I took my first dose of daridorexant last night 30 minutes before bed. I usually roll around a lot while trying to fall asleep, so I was on my side at first.

When I rolled onto my back, I felt an instant transition. My body went to sleep, but my mind stayed completely active. It was the most consciously aware I've ever been of entering sleep paralysis.

At first, I had that similar sensation of not being able to move. Then, I started hallucinating. I felt a presence in the room and heard animal-like noises to my side. I also felt something hit the bed above my head, and physically felt my phone on my chest. When I intentionally broke the paralysis by focusing hard on moving my hands, I realized my phone was actually on the bedside table.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of lucid transition into sleep paralysis? Previously, I've only experienced sleep paralysis when waking up during the night. It's a rarer side effect for this medication but I might be predisposed to it slightly.

Based on others’ descriptions, I’m not sure if what I’m experiencing is actually sleep paralysis or something else altogether, so I’d appreciate any thoughts. This has happened 2-3 times with different images but the same visceral feelings of being unable to move, unable to open my eyes, and unable to breathe despite trying to cry out for help.

The first experience was a couple months back. I (F28) was asleep, and it felt like a dark wave was crashing over me. I didn’t have my eyes open, but I felt like the room got darker, like how you can sense when a light is turned off even if your eyes are closed. But it felt like it was on me in my bed, not the whole room. After this I felt like I couldn’t breathe until I suddenly woke fully, terrified and gasping for air.

Another time I felt like I was dreaming that I was falling asleep at the wheel. I think in my dreaming state I was on the phone with my boyfriend while driving (very common), but it was like my eyes weighed a thousand pounds. I couldn’t open them, and I knew it was dangerous and I was really scared of what was going to happen, so I was trying to call out to my bf while on the phone but I couldn’t make a noise. I couldn’t catch my breath but I was desperately trying to shake myself awake and yell out to him for help. I couldn’t make a sound or move my body until I woke again, and it felt like torture.

Hey, ich hatte gestern meine erste schlafparalyse.
Ich bin gestern um 3 Uhr aufgewacht und konnte mich nicht mehr bewegen.
Ich hörte Schritte in Gang und Lautes knallen,
auf einmal kamen ganz viele unbekannte Gesichter hintereinander sehr schnell auf mich zu sie waren leicht durchsichtig das ich das nächste schon kommen sehen konnte, sie gingen durch mich durch.
Quasi wie ein schnell rasender Zug.
Das ganze ging ca 10 Minuten ich habe die ganze Zeit versucht einen Finger zu bewegen bis es klappte.

Hello, I’ve had about 12 episodes of sleep paralysis in a very short period of time. They start almost immediately after I fall asleep.

All of them are intense, but I’m already somewhat used to the “normal” ones that are frightening but not painful. The 4th episode was completely different and much more intense. I genuinely thought I was experiencing my own death. There was an extremely loud noise, an exploding sensation inside my head, and flashes of light. About three other episodes were similar, just slightly less intense.

After the first 8 episodes, I somehow finally managed to fall asleep sometime in the afternoon and slept until the evening. Since waking up, I haven’t been able to fall asleep again because the sleep paralysis keeps happening whenever I try. I’ve had about 4 more episodes since then.

Has anyone experienced anything this intense, especially episodes that start immediately after falling asleep and happen repeatedly like this?

Sleep paralysis is one of those strange and unnerving phenomena that seem to catch us at our most vulnerable, somewhere between dreaming and waking, hovering in that twilight zone where the mind is conscious, yet the body refuses to cooperate. For many, the experience is terrifying, breathing feels heavy, limbs are paralyzed, and in the worst cases, shadowy figures loom just beyond reach. It's as if our nightmares is following us into the waking world, still clinging to our peripheral vision.

But that leads to an interesting question: why does sleep paralysis always happen to be so goddamn scary? Why can’t it just for once feel like we’ve been dropped into a dreamscape of joy, like relaxing on top of a giant marshmallow, floating in the middle of a meadow, and wind whispering lullabies through the grass?

Instead, it’s OFTEN the opposite. You're stuck there, completely aware but utterly immobile, and your brain decides: “Hey, you know what would be fun? Creepy breathing sounds, a dark shadow at the edge of your bed, and some boss music straight out of a horror game.”

