To ask if this happens to you?

[hiddeneverything]

For the last year or so when I've gone to bed, I'll drift off to sleep then straight away launch into a nightmare and wake with a start 5/10 minutes after I go to sleep. It's not every night.1. Does this happen to you?

1. Is it a thing?
2. Why is it happening?
3. What can I do to avoid it?

The nightmares are really horrible and dh often isn't in bed with me or in the house to discuss it with

If I fall asleep with my ankles crossed I always wake up with a jolt shortly afterwards!

Sounds awful, no same situation, I do have I’m frequent nightmares though. Apparently I make word noises and dp wakes me up (love him) it’s usually related to a film I’ve seen. Can you think of a pattern? Is something worry you? Perhaps that your dh is away ???

Your user name is interesting... are you subconsciously hiding/avoiding something that appears when you drift off to sleep?

I have had this occasionally, not often, but it happens.

I think it is a thing but sorry I don't remember where I heard that.

For me it will usually be a vivid dream that I am either falling or something has flown at my face. Hence, I don't just wake suddenly I start violently when I wake. However, as I said, it doesn't happen often

This has been happening to me recently, I don't usually suffer from nightmares.
I feel like I'm not even asleep, sort of in the half asleep half awake state just as I'm drifting off then I'll get a really intense/creepy vibe and think someone's in the room so I have to get up and calm back down. It's horrible. I really just want to go to sleep too so it'll piss me off having to get up and be scared for no apparent reason.

The creepy presence is sleep paralysis - your brain is awake a fraction out of sync with your body (normally it's loss of consciousness before the motor functions are paused - so you don't sleepwalk).

Perfectly normal, if horrible - and is believed to be the cause of the artistic/religious idea of the incubus and succubus.

It's called a myoclonic jerk.

I don't get nightmares, but will dream I've tripped over something, like a kerb, which then jolts me awake with a jerk.

It's not sleep paralysis, that's a different thing.

moto that happens to me a lot, I dreamt I had touched a bee the other day and my hand flew across the bed and woke me up but the "creepy" thing is different.
I wouldnt have thought it was sleep paralysis as I dont feel paralysed in anyway. I 'come to' as soon as I notice it happening. Or at least I feel like I do.

Op is it just the first 5-10 minutes as you said? How is the rest of your sleep/dreams??
I'm now getting a really horrible recurrent nightmare that i havent have in years again. Same theme, people etc. I wonder if its all stress related?

I frequently wake up just after falling asleep having a panic attack. It's horrible

I used to have nightmares where I was convinced I was going to die if I didn't wake up. I tried and tried to wake up and I couldn't move a muscle and I just knew I was going to die, I was moving into the light and everything. I always woke eventually of course but they were very scary and I hope I never have one again.

Thanks for the replies! I did actually sleep, hence my silence! Will reply properly once I have two seconds peace from lo!!!

Just reading the replies properly. I can't think of anything that is stressing me out, though I am on the go all the time I suppose with a young family and working shifts and trying to adult. I'm not very good at adulting