Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep

First let me say I'm so glad I found this site, I seriously thought I was the only one going through this. Well it happened just a few minutes ago, and when I broke loose out of it. I told myself, I must find answers, or some sort of explaination, so I came here to share my story.

I'm 30 years old and this has been happening to me for about 12 years now (on & off) and for 12 I've been so confused, at 1 point I thought it was Aliens (silly me I know) then I convinced myself it was spirits.

I've told a few people about it and they just laugh it off. 1 person told me not to worry about it because it was "a good spirit trying to tell me or show me something" if it was a good spirirt why do these encounters feel SO DAMN EVIL and SCARY... I'm laying in bed stiff as a rock and can't open my eyes. I hear strange noises.. and I feel some sort of presence in front of my face. As much as I try to open my eyes I can't, BUT... there are times when I don't wanna open them because I'm afraid of what I'll see.

Why are these encounters so damn scary.. after 12 yrs I've gotten use to them, TO THE POINT WHERE I CAN PREDICT IT COMING BEFORE IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. And as always, it comes right as I'm trying to fall asleep. What I also notice, the more you think about it, the more encounters you get.

My message to ALL, you are not alone.

This is the third time this has happened to me. It only happens when I'm really stressed, so I don't think it has anything to do with evil. I was having this strange dream about demons, monsters, evil spirits, haunted houses, ect. . and I felt like I was possessed by one. I remember waking up but my whole body was tingling. I didn't panic, I just started praying and went back to sleep, but I could feel myself wresting with something. I wasn't scared. The weird thing was, is before it happened I had woken up around 4 am and heard something move on my bed, but I just figured I was tired and sleep deprived. My only advice is to not panic and learn how to deal with the stressors in your life.

So, this happened to me last night and thank God there's a rational explanation for this. I'm under a great deal of stress right now, having just found out that the only real girlfriend I ever had is now engaged I went on a drinking/drug binge. I'm under a great deal of stress at school and I'm trying to pull my life back together. I guess it hasn't helped that I've been watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas repeatedly as of late either.

I guess what brought the experience to the intense level that it was at was that (for some reason) I hadn't slept the night before and I was now awake again (at about 2:00 a.m.) reading some intense horror. I already knew that I was going to have trouble going to sleep again because of that, but I had just read one particular story that convinced me to try. (As it was a story about a military experiment wherein 5 subjects were kept awake for 10 days straight using some type of gas which drove them completely insane.) I had also starting reading "The King in Yellow", a collection of short stories which happens to be H.P. Lovecraft's major inspiration.

Anyways, lying down to finally go to sleep I had images in my head of a Siberian Husky with an evil smile, shadows outside of my window, the walls bleeding, etc. Obviously I haven't been having the greatest couple of days.

Then it happened. My back began to tingle, like it does when you get chills from watching something scary. But it got worse, the whispers began. I was starting to get a little scared at this moment, but I rode it off as nothing more than my head creating some sort of delusion and that I was perfectly fine.

But the whispers started to get louder and louder. The tingling in my back became worse and worse until I could hardly breathe. And finally all was quiet, but the tingling remained. I wish I could really make you understand how intense it was, it was like taking that horror movie chill, multiplying it by a thousand and having it last for what seemed like hours on end.

Then there was a loud bloodying scream, "HE COMES!" It was then I saw it, moving out of the wall. It looked human, but it had several mouths and it was all white, with eyes all over it's head, black like a spiders. It's mouths spoke a language that I did not understand and they spoke fast. . . all of them a different language. It stopped abruptly and began to speak what I think was English, in a high pitched squeal. It reached for me. I tried to scream, but I couldn't. I could hardly breathe. With all my might I struggled to crawl to the edge of the bed, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get off the bed.

I clenched myself tight, the tingling becoming a wave of what I could only describe as true horror and terror holding me in it's grip. Holding myself, preparing for whatever was to come the creature speaking faster and faster. I told myself, "Be brave, be brave, jump for the light, it's the only hope."

And then it was over. And I immediately opened my laptop to give light. Amazingly enough I managed to get to sleep about 2 hours later (it was 5:32 when I woke out of that nightmare) and woke up at about 10. I'm very tired right now, but I'm waiting for a friend to return from the airport so I can give him his house keys before I can go to sleep.

Really, thank God for this explanation. I spent the entire day thinking I was going completely insane. And really, I'm going to get my sleep schedule back in order.

