Terrified to go to sleep because of sleep paralysis

Brian Mc

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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?
 
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Brian Mc

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2 Tim 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm {and} well-balanced mind {and} discipline {and} self-control.

Yes, fear is a spirit .... & our Lord Jesus has authority over ALL things .. He has overcome the world.

The Power of His Name.

Read Philippians 2:1-13 (with particular emphasis on verses 9-10)

There is power to overcome everything in the world through the name of Jesus. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Six people went into the house of a sick man to pray for him. He was a leader in the Episcopal Church, and he lay in his bed utterly helpless. He sent for some friends who he thought could pray “the prayer of faith” (James 5:15). They followed the procedure but there was no change in his condition and enthusiasm waned.

When they were outside, one of the six said, “There is one thing we could have done. I wish you would all go back with me and try it.” They all went back and got together in a group. The man said, “Let us all whisper the name of Jesus”. At first, when they whispered the worthy name, nothing seemed to happen. But as they continued to whisper “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” the power began to fall. As they saw that God was beginning to work, their faith and joy increased and they spoke the name louder and louder. As they did so, the man rose from his bed and dressed himself. The secret was just this: those six people had gotten their eyes off the sick man and were taken up with the Lord Jesus Himself. Their faith grasped the power of His name. Oh, if people would only appreciate the power in His name, there is no telling what would happen.

Thought for today: Through the name of Jesus and through the power of His name, we have access to God.

At the Name of Jesus,
the devil & evil spirits WILL free.
 
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Open Heart

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I've been having sleep paralysis for the past couple nights.
I've had occasional sleep paralysis since childhood. There's a trick to this. GO BACK TO SLEEP. When you reawaken, you will not be paralyzed. The WORST thing to do when you awaken paralyzed is to struggle to move and wake up. Just go back to sleep and you'll be fine.
 
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paul becke

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I've had occasional sleep paralysis since childhood. There's a trick to this. GO BACK TO SLEEP. When you reawaken, you will not be paralyzed. The WORST thing to do when you awaken paralyzed is to struggle to move and wake up. Just go back to sleep and you'll be fine.

That makes sense, doesn't it ? Sleep and relaxation generally go together. Fear, anxiety, panic would all be counterproductive - any 'excited' emotional state.
 
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growingheart

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hey i suffer from anxiety and sleep paralysis too- i still get them but one tip i have is to not look whatever you do. shut your eyes because hallucinating will just cause more stress and panic and i didn't realize that at first! i don't have a tip to get out of them because i still have them time to time, but when i do have them i shut my eyes and wiggle my toes and just wait to wake up again. don't open your eyes until you're certain you're fully awake! that's all i have- but i know where you're coming from and i know how scary it can be! sending prayers and hope your way!!
 
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ToBeLoved

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2 Tim 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm {and} well-balanced mind {and} discipline {and} self-control.

Yes, fear is a spirit .... & our Lord Jesus has authority over ALL things .. He has overcome the world.

The Power of His Name.

Read Philippians 2:1-13 (with particular emphasis on verses 9-10)

There is power to overcome everything in the world through the name of Jesus. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Six people went into the house of a sick man to pray for him. He was a leader in the Episcopal Church, and he lay in his bed utterly helpless. He sent for some friends who he thought could pray “the prayer of faith” (James 5:15). They followed the procedure but there was no change in his condition and enthusiasm waned.

When they were outside, one of the six said, “There is one thing we could have done. I wish you would all go back with me and try it.” They all went back and got together in a group. The man said, “Let us all whisper the name of Jesus”. At first, when they whispered the worthy name, nothing seemed to happen. But as they continued to whisper “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” the power began to fall. As they saw that God was beginning to work, their faith and joy increased and they spoke the name louder and louder. As they did so, the man rose from his bed and dressed himself. The secret was just this: those six people had gotten their eyes off the sick man and were taken up with the Lord Jesus Himself. Their faith grasped the power of His name. Oh, if people would only appreciate the power in His name, there is no telling what would happen.

Thought for today: Through the name of Jesus and through the power of His name, we have access to God.

At the Name of Jesus,
the devil & evil spirits WILL free.
I think you are misapplying this scripture. If sleep paralysis is not a demon, spirit or live thing than what should they be shooting with the name of Jesus?

I think you are setting them up for a fall. The OP previouslly said they tried this.
 
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4x4toy

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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?

