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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

I got these for most of my life but haven’t had one in a few years. Here’s what I observed from my own.

They happened more when I was more stressed in my daily life. So deal with your problems. Also things like exercise can help relieve the burden of stress. Life is better in general when you get at least a vigorous workout of at least an hour 5 times a week and I can’t recommend this enough. Diet probably matters too since you feel good when you’re eating healthy. This might be enough to get rid of them.

Before they stopped happening, I did reach a point where I could recognize them when they happened and suppress the fear. The experience was more like an annoyed “great, another one of these stupid things.” Way easier to deal with. Now that I think about it, I was trying to do more things that scared me around that time to embrace and tolerate fear as a self mastery exercise so that might be related.

I also did the yelling for someone to wake me up thing. I just told my wife that it would happen sometimes when we first got together so she would expect it and she would just wake me up if she heard me. I’ve tried the wiggle your fingers trick and it works ok I guess.

That’s all I’ve got.

[–] • 0 pt

Thanks dude. Yeah the wiggle your fingers trick works sometimes. It's good to know at least that I'm not alone.