Terrified to go to sleep because of sleep paralysis

paul1149 · Jun 21, 2017

Hi JD,
Many times the worst thing about things like this is the fear component. Many years ago I suffered with asthma. One humid Summer night I had a very bad attack. I woke up suddenly and realized I couldn't breathe. It was terrifying. I was alone, so my only hope was to quickly call someone. I lunged for the foot of the bed, beyond which a phone was sitting on a desk. But in mid-air, I realized that even if I placed the call, there was no way an ambulance would reach me in time. I would be dead. As I was suspended in time, not knowing what to do, the thought suddenly came into my mind - it came directly from my spirit, this was not an average stray thought - that if I died I would be with Jesus.

The reality of that hit me, giving me tremendous assurance. I sunk back into bed, not sure what would follow. But peace began to wash over me. I completely let go of the situation and its fear and began to relax. I began to breathe normally again, and within 5 minutes I was fast asleep, and stayed that way until the morning. Except for some allergy-driven problems due to the environment where I now am, I haven't had a stitch of asthma since that night.

Even without a word of wisdom from the spirit, meditating on the promises of God can help calm you down. And that might be the key to getting out of this situation, and to your eventual complete healing.

jesusdaughter155 · Jun 21, 2017

paul1149 said:
Hi JD,
Many times the worst thing about things like this is the fear component. Many years ago I suffered with asthma. One humid Summer night I had a very bad attack. I woke up suddenly and realized I couldn't breathe. It was terrifying. I was alone, so my only hope was to quickly call someone. I lunged for the foot of the bed, beyond which a phone was sitting on a desk. But in mid-air, I realized that even if I placed the call, there was no way an ambulance would reach me in time. I would be dead. As I was suspended in time, not knowing what to do, the thought suddenly came into my mind - it came directly from my spirit, this was not an average stray thought - that if I died I would be with Jesus.

The reality of that hit me, giving me tremendous assurance. I sunk back into bed, not sure what would follow. But peace began to wash over me. I completely let go of the situation and its fear and began to relax. I began to breathe normally again, and within 5 minutes I was fast asleep, and stayed that way until the morning. Except for some allergy-driven problems due to the environment where I now am, I haven't had a stitch of asthma since that night.

Even without a word of wisdom from the spirit, meditating on the promises of God can help calm you down. And that might be the key to getting out of this situation, and to your eventual complete healing.

That is an extremely reassuring thought. I've faced so much anxiety recently, and I haven't been talking to God at all. I remember I had no fear of death before, and the troubles of this life didn't frighten me. Pain is only temporary because the afterlife with Jesus is eternal. I always found that verse from Revelation 21:4 calming. I had this inexplicable peace. It didn't matter if something horrible happens in this world, or I die, because I knew I'll go to be with Jesus. I haven't felt that feeling in a long time. If I pray to Jesus, and ask Him to forgive me, I hope He'll have mercy on me and make me His child again, and I hope I can experience that feeling again.

ToBeLoved · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
That is an extremely reassuring thought. I've faced so much anxiety recently, and I haven't been talking to God at all. I remember I had no fear of death before, and the troubles of this life didn't frighten me. Pain is only temporary because the afterlife with Jesus is eternal. I always found that verse from Revelation 21:4 calming. I had this inexplicable peace. It didn't matter if something horrible happens in this world, or I die, because I knew I'll go to be with Jesus. I haven't felt that feeling in a long time. If I pray to Jesus, and ask Him to forgive me, I hope He'll have mercy on me and make me His child again, and I hope I can experience that feeling again.

You never lost Christ sweetie. He's been there with you all the time. Just ask for His forgiveness, learn from it and begin again.

God gives us a new tomorrow each day, so we can do better than the day before.

jesusdaughter155 · Jun 21, 2017

ToBeLoved said:
You never lost Christ sweetie. He's been there with you all the time. Just ask for His forgiveness, learn from it and begin again.

God gives us a new tomorrow each day, so we can do better than the day before.

Thank you very much. I was so afraid I had lost Christ for the past few days, and I no longer had the ability to have a relationship with Jesus

paul1149 · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
If I pray to Jesus, and ask Him to forgive me, I hope He'll have mercy on me and make me His child again, and I hope I can experience that feeling again.

He will, and you can. He did not go through everything He did in order to abandon us so quickly. His mercy is inexhaustible as long as your heart is His. I think you're really onto something with the assurance thing. "Perfect love casts out fear" - 1Jn 4.18, and His love is perfect. I think all this fear is an attack, and the best way to deal with it is to believe what the Word says - that He is with you always, even to the end of time. Once you undercut the fears, I think you are going to see amazing improvement in every area. Also meditate on Mat 11.28-30, and on Romans 8, including the amazing promise in v 28.

aiki · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
I've been having sleep paralysis for the past couple nights. I'm exhausted, and no matter what I do, it keeps happening

It's terrifying and I'm afraid to go to sleep because it happens every time. I fall asleep, and then I "wake up" in a paralyzed state. I can't move my arms or legs, and I'm trying to scream, but nothing's coming out. After what feels like 10 minutes of desperately trying to move, I eventually wake up. I haven't slept one second in 2 nights. Every time I feel myself drifting off to sleep, I enter sleep paralysis again. I can feel myself "falling" into sleep, and then I can feel my body shutting down, but not my mind. And then suddenly, I can't move.

