Thread: new to sleep paralysis - 6-8 times in a row?

ok so I was trying to fall asleep, but before I could my body would freeze. This happened 6-8 times in a row. I just found an explanation here:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1740
The part at the bottom about SUNDS is a little bit scary. I have hypochondriacal tendencies but I know that about myself and always dismiss it as myself being silly so I never talk to anyone about my worries but they still eat at me!

I'll copy & paste my comment there:

I'm really relieved to put a name to what I'm experiencing and to know that others have experienced this. I haven't read through all of the posts but I just want to write this down while it's fresh in my mind.

I've had isolated instances of sleep paralysis throughout my life (I'm 24) - maybe once or twice a year. I don't do drugs, usually refuse to take medicine, don't even like the idea of vitamins, and rarely drink alcohol (although I made some milkshakes with a friend with Bailey's, Kahlua, kettel one, and bacardi rum about 2 hours before initially sleeping and about 7 hours before SP occurred this morning.

Recently (past 2 months?) I've had it about 3 times a week after a full night's sleep and trying to wake up in the morning. I can best describe it as a point in between sleeping and being awake. The only thing that was similar each time was that right before I would wake up I would feel a pain/migraine, normally in my head (maybe 2 times it was in my chest). This migraine/pain sensation has not occurred before these past 2 months. I can best describe this as a wide, spread-out fog that slowly, but exponentially expands inward as everything grows darker and darker, and as it does the pain increases, and at its peak when all is black, I wake up. When I'm awake there is no lingering pain/migraine or anything - all is normal. I don't get migraines ever when awake.

Just before writing this I woke up naturally after about 4-5 hours of sleep. I got up and went to the bathroom, messed around on the computer, listened to some music, and then decided I was still tired and tried to go back to sleep. Now somehow I knew (I just felt it the moment before I drifted) that if I were to lose consciousness I would be stuck in that sleep paralysis state again; I've never felt like I could predict it happening before this occurrence. I felt myself fading about 3 times and caught myself before I drifted. Finally, I gave up and let it take me. The next few times (6-8 times) I went into sleep paralysis but directly from being conscious (I was never asleep); this was the 1st time for me that SP didn't occur from a sleeping state and I think also the 1st time it occurred more than once in one session of sleeping. I was awake one moment and then the next I was just frozen. The last time I wanted to sort of experiment. During this time I tried to count my breaths to guesstimate how long it was (I lost count but think it was about 2-4 minutes). I also decided that I could move my hands from my wrist to fingertips, and my feet from below my ankle to my toes (feels very futile with no movement in the rest of my arms or legs). I could control my breathing, and I could open and close my eyes (my right eye would only open when my left eye was also open). I was skeptical if my eyes were actually open because in past instances my mind has fabricated things that weren't there, so I started counting. 10 feet away on my left (was lying on my left side) was a bookshelf. I counted 5 shelves. I counted 13 books on the top shelf (this took me about 4-7 tries (maybe more?) of focusing, refocusing, closing - sometimes against my will, and opening my eyes). When I woke I counted and I was dead on. Comparing my vision to my awake vision it seemed about the same (-3.25 contact lens prescription so it's not that great). I also made note of other objects on the shelf like a white object that looked like a fan (3 blades) without the cage enclosure; this was actually a piggy bank and I also couldn't tell what it was when awake if I didn't have my glasses on). Also of the 6-8 times, in about 2 or 3 of them, the migraines were accompanied by a very large buzzing sound which was new to me. The very last time I went into sleep paralysis I saw a fly buzzing around while I was trying to count the books. Sure enough, there was a fly when I woke up.

I'm afraid to go back to sleep right now. After I wake up I usually don't think anything of it, and usually even question if it actually happened or if I dreamt that I was paralyzed. But while it's happening, I actually am accepting that I might die. I'm not suicidal or anything and I don't want to die, but at that moment where the pain is at its peak right before I wake up, I think it's the end. Right now I think it's silly, but not when it's happening.