Waking up with sleep paralysis: anyone else?

A good friend was telling me the other day about how this weird thing keeps happening to him. He’ll be fast asleep, and then suddenly, he snaps awake only to realize he’s completely paralyzed. He can't move a single muscle. It lasts for maybe thirty seconds or so, and then just as quickly, everything returns to normal.
He says there isn't any pain or cramping involved, which is lucky, I guess—it's just pure, unadulterated fear.

To me, this sounds 😲 , honestly. I've never heard of anything like it before. Does anyone actually know what's going on during those moments?

Thomas Hernandez86 said:A buddy of mine mentioned that he keeps waking up in the middle of the night completely paralyzed. He can't move an inch, and it lasts for about 30 seconds before it finally lets go.
He says there's no pain or cramping involved—just pure terror.

To me, this sounds 😲 ; I've honestly never heard of anything like it. What exactly is going on here?

Interesting.
Based on this, it’s nothing too dramatic:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/449418

Thomas Hernandez86 said:A buddy of mine was telling me the other day that he keeps waking up in the middle of the night totally paralyzed—like, he can't move a muscle for about 30 seconds before it finally lets go.
He says there’s no pain or cramping or anything, just pure fear.

To me, this sounds 😲 , I've never even heard of it. What's actually going on here?

It's been mentioned on this forum before, so maybe do a quick search.
It's actually pretty common—it happens to me every now and then too. It's a super creepy feeling...🙂

If I remember correctly, when you hit that deep REM stage of sleep, a dream can feel so incredibly real that you wake up halfway. Basically, your brain shuts down your muscle movement so you don't accidentally act out your dreams and hurt yourself—so you're stuck in this weird half-awake, half-asleep limbo. Correct me if I'm wrong on that part!

I have experienced similar episodes myself, though I eventually came to the conclusion that I was likely undergoing some form of lucid dreaming, or perhaps my mind simply surged into wakefulness while my body remained stubbornly asleep. It was quite a disorienting sensation, really; I even recall being haunted by a sort of low, menacing hum. Some suggest these disturbances are merely a matter of blood circulation or some other physiological quirk, but I cannot say for certain. Ultimately, however, the feeling dissipated after a short while, leaving me perfectly fine, healthy, and entirely back to my usual self.

Does anyone else ever wake up in the morning and find their arm is basically "dead" for a few seconds before the circulation finally kicks back in?

4roses said:Does anyone else deal with waking up in the morning only to find their arm feels completely "dead" for a few seconds until the circulation finally kicks back in?

For me, my arm can feel "dead" for a full minute... though honestly, that’s usually just because I’ve been sleeping on it and cutting off the blood flow...
Ideally, I'd prefer the first scenario—something falls toward my head, and I try to swat it away lightning-fast with my other hand, only to realize my arm has gone totally numb right when I need it most. 😁

@Thomas Hernandez86, I honestly think you're getting caught up in all that astral projection stuff... it's like your body wakes up before your spirit actually makes its way back from the ether! 🙂
Seriously, go check this out: or just give it a quick Google search 🙂

Drew Mitchell55 said:My hand sometimes goes numb in like a minute... but that’s usually just because I’ve been laying on it and cut off the circulation...
If something falls toward me for the first time, I guess my instinct is to grab it with my other hand and hurl it against the wall as fast as possible... but then my hand goes dead on me. 😁

If my hand falls onto my head,😁 I try to move it out of the way and end up accidentally slamming my skull into something instead.😁

Thomas Hernandez86 said:A friend mentioned to me the other day that this happens to him all the time—he’ll wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly realize he's completely paralyzed. He can't move a muscle. It lasts about 30 seconds and then just lets go.
He says there's no pain or cramping or anything, just pure fear.

To me, this sounds 😲 , I've never heard of anything like it. What's actually going on here?

That happened to me once too. It's a bizarre feeling, honestly. My first thought was: Is this what it feels like to die? Being unable to move while your consciousness is still trapped in a motionless body. Chills.

bluewalker36 said:my hand just falls right onto my head😁 I try to move it out of the way, only to end up bumping my skull against something😁

So, does your head go numb too? 😁

Man, that happened to me last year and I seriously freaked out!!!
It’s such a bizarre sensation—you open your eyes and you can't move even an inch, all while knowing you aren't even getting any air.
It lasted about thirty seconds. Absolutely terrifying!

