DJCliffy;321128 wrote:
Yeah man thats the same shit i got/get. Did this ever happen to you as well? Just as i’m about to fall asleep, Im awake but can’t move and feels like i’m struggling to breathe as i shake awake, sort of like my body is asleep but inside i’m not?? It’s really hard to explain but it is well fucking horrible! :hopeless:
Sleep paralysis is a condition that may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occur during REM sleep.[1] When considered to be a disease, isolated sleep paralysis is classified as MeSH D020188.[2] Some evidence suggests that it can also, in some cases, be a symptom of migraine.[3][4]
Physiologically, sleep paralysis is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the body paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes “after which the individual may experience panic symptoms and the realization that the distorted perceptions were false”.[5] When there is an absence of narcolepsy, sleep paralysis is referred to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP).[6] “ISP appears to be far more common and recurrent among African Americans than among White Americans or Nigerian Blacks”,[7] and is often referred to within African American communities as “the witch riding your back”[8][9]
In addition, the paralysis state may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger.[10] Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual due to the vividness of such hallucinations.[11] The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one’s normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for alien abductions and ghostly encounters.[12] A study by Susan Blackmore and Marcus Cox of the University of the West of England supports the suggestion that alien abductions are related to sleep paralysis rather than to temporal lobe lability.[13]
Sleep paralysis – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sounds like you might be experiencing this… ive posted quite a few threads on here about it, seems quite a few people have suffered from it. I actually quite enjoy it, not had it for ages tho. the struggling to breathe is probably you still being concious as your breathing slows as you fall asleep. you then panic as you believe your not breathing.. Maybe… Stopping caining it should help make it stop. stuff like nytol or some sleep aids make it worse as well. also having irratic sleep patterens makes it more likely…
