Hello everyone. A little about myself... I have never had a Lucid dream, but I have suffered from SP for years and that is what led me to this site.

It all started around 2001 or 2002 (or possibly before, I really don't remember). I would wake up after just starting to fall asleep, and wouldn't be able to move. I would hear noises, voices, and would try my hardest to move a muscle but to no avail. I never experienced the "demon" on my chest, but have felt the suffocating feeling and pressure. I could halfway open my eyes, but thats it. After a few minues of sheer terror and panic, I would awake and feel extremely groggy. Now, I didn't know that SP was a thing at the time so I just thought something was wrong with me. I didn't know that the noises were hallucinations, so I was pretty freaked out. Eventually in 2005, I finally started googling my problem and discovered that I wasn't alone. I bought a couple of books on it, and tried to learn how to control it - or should I say how to wake up from it.

Fast forward to now. I still get it at least once a week, sometimes daily, and every once and a while mutiple occurances per night. Even though I know exactly what it is as its happening and know that the voices aren't real and that its SP, it is still terrifying even after all these years. I don't know why, it just is. Luckily, I am able to recognize the feeling of it coming and I can often wake myself up right before it sets in (not sure how to describe the feeling, but I've learned to recognize it). Even if I fail to wake up before it sets in, I either focus on trying to move my fingers or toes which gives me a really strange unconfortable sensation and wakes me up, or try my hardest to make a noise and my wife shakes me awake when she hears my quiet moan (she usually has to shake me pretty hard to snap me out of it).

Again, I have never had a Lucid Dream but I would love to change my terrifying nightly routine to an enjoyable one. If I can figure out how to calm the panic I think I might be able to get somewhere. I'm going to start a dream journal tonight and start from square one.

Sorry for the long intro, but I just wanted to give some background info. Hopefully I will learn some good techniques on this site on how to make the transition!