Advice to others, and questions
Not able to sleep much tonight due to sleep paralysis. I have dealt with it off and on for the past few years. Sometimes I have multiple nights of SP and then I’ll go weeks without. By no means am I glad that other people may deal with more d*****c or intense SP but as empathize with anyone who has experienced it, I am thankful for not seeing any shadows/d****s/or bad dreams. Each SP experience it’s different in its own ways but most of time I am either dreaming (nothing scary) or don’t remember my dream and then feel like paralysis out of nowhere. I don’t see anything around me while I am stuck, just black. Most of the time I hear I very high pitched tone that increases in volume as I try to fight the paralysis. I know everyone’s experiences are different but if this helps anyone who is starting to or just had their first SP is to not fight it by trying to free from the paralysis. I know, easier said than done, especially if you experience more vivid or intense SP. For me, once I feel I’m stuck in SP, I naturally freak out and try everything to move which makes it worse. Once I realize what’s happening then I relax my body and I don‘t fight it, I 95% of the time wake up quickly.
Another thing is getting stuck in the loops of SP. They are horrible. Sometimes I’ll be so exhausted and I’ll wake up from SP, and then fall back asleep immediately and it happens over and over again. What I do is try and get up once have woken up from SP, walk around my house, drink some water, wash my face. I’ll be honest, it work maybe half the time but it’s worth trying instead of looping.
Unfortunately (which I’m sure you have already which is why ur here lol) when you google how to help sleep paralysis it’s just don’t eat or drink before bed, don’t lie on ur back, limit stress, but those don’t always work. And I’m not a fan of medication so again easier said than done, try to embrace it and figure out ways that help you deal with it. Again I know everyone’s SP is different so maybe embracing it or dealing with it it’s so far out of reach but for those who maybe have similar experiences to mine and are scared of going to sleep, maybe this will help.
The question I have for other people who have dealt with SP for sometime now is, do you feel or know when you are going to have SP before you actually fall asleep? For example, if I’m starting to fall asleep while watching tv but I’m dozing off and on, I get these waves of sound (I’m sorry it’s hard to explain) almost like a light saber from star wars when the swing it. And then I know that if I don’t get up and move, then I’m going to have SP. It’s always the sound waves that make me know, does anyone else experience noise I’m SP instead of d****s/vivid dreams?
Good luck to everyone out there, much love🙏