Dream...panic

[Typer]

Last night I had a bad time trying to get off to sleep. Had the heart palps and it kept speeding and then going slow. Eventually around 4.30 I drifted off only to wake up scared and panicky

I was on my left side (not good for the palps) but dreamed I was on my right side and was looking around the room. All I could see was a maroon sheet moving on its own. I quickly leaned over to press the automatic light switch but something (Some Thing) lurched at me and as I lay under the duvet it was so heavy pressing down hard on my whole body. I felt I died .. that is, I felt I was dying then that I did die and all I could think was, dont fight it just let it happen. I awoke.

Thing is the pressure and the stopping breathing seemed so real and I worry now that maybe my heart did stop! I know it sounds crazy

[rblt94]

Hello Typer,
I hope you are doing okay right now. I can relate. I'm proud of you that you told yourself to just let it happen, because you are making a step to get over your fear. I know you know this, but we can strongly make mind over matter with our bodies and it is literally impossible for us to lose control during a panic attack, stop breathing, or have our hearts stop. You can physch yourself into thinking your heart stopped, but you have to believe you are doing it to yourself. A few years ago in class, as I was going through anxiety thinking I could have a heart attack, I concentrated on my breathing so hard and my pulse that my heart felt like it paused and shock washed over me in sweat, but I know I did it to myself. You have to keep in reality and let things happen like you have been doing and you're mind and body will soon understand that you are fine and you do this to yourself. You deserve better and not to go through this!
Good luck!

[Veronica H]

I have always had vivid dreams. They can be very unsettling.

Veronicax

[Neuro]

Sounds like sleep paralysis.....where you see something scary and then it puts a pressure on you....people all over the world get it and they're all remarkably similar stories. It'll seem real but it isn't and I promise your heart didn't stop.
Sleep paralysis is described sometimes as being unable to move whilst experiencing the scary thing....but many people I know have been able to move during it, just not too much.
The good news: Sleep paralysis happens to most people only once or twice in their whole lives.
More good news: You can prevent it just by having a consistent sleeping pattern and avoiding stress.
Hope this helps. Best wishes.

x

[ElizabethJane]

Dear Neuro I have suffered sleep paralysis many many times. I am having hypnosis at thev moment to try to get to the root of my sleep problems. Sleep paralysis happens when we are in R.E.M sleep ie dreaming sleep. Something happens where the brain does not shut down properly and you remember the dream that you are having. It is not the same as lucid dreaming where you know that you are dreaming and are in control of that dream. I have this dream repeatedly where I can't breathe and can't move. If I try to move I will die. Fortunately I always wake up. It is faulty programming. Sadly no cure for me yet. I will ask for a more detailed description when I see my therapist this week.

[Typer]

Thanks for all your in put all.

I have had sleep paralysis a few times in my life and 3 times in the last 3 years. At those times I feel I have woken, but I am paralyzed. Sometimes I have seen things that are not there, sometimes I only feel something is there. What I do is tell myself to relax and go back to sleep and then I awake normally. The first time, I thought I had had a stroke and was trying to speak but could not. That was when I was 22.


The one I refer to in this post was not sleep paralysis because I could move. I pretty much hope this does not happen again...it really did feel like I stopped breathing and died.