Hi dear, I've experienced sleep paralysis a few times when I was younger, seems I saw somewhere it was a normal brain secretion to protect you from getting up and acting and hurting yourself during deep sleep . I suspect some folks who have night terrors and get up and run into walls or fight in their sleep are the opposite . But it is scary to not be able to move or even speak when you first awake . I'm pretty sure it is fairly normal for some to go through . No demons or evil spirits . Peace .
 
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Open Heart

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Yes, fear is a spirit .... & our Lord Jesus has authority over ALL things .. He has overcome the world.
Fear is not a spirit. It is the natural fight or flight response that God gave our minds to respond to perceived threat (even when the threat is not actually real).

When I was very young and had hypnogogic paralysis, I would cry out to Jesus, and rebuke the hallucinations in Jesus' name. It didn't work. I would hallucinate that with enormous effort I could move, and get out of bed--only to find myself suddenly right back where I was, still paralyzed. Do you know what worked? Not freaking out, going back to sleep, and waking up natural.
 
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Corey L.

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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?
 
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Corey L.

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I've experienced sleep paralysis a few times in my life. I was indeed terrified those few times because of what I felt and saw. I've seen dark figures around me. Thankfully, all that I needed was to call upon Jesus, and he came to my rescue. There is indeed power in his name.
 
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letmeseeyourphone

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I'm sorry you're dealing with that. It's horrible. I have extensive experience with this.

I'm not knocking anyone else's answers at all. There's merit in most of them. (I say most cuz I just scanned through the responses quick). But my response to this will probably differ from most you'll get. I will give you what I know from experience, and the actions I personally took to resolve it, once I understood it.

I've suffered from sleep paralysis attacks since childhood. I'm now 40. It's my belief that it's a direct demonic attack. Every time it happened to me, it was just like you described, and I could feel the presence of something purely evil in the room. I was always wide awake, but unable to move or speak. And that thing was there. Whatever it was. I could feel it. Once, at age 13, during an episode while I was paralyzed, it manifested. I could see it standing in my doorway, glaring at me with red eyes. Very tall. That was the only time the spirit actually showed itself. Every other time, I could only feel it's presence. But VERY strongly. There was no mistaking it.

I could feel it strong enough to know where it "stood" in approximation to me, while lying in the bed, although it was invisible. Once, it was directly on top of me, pinning me down. Another time it physically moved me a few inches sideways in the bed. "Rotated" my stiff body a few degrees. It's happened to me in various places around the globe. The last attack was a bad one about three years ago. It was the first time it moved from me and attacked my wife and children as well. All in the same night. My wife and I had concurrent nightmares, both awakening from our terrors within 30 seconds of each other. The Lord immediately told me what hers was, and I told her what happened, and then started figuring out what was going on. My son woke up screaming about something he saw in his room, couldn't describe it really, but was the most terrified I've ever seen him. Something scared him bad. My daughter sleepwalked into our room babbling incoherently with her face looking just...hollow, really weird. Never seen an expression like that on her face before or since. There were several other weird things that happened around that in a supernatural flurry of activity at my house over a couple weeks. (I was prodigal, and had recently returned to the Lord, I was waking up to my Christian identity, which was stirring things up).

After talking with my pastor, we deduced it was the spirit "Mare." We came against it in prayer. I laid hands on every member of my family and rebuked it in prayer. Then I cleansed the house by praying in every room and reciting Scriptures. I discovered it was allowed to attack through an open door I had left due to sin I still had in my life at the time. I immediately took care of it, and after I did all that, haven't had an issue since.

I'm not saying don't see a doctor. Please do if you feel you need to! I personally stay away from the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. Been down that road. I'm not saying it's no good. But I felt a conviction to let go of it all. I do still take a sleeping pill once in awhile due to my insomnia issues.

And I'm not saying that what you're experiencing is definitively a spiritual attack. But in my experience (which seems VERY similar to yours) I found it was. And I'm not condemning you! I'm just saying, check yourself for open doors. Spend some time in prayer on this. He'll tell you what you need to do. He'll speak both directly, and through others.

I prayed for you, and I hope you come to some kind of understanding and resolution!
 
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Galilee63

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This has happened to me a couple of times per year. Natural Magnesium with Vitamin B Complex should assist.

This has not happened since attending regular Holy Confession and Holy Communion. Both times it was when I had a lapse of a few weeks in Holy Confession with a lot going on around me at the time. Once back on track in Holy Confession, keeping my heart always open receiving our Lord Jesus into my heart - it has not happened since and I always keep our Lord Jesus on The Cross under my pillow with Jesus Divine Mercy Holy Image near my bed and Most Holy Mother Mary's Holy Image near me - since then no sleep paralysis. another interesting thing is that when I have our pet dog in the bed with me, that our Lord Jesus and Most Holy Mother Mary gifted me - he wards off evil attacks through our Lord Jesus Christ and through Most Holy Mother - satan does not like Dogs with people - good dogs with people with good hearts. Nor cats with good hearts. Always keep Jesus on The Cross near you while sleeping and travelling and at work. Because Jesus manifests and Holy Mother Mary manifests in His Holy Cross and Holy Divine Images.

