mystified by there tales, a human trait actually, Topping the last campfire tale is a natural art that I have mastered as a story teller, now if I can only write this stuff down.

Then there are those that cannot write fiction and still want to spook others, or act like they have esoteric knowledge that explains things.. alluding to not being a feared of no ghost, but claim academic proof that ghost exist.. only to blunder and buy a hoax.. after writing all that "research" they become a laughing stock eventually.

I've had this happen to me on several occasions, never knew what it was though or what may have caused it. I've seen a figure above me when I wake up it varies though sometimes a man sometimes a woman sometimes a child, one time was even a black cat.

I can't help but suspect that there may be a tie-in between taking "something naughty", and seeing a figure standing over you.

are you efering to something like lsd or even Marijuana?. Vecause I take no narcotics not even over the counter stuff.

There was a vague reference made earlier and I was referencing that.

(Armstrong -- 2009 TdF!)

i have heard may a storys of it, but never exsperienced it myself, the closest thing i have came to it was a migrane i was to sore to more during

the link between the nawty stuff and my sleep paralisis could have been brushed under the carpet if it hadnt already happened quite a few before i went out! the nawty stuff was E !!! yes i know i was silly!!!! lecture me another time lol
i think my state of mind could have brought it on but not made me hilusinate?

and as for the crushung geist thing ! my brother is a medium! si i believe him and the feeling of lifting of the bed reinforces my belief!!

well body moves to keep it functioning and if any part mostly hand or hand kept on chest, the psych is active but mind latent, the blod ciculation or nerve sytem of any body part get not functioning due to it under pressure of posture nightmare does help mind be active and gain body. they may be spirit or our subconscious strike us helpingly, they all are helps us, to bring innormal condition.

and as for the crushung geist thing ! my brother is a medium! si i believe him and the feeling of lifting of the bed reinforces my belief!!


By pressing the matter you are instigating fear in others, hightening the doubt that was settled in some that thought this (and obsessed over) whether this was a ghost or not. Rude Behavior, can you agree that older brothers are brutal with scaring their younger brothers? That it could well be likely/ possible (that anything is possible including things countrery in support of your projected claim.) that you are having your leg pulled?

yeah dabbler

i agree older brothers do indeed try scaring the younger kids , im not disputing that fact at all , in fact i do it to my son lol

but on this subject it wasnt the case of out doing me or trying to frighten me ! it was a genuine conversation about sleep paralisis!!! i admit it was spooky to hear and i would agree with you if i hadnt have had the floating feeling myself?

Also my mother gets sleep paralisis regular and her younger brother! we have all had similar experiences! so i have to dismiss your theory of my brother trying to scare me!!
sorry!! i know what happened to me is very real and everyone else who has had it cant be wrong either???
i respect your opinion and hope you comment further

The sleep paralysis has already been fully explained. And of course, it's fully natural. There is nothing paranormal or even abnormal about it.

(Armstrong - 2009 TdF)

So you actually felt a floating feeling.

I would also like to mention lucid dreaming. Was your stomach lurched while you felt floating.

I want to go into another detail of sibling interactive behavior.

There is the tendency to scare the younger sibling, but what could create this? Well it could be the wanting to appear to be the brave one
they may have experienced the same thing, and freaked, (not that they would admit) and then told that they had a ghost, or just concluded that they had. So they claim eventually to have a connection with ghost.. and that ghost don't scare them.. strange behavior actually.

Back to the topic, I have looked up floating as a symptom, it came up in exposer to gases as well. I have had the floating feeling once right before a seizure.

One of the times it happened to me,I actually felt wind blowing my hair in one direction and looked at the bed as I seemingly lifted,hovered and then felt like I moved with the direction of the wind.And I could hear it too.Odd thing, I wasnt close to being asleep...or so I thought.So yes,I feel there is something to lucid dreaming for sure.It is amazing what the mind can do isnt it?

yes dabbler i did actually feel as i was lifting! my stomache wasnt churning or anything? i was perfectly ok except in paralisis !!

i was also talking to my mothere this morning and she told me she has had a figure on her chest stopping her from breathing!!!
and yes Oceanne the mind is a funny thing lol

Well it may sound weird to some of u but i myself have had some experiences like that. where i could not move. My theory is that it is spirits and intaties all around us that are either here to protect us or harm us. now from the sounds of it u had one that was there trying to scare u but then again i don't know.

I have been numb in the arms but that's about it, never really experienced what your talking about!! That's gotta be scary

yess it can happen but i think becas you have jest been dreaming when you open your eyes you see things that ourt ther

you would think that wouldnt you bet try explaining voices and actions that happen while you awake during paralisis? how do you explaine someone sitting on ya chest? thats gotta be something other than a dream state?

Yes..as stated and explained before,one word? Atonia.

I haven't had it happen fully like it sounds like you have to be honest.
There have been a few times though that my hand would not work for me sort of like it was asleep i ended up having to run really warm water over it to get it moving again.

yes happens all the time one time i guess this was a dream but it was a scrabble board and it spelled

the L-rd is my S-vi-r and i said (in my head) the lord is my savior and then a demonic scream bellowed NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! in my ears and i couldnt move or talk and everything blacked out and wen i woke up i was on the floor ....

dont no if it was a dream or not... but probally was...