Ok so most of this fits me to a T. I was so relieved when I read through all of this since I thought I was going crazy and that I was just having nightmares and hallucinations. But two things don't really match up. First is that I know I'm not totally awake when it happens. I realize that it's not a real experience instead of having it feel like reality. I looked it up and it's called lucid dreaming but it's usually associated with positive dreams and having control. The paralysis sort of inhibits the control so I feel totally helpless. The second is that instead of an ominous presence my "dreams" always have a unified identifiable and recognizable character. He often recurs but sometimes it's a different and still specific image. THey always talk to me in reasonable and terrifying ways and know intimate details about specific phobias and problems in my life. Is it something else or is the sleep paralysis responsible for the eerie nightmare characters? And more importantly...how do I make him go away?

Alright this has happened to me twice the second time happened last night but only once and only slightly.. hovever my first experience a month or so ago was the most intense thing i ever knew could happen. first off i went to bed normally and a loud ringing noise took over my ears. i had the tv on to counteract it but it pretty much deafened me it felt like my eyes were rolling to the back of my head and i couldnt move.. the only way i could snap myself out of it was to just jerk my body. like if i thought about moving i couldnt but if i just did it worked. now it only worked for like 5 mins and i would slip right back into the same state.. now for my hallucinations there was nothing scary about them. it was frightening from the feeling of being overwhelmed but my girlfriend was standing by my door and talking to me and i could just look at her i couldnt talk then i woke myself up and when i slipped back it she was next to my bedshe made me feel comfortable and i snapped myself out of it and she was laying next to me then it changed like almost completely. like in my "dream" (i say this because it felt like i was awake but dreaming while i was awake) she had her arm over me and i couldnt move just that part of my body but still my legs. however when i snapped out of it i couldnt move at all but it was completely different from the other times. It even went as far as sexual relations. like i spent an entire night with her.. another thing that i see thats different is that i could feel what was going on it was like a numb feeling though like if you sit on you foot for too long but it still felt as if she was breathing on my neck and kissing me etc...

this went on for around 8 hours and was scary as hell
im 18 years old and have a history of depression and anxiety SP is the closest thing that i could find to my experience. however from reading about what other have had happen im not sure its the same. also my other symptom from my SP are when it first starts happening my eyes flutter and i cant see anything.

I am so happy there is an explanation for what has been happening to me. this just happened to me yesterday. It was early in the morning and I felt like I was awake but with my eyes close, couldn't move my body and felt my matress rise up, it was one of the scariest thing I have encountered.Then I heard a very creepy laugh, then I finally was able to move my arm and slowly regain movement throught my body. I really thought it was like haunting of some kind. I thought my room was haunted and couldn't explain to my roommate what was happeing to me and now that she is going home for thanksgiving break I will be all alone for like a week which really freaked me out. But now I know that its okay, that I am just experiencing sleep paralysis....Thanks

I just saw this website and thought that I would post my "situation" so that others can read about it and feel better or learn something from it. Many here seem to have some form of sleep paralysis or accompanying issue, so here is my bit. I'm also letting others know this because some of you, like me, may start to encounter additional happenings as you grow older.

I am 42. When I was a teenager (about 14) I talked in my sleep quite a bit. Mumbling or very rapid speech that others said was hard to understand. Sleep paralysis didn't happen until I was in my 20s. I was about 25 and started happening what seemed to be "lucid dreams" - you know, you appear to be dreaming but can see the room and the ceiling. In many cases, I also got that feeling that something (that I couldn't see) was approaching. Gradually (and you can do this, too), I learned to visualize a code word (for example, "god") that I would say in the dream and it would get me to wake up. Otherwise, I found that I might spend a couple of minutes trying to wake up, falling back to nighmare land again, and then groggily waking up.

Exploding head syndrome is another occasional problem. And scary. I have gone to bed and jumped straight up from sleep because I could swear that a) someone had just fired a gun outside somewhere b) someone had busted down the front door c) some truck or plane had crashed nearby, etc. It seemed so real that I could not believe it did not happen. Occasionally, too, I will hear someone yell my name or just yell something as I am nodding off. If you have sleep paralysis, you might encounter that as well.

Sleepwalking? 1 time. Witnessed by someone who asked where I was going and I replied that I had had it with monsters. They coaxed me away from the stairs - yes, the stairs near the bedroom door - and were able to get me back in bed. I didn't remember any of it when I woke up.