Once I handed over to our Lord Jesus Christ and Most Holy Mother Mary it went away and I moved out of bed quickly. This has never happened when I keep up my prayers daily of our Lords Holy Divine mercy Chaplet and The Most Holy Rosary of which our Lord and Most Holy Mother Mary indescribably Bless Protect and Gift me daily in so many things including health with so many Holy Miracles and for those prayed for that I could write a book - a large book.

Hand everthing over to our Lord Jesus God The Most High Holy Spirit and Most Holy Mother Mary daily immersing your heart and soul and paralysis condition in Jesus Holy Sacred Wounds and Precious Holy Blood before sleep and if it re-occurs.

Also, "Holy Michael Archangel Help me please in Jesus Holy Precious Name, Holy Precious Blood and Holy Sacred Wounds Amen".

First of all relax.

Jesus Holy Spirit God our Heavenly Father and our Most Holy Divine Mother Mary are there waiting for you to turn to our Lord Jesus Christ in complete trust in Him and always say "Jesus, Mary, Help me" when in any distressful situation and Holy Mother Mary will go to your aid with all of Jesus God our Heavenly Father's and Holy Spirits Holy Divine Angels, Holy Saints, Holy Martyrs and Holy Souls in Heaven.

Every one of God The Most Highs our Lord Jesus Christ's Holy Spirits Holy Wound Chaplet, Holy Divine Mercy Chaplet/Novena and The Most Holy Rosary are answered by God through our Lord Jesus Christ and Most Holy Mother Mary in Holy Spirit every day on all Holy causes prayed for over 7 years. I tell you the truth on this. If your sleep paralysis continues after praying in complete trust in our Lord Jesus and you repent your sins to Jesus I will be astounded if our Lord Jesus has not answered and healed you of this condition in His Holy Divine Will.

Prior to bed, make The Sign of The Cross and always keep a set of Holy Rosary Beads with Jesus on The Cross under your pillow. Or Jesus on The Cross alongside your pillow.

Jesus Christ our Merciful Saviour delivered to mankind through Holy Saint Marie Chambon His Holy Wound Chaplet asking people to immerse their hearts and souls and ailments in His Holy Sacred Wounds and Precious Holy Blood before saying His Holy Divine Prayer:

O Jesus Divine Redeemer be Merciful to us and to the whole world Amen.
Strong God Holy God Holy Immortal God have mercy on us and on the whole world Amen
Grace and Mercy O My Jesus during present dangers cover us with Your Precious Blood Amen.
O Eternal Father grant us mercy through The Blood of Jesus Christ Thy only Son grant us mercy we beseech Thee Amen Amen Amen

O Eternal Father I offer Thee The Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ to heal the Wounds of our Souls Amen. x 1

My Jesus pardon and Mercy through The Merits of Thy Holy Wounds. x 10 times

Jesus requests of us to ask Holy Heaven to pray for us and with us and to implore our Holy Heavenly Mother Mary to pray for us, to intercede for us with Him and to Hold Most Holy Mother Mary's Holy Hand beseeching God The Most High to look upon our Lord Jesus Holy Sacred Wounds through His Holy Sacred Wounds and Precious Holy Blood for all causes and Holy causes including beseeching God The Most High to look upon The Most Holy Divine Face of Jesus our Lord Jesus Holy Divine Countenance and to pray on the strength of our Lord Jesus Bitter Passion.

Next, say to our Lord Jesus Christ and Most Holy Mother Mary Whom is right next to our Lord Jesus in Heaven with Him:

Today please dear Lord Jesus I immerse my heart soul body and sleep paralysis ailment in Thy Holy Sacred Wounds, and Precious Holy Blood and Ocean of Mercy, please heal me dear Lord Jesus of this condition and have Mercy upon me. Please pour Thy Precious Holy Blood upon me, my Loving Good Jesus. Amen

Today please Holy Mother Mary I immerse my heart soul body and sleep paralysis ailment in Thy Holy Immaculate Heart and pray for Thy Holy Virginal Mantle covering and protecting me from all evil.

Now and for eternity Amen.

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us I trust in You. 3 times

Amen.
 
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