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I experienced them first when I was 6 or 7 and I still remember it.

I remember each episode since, and they're getting more frequent.

It goes like this:

I go to bed normally, but at some point during the night - I either wake up and I can't move, or I dream that I wake up and I can't move.

Last night was particularly bad - I woke up and I was completely paralyzed, then I either fell back asleep or fainted, but I woke up again as like I was experiencing a Groundhog Day moment, and the whole thing repeated with just small differences (i.e I was closer to the edge of the bed - I was trying to reach for the light.

I then 'fake' woke up again. Basically, either I experienced three episodes of the same panic attack and just fainted in between, either I dreamed about waking up three times, with only the 4th one actually being base reality.

They always come with extreme fear. Sheer terror for some unexplained reason. I straight-up feel there's someone in my room with me just out of sight and it's really, really difficult to move my eyes and focus them on a single spot.

The weird thing is, I had one of those faggot eye blackout masks on, but I could still see what was going on in the room.

The last time this happened I was visiting my parents during Christmas, and it was so bad and I was screaming so bad that my father walked in the room and had no idea what was going on. Somehow I knew he was there and I started screaming: 'Touch me! Shake me! Move me!'. I remember doing that and I remember why: because I couldn't move and I was hoping him shaking me would kickstart me back into reality....

...but how the hell would I know that I'm experiencing this, and that he's in the room, when I was with my eyes closed and apparently having a nightmare from his point of view?

I now have them once a month. It used to be once every few years, then once a year... I've no idea what's going on but I'm terrified of going to bed.

I used an app called 'Sleep as Droid' to record my sleep and on a few occasions the sound recordings were pure horror. I was screaming in pure terror. I'm a grown ass man and it was painful to hear myself scream like a little girl. No horror movie, story or anything like that - now, or when I was young, ever came close to the panic and fear I experience during these episodes.

What the fuck is going on with me?

I experienced them first when I was 6 or 7 and I still remember it. I remember each episode since, and they're getting more frequent. It goes like this: I go to bed normally, but at some point during the night - I either wake up and I can't move, or I dream that I wake up and I can't move. Last night was particularly bad - I woke up and I was completely paralyzed, then I either fell back asleep or fainted, but I woke up again as like I was experiencing a Groundhog Day moment, and the whole thing repeated with just small differences (i.e I was closer to the edge of the bed - I was trying to reach for the light. I then 'fake' woke up again. Basically, either I experienced three episodes of the same panic attack and just fainted in between, either I dreamed about waking up three times, with only the 4th one actually being base reality. They always come with extreme fear. Sheer terror for some unexplained reason. I straight-up feel there's someone in my room with me just out of sight and it's really, really difficult to move my eyes and focus them on a single spot. The weird thing is, I had one of those faggot eye blackout masks on, but I could still see what was going on in the room. The last time this happened I was visiting my parents during Christmas, and it was so bad and I was screaming so bad that my father walked in the room and had no idea what was going on. Somehow I knew he was there and I started screaming: 'Touch me! Shake me! Move me!'. I remember doing that and I remember why: because I couldn't move and I was hoping him shaking me would kickstart me back into reality.... ...but how the hell would I know that I'm experiencing this, and that he's in the room, when I was with my eyes closed and apparently having a nightmare from his point of view? I now have them once a month. It used to be once every few years, then once a year... I've no idea what's going on but I'm terrified of going to bed. I used an app called 'Sleep as Droid' to record my sleep and on a few occasions the sound recordings were pure horror. I was screaming in pure terror. I'm a grown ass man and it was painful to hear myself scream like a little girl. No horror movie, story or anything like that - now, or when I was young, ever came close to the panic and fear I experience during these episodes. What the fuck is going on with me?

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[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Night terrors and/or sleep paralysis are typically driven by stress and particularly disruptions to your sleep cycle.

Cut all caffeine, booze, other stimulants or depressants, get off the electronics an hour before bed, get some exercise, and sleep on a very regular schedule. That'll solve 90% of it. The other 10% is stress, which is a lot easier to handle when you're not hallucinating ghostly-gobblies at 3am.

Edit: All of this is advice from experience. Sleep paralysis is a bear to deal with until you learn the lifestyle changes to head it off.