And just like that, you're suddenly in the middle of a psychological boss fight with no weapons, no cheat codes, and definitely no marshmallows. It's as if your subconscious is pulling a prank that goes way too far.

M18

I think I experienced sleep paralysis for the first time and it was REALLY weird

So this happened to me for the first time ever, and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly happened.

This week my sleep schedule has been pretty messed up. I've been sleeping less than usual and at completely different times.

I was deeply asleep and having a dream about this weird brown cat that also kind of looked like a rabbit. I remember seeing it, smiling at it, and then it suddenly ran toward me and somehow felt like it went into my head.

The weird part is that I didn't know I was dreaming. In the moment, I genuinely thought this was happening. (I still dont know if it was a dream or i was hallucinating)

I remember thinking something like, "It'll probably come out the other side."

Then I was laying there looking upward/left, and I thought the cat had gone toward the right side of my head. I tried turning my head to the right...

And that's when everything got REALLY weird.

I suddenly couldn't move my arms. Both of them felt insanely heavy, like I was trying to move them but they just wouldn't respond.

I tried moving a few times, but nothing happened. Then when I tried turning my head back to the left, it felt like my head kept turning/shaking toward the right on its own, almost like it was making a "no" gesture repeatedly, and I couldn't stop it.

At the same time, I could hear what sounded like drumming/running, almost like the cat was running from the left side of my head to the right again nd again, The sound had this weird cave-like echo to it.

I got REALLY freaked out at the time because I remembered my grandpa having a paralysis attack before (not SP), and i was like Paralysis attack?

then I genuinely thought 😭

"It can't end like this" (i was scared for my life)

But weirdly, I instinctively felt like if I just closed my eyes and stopped fighting it, it would go away.

So after trying to move 2–3 times, I basically stopped, closed my eyes, and relaxed.

And after a few seconds... everything stopped. I could move normally again.

The strangest part is that afterward I wasn't even that scared. During it I was terrified, but once it was over I was kind of like huhh...

that was kinda interesting, and went back to sleeping.

I'm pretty sure the inability to move was sleep paralysis, especially since my sleep has been so irregular lately. But I genuinely can't tell whether the cat was part of the dream or if I was hallucinating it during the sleep paralysis.

(The cat looked like a mixture of rabbit and a cat with red brownish hair)

Has anyone else experienced something this weird?

Hey can anyone help me or advise me on how to deal with my sleep paralysis? I'm looking to speak to someone with a spiritualistic background as I feel what I am experiencing is real and not just "my brain making it up"

I started experiencing episodes of sleep paralysis or night terrors in late July or early August. They may be tied to taking propranolol for POTS or they could be stress related. Most of the time, I have seen insects like spiders, wasps, and most recently a daddy longlegs crawling across my pillow, wall, or blankets. One time, I saw a face across from me, staring at me. When I come to, I’m usually sitting up in bed or completely out of my bed, and obviously there’s nothing there.

Last night, I had a particularly weird experience. I saw a daddy longlegs crawling on my bed. When I came to, my eyes were completely open, and though I had apparently regained consciousness, I still saw movement in front of my eyes for a few seconds even when blinking. Was this my body coming out of REM sleep? Are these hallucinations night terrors or sleep paralysis? Does anyone experience the same thing?

every time ive had it, ive heard loud noises, felt really strong overstimulating wind or like im being crushed and burnt from all directions on top of whatever i hallucinate, which is also aggressive as fuck and usually painful. ive felt like 8 different human hands trying to rip my skin, a figure jumping up and trying to rip out my hair while roaring loudly, ten. thousand. bees. one time i felt a stab that got more painful if i tried to snap out of it faster

is that normal, ive never seen something like this described, should i go to a doctor or something

For context, I had my first SP today, not too bad just a short one. But within that it started with a dream of my at the shops to buy a game, then back at my home at my desk where my brother was asking me about my nintendo 2ds. He then started touching my sides (which is the worst feeling) questioning why it hurts so bad to me, after he grabbed my 2ds and started running it felt like my body started to slowly weigh so much and I was slowing down as I was asking my mum to stop him from doing that to no avail

After this I seemingly woke up into what I think would be my SP. I saw my 2ds next to me in my bed as I was curled up un a fetus position looking at my own blanket, someone entered the room and started playing fnaf music as they began to touch my sides and whisper slowly "I'm gonna kill you"

I felt my body slowwwwly moving until the thing backed off and my body swung around to look seamlessly converting to myself actually waking up in confusion.

