Sleep paralysis? Too scared to fall asleep!

Hello. Currently I am terrified of falling asleep due to something happening almost every night now.

When I was younger (ten years or so ago), I occasionally got sleep paralysis as I was waking up, it scared me a bit but not terribly, and gradually went away.

The last couple of weeks, as I'm falling asleep this happens:

I can feel myself getting more and more tired and falling into sleep mode, then suddenly it's as though my breathing has stopped and I need to fight hard to get my breath. I struggle like crazy to be able to breathe, SEVERE panic sets in and after a few seconds (though it feels like way more) I take a massive deep breath.

I also have a feeling of falling into the bed :wacko: very weird and hard to explain. And when I do get my breath I have a tingling feeling in my hands, almost like an electric current.

I mentioned it to the doctor last week, she just said "Oh its just your anxiety", which she says to every symptom I ever have.

Last night this pattern repeated about 10-15 times before I eventually sat up and must have fallen asleep looking on Facebook on my phone at 5am-ish. It got to the point where I was too scared to try to sleep so tried to keep awake all night.

I am now so exhausted and feel stressed :(

Can anyone shed any light?!

Oh P.S - I am on Sertraline, Propanalol and take codeine for pain - am worried these are all interacting, especially because I also take a triptan for migraine and was very scared to do this due to Seratonin syndrome. Am worried sick that this cocktail of particular drugs is doing something sinister to my brain.

Sorry that was so long!!

Hi Crystal,

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with sleep, it really makes getting through the day harder to bare.

Now, best piece of advice I've received about sleep worries (and I've had them ALL), so what it. Yep, look that fear right in the face and say "so the f*#k what" or "so be it" if you prefer. The likelihood of you actually getting sleep paralysis is so incredibly slim, but again if you're anything like me that kind of reassurance doesn't cut it. Sitting with the uncertainty is the only thing that worked for me. I went for months with 3 hours sleep a night, convinced I would never sleep again. I did sleep again, in fact I slept for 8 hours last night.

Our irrational fears NEVER come to pass, and why is that? Because they are irrational. It's just a thought, not reality.

One more thing, do not be looking at your phone/screen in bed. Kick that thing to the curb! You need to be trying to relax before bed, not feeding your irrational fears. If you must Google, try doing it before midday. Get it out of your system and then unwind in the evening.

Will this be easy? No, I can promise you that. Will it work? Yes, I would bet money on it. It will take some time but over the next few weeks if you just let the worry be there, laugh at it when you can, you'll be free of this sleep paralysis monkey in no time.

Oh and as for the medication, I suggest you go back to your doctor and have a chat about your concerns.

You can do this Crystal, I know you can.

Hi winduptoy, thank you so much for the motivating reply :) I really appreciate it. How do you actually do that, tell it to f**k off? As in the moment it's incredibly difficult when full blown panic sets in!

It happened again last night, as I was dropping off to sleep - I felt relaxed physically and really thought I'd be ok, then suddenly I couldn't breathe and my heart was racing. Happened about 4 times. But tonight, I will take your advice and refuse to let it get to me.

I try not to look at my phone/tablet at night, just before bed and only did the other night because I was getting seriously pissed off with this breathing problem and had to distract myself. I did make the mistake though of googling all my meds and all the possible interactions and managed to terrify myself so won't do that again.

Am going back to the doctors this week to discuss it as I don't feel safe taking some of the things I'm on.

Ok, well wish me luck for tonight! Will post how it goes.

Thank you again.

Hi Crystal,

No problem, happy to help.

So the way to do it is to muster that tiny bit of rationality as you say, out loud or to yourself, "f*#k off!". This isn't necessarily an overnight cure, it takes a bit of work to start believing it. It's kind of like the old "fake it till you make it"...you may not feel it the first few times but by the tenth you'll probably get the swing of it.

You'll probably find that the worry will come rushing back in or shout back louder but that's where you just need to accept that for the moment this fear is going to be there a little longer. The key here is accepting that this won't last forever. You're just going through a temporary period of high anxiety. Give yourself a chance to let the worry go.

Glad to hear you're going back to your doctor – I'm sure they will sort those med worries out for you.

As for the googling, it really is THE worst thing you can do. You do it because you want to find an answer or some reassurance but you aren't going to find what you're looking for because what you are fearing is irrational. The only thing it will do is fuel the fire.

So good luck tonight, but as the worst has already happened (you're experiencing high anxiety, that's all it is) I know you'll be fine either way. worst has already happened...

Sleep paralysis and the falling sensation are well documented phenomena found in the Hypnagogia (falling asleep & within the first 2 hours of sleep) and Hypnopompia (waking) sleep states. Anyone can experience them, they have no connection to anxiety, but anxiety has been shown to increase their possibility to occur.

Basically, they are normal parts of sleep states and our brains are meant to work this way. The problem is that we see them as strange and equate them to a threat so they make us panic. Been there!

Not reacting will reduce this but it's not exactly easy. Sometimes just getting up and on with something helps take your mind off the anxiety they have created.

I don't know about your triptan without knowing which one it is but Sertraline, Propranolol & Codeine all have interactions with each other. Sertraline can reduce the effects of Codeine, Codeine with Propanalol can mean additive effects, Sertraline with Propanalol can increase the effects of Propranalol etc so it's something your GP needs to be monitoring and making adjustments for, if needed.

Hi Terry - apologies I have only just seen your reply.

Well, the good news is the scary breathing sensation has stopped! I pretty much did what winduptoy suggested and tried to chill out when it happened and then it didn't the next night. I have definitely experienced sleep paralysis before so I think it was in that 'family', but could also have been anxiety related.

Terry the triptan is Zolmitriptan. See, all these interactions, the GP's that I've seen over the years don't mention any of this! It worries me loads. When you say Codeine and Propanalol additive effects what do you mean?