Any idea what could be wrong?

[JODO 2]

Lately when I wake up in the morning, I have to literally fight to open my eyes and cannot move any part of my body. I am awake and I am conscious that I am awake,but it is like I am totally immobilized. I used to get this about three years right before I graduated from law school. However it stopped,but now it seems to be back. I googled "panic attack" ,but it did not really fit I thought. I don't know whether to call a GP or a psychiatrist.

Any ideas

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I forget the technical name for it - but that's a fairly common sleep disorder. Your mind wakes up, but your body is still sleeping.

[perfect 39]

This could be what you are referring to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_Paralysis

.Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis).

Physiologically, it is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the bodily paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations.

More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be no more than a dream. This explains many dream recountings which describe the person lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision.

Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)

Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation

Increased stress

Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes

A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode. Also conscious induction of sleep paralysis is a common technique to enter a state of lucid dreams, also known as WILD[1] .

Artificial sleeping aids, ADD medications and/or antihistamines

[edit] Treatment

During paralysis episodes, patients may be advised to try moving the facial muscles and moving eyes from one side to the other. This may hasten the termination of the attack.

If you're worried please see a doctor to rule out anything more serious.

Edited August 2, 2007 by perfect

[Emancipation 2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

Sleep paralysis perhaps?

[JODO 2]

Thanks guys. The sleep paralysis sounds exactly like what I am experiencing. I will try moving my eyes around like the article suggested. It is so scary when it happens.

[Sinergy 3]

I go thru that too, i agree its scary

[Emancipation 2]

Thanks guys. The sleep paralysis sounds exactly like what I am experiencing. I will try moving my eyes around like the article suggested. It is so scary when it happens.

I can't imagine how scary it is.. I'd mention it to my Dr. if it persists.. sounds like there are meds that can help from the article!

[L_n_O 3]

ya, talk to you GP

[rebeccajo 14]

I experience this from time to time upon waking. It is horrible - extremely scary. It's like your brain is screaming "move, move, move!".

By the time I am finally able to open my eyes and move, I'm extremely upset. Sometimes I burst into tears.

I wonder - the next time it happens - if I would have the cognitive reasoning to try to move my eyes or facial muscles. I'm not sure it's a true state of consciousness. It's very difficult to describe.

[Ta Ta 1]

Yep I had it before and struggling for every breath. I am aware of trying to gather every bit of strenghts in my

body to shake myself out of it and pray in my mind until I can move. I also feel something heavy on top of my chest

like something is suffocating me.

[bostonparis 0]

My God, that sounds so awful and scary! I'd check with your GP for sure - self diagnosis is never a good thing!

Good luck.

[featherB 1]

I've had sleep paralysis (gone through phases where it happens ALL the time, like every day... then years where it doesn't happen at all) and it sounds just like what you're describing... it's horrible and terrifying, knowing fully well that you're awake but not being able to so much as twitch a single muscle in your body. I used to feel acutely aware of everything going on in the room around me (even though I MUST have been kind of 'awake yet dreaming', as I would hear things going on around me that I knew for a fact, when I awoke, had been all in my head!) but utterly incapable of responding, no matter how hard I tried to open my eyes/turn over/move even a tiny bit. I had no idea it was so common until I saw a TV documentary on sleep disorders a few years ago.

It's horrible... and don't know what to advise, just wanted to say I sympathise because I know how scary it is. When it happens to me, it tends to be when I sleep in late - I don't think it's ever happened to me very early in the morning. Maybe if it happens right before you're due to get up anyway (I don't know if this is the case) you could try setting your alarm a bit earlier so you'd be properly awake before it gets a chance to happen? The only other thing I can say is that, in my experience, it tends to come in phases (where it happens frequently) and then stop, for whatever reason... I hope it stops happening to you VERY soon.

[RaspberrySwirl 20]

I experience this from time to time upon waking. It is horrible - extremely scary. It's like your brain is screaming "move, move, move!".

By the time I am finally able to open my eyes and move, I'm extremely upset. Sometimes I burst into tears.

I wonder - the next time it happens - if I would have the cognitive reasoning to try to move my eyes or facial muscles. I'm not sure it's a true state of consciousness. It's very difficult to describe.

I've actually made myself do this from time to time. I was really into lucid dreaming stuff back then and wanted to experiment. (I have a history of really horrible nightmares from dealing with ###### that went on when I was younger)

But it was ###### scary ###### when it happened. I was terrified.

Ugh, just reading that wiki article is giving me the chills again.

[featherB 1]

I wonder - the next time it happens - if I would have the cognitive reasoning to try to move my eyes or facial muscles. I'm not sure it's a true state of consciousness. It's very difficult to describe.

I agree that it's definitely not a true state of consciousness (well, what happens to me isn't... hard to tell how it compares to what anyone else experiences!), but after having it happen morning after morning after morning a few years ago... hm, I tried reasoning with myself, just because after a while there would be a bit of my brain telling me 'wait... this is that thing happening again...'... I think my facial muscles are what I concentrated on trying to move, and I can't say I had any luck (I think I just fall back into 'normal' sleep for a bit after it's over)... but just knowing that it was 'that thing happening again' made it less scary, I think. Being able to tell myself that it had happened on X amount of mornings previously, and that it would pass in a few minutes...

... horrible, though.

[Caladan 19]

You could be my twin! Or double (maybe one of us is wearing an evil mustache?) I've had this problem in the past month falling asleep: it's like everything's shut off except my brain, I can't move, and what terrifies me is there's usually a period where I can't swallow or breathe. And then it's like I'm rushing up from under water, I gasp for air, freak out a bit, and I'm in for a night of those episodes.

If I were a computer, I'd reboot myself.