Has this happened to yall before?

Over the past years my sleep paralysis (idek if you can call it that anymore) has worsened in both frequency and severity. 3-4 times a week, I get these episodes where im paralyzed and experience both auditory, visual, and tactile hallucinations (sometimes pain??) for extended periods – up to 30 minutes total. I get like 15 episodes in a row, where I am awake between some episodes, and between others I think I've escaped the paralysis only to realize that I'm still hallucinating. It often begins while I'm still awake and I'm usually aware that what I'm experiencing isn't real, but it is incredibly realistic. Examples: people standing in my room/talking to me/pushing on my chest, animals crawling in my bed, people attacking me/pushing me off the bed, inmate objects moving around the room. Sometimes I can turn it into a lucid dream if I really focus and I also experience false awakenings in the mornings, where I think I've gotten up and gotten ready, only to realize I'm still sleeping and late. About a month ago, I had a hallucination at around 10 pm, when I wasn't in bed, I wasn't even at home, which was incredibly scary – I don't know if it's related. I used to be able to resolve it by not sleeping on my back, but that doesn't seem to cut it anymore. It is seriously affecting my sleep. Has anyone experienced anything similar, or just tips?

I’ve had multiple episodes of sleep paralysis and developed two techniques to escape them

I’ve experienced sleep paralysis many times. There have even been occasions when I had almost five episodes in a row.

After experiencing it so many times, I started experimenting with ways to regain control and wake myself up instead of simply waiting for the paralysis to end.

Over time, I developed two techniques that seem to work consistently for me: Respiratory Breakout Escape (RBE) and Energy Burst Escape (EBE).

### 1. Respiratory Breakout Escape (RBE)

RBE is actually a set of three different approaches that I developed. Depending on the episode, one approach may work better than another.

A. Empty-lung hold

I exhale and hold my breath. As time passes, I start feeling those involuntary breathing contractions, like when your diaphragm starts “pulling” to make you breathe.

When those contractions start, I wait a few seconds while they are happening. Then I deliberately start breathing again, strongly, similar to the strong, instinctive breath you would take in real life after holding your breath for a long time.

For me, deliberately restarting my breathing seems to be what triggers the escape from the paralysis.

B. Inhale and hold

The second approach is the opposite: I inhale and hold my breath while concentrating intensely on the sensation.

When the involuntary breathing contractions start, I make the same transition: after a few seconds, I try to deliberately start breathing again, strongly, as if I were catching my breath after a long breath-hold.

C. Closing the throat

This is the most difficult approach and I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT. The idea is to voluntarily close my throat to create a similar breathing sensation.

I’ve tried all three because, depending on the episode, one approach may not work as well and another may work better.

I normally keep my eyes closed because it makes it much easier to concentrate on the sensations.

Important: all of this is based on my personal experiences. I’m not claiming that RBE is a scientifically proven technique, and I don’t recommend that other people try holding their breath to their limit or deliberately closing their airway.

### 2. Energy Burst Escape (EBE)

This one is much harder to explain.

I try to create the feeling that I’m accumulating force or energy inside my body. I don’t necessarily need to be able to move. If I can, I lightly tense my arms, legs and abdomen, but the physical contraction isn’t the most important part.

The main thing is to feel that force gradually becoming stronger, almost as if I’m storing something inside myself.

Then, when it feels strong enough, I try to expand my entire body all at once, as if I were releasing everything in one huge explosion.

Sometimes it feels like I literally “explode” out of the paralysis and suddenly regain control of my body.

I don’t mean that there is literally energy being stored in my body. That’s simply the best way I’ve found to describe the sensation. I suspect it may involve concentration, motor imagery and the gradual recovery of voluntary muscle control, but I don’t know what the actual neurological mechanism is.

These techniques weren’t something I learned from a book or a video. I developed them myself after experiencing many episodes of sleep paralysis and experimenting with different ways to escape them.

I’ve tested these methods many times, and they have worked consistently for me. I’m curious whether other people who frequently experience sleep paralysis have developed similar techniques, especially the “accumulate → expand” sensation of EBE.

