sleep? no thanks.

This hasnt happened to me since the 11th grade. It used to happen every night/morning but once I started 12th grade it stopped....

Sometimes it would occurr at night but mostly when I took naps after cheer practice. I'd lay down and something random would wake me up. When I tried to actually get up I couldn't! My eyes would be open and I'd be fully awake but I would not be able to move any part of my body or talk. I always wanted to scream for my parents, but I never could. I used to think I was having a stroke or something. It was the scariest thing.  I even remember telling my 11th grade Chemistry teacher about it (bless her uninterested heart.) This would happen pretty regularly but the following year, it stopped...

until. last. night.


I fell asleep fairly early. Usually i toss and turn for a while but I fell into a good, deep sleep right away. I was out for a couple of hours until i heard my dog growling at something. I opened my eyes and tried to sit up, but nothing happened. He was on my pillow right next to my head, growling at something behind us and it freaked me out. I was pleading with myself, "wake up, please wake up...look behind you." Still, nothing.I just knew someone was standing in the room behind my bed and he was barking at me to wake up.  Just as I started crying I was able to sit up and look behind me. Thankfully, nothing, more importantly no ONE was standing there.  *sigh*

Today during work I was googling away.  "sleep but can't move or speak" took me to a lot of looney sites, but I found it helpful that a lot of people experience the same thing. It's called sleep paralysis. If you are interested in more of an in depth explanation, click here. Very helpful site...the human body is amazing...

Out of curiosity I googled images of sleep paralysis so if you're more of a visual person, the following images pretty much sum up what it feels like to experience this disorder.

Nightmare-ish? YES! I hope this isn't going to be a regular occurrence again. If so I'll need some industrial strength under eye concealer...

XO Chloe'