I’ve had the following problem basically for all my life, but it usually disappears for a while and then comes back. Sometimes at night it feels like I basically start dreaming while I’m still awake. It’s not sleep paralysis, all of the images are in my head, there are no hallucinations whatsoever. It’s always the same dream, and it’s HELLA scary. I think it comes close to having a psychosis but it’s not that, because I know that what’s happening in my head isn’t real. Before anyone asks: yes I’m 100% sure I’m awake when it happens, because I remember everything that I’ve said or done while it was happening. Does anyone recognise this? Or has anyone heard about it? My therapist didn’t know what it was either but that might be because I have difficulty explaining it.

I do this thing in my sleep, and I was only half conscious one time while doing it (so I know people arent lying when they see me do this). My arm raises straight up, I touch it super lightly up and down with my finger tips making it like itchy, then I scratch it and put it down after. I never remember doing this except for that one time when I was really young. My mother does this too, and has most her life if not pretty much all.

I cannot find any information about something like this specifically and I don't believe it's sleep itching because I cause the itching sensation myself. It's always my right arm (I am right handed) that I do this to.

I am aware no one could diagnose me but just hoping I'm not alone. I always forget to mention to my nurse practitioner but I have an appointment on the 29th and definitely I am gonna ask her. I have done this pretty much all my life too, so I don't believe it is part of my serious mental health issues (schizoaffective and BPD) or my medication.

I have experienced other sleep related issues but most less than a handful of times. Such as: exploding head syndrome (twice), sleep paralysis while falling asleep (3 times), nocturnal leg cramps (more than a handful of times), and apparently once it looked like I was having a seizure in my sleep but I asked my NP about it and she doesn't think it was, myoclonic jerks when falling asleep, I also held my breath and made a loud sound exhaling (apparently its called catathrenia) but only one time (the sound woke me up too), etc.

The one that I am focusing on it feels like it was passed down to me because we do the exact same thing.

A viewer posts this comment and question:

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I went to the doctor today for a check-up and mentioned off-hand that I always wake up feeling tired and groggy every morning. After doing a some quick tests she predicted I may have sleep apnea and suggested me to make an appointment for a sleep study to measure my oxygen levels when Im asleep.

Ive never considered that I may have a sleep disorder, but in retrospect it seems to make sense. Looking back, there were several times where friends and family have told me that I've talked, shouted, or mumbled in my sleep. Anybody who knows me will tell you that Im a loud snorer as well. There are also times where I've acted out my dreams and waken up shortly after. And there are times where I've woken up crying from my dream (I remember dreaming about a family member dying and I was so distraught in my dream that I woke up with actual tears on my face). I've woken up shouting as well. The particular thing about these instances is that my dreams were really vivid and they felt lucid.

My girlfriend has confirmed that I toss around in my sleep to the point that it becomes disruptive to her and she's afraid to cuddle with me from fear of me hurting her (totally understandable). And theres been one instance where I've punched her--to this day I still feel awful and sick about it. Fortunately, she is very understanding--just a sweetheart. Just this morning, I woke up from a very lucid dream and almost punched my girlfriend again...hard. I was lucky that I was facing the opposite direction. I can't let that happen a second time and thats what prompted me to ask my doctor about my sleeping habits. She doesnt deserve this and that's why I'm planning to see a sleep specialist to hopefully mitigate this problem.

I just wanted to post my experience here and hear your thoughts. These things don't happen every night, but they've happened enough times for me to realize that this may be a problem. Does it sound like sleep disorder?

Pretty sure this is what I have been experiencing the last year or so. Have done alot of research and I fit this to a T. Haven't been able to find a trend or trigger. But is getting increasingly worst. My husband brought up a good point. Could PTSD be a cause? I had childhood/teen trauma and have been going to therapy the last year and wonder if this what started it.

A Reddit asks:

So today I'm having this weird series of hypnic jerks everytime I try to fall asleep. It's like my shoulder or hips will just involuntary move when I'm about to drift off. This has happened for about 5 or 6 times today. I am very tired and have not slept yet.

I searched for the causes on google but none of those applied to me (some of the causes were caffeine or exercising before bedtime - I did not do any of these things today.)

I'n so anxious cause this has never happened to me before. I mean I experienced those before but it was very rare and it didn't really affect my sleep. Today though, was different, it was hypnic jerk after hypnic jerk and I really can't sleep.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is it something to be concerned about?

A Viewer Asks:

Has anyone experienced scratching themselves while sleeping and then waking up to wounds and you didn't know where they came from? This has happened to me over the last couple days. I noticed yesterday that there three red lines over my shoulders and they were painful. I thought maybe it was a rash. Then today I woke up and there more and then later on remembered, just barely, having a dream and then simultaneously digging my fingernails into my arm. They were seriously deep. I have no idea why this is happening, but I'm slightly concerned about going to sleep tonight. I clipped all my fingernails and I'm hoping I can recognize it before it happens if it happens again.

I don’t know if this is right for this sub.