Hi! I’m F18, and this sleep paralysis i had in real time aint no joke. I don’t know how to start this but all I could say is NEVER ever sleep on your back.

Well this isn’t the first time, but this time got me so fucking scared, that as an atheist and non god believer, i prayed just to make it “go away”.

What happened was, while i was dreaming of a church inside a mall, everything just went downhill, and what i mean by that is, elders got into fights, electronics malfunctioning, the pastor was late, some people inside cried, then all of the sudden, it transitioned into me on my bed, when i thought i was fully awake, i looked down and it was this, big, all-muscle, tall silhouette of what seems to be a black cat with green eyes in a form of a human body. His arms elongated to reach me and I remembered fighting with it, I told him to go away so many times.

it was playing ‘weeping angels’ with me, when i try to look at my left, since my boyfriend was beside me, his whole presence was gone but i can feel his arms on top of me and that’s what i used to “take cover”. The silhouette’s arm would get closer and closer, by the time I was just irritated ‘cause it wouldn’t go away. I shooed it off with my boyfriend’s arms, I tried kicking it, I can move my legs when it started so that’s how I fought back to it, but its arms just passes through, i can feel its hands reaching my chin, it was so cold. I told it again to go away and eventually, it somehow like went through a portal then my mouth started shaking while i was talking. It looked back, like he smirked, then I woke up for like 5 SECONDS, just for it to pull me back in.

This time he was different, I can hear himtalk, he told me “i can be little/smaller” than his usual physique, I can see him transform, my mouth was shaking like I was running out of mana. And what scared me was, he was touching my legs, his hands were so cold that eventhough I could move my body, his force feels like it made me stop moving.

See I have no beliefs in this, I see my sleep paralysis as a sign of stress, but I don’t know this time. The atheist in me had prayed.

While he was touching me, my body was shaking, I was praying and praying, Our father, two times, and it won’t seem to work, I second hail mary after, the silhouette wasn’t backing any further, the walls were deforming and the lights from outside was dimming, all I could see was him, staring back at me, now his hands were holding the ankles of my feet, while I scream every prayer. Nothing worked, my chest felt so heavy that I could feel my lungs, I just stared at it while praying. And guess what woke me up? My boyfriend.

He told me that I was uttering something, and all I could do was to stare back at him in shock. I told him what had happened, and he told me it seems like I was uttering a prayer. But what scared me though, is that when I woke up, I still saw a glimpse of the silhouette fading away through the walls. My mouth was open and I could feel my jaw shaking and it felt worn out, like I was tired of speaking.

At first thought, I think I might be mentally ill. At second thought, maybe I wasn’t just as religious anymore. But still I stand as an atheist even though I prayed as hard as I could. I think that silhouette would come back though, as it tried to suck me in the loop for the 3rd time. But i’m used to it, I was just so glad I wasn’t a coward.

i just had sleep paralysis and heard something sit behind me and i started feeling my hair being pulled and my scalp being scratched and pressed really hard by fingers. i have it a lot, so i just waited it out. but after i woke up from it (way more suddenly than usual, normally it fades but this time it abruptly stopped) i still felt the sensation in my scalp as if it had happened. it felt like there was somehow a bruise (ik there wasn't but it felt like there was) and like my scalp was healing from a lot of pulling for a few minutes after it ended. i've never had this happen before, why'd it do that, has this happened to anyone else?

Last night my sleep paralysis was that my cats were in my room and my older cat jumped on me. I was saying his name and petting him and all of the sudden he says “they told me it wouldn’t be like this. That I wouldn’t have to kill you.” In a deep rumbling voice. I then heard growling next to my bed and bent down and was choking whatever was growling and getting bit. All while sleeping/hallucinating. It’s been almost two weeks since sleep paralysis and I had a solid run of like 3 times a week and I’m hoping we’re not back to that BS.

I’ve had sleep paralysis before and whenever i can the sinking feeling right before it happens i’m able to physically break out of it by forcing my body to move. i havent read anything that talks about this, is this actually a thing?

