Hi all,
I have noticed that when my stress levels are high i experience mild sleep paralysis.
It goes like this:
I will wake up suddenly but feel dazed, for 3-5 seconds unable to speak or move. Arms feel heavy & weak and takes an effort to eventually move them. When i do move them they feel detached from me.
I then feel scared & confused which then leads to a full blown panic attack with a general foggy head feeling as if I am dreaming or drugged!
It has happened a few times over my life but I never realised it was a form of sleep paralysis - I always thought that lasts ages and you see a dark figure etc. Mine seems mild & short lived. Nonetheless it is awful and makes me feel SOO confused and dazed! Only ever seems to happen when stressed.
Anyone else have similiar experience?
Hi MILAO, this used to happen to me a lot when I was younger and I finally figured out it was related to my blood sugar. When I ate more carbs/sugar especially the night before, this would happen to me. I know it’s terrifying. I would feel paralyzed and scared and tried to scream or move and couldn’t and then finally jerk awake. Now that I haven’t had sugar and have been eating grain-free, gluten-free, low carb for decades it very rarely happens. Prob the last time was maybe over a year ago when I ate a pizza made with processed rice flour. 
Thank you for replying! Hmm that is interesting, I do eat a fair amount of sugar. I have had sleep issues since I was a toddler off and on. I used to sleep walk and have “night terrors” where I would be dreaming but my eyes would be open and I would act out the dream. Not pleasant ahaha, but it is nothing as intense now as an adult just these occasional episodes. Thanks for the tip!
hey x yes it happens to me too when my anxiety is really high. and that’s a lot lately. its absaloutely terrifying but just remind yourself it can’t harm you. and it will get better when your anxiety does x when my anxiety went away from medication it stopped happening completely until they stopped working
I also have dreams where I am desperate to wake up and cant seem to and feel very confused and out of it when I do wake up. it can definitely be caused by anxiety for sure. try your best to relax before sleep as much as possible and sakura26 is completely right about it being connected to your blood sugar also. x
oh my gosh! I used to have that happen to me ALL the time! It was like I was trapped inside my own dream, I knew I was dreaming and inside a dream but i could not physically wake my body up or open my eyes! When I did manage to wake up I would be breathless, shaken and so weak as if I was unable to walk! I havent heard anyone else have this either until now. I have had this since I can remeber (4-5 years old) and I never knew it was a form of sleep paralysis. It feels like you are in a coma!
my wife had a similiar occurence several years ago. She went to her doctor and he ordered a sleep study be done. The sleep study confirmed that she was not getting enough oxygen to her brain while she slept causing the confusion and dizziness when she woke up. The brain suddenly gets the oxygen it needs and there is confusion and dizziness for an average of 15 to 20 minutes when you wake, sometimes longer. Anyway, they put her on a CPAC machine to force oxygen to her brain while she slept and that took care of the problem. So thats it, hope it helps and hope you feel better.
Sleep paralysis in and of itself is a common sleep experience we all have. how it relates to anxiety or blood sugar I’m not sure. however generally when your sleep your body completely relaxes it’s muscles. during the night as you go into REM sleep (dream state) your arms ..legs etc are relaxed so you dont injure yourself while dreaming. during a dream you can become semi lucid. you fell awake but are unable to move as your muscles are still in a relaxed state. as you feel you are struggling to move you are still in dream state. when your brain is not in sync with your body you can become conscious while you’re body still sleeps. this happens usually due to us not acieving a restful sleep. i have mild sleep apnea so thats one issue for me that presents a sleep issue.
30 % of us go through some form of sleep paralysis. it is unnerving. when it happens i don’t struggle but rather try to calm myself and go back to sleep