AT LAST!
A question I can "do".

I suffer from..... well, I was told it was sleep apnoea(if that's how you spell it), but it appears it isn't..... sleep apnoea is where you stop breathing in your sleep, my "thing" is much stranger, though I've had the odd bout of apnoea as well. Suffice to say I have had several weird experiences in the dark.

I sleep. A lot. And when I get too much sleep, well, things get weird. Over the years what happens to me when I sleep too much has evolved, and I wonder if anyone has similar experiences to myself. At first, it was just weird, lucid dreams..... which eventually came to a head when I dreamt there was a tornado in my back garden which came in the window and then, unfortunately, went in my ear. At that point, I woke up and couldn't move. I felt like I was pinned to the bed with this horrible rushing sound in my ear. My young brain thought something was trying to climb in there, which wasn't very nice. This developed about 6 months later into waking up and being unable to move or speak, only being able to open my eyes slightly...... one time mistaking my chair as a shadowy figure of a man, which almost scared me to death...... being still half asleep, I could see him grinning at me from across the room.

That particular little abberation stayed with me for many years, usually about once or twice every six months, eventually developing into horribly realistic dreams where I would spend half a day wandering around thinking everything was normal then waking in my bed, being unable to move, then fall asleep again and spend several more hours wandering around the house doing mundane things like reading a newspaper (which you cant do in dreams, which was one reason I kept thinking "Hey, I'm dreaming!") or making toast (yet strange things like there being a full bathroom suite in the kitchen was completely normal to me.) This would go on for what seemed to be hours but was actually only about an hour at most, interspersed with the horrible waking moments where I couldn't move.

Eventually it mellowed a little, especially after I married, though there were a few occasions where I would wake up and be unable to move, which is made even more alarming when your wife is snoring inches away and you can't alert her :(

These days it has, I suppose, calmed down. I haven't had the old sleep paralysis thing for about 6 years now, which is good..... unfortunately, these days I wake up enough to move around and even get up and go to the toilet, but I'm still half asleep and can suffer from slight panic attacks and a general sensation of weirdness until I wake up fully.

I've never woke up with a sexy lady on top of me though. At least folk who have a succubus get that much :(
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 3:48, 21 replies)

Newspapers
Who says you can't read the newspaper in a dream? Why ever not?
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 9:08, closed)

It's just a weird blur
It happened twice I think.... trying to read them, thinking I was reading them then suddenly realising I couldn't make out any words. It's weird, realizing you're dreaming.

Apparently dreams are in black and white too, but I've never noticed that before.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 17:24, closed)

Black and White?
Nah ive had dreams which are in colour. Specifically remembering particular colour details, such as a "red scarf"
(Miggyman, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 21:52, closed)

I'm pretty sure I have too
I don't know who makes these things up :)
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 16:01, closed)

Because when you read, you receive information.
Its not possible to read newspapers in dreams. Reading requires a level of concentration which you dont have when dreaming. But the main reason is that you are receiving information. Obviously as the newspaper isnt real, theres no information on it. So it becomes a frustrating blur trying to read the newspaper.

When someone else speaks or does something in a dream, that is down to interpretation.
(Miggyman, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 21:51, closed)

Alternative explanation
In my experience reading text in dreams is largely impossible, because words have an irritating habit of changing order, or changing altogether, when you look away and look back again. Also applies to numbers - I can't read digital clocks in dreams. And, brilliantly, I had a dream that featured an analogue clock. I *could* read it, but every time I looked away and looked back, the design of the face changed.
( john3ners has relocated to the Highlands, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 22:31, closed)

This is
sleep paralysis. I think their is a better name for it - can't remember it though.
What happens when you are asleep is that your brain shuts down the bit of your brain that tells your limbs to move when you think it. This stops you acting out your dreams.
However in some people this bit goes a bit wrong. Rather than this part of the brain starting up again when you wake it kind of forgets and keeps your paralysed.
It is thought that this is the source of Night Hag and Succubus stories.
When people wake with this you are still in a semi dreaming state and your brain interprets this as there must be something stopping you moving, with most people this takes the form of a person sitting on you chest.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Sat 25 Jul 2009, 10:29, closed)

Yup I had heard that
the only odd thing that happened was the grinning man though, and when I woke up fully it was obvious it had just been my chair so it wasn't so bad.

Glad it doesn't happen any more though, it was horrific waking up and being paralyzed :(
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 17:25, closed)

Also,
They reckon this is the source of most of the alien abduction stories - not being able to move, weird buzzing noises, shadowy figures, etc. Apparently, a lot of what people see is connected to whatever the big scare at the time is, so for many generations, it was witches choking you, then vampires, etc. For a good while recently, it was aliens.
( Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...", Sat 25 Jul 2009, 18:15, closed)

Yeah I've had s/p
Normally get a barrage of noises. And trying to scream and open my mouth is impossible. Its a weired thing to get. I sometimes get it if I sleep out of pattern, Such as Sunday afternoon sleep on the couch. I personally never experienced a physical entity stopping me moving by sitting on me. But I have felt multiple presences in the room.