I've never experienced this myself. Although to me, it sounds as though you could have woken up in your physical body while your spirit was wandering the astral plane. You probably got the "lifted off the bed" sensation because you were aware of your spirit. When you get that feeling of "falling" back onto the bed, it's your spirit reentering your physical body.

I hope this didn't sound too confusing! lol.

I used to get this when i was younger at the age of 16 and it last a fair few years .

I heard voices like singing in the wind the feeling that someone or something was next to me shades of black at first then colour as it went on .The feeling of floating was a very good one and after a while you can almost control it .I started with the arms i would let them go first then pull them back in like coloured ribbons of light even the voices i could shut them out as i used to be scared.At my best it felt as if i was at least 3 ft above my body.I still hope sometimes when i go to bed i can feel it again as even though more than 1/2 the time i was scared after a few years it is kind of nice.

The paralysis part has happened to me about 11 years ago. It took out my left side to where I couldnt move my arm and leg. It lasted for 1 week. And no it wasn't a stroke. I was able to talk normal and do anything with my right hand, but nothing with my left. It freaked me out and at that time the doctors said I had pinched a nerve, but there was no pain.

I don't believe I have ever experienced it but I have seen specials on it, on Discovery, channels like that. Some say it's what's going on, when people are thinking they are being visited by aliens. Not illegal aliens, the spacey ones. :P

I wonder if you are getting enough vitamin c? Guinea pigs get guinea pig paralysis from not getting enough vitamin c. You know many animals make their own vitamin c? Wish we did. Would cut down on disease.

Tripaphaine also creates an effect like Paralisis

Potasium shortage in the body as well.

This actually happens to me, I am surprised, I thought it was just me, I didn't know it was actually soemtihng...

Sadly their are people who know this as well, yet they still like to hint at it being a ghost of some legendary nature, that theatric presentation, usually to spook, or to build on their support for occult claims. The whole occult world has been shaken from dictating/interpiting such things that are actually physiological by nature, and not super natural at all. I mean if I was selling potions, powders, and "ghost cleansing kits" I would want you to believe you had been vistit by a nasty smothering ghost, or is I sould a book titled how to keep alien invaders out of your home, and I sould "professionally made" Alien repelent" or "descramblers" then I would hint that you may have been abducted.
The motive of the person should always be taken into account.

I think you might mean Tryptamine Dab? And yes,it can indeed,since it is an hallucanigen.
But I think I will say that I really dont feel that everyone who claims to see a ghost or whatever has an underhanded motive.What happens during Atonia is very real and appears to be just as they describe.Im thinking that when this happens,and someone attributes it to ghosts or Aliens they wholeheartedly believe it.

I have experienced this many times .I did have a feeling of being attacked while under the paralysis.It was not fun you can see things like spirits and evil entities .

Starbright,this is exactly why it is called the crushing ghost syndrome or The old hag.

I address the "just to spook somebody motive." if I was a teen at a summer camp, and I knew what Sleep paralisis was, and another kid shared about it, and I also knew the Hag, and Crushing ghost Tale, I would be (like teens do) tempted to spook the younger teen, or perhaps even older teen.

It's happend to me as well. I woke up at the "Witching Hour" 333 am. I couldn't feel the fan blowing on my face. I heard a sound that was like a sound of a train horn constantly in my ears. I couldn't move, talk , or even scream. I could only see whiteness everywhere I looked except the clock. I felt like i was held down and being pulled to something. This went on until 345 am and everything stoped. To this day I feel that if someone wasn't with me it would happen again.

I would like to ask, what activity have those that have had an occurence of SP been involved with prior to the night they had the occurence?

If i recall it was a really bad storm the night before the events that I stated took place. Really bad hail mixed with snow and lightning.

Very informative response. I have also been looking into changes in sleep patterns. Changes in Bed Location. Even more of less people in the household, as subtle triggers or conditions for SP to occur.

Fizbop,I find your reply interesting because of the electric thread...It makes me think and wonder if there might be some kind of connection there.Not that you would be electric,but more if maybe the electricity in the area had an affect on what happened...

It could be that your body was experiencing the paralysis and caused you to dream in a darker way than normal? That you could have been in this dream state and it felt as if you were awake?

This has happened to me a few times and has been accompanied by the feeling of a weight pressing down on my chest and a sense of intense fear. I think the non-scientifc explanation of the phenomena is often called old hag but has also been explained as being in the presence of a succubus or incubus.

That's really interesting. It could be that the trauma of the dream state induced a sort of panic reaction..like an anxiety attack. That would cause the feeling of a pressure on the chest.


Either way it's a fascinating thing to think about.

hey dabbler!

i get it all the time ! but mainly just happens when im relaxed and not had any perticularly eventful day?

the one time i had it real bad was after a night out but as normal it just happens under normal conditions

I saw something on discovery channel years ago i think..it was about the (old hag) mainly in Hawaii but the difference was once you woke up they disapeared,You couldn't breathe but because of pressure on your chest, you still had all your other motor functions.

