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Wondering If People Have Noticed Similar Things During Their Sleep Paralysis

by Sara
(Plainwell, MI, USA)

I can't recall ever having a sleep paralysis episode until a couple of years ago and I have been having them ever since about once a month or every other month. I noticed that I only ever have an episode when I'm sleeping on my stomach or side, it only ever happens when I'm home alone (there's one situation in which my husband was in bed sleeping with me but I'm not sure if that was sleep paralysis as well, it was so different from all of my other episodes -- I awoke to a dark figure standing in my doorway and I could kind of see through the figure, it was almost like a breeze blowing smoke, like a rippling effect. I remember wondering why I thought to look at the doorway. The figure never moved but I was thinking I was too afraid to move or wake my husband up, not that I was paralyzed, and then I just fell back asleep which seems strange because I wouldn't fall asleep in a real situation like that), and I can usually tell when I'm going to go through an episode.


I have noticed that a noise (a radio or cell phone conversation on speaker) that was in a dream I have just before "waking" will usually accompany me to my half-sleep state. Then, if I'm on my side, I'll feel something jump into bed with me; I will actually feel the mattress decompress and feel a presence behind me and then it starts to make weird animalistic grunting, labored breathing, snorting noises (there's no other way for me to describe it). If I'm on my stomach I'll feel something jump onto my back and push me into the bed. The last time it happened, I was eventually able to do a small push-up and do what I call a "dream scream" where I'm not actually screaming but trying to and it comes out sounding like a whispered scream.

The last episode happened the night before last and I wasn't able to sleep well last night. I'm having nightmares about having sleep paralysis episodes. I'm afraid to sleep on my back because I'm afraid of what will happen if I do. It's comforting to know that this happens to other people and knowing the real reason behind sleep paralysis helps assure me that I'm not crazy but it doesn't make it any less frightening.

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