Amazing what the mind can do. And yes i do believe that some people may feel like theyve had an alien experience when it may have just been SP. I also read somewhere that if you are experiencing SP, to try and roll over to your side and then you can have an Out Of Body experience.. Tried that once and almost did.
(Miggyman, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 21:55, closed)

Nicely written!
"...when I dreamt there was a tornado in my back garden which came in the window and then, unfortunately, went in my ear..." particularly made me giggle.

Sounds like a horrible condition though, you have my sympathies. I love my bed, and a good night's sleep. If something started to go weird with that I don't know what I'd do O_o
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 11:10, closed)

So do I :D
I think that was the main problem, it would only happen if I'd slept a bit too much over a few days. It's not happened to me for years now though, but I still get the odd weird half-waking feeling from time to time.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 17:28, closed)

I've had a very similar experience.
The worse was waking up, choking, with a daemonic figure lying atop me, hands around my neck. It took me about ten seconds before I could will one of my fingers into life, then my body woke up and it turned into dust and disappeared.

Clearly, this was half-dream, half-waking state. And not a fun one.

I had it regularly for about four or five years. But I was hitting the recreational drugs fairly hard (ecstasy, coke and stuff, never cannabis oddly). As soon as I stopped them, the sleep paralysis disappeared. Never had it since.

I can vouch for the momentary terror of waking up to see figures and creatures in the shadows of your bedroom, but I can also tell you that it feels wonderful to find out what was causing mine and cut it out forever.
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 11:44, closed)

That sounds like a succubus thingy
which is one thing I've managed to avoid so far! That would terrify the living shite out of me if that happened!
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 17:36, closed)

I did spend the rest of the night with a light on
Just in case. It wasn't fun. But I don't fear it, not now I know what it was that caused, or catalysed, it.

So, this succubus thing...does that count as sex? It never hurts to add one to your total...
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 23:39, closed)

If I don't have my Meds,
I have similar experiences. I will get up, go about my day, then realise something isn't quite right, maybe the colour of the sky. That's when I'll realise I'm dreaming, wake up, get up and go about my day. Then, somewhere along the line again, I'll realise something's not right.....etc etc. This has happened to me up to 6 times in a row.

If it was all mad dream-like stuff, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's just like real-life apart from the aforementioned subtle giveaway. When you wake up with the police banging on the door to arrest you for shooting someone, it's fucking frightening trying to figure out which bit is the dream - the shooting, the arrest, or all of it.

"There's nuttin wrong wid dis brain" (There, a Suicidal Tendencies reference for you)
(Rsoles, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 15:01, closed)

The odd thing about it
was the completely outrageous things which seemed completely normal during my dreams, like the old bathroom suite in the kitchen and my house being completely different than usual, then I realise I'm dreaming by reading a paper! I still have a recurring dream in which one of my legs doesn't work properly and I'm trying to limp home. The dream is always different, sometimes I'm back at school trying to reach the bus, sometimes I'm walking along the street, sometimes I'm carrying an obscenely heavy bag, but always one of my legs is all gammy :(
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 17:40, closed)

Sleep paralysis
I've had this...probably no more than 5 times in my life though.

it seems to be accompanied by lucid dreams (eg, with your newspaper and then you realise 'whoah, i'm dreaming.' i'm sure i've read in a dream before though).

my worst sleep paralysis was when my covers were over my face and i couldn't lift them off. i felt like i was suffocating to death. lovely!
( The Helpful Bear, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 11:58, closed)

At last!
Until maybe three years ago I had a similar thing: I would be drifting off to sleep (possibly asleep already - couldn't really tell) and I'd enter a slightly different state of consciousness, where it would feel as if I was still awake, and be aware of this rushing sound in my ears. It was so loud that it was unavoidable and deafening - and really, really frightening. I couldn't even use my usual trick of waking up from dreams to get out of it.

As far as I can remember, it just stopped. You're the first person I've ever encountered who had anything similar. Hurrah!
( john3ners has relocated to the Highlands, Sat 25 Jul 2009, 22:36, closed)

It's nice to know I'm not the only one :D
My dad used to suffer from it too he told me, mostly when they changed his shifts.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Sun 26 Jul 2009, 16:05, closed)

Sleep paralysis. Great fun.
Repost from Phobias QOTW:

I've had sleep paralysis too, quite a few times
It really is the scariest thing ever. I hear people moving around in the house, but I can't move my head to see who it is. Then I see people standing over me and looking down. Eep!

The main common factor of all my experiences has been that I was sleeping on the sofa during the day. There may be some message here...

On a related note, I was once woken up during an operation because I was having a bad reaction to the anaesthetic, but I was still under the effect of the paralysing drug. That was pretty scary too, but I felt a lot more scared during the sleep paralysis, mainly because I was a bit more lucid and aware of what was going on.

* * * * * *

What I've found helps me, is once I've figured out that I'm awake and paralysed, I try to focus on a bit of my body (like my hand or a foot for example) and concentrate on what I can feel it touching. When I realise that my foot is touching the arm of the sofa, or whatever, it seems to stop the panic.

Then I just try to go back to sleep and hope I will be okay when I wake up the next time.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 27 Jul 2009, 21:37, closed)