Ugh... honestly, listening to all your stories is giving me actual chills... 😱
Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with any of that crap myself 🙂

bluewalker36 said:my hand just flops onto my head😁 I try to move it and end up bumping my skull😁

🤣

Hao!! That’s exactly how it went for me one morning... I woke up and realized my left arm wasn't working. I tried lifting it with my right hand while still lying down... let go of the right one... and the left just dropped. Total panic set in...

Then it happened again about two hours later...

And I'm only twenty...😕

Thanks for all the input👍

I did a little more digging online, and honestly, if you aren't aware of what's actually happening, there’s really nothing to worry about. It turns out this is just sleep paralysis—a sleep disorder that falls into the same category as things like night terrors or sleepwalking.
It usually kicks in right as you're drifting off or just as you're waking up. It’s basically that same loss of muscle tone we experience during REM sleep, but since we're normally unconscious, we don't notice it. But for you weirdos😬 who are wide awake and fully conscious, it feels like you're completely stuck, unable to move anything except for rolling your eyes or breathing.
I couldn't quite find a definitive explanation as to why it happens exactly like that, though.

John Phillips4 said:🤣

Hao!! That’s exactly how it felt for me one morning... I woke up and realized my left arm just wasn't working. I tried lifting it up while still lying down using my right hand... then I let go of my right hand... and my left arm just slumped right back down. I totally panicked!!

And then it happened again to me after about two nights...

And I'm only 20 years old😕

I'm 20 too😁 once I had this really awkward fall where my shoulder started hurting so bad that I actually began screaming from the pain, so my grandma came over and popped my arm back into place.😁

🤣 Heh...

I I didn't even scream or anything... I just stood there completely frozen...😲 Then I spent the rest of the day telling everyone I was having a heart attack...🤣 🤣

Let me just breathe some life back into this sleepy thread. :-)

Thomas Hernandez86 said:while you weirdos😬 are wide awake and fully aware that you can't move an inch besides rolling your eyes and breathing.

It’s happened to me twice, though both times I actually managed to break free using the same trick I used maybe five or six times to snap myself out of a (terrible) dream once I realized I was dreaming. I’m not quite sure how to put the technique into words; the closest thing would be describing it as this sudden, explosive surge of energy rushing toward every single muscle, basically shattering whatever kind of mental blockade is holding you down.

Otherwise, the sensation is identical to dreaming, except you're keeping your eyes open and actually seeing things. :-)

Then there was this one time where I didn't even try to stop what was happening: I saw myself from above, just lying there asleep in bed. It's that well-known phenomenon, but man, it is genuinely eerie. What’s wild is that I really did see myself—it wasn't just a dream—because I could see exactly how messy the blankets were (one of my legs was partially sticking out), which turned out to be true when I woke up a few moments later and (quite spooked) immediately scanned the room.

I’ve had these moments where I’ll wake up in the middle of the night—usually right after some absolutely terrifying nightmare—and I just feel paralyzed, like I can’t even move an inch. I guess I eventually manage to drift back to sleep, though...
Another thing is when I wake up in the morning; my mind is wide awake and racing, but my body just won't respond. It’s like there’s zero strength left in my muscles, so if I do try to move, it’s just these clumsy, awkward little twitches, nothing precise at all. It happens to me quite often, especially lately... it felt pretty spooky the first few times, but I suppose it feels somewhat normal to me now.
And then there's this third thing: whenever I can't move my arm, which usually happens when I'm lying on my back and tuck it under my head, it goes completely numb, and I just can't feel it at all. It is honestly such a horrible sensation when it starts to "wake up." 😬

It’s happened to me twice now—waking up and finding myself completely unable to move for several minutes—and I have to say, it was absolutely terrifying... honestly, just sickening.

Thomas Hernandez86 said:A friend mentioned to me the other day that he’s experienced this several times where he suddenly wakes up in the middle of the night and realizes he’s completely paralyzed—he can't move a single muscle, and it lasts about 30 seconds before it finally lets go.
He claims there's no pain or cramping involved, just pure, unadulterated terror.

To me, this sounds 😲 ; I've never heard of anything like it. What on earth is actually happening here?

I’ve dealt with this two or three times myself. I would have these intense nightmares, and then upon waking, I’d find myself totally paralyzed for a few minutes—literally unable to move an inch.
It is a profoundly unsettling experience.