skysmom
04-30-2004, 06:28 PM
Something strange is going on with me and I was wondering if anyone else ever has anything like this happen to them.
In the mornings when I am trying to wake up, if it is a day that I have to be up for an appointment or to babysit, I sometimes think I am up and getting ready, but I am not. And when I realize I am just dreaming I try to sit up to look at the clock to make sure I am not running late. I start hearing things. Like I will think someone is knocking on the door and I will startle awake. I think. Only, while I am in a panic because I am startled, I am really still lying down. Consciously(I think), trying to open my eyes to see. It is like my body is paralyzed and I cannot move but I am fighting and trying really hard to move, to get up. I will think I am opening my eyes and looking at the bedroom doorway, fighting to open my eyes. I am not sure when that happens if I am actually getting them open and seeing the doorway, or if I am dreaming I am seeing the doorway. It can be quite scary. Especially when I think someone is at the door because I babysit and I am always afraid it is the baby and her dad waiting outside for me, while I am struggling to get up and get the door. There has been two days this month where it actually was them, and the real knock snapped me out of it for real. And I was able to get up. But the one day, I struggled to wake up and thought I actually had, I even answered the door and let the baby in. It was so real, then they REALLY knocked on the door startling me awake for real. That was weird. Does any of this make sense?
I used to have this happen all the time at another time in my life too. Only then I worked outside of the home. And then I had all kinds of weird symtoms otherwise. I at that time felt strongly that I had an imbalance with my thyroid, but the doctor said no. Anyway, one particular incident I remember back then was one where I was asleep but wasn't supposed to be napping. I was sitting on a sofa, upright. I never can fall asleep upright, but I did that day. Anyway, I startled awake because I knew I shouldn't let myself fall asleep. And I got up to go find something physically active to do to get out of the tired slump I was in. I turned back around and looked at the sofa, and there I was on the sofa. (Gasp!)Can you even imagine how scared I was? I thought I must have died. I ran back to the couch and tried to wake me up. I was back in my own body then, but I kept sitting up and trying to wake up, but my body wasn't moving. And I could feel the heaviness and the resistance of my body. That is how I feel now when it happens. And when I actually do get up, I feel like I have just come from the gym. My whole body always feels like I have been working out. Even when I haven't. I never let myself fall asleep during the day again after that, I was afraid I wouldn't snap out of it the next time, if there would have been one. It did still happen first thing in the morning sometimes, but never that severe.
Has this happened to anyone else ever? It hasn't been too scary for me this time around since that really scary episode happened several years back. But it seems like they are getting worse and building up to the possibility of that happening again.
I hope nobody thinks I am too crazy. I have tried to explain this to my doctor before, but I don't think he GETS it. He thinks I am just dreaming. But, I don't. It gets scary. It is like I am stuck between consciousness and sleep. But I really want and NEED to wake up and can't. Any ideas what might be causing this and how I can stop it?
Thanks.
Connie
In the mornings when I am trying to wake up, if it is a day that I have to be up for an appointment or to babysit, I sometimes think I am up and getting ready, but I am not. And when I realize I am just dreaming I try to sit up to look at the clock to make sure I am not running late. I start hearing things. Like I will think someone is knocking on the door and I will startle awake. I think. Only, while I am in a panic because I am startled, I am really still lying down. Consciously(I think), trying to open my eyes to see. It is like my body is paralyzed and I cannot move but I am fighting and trying really hard to move, to get up. I will think I am opening my eyes and looking at the bedroom doorway, fighting to open my eyes. I am not sure when that happens if I am actually getting them open and seeing the doorway, or if I am dreaming I am seeing the doorway. It can be quite scary. Especially when I think someone is at the door because I babysit and I am always afraid it is the baby and her dad waiting outside for me, while I am struggling to get up and get the door. There has been two days this month where it actually was them, and the real knock snapped me out of it for real. And I was able to get up. But the one day, I struggled to wake up and thought I actually had, I even answered the door and let the baby in. It was so real, then they REALLY knocked on the door startling me awake for real. That was weird. Does any of this make sense?
I used to have this happen all the time at another time in my life too. Only then I worked outside of the home. And then I had all kinds of weird symtoms otherwise. I at that time felt strongly that I had an imbalance with my thyroid, but the doctor said no. Anyway, one particular incident I remember back then was one where I was asleep but wasn't supposed to be napping. I was sitting on a sofa, upright. I never can fall asleep upright, but I did that day. Anyway, I startled awake because I knew I shouldn't let myself fall asleep. And I got up to go find something physically active to do to get out of the tired slump I was in. I turned back around and looked at the sofa, and there I was on the sofa. (Gasp!)Can you even imagine how scared I was? I thought I must have died. I ran back to the couch and tried to wake me up. I was back in my own body then, but I kept sitting up and trying to wake up, but my body wasn't moving. And I could feel the heaviness and the resistance of my body. That is how I feel now when it happens. And when I actually do get up, I feel like I have just come from the gym. My whole body always feels like I have been working out. Even when I haven't. I never let myself fall asleep during the day again after that, I was afraid I wouldn't snap out of it the next time, if there would have been one. It did still happen first thing in the morning sometimes, but never that severe.
Has this happened to anyone else ever? It hasn't been too scary for me this time around since that really scary episode happened several years back. But it seems like they are getting worse and building up to the possibility of that happening again.
I hope nobody thinks I am too crazy. I have tried to explain this to my doctor before, but I don't think he GETS it. He thinks I am just dreaming. But, I don't. It gets scary. It is like I am stuck between consciousness and sleep. But I really want and NEED to wake up and can't. Any ideas what might be causing this and how I can stop it?
Thanks.
Connie