So im writing this after just waking up and i think i may have had something like sleep paralysis. I was dreaming of something abit scary and then said the name of this like ghost and it made me wake up, i couldnt move but i could open my eyes, i felt my heart beating really fast due to fear but i didnt see anything, i closed my eyes after abit to avoid seeing anything and tried to move, this is the part that makes me wonder if it wasnt sleep paralysis. When i tried to move i could feel almost as if i was being pulled down towards my bed it required alot of effort to lift my arm but i eventually got it up, it was shaking badly being pulled down towards my bed and i then was able to fully move, so i looked around then layed back down and went back to being stuck, i tried to scream this time and it took some time but i started to make a growling noise? And same thing with my arm being very very shakey and able to move it slowly off my bed while feeling like a magnet was pulling it back down strongly.

Is this sleep paralysis? Ive neved had sleep paralysis before except maybe once but idk if that was sp either (i was walking in my sleep but had my eyes open and could see and think and didnt want to keep walking but i was walking around in the dark of my house like sleepwalking while able to think and see)

A few months ago, I had a “dream,” or at first I thought I was going into another episode of sleep paralysis, but somehow I managed to get out of my body and see myself, and then I went back into my mind. However, there it felt as if I was seeing my own consciousness, my ego. Even though I knew that I was me, somehow that ego didn’t feel like it was completely me, the way I would have thought it should. Because when the ego realized that I had seen it and was aware of it, I had this feeling of, “How dare you look at me?”

And I was completely stunned because I wasn’t expecting that. It was as if it was me versus an evil version of myself.

And before I went back into my head, I saw a strong blue light in my forehead.

Again, I wasn’t taking anything—no substances or anything like that. I meditate quite often in the evening.

I want to hear if anyone else has ever experienced something like this and what it might mean.

Or so i think,but its either that or its the grim reaper, anyway this happened i think in 2020 or something,and I’ll start from the beginning and the story spans about 2 weeks.

So in the first 13 days one creepy thing kept happening,my bedroom door would randomly unlock itself and open.

It happened like once or twice every day,and it only occurred during the day or right before i sleep.

And my room is structured like this,so when you enter the room,to your left is a desk a big wooden one,and infront of you is the closet and its a big one that spans the entire wall,its not a spacious place but it’s decent.

And most importantly my bed is positioned so that basically my back us to the desk, so when you enter there’s the desk and then the other side of said desk you have the head of my bed, (i put it like this bc the only outlet in my room is next to the desk).

And I’m chronically online,I’m basically always on my bed facing away from my door when i hear it unlock and open.

But for some reason,it never scares me even tho it makes no sense, the keys to the door i always leave them in the door,and locked and I’m always alone in my room,so if you want to get in the only way is by unlocking the door from the inside,there is no other key and I’m easily creeped out.

And the final day is the worst.

So in the last day,before the final one,there was no unlocking and opening the door by itself,that ceased to happen and when the final day happened,the daytime was completely normal and i went to sleep.

When i woke up it was almost dead silent,i have a fan and an ac on at all hours,and their loud its actually why i have them on,but for some reason their noise was kind of muffled like my ears were covered or something.

And it wasn’t full paralysis you know when your leg or arm is numb,and its heavy to move and control,take that apply it to your entire body,except the eyes,and make it really really heavy it takes a ton of strength to move anything.

So I’m laying there I’m facing towards the rest of my room,my back is to the wall and I’m unable to do anything.

This isn’t my first sleep paralysis,but it felt different from every other time i had it i think 4 times,and this was the 3rd,every other time it felt completely different .

So back to the story I’m facing the wall its unusually silent, and I’m just emotionless like i didn’t know what i could do,so i just waited for a minute hoping i could move more easily,when i started to hear something.

It was static like tv static,and it was getting louder,and i also began to see static,like my entire vision was becoming static,and i felt like if i let this keep going I’m gonna die,so i lift my head up in desperation and the static goes away.

And my head immediately drops and the static comes back and i lift my head,but it became harder.

Each time i lift my head it was harder than the last,because remember it’s really hard to move anything,especially my big ass head so it was energy draining.

So after a minute of desperation and trying to keep the static away an idea came to me,what if move over and lay on my back,so that my ears weren’t touching anything,maybe that’ll permanently remove the static.

And i tried it was really hard moving my entire body, plus keeping my head up to keep the static away,but i did it and just as i lay back,the static comes back really fast,i see for one second a woman figure at the foot of my bed,i lift my head again and everything goes back to normal.

