Have you ever felt like you are dying...in your sleep?

Have you experienced hypnagogia & sleep paralysis?

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I've experienced sleep paralysis briefly one time when I was much younger. I couldn't move any of my limbs. It was freaky!
 
Two things that happen to me from time to time, though I'm not sure they're hypnagogic:

Sometimes when I'm falling asleep, I get the feeling I suddenly fall (down a staircase, slip on something slippery, ...) and all my muscles tense, so I almost jump out of bed. It feels like being hit hard. I've noticed it happening to my partner too now and then, a sudden violent spasm, but he doesn't wake up when it happens (I do, heart pounding, panting).

I also have a type of dream occasionally, in which I dream I'm dying. Usually I'm under water, and for some reason can't reach the surface anymore (dive too deep, legs caught in something, swimming up frantically but not making any progress, ...). I panic because I'm suffocating, and finally give up, resigning to die, and breathe the water in. Then to my amazement, I find I can breathe water! I'm very happy, and enjoy breathing underwater for a few seconds, then I wake up. This always happens the same way, and when I'm awake again I know "ah, that dream again". During the dream I never remember having dreamt or experienced this before. Perhaps it's a sort of sleep-apnea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apnea_vera), but I don't know.

Anyone else with similar experiences?
 
PiercedChest said:
Sometimes when I'm falling asleep, I get the feeling I suddenly fall (down a staircase, slip on something slippery, ...) and all my muscles tense, so I almost jump out of bed. It feels like being hit hard. I've noticed it happening to my partner too now and then, a sudden violent spasm, but he doesn't wake up when it happens (I do, heart pounding, panting).
Click to expand...

Oh yes, this is common and is known as a hypnic jerk. :smirk:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk


PiercedChest said:
I also have a type of dream occasionally, in which I dream I'm dying. Usually I'm under water, and for some reason can't reach the surface anymore (dive too deep, legs caught in something, swimming up frantically but not making any progress, ...). I panic because I'm suffocating, and finally give up, resigning to die, and breathe the water in. Then to my amazement, I find I can breathe water! I'm very happy, and enjoy breathing underwater for a few seconds, then I wake up. This always happens the same way, and when I'm awake again I know "ah, that dream again". During the dream I never remember having dreamt or experienced this before. Perhaps it's a sort of sleep-apnea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apnea_vera), but I don't know.

Anyone else with similar experiences?
Click to expand...

Very interesting dream man. :great:

Never had such a strange one myself.
 
Meatpie said:
Oh yes, this is common and is known as a hypnic jerk.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk
Click to expand...

Thanks, nice to know, hadn't heard of that before.

The dream I described is actually very unpleasant in the first part (I'm REALLY afraid to suffocate in the next second or so!).
The second part is always there too (breathing water), and the relief and wonder are always as intense as was the fear a moment before.
I wouldn't miss it if it never happened again: it's a real nightmare, and the second part is always far too short to compensate for the first.
It occurs about once a year.
 
Do you go swimming, maybe you will really drown in the next few years?
 
the most probable cause is sleep apnea, those are typical symptoms. Sleep apnea is a common and serious sindrome, sometimes deadly, increases blood pressure, may produce strokes or heart attacks, the typical case of uncle Ben went to take a nap and never woke up. If you have those symptoms you better see a physician. This can be present at any age. if you have sleep apnea you will need to sleep with a c-pap machine.

Higladius
 
Given that my heart has stopped, I guess I already died once. This was after a MVA that broke my skull, several ribs, punctured my Right lung and did other nasty things to my body. I was on life support in a coma for 4 days, in intensive care for 2 weeks, in-hospital rehabilitation for 2 months, then in ongoing therapy for another 2 years plus. I was lucky to see 20!

In an unrelated event only 3 years ago, I had a horrific scare. I felt a sharp pain in my neck then semi-awoke to see my dead parents, one set of dead grandparents, and a couple of dead pets in my room. I thought I had died! When I realized I was still alive, I called 911. The paramedics found out I had a severe blood pressure jump and extreme muscle tension in my neck and chest. In the follow up CT Scan they found I had 2 cracked vertebra in my neck and my muscles had gone into spasm to protect my neck. The spasm was so strong, it broke my left collar bone. This was from a fall on an icy sidewalk! Well I'm still alive, and semi-ticking but I think I've visited the other side more than once.
Fireboots
 
These are mild, but I've had sleep apnea several times, and I'm still trying to cope with sleep-starts. I don't know if they count for anything, but those are as close as I can get with almost dying in my sleep. *shrug*
 
You can't "cope" with hypnic jerks, probably best to reduce physical activity 1 to 2 hours before going to bed, there is evidence that vigorous physical activity before bedtime can lead to getting more hypnic jerks when you are starting to fall asleep.
 
I felt that only once... I hope never again... I almost crapped my pants, even without moving and I could not sleep for some hours...
 
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