Your body actually releases a hormone when you're asleep to keep you still. It's a self-protective, physiological thing, not a demon.

jesusdaughter155 said:
I've tried praying and calling out Jesus' name but nothing really changes. I've strayed from the Lord recently and this was the first time I prayed in a long while, to cry for help. I'm afraid he's abandoned me because of that I've thought about how much better it would be if I weren't around because I wouldn't have to go through all this.

Ah. Performance anxiety. God won't love you if you don't step right, eh? Well, that's not how it works with God. He only accepts any of us because of Christ. And no one has ever earned God's love. He loves us because He is loving God, not because of anything we do. But, you know, the safest place is always right next to Him. When you wander from Him, it can get pretty dark and frightening. Sounds like you're learning that lesson. Be encouraged. God does not abandon His children even when they are careless about walking with Him. He is a faithful God.

jesusdaughter155 said:
I'm very sleep deprived and I'm so tired, but every time I try to go to sleep, it happens again, and I wake up a second later. I have a lot of stress in my life already these days and I don't want some evil spirit giving me night terrors.

There is no evil spirit; there is only your anxiety and extreme tiredness. The answer is to trust your Heavenly Father. Trust His goodness and His love. He is not waiting to strike you down at every moment. He is your shield, and strong tower, and a very present help in trouble. Trust in Him; be thoroughly convinced of His great love for you; for in the knowledge of His love for you there is peace.

1 John 4:18-19
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.

friend of · Jun 21, 2017

I'd suggest making the atmosphere As relaxing as possible and try again. An hour or longer before you go to bed don't touch any electronics, have a nice warm bubble bath, maybe a warm non decaf tea, pop 2 gravol then get warm sheets out of the dryer and bundle up and read a bit or the Bible before falling asleep to a fan on light setting. Bonus if it's raining outside.

Just know that there's nothing any malevolent Spirit can do to you in any way if you place your faith and trust in Jesus.

S.O.J.I.A. · Jun 21, 2017

is this a recent thing that's been happening?

JLB777 · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
I've been having sleep paralysis for the past couple nights. I'm exhausted, and no matter what I do, it keeps happening

It's terrifying and I'm afraid to go to sleep because it happens every time. I fall asleep, and then I "wake up" in a paralyzed state. I can't move my arms or legs, and I'm trying to scream, but nothing's coming out. After what feels like 10 minutes of desperately trying to move, I eventually wake up. I haven't slept one second in 2 nights. Every time I feel myself drifting off to sleep, I enter sleep paralysis again. I can feel myself "falling" into sleep, and then I can feel my body shutting down, but not my mind. And then suddenly, I can't move.

I've tried praying and calling out Jesus' name but nothing really changes. I've strayed from the Lord recently and this was the first time I prayed in a long while, to cry for help. I'm afraid he's abandoned me because of that I've thought about how much better it would be if I weren't around because I wouldn't have to go through all this.

I'm very sleep deprived and I'm so tired, but every time I try to go to sleep, it happens again, and I wake up a second later. I have a lot of stress in my life already these days and I don't want some evil spirit giving me night terrors. The scariest part is I don't know if it's in my head, and I'm imagining everything, or there really is some kind of supernatural/malevolent apparition paralyzing me in my sleep. I'm exhausted because I haven't slept in 2 days but I'm too afraid to go to sleep now, because every time I feel myself drifting off into sleep, I have sleep paralysis again. What can I do?

Tell the Lord you repent and return to Him.

Give your whole life to Him.

He will set you free.

There is a difference in praying and confessing His name when you are backslidden, and tormented, in which you want relief, so you can go back to your back slidden life, without discomfort.

I know from experience, and have been there.

Return to Him with your whole heart and call upon His name, with a sincere heart of repentance, to serve Him.

Be Blessed.

JLB

mcarmichael · Jun 21, 2017

What if you just tried to sleep? Don't panic, just try to sleep?
And I don't know, maybe eat some Wheaties or Grape Nuts? It's a certain b-vitamin (I think) that is needed to sleep. I've heard that drinking coffee uses up your b-vitamins, and so does drinking liquor.
It seems like the anxiety is your worst problem, to me.

