Sleep paralysis can be dangerous

[DragothD]

Everyone says that SP is safe but i have had a few experiences that say otherwise. I was asleep one night dreaming happily when all of the sudden I couldn't breath in my dream. That scared me and made me wake up only to realize I was on my stomach with my face on my bed. I was unable to breath and when I tried to move so that I could breath I couldn't. After about 20 seconds of terror I broke the paralysis and rolled onto my back, relieved to be able to finally breath. So, my point is SP can be dangerous.

[HyperNova]

This would have happened even if you didn't wake up into SP. The fact is that you woke up because you couldn't breath.. you would have done this whether you were in SP or just in a dream. Remember, you are paralysed whilst sleeping anyway. So, my point is SP isn't any different from being asleep.

[lucidspark64]

Aren't we paralyzed just about every night? a few times a night? just sleep paralysis means your awake when it's happening. and are you sure you weren't hallucinating? i recently had a bad SP experience where I could hardly breath and about everyone told me it was just hallucination.

[HyperNova]

Aren't we paralyzed just about every night? a few times a night? just sleep paralysis means your awake when it's happening. Yes and are you sure you weren't hallucinating? i recently had a bad SP experience where I could hardly breath and about everyone told me it was just hallucination. From what the OP says it seems as though this wasn't an hallucinating but that he just managed to put himself into a position whilst asleep which stopped him from being able to breath. The fact that he woke up into SP instead of just waking up seems to be coincidental. But yes, it is common to "hallucinate" not being able to breath properly during SP.

[DragothD]

I know SP happens every night and I know that there can be halucinations with SP am just saying that not having the ability to move in situations like that can be dangerous.

[Phaedrys]

*made a response without fully understanding the topic, it seems*

[Shift]

I always figured it would suck the most if your house was on fire. Luckily SP rarely lasts longer than a few seconds/minutes, with about 8 minutes being the upper range in people with serious sleep disorders. A few cases like this are extreme examples of the danger. In this case, it seems most likely that you were in REM sleep (and rem atonia) and weren't able to breathe, which woke you prematurely, hence giving you the SP. My point being, you being in SP was probably a direct result of the trouble breathing in the first place. Of course this is all Shifty speculation. But still.