DH sleep paralysis, Spooky

[Brownieinthewine]

DH works for a well known hotel chain, they’re currently closed to the public. However for security reasons there must always be 2 people on site. DH and his colleague do Friday to Monday, DH takes the 7am-7pm shift and sleeps in one of the rooms at night whilst the other guy takes the night shift.

Anyway, we’ve just spoken on the phone and he told me he’s been experiencing sleep paralysis. He says around 1am, he “wakes up” because he can hear footsteps coming from the door and around the bed, behind him. He said then he feels pressure on the bed, and someone get in behind him. He cannot move the whole time apparently and then suddenly he can, he turns around to find no one there.

I suggested he change rooms tonight (he always stays in the same one) and see if it happens again tonight.

It’s really freaked me out and I’m keeping my tv on tonight whilst I sleep so it’s not so quiet and spooky.

I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this or knows someone who has? It’s scary but intrigued, I want to hear your stories

Yes I get it. I only get the can’t move bit (also feel like I can’t breathe and my ribs are caving in). I don’t see/hear any other person though, but I know others do.

I’ve had this in the past. I find it’s triggered by being overtired, stress or sleeping on my back.

I get used to get this when I worked nights and my body clock was disrupted.

Yes to the overtired! I used to work shifts where I had to be up for 3:30am, after a few of those I’d hear things whilst I was drifting off. That was as far as it even went with me though. I remember thinking I could hear a man coughing outside my bedroom door

I get this occasionally when I am stressed or overtired. Last time it happened, I could feel someone sat on the end of my bed, pulling my duvet off and I couldn't move a muscle or make any noise.
It's terrifying when it happens as it feels absolutely real at the time, but it is just a hallucination - it happens when your brain wakes up out of sync with your body, so your body is still paralysed, but your brain is awake and playing tricks on you.

I've had this since I was a teenager. I was terrified the first time it happened and my mum never believed me until I discovered what it was called a few years ago.

I have experienced feelings of levitating, been thrown around the room, pressure on my throat but the scariest for me was imagining I could smell gas.

Usually it's accompanied with high pitched noises and occasionally when it's really bad a vibrating sensation in my head which feels like it's about to explode.

I usually get it when I'm overtired. When my youngest was a newborn it was the worst I've ever had it everytime I closed my eyes it would happen.

I've actually not had it for a good few months now (touch wood!). I always thought stress was a trigger for me but now I don't think it is as I've been more stressed than ever during lockdown.

I can bring myself out of it by slowly trying toove my fingers and toes until I can eventually move but usually I'm so tired I just keep falling back asleep and straight back into it. It still scares me almost as much as it did the first time I had it even though I know what it is now.

*slowly trying to move my fingers and toes

I had a few before. My worst was in a premier Inn in Norwich. It was so bad and when I was coming out of it I held my hand up and I swear it felt like I was holding someone's hand. Absolutely horrendous

I used to get this when I lived in a flat. I also woke to the sensation that I was yanked by my ankles

I've had this. Not for ages though. It's caused by stress and/or being over tired. Quite frightening and horrible.

I've experienced it occasionally since I was a teenager. It's absolutely terrifying. The worst was having it once when I was sleeping on my front, and feeling something human-like crawling up my body and back. shudder

I had this twice. The first time I’d done a keto fast all week then had wine - woke up unable to move with the figure of a scary girl crouched over me. Omg it was awful.
The second time was after a two day coke binge - my mate left and when she said bye in the morning she woke me a bit but not properly as I then heard someone calling my name (who wasn’t there) and couldn’t move. I was terrified and thought I need to go to sleep so it stops, so I did and it did.

Old Hag Syndrome

@ballsdeep oh god DH is at premier inn too. Not Norwich but close actually

I’ve experienced this or something similar quite a few times. Every time I’ve had it, I have been going through a stressful time in my life.