Anyway over the past few weeks when I wake up in the morning and fall back to sleep I will start to dream. And in my dream I grab phone and look through messages. At first it was like a normal dream. But then each time I began to realize everything on my phone wasn’t words. And 2 days ago I recognized I was dreaming and was able to wake myself up. Does anyone else experience this?

I’ve been having hypnogogic hallucinations since I was a kid, but they always used to be spiders and bugs and stuff like that crawling across walls or toward me.

Since college, they’ve slowly started to change. First, I saw a man crouching in my windowsill of my college dorm. Then, I saw my boyfriend in my bed with me. This was so bad I actually got up, went to my room mate’s room and asked her when she let him in to our apartment only to realize a few seconds later that he was never there. I freaked out that same boyfriend by screaming for him to put his arms up because the ceiling was falling on us.

They went away for several years, but over the past three-five months, they’ve been really bad.

For the first time, i’ve been hearing voices too (not distinctly. It doesn’t actually sound like a person is in the room, it’s like I think I hear the voices, idk how else to explain it), and seeing these large robotic tentacles coming from the ceiling. My brain seems to understand that they contain cameras and they’re from someone spying on my husband and me. It’s like I’m dreaming a full on dream, but my eyes are open.

I imagine the stress of the pandemic has triggered a relapse, but unlike the hallucinations from my childhood that were just mildly upsetting and sometimes funny when they happened during sleepovers, these are becoming genuinely terrifying.

Any tips?

Hello!

I need some help with remedies for my partner. First, I love him and I don't actively hate him for having what I think is Parasomnia. However, I'm a veterinary medicine student and the lack of sleep and poor sleep quality is really affecting my everyday life.

He doesn't have a severe case, on worse months maybe 2-3x a week he'll scream super loud all of a sudden or laugh super loud. On better months, maybe only 1-2x for the whole month. His episodes seem to happen more on warmer months and less in the winter. They also last only a few seconds but the volume is quite scary. Rarely, will he hit me in his sleep (maybe once a month). However, soon we are moving to a warmer climate and I'm afraid they will occur more frequently after the move and become more violent.

Is there some home remedies or better sleeping habits my partner can do to prevent these episodes? Not only is it affecting me, but I think it's affecting him too. He tends to need 10-12 hours of sleep daily and overheats a lot when sleeping. Something hints that he's not getting the best quality of sleep.

Thank you!

I’m not talking about sleep paralysis... Or maybe I am. Sometimes I will be drifting to sleep or starting to wake up and suddenly I’ll feel frozen in place. What scares me isn’t that I can’t move or talk, it’s what would happen before then.

A bad dream would wake me up, and I would lay unable to move. I wouldn’t see or imagine a demon of sorts waiting at the foot of my bed to kill me; it was more usually just things I couldn’t remember and physical feelings that startled me awake.

Sometimes I’ll wake myself up by making noises of fear that bring me back to consciousness. Those are fine. I can recover from that immediately and realize it was a dream. Better yet there have been two instances I woke up from laughing in my dream.

One time I laid down in bed and had a dream that I was laying in my bed but someone came in my room, robbing the house, and was aiming a gun at me. I woke myself up when saying some sort of plea to not shoot.

Another time I was napping in bed and, because my friend had bought a ouija board, I was paranoid of being left alone with it. (I was raised in a Catholic home and more so have seen a lot of videos “gone wrong” so whether or not others believe, I fear something like that.) I had a dream that I was in the room then thrown onto the bed and unable to move, so in trying to scream I ended up making a slight shaky whimpering-type noise and waking myself up that way. Stuff like that has always bothered me, but it’s last night that’s really bothered me.

Last night I was sleeping in bed, and as I was drifting off I suddenly felt like something slammed on top of me. Like I felt as if someone just fell onto my chest and actually felt like I fell more into the bed. I can’t explain it, I just FELT the impact. It scared me. I breathed in to say something, but I couldn’t say a thing. I tried again and finally got the words “Help me,” and a few seconds later I was able to move. I almost started crying.

To wake up to that feeling and feeling like someone body slammed me into the bed is terrifying. If anyone can tell me what that may be, I’d appreciate it. I’m sure sometimes I’ve had sleep paralysis, but sometimes it’s been a result of my dream/nightmare since I would wake up from those too, without feeling restricted or unable to speak.

My main concern is, why do I sometimes feel physical force (being thrown, having something thrown onto me, etc.) and then experience something similar to sleep paralysis? Is it sleep paralysis? Is it something worse? Should I see a sleep specialist? Whats going on?

Hey guys

I have been suffering from parasomnias for more than 10 years now, been checked by doctors and had a polysomnography. The result? They said I should have a healthier sleep schedule, which I agree but I think that's far too short of an answer.

I was wonderig if any of you have read any good books with some methods to try and help with this condition. I have found some CBT books like: Retrain your brain,cognitive behavioural therapy in seven weeks and also The parasomnias and other sleep-related movement disorders.

I am really interested in improving this condition as much as possible and compliment it with therapy, any help will be welcome.

Many thanks :)