Winken · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
Thank you very much. I was so afraid I had lost Christ for the past few days, and I no longer had the ability to have a relationship with Jesus

When you fall asleep, dreams begin. During dreams, your muscles are relaxed, to keep you from moving about. That's sleep paralysis. When you wake up, your muscles "wake up," but slowly. Relax --- God loves you --- rest in Him.

Neogaia777 · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
I've been having sleep paralysis for the past couple nights. I'm exhausted, and no matter what I do, it keeps happening

It's terrifying and I'm afraid to go to sleep because it happens every time. I fall asleep, and then I "wake up" in a paralyzed state. I can't move my arms or legs, and I'm trying to scream, but nothing's coming out. After what feels like 10 minutes of desperately trying to move, I eventually wake up. I haven't slept one second in 2 nights. Every time I feel myself drifting off to sleep, I enter sleep paralysis again. I can feel myself "falling" into sleep, and then I can feel my body shutting down, but not my mind. And then suddenly, I can't move.

I've tried praying and calling out Jesus' name but nothing really changes. I've strayed from the Lord recently and this was the first time I prayed in a long while, to cry for help. I'm afraid he's abandoned me because of that I've thought about how much better it would be if I weren't around because I wouldn't have to go through all this.

I'm very sleep deprived and I'm so tired, but every time I try to go to sleep, it happens again, and I wake up a second later. I have a lot of stress in my life already these days and I don't want some evil spirit giving me night terrors. The scariest part is I don't know if it's in my head, and I'm imagining everything, or there really is some kind of supernatural/malevolent apparition paralyzing me in my sleep. I'm exhausted because I haven't slept in 2 days but I'm too afraid to go to sleep now, because every time I feel myself drifting off into sleep, I have sleep paralysis again. What can I do?

Is there a cause?, if there is, eliminate the cause...

Like, what do you take in everyday...? Negativity or Positivity...?

CrystalDragon · Jun 21, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
I've been having sleep paralysis for the past couple nights. I'm exhausted, and no matter what I do, it keeps happening

It's terrifying and I'm afraid to go to sleep because it happens every time. I fall asleep, and then I "wake up" in a paralyzed state. I can't move my arms or legs, and I'm trying to scream, but nothing's coming out. After what feels like 10 minutes of desperately trying to move, I eventually wake up. I haven't slept one second in 2 nights. Every time I feel myself drifting off to sleep, I enter sleep paralysis again. I can feel myself "falling" into sleep, and then I can feel my body shutting down, but not my mind. And then suddenly, I can't move.

I've tried praying and calling out Jesus' name but nothing really changes. I've strayed from the Lord recently and this was the first time I prayed in a long while, to cry for help. I'm afraid he's abandoned me because of that I've thought about how much better it would be if I weren't around because I wouldn't have to go through all this.

I'm very sleep deprived and I'm so tired, but every time I try to go to sleep, it happens again, and I wake up a second later. I have a lot of stress in my life already these days and I don't want some evil spirit giving me night terrors. The scariest part is I don't know if it's in my head, and I'm imagining everything, or there really is some kind of supernatural/malevolent apparition paralyzing me in my sleep. I'm exhausted because I haven't slept in 2 days but I'm too afraid to go to sleep now, because every time I feel myself drifting off into sleep, I have sleep paralysis again. What can I do?

If it has you feel any better, sleep paralysis has absolutely nothing to do with straying from Jesus. It's just a thing your brain does sometimes.

JRichard68 · Jun 21, 2017

Serving Zion said:
This is good, IMO.

Addictions seem to have an intelligence - like some evil thing that tries to find a strategic advantage over their victim. This is what I found with cigarettes (also with unforgiveness, BTW - it will back off for a while then come along again just out of the blue! It staggers though when it's attempt to provoke me fails).

Going off those meds, I don't know whether it directly translates, but I do believe that mental problems are due to a presently dysfunctional consciousness - and that is basically to say that our mind in some way is not coping with the situation. Counselling is really the only way to fix this: either we have to remove the factors of the environment that is triggering the dysfunction, or we learn how to adjust our thought-process (beliefs, expectations etc) so that we can cope with the environment.

Medications don't achieve this, they will only suppress the problematic symptoms; but because the problem still exists and has been suppressed, it has a spiritual impact on our health in other ways.

Just so you know, the terms of service for the site contain this statement:

Terms of Service said:
Do not direct, imply, or suggest that others should disregard doctors' orders regarding medical diagnosis and/or treatment.
Terms of Service and Christian Forum Rules | Christian Forums

So you've no idea what medications will or won't achieve, or what mental problems are "due to". That's for a medical doctor to manage.
Sorry. That just gets my dander up a bit...