Do not sleep on your back, as most of you know. But it can still happen anyway. I will never sleep on my back - haven't in years. But am a side sleeper and although it prevents me from getting sleep paralysis, the following is happening (at least 6 times so far this year): I wake up, still dreaming, see my room and that there is something floating or near my bed. So I scream out loud. I wake myself up, screaming. Within seconds, I realize what is happening and feel ridiculous, of course.

The other thing that might help others. Sleep paralysis was always worse for me, for some reason, when I tried to take a nap in the afternoon. Or slept in late in the morning and just kept on waking up and going back to sleep. If you take a nap in the afternoon, especially, never sleep on your back.

There is a research center in Canada that has an online survey - can't remember the name of the college. But they have a detailed questionnaire and also had me one time take a quick test (motion related) with a blinking set of numbers or items in the center. No idea what it was supposed to measure. Google Canada and sleep paralysis center or some such and you might find their website (they also had info on it, I believe).

At any rate, I feel for all of you. It's not fun. The primarily reason I posted, though, is that you may (like me) start to experience changes in the nature of it as you get older. For example, I began simply sleeptalking and didn't experience sleep paralysis until I was in my mid 20s. Then the other things happened. Good luck.

I have spleep paralysis, a couple of times. I knew that way before I read this article, because of my own logical conclusion upon past experiences. However, there have been two times that I can assure you that it wasn't sleep paralysis.

1. First example is while I was sleeping, and suddenly I felt like my bed was literally jumping. I woke up and, my bed was in fact, jumping! If anyone have seen the movie- the excorsist- they'd know whaT im talking about. I end up sleepin with my brother. I fuckin left my room

2. The second example is when I woke up and saw this little kid just outside my room, I was fully awake, yet paralyzed. The reason why I know this wasn't an sleep paralysis, is because I have experience that before and this time, was different. YOU DAMN KNOW WHEN YOU ARE FULLY AWAKE AND HALF-AWAKE!

the little kid disappear and I turned on my lights, after that I went back to sleep.

This have been some situations where scinece have not been able to explain.

My personal conclusion is that, there are other dimensions and specially other enteties that are no-human fuckin with us.... AND IT IS TIME TO FUCKIN REALIZE THIS AND NO DENY IT!

I have this all the time. I either don't sleep very well, or this happens. It feels like a deep deep sleep that my body won't allow me to come out of. And I always dream during this type of sleep. Very vivid dreams. It can last almost 10 - 20 minutes or more. It can be scary. I am not able to move or open my eyes. So I can't see anything, but I can hear things but it takes awhile for my brain to process what I hear. It wears off extremely slowly. My breathing remains even, sometimes I do feel a little suffocated but I think it's just because I am paralyzed and it freaks me out.

Hey i live in the Uk and suffered with this for years and tonight i had another, i wake up n cant move a finger, cant talk or make a sound but i dont see or here anythink all i now is i dont like the look of The darkness, ive now learnt before coming on bere the best way to deal with it is to stay calm and go back to sleep. The first time it happened i was too scared to sleep incase i died, i kept calling for my mom or dad but noone could here my voiceless screems for help, anyways best advice is dont panic and go back to sleep its all i can do to help it, neil 21 from bham on the 15 dec 2010

I woke up today 6 in d evening in my room upstairs. I could hear the routine sounds of the neighbour's t.v and my mom talking to someone downstairs..i grabbed my phone and decided to go downstairs for a cup of tea..but i couldnt reach the door lock..i felt a strong pressure on my chest and arms..so much so i couldnt cry for help..i tried and tried but the force was strong..i almost gaspd for breath..it felt like some supernatural force was present and doing that to me..Then suddenly i woke up and found myself lying on the bed...i couldnt really tell if what just happened was a dream ..i could still hear d same sounds in my neighbourhood and i could hear my mum was really talking to someone on phn..i was shit scared and quickly got up n unlocked d door fearing that i might not be able to open it again..do u think what i experienced was SP? If yes then how could i c that it was dark in room n hear sounds that were there in real as i saw n heard upon aftr i woke up? confused..scared..was it realy a dream?

Ok You are more likely to have sleep paralysis or lucid dreaming or whatever 'dream problem' if your sleep-awake cycle is disturbed. Get into a regime, e.g. waking up at 8 and going to sleep at 10 and you find you have less problems. I also think stress is a trigger or any form of depression, so eliminating those will help too.

