Something really weird has happened to me last night (although there is an explanation) and I knew about this site, so I decided to register and post my story.
I went to bed around 4:15 AM; I had been chatting on MSN all night and totally forgot about the time. When I got in bed, I couldn't fall asleep. So I just lay on top of my covers, waiting for sleep to come.
Then all of a sudden, my whole body started to tingle. I could feel my arms and legs going numb, same feeling you get when your foot is asleep, I am sure you've all had it.
Then I felt a really heavy weight on me, I was not imagining this. It was almost as if someone was lying on top of me. I started shifting my body, trying to make it go away, when I realized I was unable to move. At this point I started to panic, and I wanted to kick my wall to wake up my mom and dad. My wall is made out of cardboard btw, so they would have heard me.
I couldn't do this though, so I tried to scream. I felt a finger pressuring on my throat, which kept me from screaming.
I could breath fine, and I wasn't in any sort of pain. Just a lot of panic and frustration. I think it all lasted a minute or 2. Then I started to calm down and close my eyes (yes my eyes had been open the entire time) and the pressure went away. I immediately sat up, and turned on my light.
I was so confused and scared, I tried to calm down and think about what the hell had just happened. I guess I just went back to sleep after that, I was pretty exhausted, and I didn't know what to think of it.
Anyway, I am talking to a friend on MSN right now, and I told him about what happened.
He googled some keywords and came up with this:
Sleep paralysis is a common condition characterized by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal muscles and areflexia that occurs upon awakening from sleep or less often while falling asleep.
This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger.
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."
Often it is reported as feeling a weight on one's chest, as if being underneath a person or heavy object.
These symptoms can last from mere seconds to several minutes (although they can feel like much longer) and can be frightening to the person. There may be some body movement, but it is very unlikely and hard for a person to accomplish.
Okay so, that sounds familiar.
I still feel like it was something/or someone pinning me down. I am almost sure about it.
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Article by special contributor KoltenAspen
I'm sure many of you have had sleep paralysis
And I'm going to tell you what it is.
Sleep Paralysis has been known for a long time.
Throughout the history of mankind there have
Been the reports of people awakening to feel a
Sense of weight on their chests and an inability to
Move their limbs to escape this pressure. People
Who experience this phenomena almost
Unanimously describe a feeling of panic and fear
At their experience which can last long after the
Paralysis of their bodies has faded and they can
Move again.
Legends have arisen in every culture as a means
Of explaining this sensation, now called sleep
Paralysis. Hebrew legends equate the night hag
With Adam's first wife, Lilith (More about Lilith).
More commonly the European view from the
Middle Ages was that a witch or other demonic
Entity was sitting on their bodies and trying to
Entrap their souls. But whether the night hag is
Thought to be an old woman, witch, devil, incubi
Or succubi, there is rarely reported an actual
Visual presence and the victims are left to fear
That such a thing will happen to them again.
Modern scientific study has discovered a common
Feature with most of these sleep paralysis events
And a physiological cause for the most
Pronounced symptoms. It has been discovered
That during sleep the brain releases a hormone
Into the blood stream that will paralyze the major
Muscle groups to prevent locomotion. In this way,
The body can rest while the mind is working its
Way through dreams. This hormone is designed
To prevent the body from hurting itself during the
Unconscious sleep state.
Those who have had too little of the hormone
Introduced are subject to limb thrashing and
Sleepwalking as the person acts out the events of
Their dreamsThe medical explanation of sleep
Paralysis is that as a person rouses from the
Deeper sleep cycle, the hormone will take a few
Moments to wear off and release the muscles of
The arms and legs, thus causing a brief period
Where the paralysis lingers. Generally it only takes
A few seconds for this to fade, but even such a
Brief time can cause panic in many people. That a
Sense of fear or dread accompanies this
Sensation can be understood in that one of the
Major triggers for sleep paralysis is extreme
Stress in one's life.
While the medical profession considers all the
Sensations of sleep paralysis to be
Psychosomatic, paranormal researchers have
Often encountered stories of being held down or
Choked in places that exhibit poltergeist activity.
There have been other reports, some as recent as
The early 1990's, of a person's spouse entering
The room where their partner is experiencing
"sleep paralysis" and seen a dark shadowy form
Fleeing the bed of the victim.
There has yet to be discovered a practical way to
Study any but the most physiological aspects of
This phenomena. That it has been a fact
Throughout the history of man could lend weight
To the totally mundane explanation. But there has
Also been the belief of malicious spirits bent on
Harming the living for as long as humans can
Remember. Does the truth lie somewhere in
Between? Could it not be equally valid that
Certain dark spirits use this physical effect in an
Effort to attack the souls of the living when they
Are in a defenseless position?.
I hope this has helped people who have had sleep
Paralysis I am sorry for a long boring
Presentation.