It feels like I’m awake and I’m trying to move but I can’t even though I am trying really hard. I feel stressed that I can’t move or speak. I feel as though my eyes are open as I can see the room that I’m in very clearly. One time I saw my partner getting something from his bedside table even though he was at work so I was obviously part dreaming. I am aware enough that when its happens now, I think, ‘oh that weird thing is happening again’. Every time I experienced it I feel like I’ve got pressure on my chest and like I’m struggling to breathe. It’s not a pleasant thing to experience at all and I feel very ‘off’ the next day, like my thought are not ordered and I can’t seem to concentrate.

I have/had this.

As an aside My doctor told me that people who see ghosts/spirits etc are probably suffering from sleep paralysis.

I got into a viscous cycle of sleep paralysis, being stressed/scared of them and that made it worse. My doctor advised to sleep with the light on. It made sleeping more difficult, but I didn’t get sleep paralysis. That broke the cycle. I gradually reduced light, but still sleep with light on in corridor.

I've experienced similar but thought I was just dreaming? How do you know the difference?

Also, sleeping in a deserted hotel sounds creepy in itself for some reason.

It's horrible and can be truly terrifying!

Stress, caffeine late in the day and sleeping on your back are triggers. I've found sleeping on my side helps and I don't have too much caffeine anymore and this has reduced having paralysis.

I moved rooms and it didn't help, I moved house too and still had them.

The latest one I had i thought i was having a stroke, I felt like I was being pushed into the bed and then I could feel one side of my face dragging downwards.

Another time I was sure someone was breaking into my bedroom, I was trying to shout for help but my words wouldn't come out properly, I could hear banging on the door and I couldn't move for what felt like forever.

The most scariest time was when a weird flying "thing" was hovering above me, it looked like some sort of elf with wings, it was creepy and again I couldn't move, I couldn't shout for help, and then I had an out of body experience where I floated above my bed, floated to the right and the "thing" flew straight through me, I then floated into the living room and this thing was literally bouncing me off the walls. I felt like a ball of energy but I could see everything, I don't even remember waking up from it. Yeah that one really stayed with me it felt so real.

Yes i get this. I have someone pressed up behind me, sometimes making a horrible snarling noise. I hate it

I had this in my third year at uni (not in a good place mentally) I was lying in bed and heard/saw my bedroom door open, the.the weight of someone sitting on my bed and and leaning over me holding me down. I’d heard of sleep paralysis (psych degree) so told myself over and over it was that and just laid there, I think I tried to go back to sleep.
It was still very scary.

@borntohula tell me about it. I couldn’t do it. He says it’s fine because there’s another guy on the front desk so he’s not alone but just think of all the long dark corridors and over 100 empty rooms. He also says one person has died there before (I think they had a heart attack) but he “isn’t staying in that room so it’s fine”

I have this. Yes to stress and laying on back to sleep. Never sleep on your back its a common thing. I visually see and hear things when it happens to me. Im half awake and half asleep hallucinating its scary. I dont think his room his haunted i think hes just stressed and tired.

I had terrible sleep paralysis during pregnancy and there was often an intruder in the house. It was horrific. That was brought on by insomnia at night, so I would fall asleep in the day absolutely shattered and have these awful experiences.

Your poor DH! It is probably brought on my stress, but still not nice for him.

It’s really interesting to hear other people’s experiences of it and that most people seem to have it when they’re stressed or tired.

When I first had it, it really stressed me out. I remember seeing something about sleep paralysis on TV and thinking that it sounded similar and feeling very relieved.

ive had this a couple of times. The first time I was recovering from an operation, I was sleeping mid afternoon at my DMs as she was looking after me (not allowed to be alone for 24 hours after OP)

I fell asleep then woke with the feeling something or someone was on top of me, it felt sexual in nature, and I was scared, I couldnt move but was aware the room was eerily dark despite it being the afternoon, eventually I woke for real. I put it down to the anesthetic wearing off

The second time, I was really tired, and sleeping, and again felt a presence on top of me, and was unable to move, then felt I was being watched, there seemed to be something dark out of the corner of my eye and I felt petrified.