Wtf was that?!

[thevelvetcurtain]

I was just getting to sleep and suddenly felt like something was falling on me from above. Felt totally paralysed in fear and tried to shout for my DP but couldn't move. Managed to snap out of it and now lying here with the light on, very awake, and very freaked out. There's nothing here that could have actually been falling on me from the ceiling - so wtf was that?!?!

And it's so weird when you do "come round" and you're in your normal position and the duvet is undisturbed...

The worst one I had was I could see a small pale hand reaching down from above to grab mine. I was convinced it was my niece who has a serious heart defect. I was so disturbed by it I rang my sister the next morning to make sure she was okay. That was 30 years ago and that niece is somehow still going strong

Another vote for sleep paralysis. I get it and feel like I'm sinking/being swallowed up and can't move or make a sound and breathing is incredibly shallow but takes such a conscious effort. I focus all my energy on breathing faster and trying to twiddle my toes, usually once I can get my big toes going, everything else starts to follow. It's utterly terrifying even though it is a fairly regular occurance.

Sounds like an incubus

I’ve had it twice. It’s terrifying!

I get night terrors, im awake and am looking round the room and see things like creepy crawlies, spiders or more recently have thought that there's a problem with the roof and its going to collapse at any minute. Sometimes I can feel things running across me, although nothing is there, very odd but thankfully doesn't last long

@AllAroundTheWorldYeah

Sounds like an incubus

It really doesn't.

Horrible, isn't it? I had one once where I lay frozen as a figure walked over to DS's cot nearby and lifted him out... brrrr.

Yup, same as everybody else, that's classic sleep paralysis.

When it happens, try to focus on something tiny - your little finger, a toe, your tongue - and concentrate upon making it wriggle. Once that happens, the 'spell' is broken because your body is awake as well as your head and you can get up.

As it is happening to you on your back, try adjusting your position with pillows - OK, you can't lay on your knee, but you might be able to lay on your other side with pillows cushioning and raising your painful leg.

It really, really is crap. But it's a normal human phenomena and always has been. Any pain medication you're on can make it worse (I had similar sensations after a shoulder dislocation but it stopped as soon as I decided the pain was preferable and stopped the meds), but changing your position however you can, even to the extent of sleeping propped more upright, definitely seems to make a difference.

We do get earth tremors or minor earthquakes sometimes - once you've experienced a couple you then start to notice them more easily when they happen. I've been woken twice by tremors that I checked on the app.

There's an android app Volcanoes & Earthquakes you can use to see what events have been logged - a 3.2 event in the English Channel occurred tonight (13th) around 4:30pm. There was a 3.0 event near London on the 10th.

I get this loads. Im there in my bed supposedly awake trying to shout but i cant. Sometimes I wake up elsewhere having sleptwalked actually shouting.

Audiobooks have helped so much with my sleep madness. I got this or waking myself up shouting and crying and in other rooms crashing into stuff but audiobooks weirdly make me realise im im a dream whilst i have it if that makes sense. Its like I can even follow books if familiar subjects and can consciously make a decision to wake up or not whilst asleep

Like others have said, it sounds like sleep paralysis. I get it whenever I fall asleep on my back.

I still remember the first time I had it while DH was lying next to me. The pure shock on his face when I woke up screaming for help was priceless We laugh about it now, but it certainly wasn't funny at that time.