I believe in the sleep paralysis as well but have to agree with someone who posted on astral projection as well, sorry i cannot remember your handle.

It is called astral catalapsy and it occurs when your spirit snaps back into your body, the difference between this and sleep paralysis is, no hallucinations it only lasts for a second, though it feels like an eternity and you cannot open your eyes all your motor functions do not work.

I remember a discussion in a psychology class about sleep paralysis... the instructor mentioned that 'old timers' in the south had referred to it as having "the devil on your back". Anybody ever heard it called that before?

"It is called astral catalapsy and it occurs when your spirit snaps back into your body, the difference between this and sleep paralysis is, no hallucinations it only lasts for a second, though it feels like an eternity and you cannot open your eyes all your motor functions do not work"

Another difference.. Atonia has been studied and proven,astral projection hasnt.

I have heard of that phrase the Devils weight though seems to come across clearer, it is also refered to as the Crushing Geist, or Sleepers Bog

it could also be noted that in some cultures such experiences have been blamed on the house feline "stealing breathe".

lol yeah ive heard of that one! my mum used to say a cat cat suffacate ya in ya sleep lol

so we had to keep the cat my gran had out of the bedroom lol

cats are known to sniff the breath of their humans, it is a way to check for sickness actually. Cats use this for kittens as well, if one kitten does not smell right to the momma, she will separate the other Kittens from it
dogs can smell Cancer, so it makes sense that can can smell infectious disieses.. Awesome nature.

Good point Oceanne.....and yeah i remember the myth of cats stealing your breath while you sleep. What was that movie again cats eye or something like that, was a great movie.

funny you should mention the dog and cancer thing my ex wifes fathers do knew when girls were pregnant ! it just used to stand and look at their tummies and bark softly lol amazing hey!!

I have had it before... after my dad died.

I couldn't move and he had his hand wrapped around my throat.

Then he left.

A biochemical matter, you can rest assured that it was not a ghost of your father. A terrible thing to reflect upon I am sure. Something like that can disturb ones rest, thinking you are prone to entities.. I find that people that insist that such things are ghost, have irrational fears, irrational fears they like others to accept, misery loves company right?

I agree that these things arent ghosts..from what I know ghosts are are of..well lets just say unsavory character..or so it is said.I dont know about you,but I know my relatives arent like that.
But regardless,I really dont think its due totally to irrational fears,because they look real and they sound real and are damn scary.And when somoeone is in transition like that,they arent exactly "themselves" sometimes.

Feeding the "possibilies" refreshens the likelihood for someone experiencing SP. obsessing over wether or not it is a ghost.

there are several theories into what the shapes are ! but what if ghosts walk around you while you sleep and once you get SP you see them and they dont know your awake ? so just stand there for a while until you go back to sleep?

What is the reason people insist that it has to be ghost?

i guess its just they believe in ghosts and use this excuse to explain what they had seen during SP

ive just seen this in a thread by lunaobscura

''Popobawa is variously described as either a ghost or ogre with gigantic bat wings and a giant penis. At times he is simply known as "Imran". He is sometimes thought to be a shapeshifter who looks like an ordinary human during the day. His presence is usually announced by the sound of scraping claws on their roof and a sharp, pungent smell. Different from other incubus legends, Popobawa primarily attacks men and only in their own beds, resulting in many men sleeping outside in streets or on porches after recent reported attacks. People who claim to be victims of Popobawa are mostly poorer residents on the island of Pemba, though other reports have also come from other islands and coastal Tanzania. It is thought that Popobawa reports are the result of episodes of sleep paralysis.''

just another example a possible use of legend and myth in SP

As well as wanting others to accept their irrational fears, through a common physical experience. Tragic, cycle for those that have struggled with such "haunting thought", only to have a chance to confront their experience with accountable medical address, only to have some stickler (sometimes just for giggles) press the whole, "You saw a ghost." Thing all over again.

I have had a falling feel many times while sleeping

Hey Cherry,I have posted you an explaination in your other thread.Hope it sets your mind at ease.

ive had a falling feeling while i sleep too ! but always wake up before i hit the floor! its said if you hit the floor you die in ya sleep? has anyone else heard this?

I was just wondering as to what causes it. and yes it helped. I closed the other thread because this one is open

I never knew on thing could have so much connected to it.

I've had that happen...
I woke up and saw a real tall and skinny male figure in the center of the room watching me. His size was not of a human. He was wearing a button up shirt and shorts with suspenders. I couldn't even tell you if I was awake, it felt like a dream, but I could hear everything around me.

ive had one experience
but i was extremly scared
id like to think of the saying
"scared stiff" lol

I've had it happen a couple of times, but I've never seen anything. Usually, once I can finally move, my whole body starts to shake uncontrollably, like I'm shivering.

Maybe the things you're seeing are just remnants of the dreams you were having right before you woke up.

Ive had this experience a many times before. My body cannot move and i try to scream but no words come out. The first time it happened, I saw a white figure, an old woman, right in my face. She was like laughing or something.

Maybe this explains what other people call "attacks" in their sleep. The first time it happened, I really thought that an evil spirit tried to kill me.