Let me tell you a tale today, well, actually  a real phenomenon stranger than fiction. Â
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“I can’t move … oh God I can’t move!!”, panic was slowly gripping my heart.Â
“Why can’t I move?”
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Lying on the bed, I tried to shake my hands one more time, but not even the fingertips responded. I lay there still, silent, listening to the loud whirr of the ceiling fan. The last thing I remember doing was snuggling in the blankets and going to sleep, but it seems now my body was still resting while the brain was awake. Terrifying thoughts started bubbling in my mind, starting from Ghosts to Coma.
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“What if I tried going back to sleep?”
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After few moments (which felt like eternity) I was sleeping again. The next thing I remember was waking up in a jolt. I shook my arms and legs, blinked a couple of times.Â
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A vague sensation of helplessness and fear was still registered in my mind, but I couldn’t tell if the incident was real or a nightmare. I ignored the feeling, thinking it to be a lone scenario. Until it repeated, the next afternoon and kept happening, inconsistently though, for a year or so.
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After that I did what every person on earth does, Google. It’s a condition called Sleep Paralysis – happens when the body is unable to smoothly transition between stages of sleep.Â
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“Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a sense of choking. ” – Source
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That was about 5 years ago and is the reason why I stopped sleeping during afternoons or oversleeping in general. It happened during times when my stress levels were beyond normal.
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I wish it had given me some supernatural power, similar to reading mind or moving things like Magneto, but sigh… nothing like that happened.
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Did you ever experience anything like this?
Blog-A-Thon Prompt – Stranger than fiction
That sounds so scary. I sleep like there is no tomorrow but fortunately haven't experienced this. Phew! Though my body often goes into won't respond mode when I am busy doing nothing 😉
hahaha that's the way I would like to sleep too … like I won't wake up even if someone is hammering down the wall. But sigh I am light sleeper. Thanks for writing in.
I experience that too often for my comfort. Conscious yet not awake. Sometimes it is terrifying! I am jealous to see your day 2 post already up! Heheheh.
I hope it is a lot better now for you… I have noticed that mostly it's stress that leads to sleep paralysis.
these days I shiver when I sleep. Over sleeping! I also should stop sleeping in the afternoons.
Oh I haven't heard of that one. Although sometimes I wake up with a jerk. I can't sleep in afternoons anymore.
Oh yes this happened to me many times prior to my exams in school. It was so scary, and I was extremely relieved to know that such a thing was common once I came to know about it. I've written a post on it myself in fact.
http://dashyspeaks.blogspot.in/2016/05/paralysed.html?m=0
oh really will check it out. I am quite glad to know that it's common … else the sound of it itself was scary 😛
Good that you now know you shouldn't stress yourself
thank you Nhi Yen
NO, it hasn't happened to me, but I have heard about it. Sometimes, even when someone is awake, suddenly, her/his limb would feel so light that feels it doesn't exists. Such conditions, happened once, are scary but hopefully harmless.
seems they are common and harmless but yeah for a moment it does feel scary. Thanks for writing in.
Ok. This is weird for a different reason. I was researching for one of the next posts due in this challenge. And I stumbled upon this phenomenon online for the first time in my life barely an hour before reading it here… wow.
A famous female Hollywood celebrity has it too.
Oh really!!! hahaha quite a coincidence. So who's that celebrity with whom I share my plight 😀
This is indeed stranger than fiction and a lot scary. Hope it never happens again. Best wishes.
thanks Inderpreet. It hasn't happened recently so I am cool 🙂
I wake up sometimes and am unable to move, scream or run even when someone is trying to catch me. I have this sensation of falling from a great height and I wake up with a jolt, afraid of hitting the floor with a thud.
The sensation of falling and then waking up with a jolt has happened to me too. The jolt is sometimes enough to wake up my husband too. There are so many strange sleep conditions.
I haven't experienced this but it sounds pretty scary! Glad you've made changes and more importantly, managing your stress levels
Yes, managing stress and taking care of lifestyle always helps. I just need to get enough sleep.