Sleep paralysis, night terrors

I have been experiencing what I think is sleep paralysis for some time now. It usuall y happens to me within the first couple of hours after I go to bed or in the morning sometime. I find it kind of hard to explain, but I'll do my best. I'll give the example of my most recent one which was yesterday.
So I feel as though I am awake. I can see everything in my room just as it is, although my vision seems to be a bit fuzzy. For some reason I feel really scared, I have to get up. I think if I can get up I won't be so scared, but for some reason I can't move and this makes me even more scared. So I try with every ounze of mental energy I have to wake up. If I can just move! I feel like I am starting to be able to move, but it is agonizingly slow. It feels as if half of my body is completely paralyzed and the other half only has about half its' regular mobility so even using every bit of willpower I can muster I am still barely able to move, but at least I am moving a bit. If I can reach my dresser I can use it to help myself to stand and surely if I can stand up I'll be able to snap out of this. One struggled step, two stuggling steps, three and I'm at the dresser. But noow I can't lift my hand up to it, Fuck! What is wrong with me, can't anybody help me! Please. At least I'm at the dresser, though. Then,a milisecond 'blink' and I'm back in my bed, laying down as I had been when I started! OH MY GOD! I haven't even moved! That whole ordeal of getting to the dresser, that whole struggle didn't even happen. I feel a sense of fear growing to terror and even though I know there is nothing ot be afraid of, I am still afraid. Oh my God! I'm not even awake yet! I need to wake up. I'm trying to yell but I can't utter a sound! I have to get up out of bed. Okay, I'll try this again....
This scenario, of me struggling to get up to the dresser repeated itself a few more times with me finally getting to it only to blink and find myself back in my bed, having not moved at all and my fear grows more and more each time. It sucks. I know there isn't really anything to be afraid of but it's as though the are of my brain that controls fear is stimulated and there is nothing I can do about it. If anybody has any info about thisI'd really appreciate it. Sometimes it happens to me three times a week for a month, then other times it will only happen twice in a month.
The other thing I have is what I think are 'night terrors' or something like. I will be dreaming and it won't necessarily be anything scary whatsoever but ther is an overtone of sheer terror in it. So, I will wake up from this and I can move around, I am awake but even though I have woken up from the dream I am still in a state of sheer terror and remain so for as long as ten minutes. If I don't stay awake , if I let myself fall back asleep, I fall right back into a nightmare so I stay awake. I'm so scared though that I can't even get out of bed and again, I know there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of but it's as though the part of my brain that controls fear is turned on full blast. Because of the frequency of these 'night terrors' I have to sleep with a light on and have been now for a long time even though I am 27 yrs old. So if anyone has any info on this I'd appreciate. Thanks

You probably haven't had a sleep study, have you......?

Sounds like some classic symptoms of apnea.

Have a sleep study done.

Den

When my sleep disorders (OSA,PLMD,RLS) were at their worst, what it did to my brain was pretty scary. I had symptoms of other sleep disorders that subsided a lot once my apnea was treated (what Den said). If one's oxygen gets real low during apnea events it can cause hallucinations. I was having spells that fit classic cataplexy description, but those spells resolved with cpap treatment.

Now, it may be you actually have night terrors and sleep paralysis. Sleep disorders are not unusual in my family. I have a relative with sleep paralysis, and they said they learned how to force themself to doze back off for a moment and when they awakened again, the paralysis was gone.

Because of how complex this stuff it, a good doctor who will get to the bottom of it for you will be more helpful than my (our) maybes. Please let us know what you find out.

Kathy

all you have to do is not fight it, fall back asleep and next time you wake you should be back to normal.

We have a neuro switch that turns off muscle control when you enter REM sleep, it is thought to do this so we don't hurt ourselves acting out on a dream.

Due to stress, sleep deprivation, medications or other causes you are waking up before that switch has turned muscle control back on. It can sometimes be associated with Narcolepsy but it is not a sole indicator of it. A lot of people have a form of sleep paralysis.

I would see a Sleep Specialist for a study, but in the mean time if you experience another just realize what it is and try falling back asleep.

definitely have a sleep study done

all my life i've had what i thought were nightmares, every night for sure and sometimes 2 and 3 times per night; i couldn't have told you about the nightmare or what i was so scared of, but i would sit bolt upright with my heart beating through my chest so hard it hurt, shaking and gasping for air...turns out these were apneas and my body was in panic mode...i don't have these episodes anymore

A little over a month ago before I started therapy, I to was experiencing those symptoms. I told my doctor what was going on and straightway he knew what it was. I was placed on an auto respironics c-flex and have not had any recurrences since. Tell us if you have had a sleep study done yet or are going to.

Are you a veteran by any chance? My son had these experiences after returning from Iraq (he was there for the invasion at the very beginning). He lost a buddy there and he had an awful time adjusting when he returned home.

sleepycarol wrote:Are you a veteran by any chance? My son had these experiences after returning from Iraq (he was there for the invasion at the very beginning). He lost a buddy there and he had an awful time adjusting when he returned home.

I am a vet but not of that time period.

Doesn't have to be from that time period. War is hard on one as I have seen it first hand in my son.

I hope you find an answer to your problems.

You are in my thoughts!!

I have experienced the same feelings you are decribing, but the "dream" is different. But everything else is the same, paralysis and absolute fear. It is quite horrific.

I spent a lot of time this weekend reading about the stages of sleep
these links might be a good place to start to understand sleep.

http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-101

The sleep study might be a really good thing to do, but also take a look at the 5 Stages of sleep it might help you to 'logically' understand it and if you have the information, when it happens you might 'logically' be able to tell yourself to try not to fight to move but just tell yourself that you are safe and there is nothing to fear. It might help.

From WebMD
Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened brain activity, but paralysis occurs simultaneously in the major voluntary muscle groups. REM is a mixture of encephalic (brain) states of excitement and muscular immobility. For this reason, it is sometimes called paradoxical sleep.

Might I also suggest that you talk with a couselor or therapist...it might be that there is an emotional aspect to your episodes that relates to your waking life...I am sure my episodes were related to my emotional state and with counseling it help to give me control when I would get into that place.

Hang in there your are very normal!

Thanks for the response. I know a bit about 'sleep apnea" and have thought it could very well be that. Usually when I do heve the episodes, not the terrors, tho apnea typr issue, I am aware that I'm not quite awake and that my body is just still in sleep mode, that if only I could wake up fully I could snap out of it. I have found that during these episodes if I fall back asleep I will bring the sense of fear with me. I'm not a veteran and I've never had a sleep study done.