[princessbelle]

Oh i'm so glad sleep paralysis got brought up!!!!

It's happened to me for many years. When it first started i was in nursing school and continued when i worked long hours in the hospital. I had a friend that was a neurologist and one day over lunch she educated me on it.

She said to think of it like this...your body is still asleep but your mind is awake. I know when it happens to me, i can open my eyes and see everything and sometimes i hear a roaring noise that is almost deafening and banging. What i do to get out of it is to focus and start moving one part of me, i usually concentrate on my toe for example. Once i can wiggle that a little i slowly will wake my body up. It is very hard to deal with and it is frightening. I also feel that i'm screaming to the top of my lungs and have been told i'm barely making a whisper. As soon as someone can touch me, my body wakes up and all is well. I have to always educate my partners to watch out for these little whimpers i make and to please just touch me.

Thankfully, i barely have them anymore and the neurologist did say that stress and being over tired brings these on more than anything.

Oh and deedarino is so right about the physiology of it all. It usually happens when you are first going to sleep or about to wake up. It has been studied for years and everything from epilepsy to demonology has been deemed the cause. But, i have been reassured it's just REM sleep patterns that are interrupted due to stress. Still scary stuff!!!!

So, basically if you are having them....chill out. You need rest and relaxation. Most likely near a beach.