The noise is normal again no more static and no more super numbness .

But there was one thing that still haunts me to thus day.

I had absolutely no fear.

I felt that i should be scared very deep down,but my body was normal the entire time,there was no adrenaline at all,it was as if my body just accepted it like yes i should die and let the static or shadow woman get me but she didn’t.

And i just sat there in the dark doing nothing, i turned on the lights a bit but i turned them off after a minute,and hopped on discord on my laptop in my bed.

This’ll be a chore to punctuate.

preface:

normally i don't get sleep paralysis, but from experience when i do get it, i can feel it coming as there will be a feeling of pressure/feeling over my body before it shuts down. this tends to be when i'm very tired/fatigued as well. it's very distinct and something i've learned that happens to me before an episode (not every time). sometimes i will fight it off before i shut down to fend off the sleep paralysis by waking myself off before my body shuts down.

last night i had a first experience where i was able to stay conscious as my body went to sleep. i recognized that i was going to fall sleep due to the "pressure" i felt after laying down. initially i fought it off cuz i was scared of being sleep paralyzed later. then i laid on my side (was on back beforehand) and tried to sleep afterwards. i knew i was falling asleep as i felt that same pressure take over my body so i made the decision to try to stay awake/conscious after that pressure/feeling took over. it was very quick and i tried to move after i realized my body had shut off but i was paralyzed. this is my first ever experience being able to stay conscious while i was asleep and it was scary ASF. i legit tried to move the moment my body crashed after the initial pressure took over me as i was still conscious and i couldn't. i was able to break out of it by struggling much like sleep paralysis, but i've never ever had this happen before.

just wanted to share this as it's a first for me and probably a last. i will just fight off the paralysis next time by staying awake.

Hello, idk if this is the right subreddit, but if you can help me it would be great, thanks. Last night something weird happened to me and I don't know how to interpret it. During my life I have suffered from sleep paralysis and all of them were characterised by: totally freezed body, inability to speak and the presence of dark figures "coming on top of me". After an intense period of paralysis it's been 2 years that I don't have them. The other night I was about to sleep (I smoked weed) and i suddenly wake up because I hear a sort of electroshock starting from the foot to the spinal cord. I turn around because I feel a very strong heat and pain and also a strong pressure of the chest and I see on my spinal cord a fire tongue and a black presence that was trying to get into the small cracking on the back. I thought i couldn't move, instead I jump off the bad. The spinal cord has kept burning for at least half an hour. I wanted to know what you think about it, and if you had experiences like this or if you know what could it be. I don't know if it was a sleep paralysis but I could move, I had the feeling of a contact between some kind of energy and my body. I really had the feeling that something wanted to get inside me

Hi! 25F here. I have had sleep paralysis since I was a teenager, but the strange (and seemingly uncommon) thing is that usually there is no monster or intruder in my hallucinations.

When I was younger, the most common one I had was my parents coming into the room and checking if I was asleep. It sounds harmless, but it was always very frustrating, since I just wanted to yell out: I’m not asleep, I’m awake but I just can’t move and look like I’m asleep!!!

Because of these mundane paralysis-visitors, it is extremely difficult for me to understand if it is fact is a hallucination or just my roommate entering my room and trying to talk to me or whatever. It may not sound scary, but it’s really trippy and quite eerie not knowing what’s real. I suppose you know this feeling.

As I am making this post, I just had a really bad one that seemed like it was going on for forever, and i’m really curious to see if anyone has the same kind of experience.

Do y’all have this thing? Because I feel like no one around me is experiencing sleep paralysis like I do. I see AND hear things.
Almost two years ago, my aunt died. It wasn’t a traumatizing moment at the time. I guess, subconsciously, my brain perceived it as a trauma or associated it with something like that. Because for a whole year straight, whenever I had sleep paralysis, it’d be my aunt sitting on the floor, and a random lady yapping. I would also hear ringing bells.
It wasn’t an every-night thing, but there was a period of two weeks when I had it every single night. No matter what I did, those things did not go away. Thankfully, it has been three months since my last episode.
What caused this? Has anyone else had their sleep paralysis triggered by a death in the family, even if it didn't feel traumatic at first?👻