Ok I had sleep paralysis only last night. I was unable to move whilst I was awake. I did not see or hear or sense any evil external subject or whatever. I think people who find themselves in such a position should just close their eyes and go back to sleep as I did.

I have had this experience several times in my life and it is always frightening. I don't see ghosts or anything evil; I just can't move or speak. I know that if I am able to move a finger or say a word I will wake up, but it is almost impossible for me to do that. I usually fall back into a deeper sleep and wake up naturally or if someone touches me I can then move and wake up. I had this experience last evening and was trying to move or speak just to wake up. My Papillon must have known something was wrong because he came and started jumping up and down on my chest and patting my face with his paws which woke me up immediately. He's a keeper.

I am 24 and have experienced this many times since i was 20, usually recurring weekly over a 3 month period (roughly) and then don't get it again for 6 months +. It almost always happens as I am falling asleep or if I wake up and doze off again. It's like a tingly sensation all over, combined with a sinking feeling into my bed. When the paralysis sets in, then I am really fighting to regain control of my body. My girlfriend just saw my last episode, I was paralysed and fully aware she was looking at me. I tried to yell and get her to shake me. When i woke she was giggling saying I was mumbling and groaning incoherently. Does anybody else get the tingly sinking into the bed feeling?

Only just woke up from one of these things, matches the description of sleeping paralysis (which i've never heard of before) thought i'd look it up straight away instead of trying to get back to sleep and forgetting how I feel in the morning. Firstly I can usually remeber a good chunk of the theme of the dreams I have in the morning. The earliest of this one, is I'm driving in my car as normal, down a familiar road. I'm wearing a hat of some sort, somethings covering it. I check the mirror and see a police car, not through the mirror, as those I had turned round, having full view of the back window. In my head I think nothing of the police car, but as soon as my attention focus's back on the road ahead, I get all panicey, I can't sit on my seat, am really high up, I lower down abit, adjusting to my seat, for some reason I want to remove my hat, am suddenly I'm looking through a mask, I pull my gloves off, hat and ?mask? off and throw them one the passengers seat, this is while the car is moving and wondering whether this police car will stop me? I'm still panicing because I don't know whats ahead because I can't see out the windscreen for some reason, (I switch hazard likes on), and with it being a familiar road, I know theres a round about ahead. I struggle to stop the car, eventually mounting the glass verge and stopping. I'm on a grass verge next to a on coming one way road junction.

On this grass thinking to get off, so I reverse, loads children about, one directly behind my car, 2 / 3 metres away, the car is so slow to respond and moving so slow, stopped before I got near the child.

(Missing bit)

I'm at work, I know about whats just happened, I'm falling asleep on the spot on n off, waking up (stood up) wheres my car, looking for it.

I was making a pizza, a califonia, so i made it and put it somewhere (persuming in an over, but have no vision) pizzas ready, and i put it on the plate, to notice I didn't use a pizza base, but just a tray? confused as hell, i swore I put it on a pizza base, why wouldn't I? looked around, and it were there on the pizza base i had took out, hanging off on the end. put it back together and that were that.

front line in the kitchen, I can see one of my friends who i've not seen for ages, and I noticed he looked like a spitting image of a celeb, So i try finding a waitress to ask, dont you think he looks like thing? cant find em, all I keep finding is people I dont work with. I find the ones who work there and I cant speak, someones theres who I have only seen once with his wife, and he was picking up his brother, I said hello, but no reply

(cant remeber where this fits in but)
i'm on a bus with a friend, and I see my other friend with a car full, driving my car, after she had took the keys off me, I'm sat on the bus watching them drive off, wondering if they will come back, moments past and i realised they weren't, so I reached for my phone, which were in my friemds pocket infront of me.

::anyways::
I felt as though I was awake, and someone was pressing down on every part of my body. My whole body felt like I was shaking intensivly, and I was trying to shout out loud anything, but all was a mermer. Lying on my front I felt as though my eyes were open, but I couldnt do anything about what was happening, and that it happened before and it'll pass, when I finally took control of my body, first instinct was to put the light on, but I was shitting my self thinking it was some sort of presence, black images infront of my eyes like when u stare at a light and look away, and you get this black image projected infront of you. anyways I picked up my laptop and searched what happened and started righting this, back to sleep I guess.

thanks for reading lukescotty