As to the OP, I used to have frequent sleep paralysis as well as lucid dreams (where I was dreaming, but was consciously aware of it. Everything in my environment appeared real, but I consciously knew it was a dream, and that I'd be waking from it). Both were frightening and unsettling. Sleep paralysis more-so, because I could not move. The reason was that my brain was still in a sort of sleep/wake stage. When I recognized it for what it was,I could calm the fear a bit. I did rely on my doctor for some medication adjustment. I have anxiety and also seizures. He wanted to be sure to address anything medically that was causing the disturbances. I would suggest this as a step for you, too. It can cause some anxiety all on its own to address this with your doctor, but it may be worth it if it keeps happening.

CrystalDragon · Jun 21, 2017

Neogaia777 said:
Is there a cause?, if there is, eliminate the cause...

Like, what do you take in everyday...? Negativity or Positivity...?

It doesn't have to do with negative or positive taking in of influence. It's just a brain thing.

Neogaia777 · Jun 21, 2017

CrystalDragon said:
It doesn't have to do with negative or positive taking in of influence. It's just a brain thing.

The brain is programmed by what it is exposed to, is it not, and can be reprogrammed with work...

It has a cause... And that cause is probably environmental or situational or circumstancial in nature, that got to the brain...

God Bless!

JRichard68 · Jun 21, 2017

CrystalDragon said:
It doesn't have to do with negative or positive taking in of influence. It's just a brain thing.

It's possible. Anxiety can be affected by many factors

Haipule · Jun 22, 2017

jesusdaughter155 said:
I've been having sleep paralysis for the past couple nights. I'm exhausted, and no matter what I do, it keeps happening

It's terrifying and I'm afraid to go to sleep because it happens every time. I fall asleep, and then I "wake up" in a paralyzed state. I can't move my arms or legs, and I'm trying to scream, but nothing's coming out. After what feels like 10 minutes of desperately trying to move, I eventually wake up. I haven't slept one second in 2 nights. Every time I feel myself drifting off to sleep, I enter sleep paralysis again. I can feel myself "falling" into sleep, and then I can feel my body shutting down, but not my mind. And then suddenly, I can't move.

I've tried praying and calling out Jesus' name but nothing really changes. I've strayed from the Lord recently and this was the first time I prayed in a long while, to cry for help. I'm afraid he's abandoned me because of that I've thought about how much better it would be if I weren't around because I wouldn't have to go through all this.

I'm very sleep deprived and I'm so tired, but every time I try to go to sleep, it happens again, and I wake up a second later. I have a lot of stress in my life already these days and I don't want some evil spirit giving me night terrors. The scariest part is I don't know if it's in my head, and I'm imagining everything, or there really is some kind of supernatural/malevolent apparition paralyzing me in my sleep. I'm exhausted because I haven't slept in 2 days but I'm too afraid to go to sleep now, because every time I feel myself drifting off into sleep, I have sleep paralysis again. What can I do?

Sleep paralysis is normal and everyone has it every night. Or else our dreams would... However, your having a nightly awareness of it is rare. Your opportunity to lucid dream is high if, you can leave your body OBE and fly, walk on the sun, visit me on Maui, or even meet Jesus! Warning: avoid Mars! Those people suck!

Serving Zion · Jun 22, 2017

JRichard68 said:
Just so you know, the terms of service for the site contain this statement:

Yes, I am aware of that policy, and I am cautious about it. Appreciate your concern though :oldthumbsup:

JRichard68 said:
So you've no idea what medications will or won't achieve, or what mental problems are "due to". That's for a medical doctor to manage.

Not necessarily. Priests have been capable of effectively managing those conditions long before medical science became popular.

JRichard68 said:
Sorry. That just gets my dander up a bit...

Understandably. But, spiritual matters can only be cured by spiritual means (ie: counselling). Sometimes, a person who is treated by medication will encounter sufficient counselling to be healed through day-to-day community support, if they are living in a supportive community that can provide healing words. However, this does not reflect every community, and it does need to be sufficient to counteract the harmful words that most likely have been the initial cause.

TV has a lot to answer for in this regard (this came out quite clearly only days ago: My mom and I just had this conversation).

Galilee63 · Jun 22, 2017

Okay.

This is not medical advice given that magnesium is a natural food source and present in vegetables, fruit, mineral water and spinach including natural Quinoea.

A family member suffered from this on a few occasions until she kept Jesus Holy Cross, Jesus Holy Images with her, prayed and Consecrated her heart to Jesus Sacred Heart and Consecrates her Heart to our Blessed Virgin Mother Marys Holy Immaculate Heart for greater protection, prays The Most Holy Rosary one Holy Decade daily of a morning and or of an evening, has our Blessed Virgin Mother Marys Holy Miraculous Medal for greater protection, eats Quineoa of which has magnesium in her food, runs daily and needs a good 6 hours of sleep while drinking plenty of water of which removes anxiety through and by our Lord Jesus Holy Spirit and our Blessed Holy Mother Mary.

Brain magnesium muscles nerves all connected

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