Yeah, I get that too, but only in spring/summer.

Ni'k, funny that you mention people waking up with people sitting on their chest, because usually there is a distinct heavyness in my chest when that happens that half the time makes me think that I've stopped breathing and that I've died. Those times are the scariest. It accompanies a falling feeling, or of being pulled against my will down and down. I try to thrash around and get up, but of course, I cant even open my eyes.

When it's not scary like that, and I'm not fighting, it can be quite pleasant. My mind just drifts off, images fluttering through my eyes until I gently go one way or the other - back to sleep or wide awake.

yeah the moving about thing! one of the greatest experiences of my life was when that happened, sleep paralysis only with the sensation (i actually beleived) i was being dragged up and down and across the walls of the room, along the floor and ceiling in different directions! it was absolutely AMAZING.

there was another time where i had the sensation that my body was literally miles long, as if i was immensely tall. it did feel like i was about 90feet in length.

Wow! That does sound exactly like K actually.

I've never been pulled along walls etc, but I do recall amazing things happening to sound like you mentioned earlier. Haha, after last summer I started to get concerned about it happening so much, but now that it hasnt happened in so long I want it back!!

Sort of, not really. The scary parts are too scary.

what you two are discussing are hypnagogic hallucinations, and as I mentioned, they are actually quite common.

they are also highly-related to sleep paralysis in that they are both caused by lag in the brain's expectation of sleep and the complex break-down of hormones released upon sleep.

hypnagogic hallucinations occur slightly before REM and just after the brain synthesizes tryptophan into serotonin. upon release of serotonin, blood pressure increases and the brain begins to hallucinate.

serotonin then makes it's way toward the gut where it is again broken-down to become melatonin.

melatonin enhances REM and controls yr circadian rhythm (ie: when it's time to wake up/sleep).

so, with hypnagogic hallucinations there is a lag between when serotonin pops off and when it's finally synthesized (telling yr brain to "go deeper"), while sleep paralysis most likely results from decreased melatonin production during the night.



A POTENTIAL NON-PHARMACEUTICAL SOLUTION:

get a light box. make sure that it's natural-light spectrum and bask in it for as long as you can in the morning. this will stimulate yr skin cells to request that more melatonin be made.

studies were done on transatlantic "red-eye" flights. 30 minutes of a light applied to the back of the knee significantly lowered jetlag (a circadian rhythm disorder).



I'll admit to asking a trick question in order to troubleshoot for histrionics (it's not you, it's everybody).

SSRIs block the ability of cells to reuptake serotonin (thereby keeping more available as a precursor to melatonin). SSRIs mean more serotonin (which means more melatonin and less sleep paralysis).

please enjoy large text.

wow. i am going to be hassling you in future for a lot more information in regards to this and similar subjects.

will any old light box do? there are some i see for around £40, i'd ideally like to spend the least possible on one of these.

be careful of the maker you choose and make sure you trust that it's in the natural-spectrum band.

other than that, the box doesn't matter.

feel free to pm anytime.

I can get you published literature on just about anything you want to know about (especially sleep related).

Ah, I love when you talk like that.

Next, can you fix my computer ?

few things on the net are stimulating enough to warrant it.

and assuming yr problem is hardware related, "yes, most likely".

pm details if you want.

On occassion I experience hypnagogic hallucinations. Usually it's auditory. I'll hear someone call my name, either from a distance or seemingly inches from my ear. In a few instances I've seen something crawling in the bed with me, like a large spider or cockroach. Last night I had my most severe hallucination yet. I suddenly awoke to see a woman floating just past the foot of my bed. Her eyes were locked on mine. She was there for at least five or six seconds, and remained there even after I blinked and looked away. Then I watched her fade into the moonlight. The silver lining is that she was a blonde.

i speak fluent spanish in my sleep

allegedly

I woke up with a book under my pillow. It was a Princeton study of Anglo-Irish lit. by Moynahan. Why did I pick this book? How can I read in my sleep? (Kidding around)