I'm So sorry- It really is no fun when you don't know what is going on! The best thing I have found is that I have to have someone pull me out of it. So I don't get up unless my husband or kids wake me up. They have to turn on the lights, pull me up and give me water with a straw. If that don't work they make me breakfast and try to feed it to me, and if I still can't wake up, then I just have to sleep longer. But stressing about it makes it MUCH worse and not going to bed on time makes it worse too. Some times even a phone call will help pull me out of it. HOpe things get better! Hang in there.

Mine happens more when I'm falling alseep. I'm lord forbid I sleep on my back! It's like I'm being possessed

I had ones like that too, they are horrible, what works for me sometimes, if I can remember to do it when I'm freaking out, is try to use other parts of your brain. I would try to scream for help, but you are paralyzed so you can't, but then one time I tried to scream H-E-L-P and spelling it must have used a different part of my brain and woke me up, also instead of trying to get up or panic focus on moving your pinky, just wigglying your pinky. Bad episodes like this are awful, and they usually happen to me when something in my waking life is stressing me out, so I will have several not every night but every couple nights, and then they will stop for a while, but right now I must be stressed again because this week I have had several. I don't know if my tricks will help you, they seem to work if I can remember them at the moment, but maybe it will give you ideas.
The other night I was having a bad one and was really shaken up, couldn't get out, then my boyfriend flushed the toilet, the bathroom is right next to the bedroom and the spell was broken I was free. I have never been so grateful for someone flushing in my life!!!!!

Yeah, I live alone so when I finally get out of it I'm super freaked and have no one to talk to or call. I'm so scared to go back to sleep. It didn't help when my tv turned itself on after I awoke from it. It's like my apt is haunted or something. I fell asleep grasping my Bible.

Also, if you are not on any sleep meds and have enough time to sleep it off, I take either Calms Forte like 8-9 hours to sleep, a holistic sleep aid, or Melatonin, if I have less time to sleep like 5-7 hours. Both of these are all natural, my sleep dr. said they were ok, but you may want to check with yours, I just won't use them if I get to bed real late and have to get up real early because I will be extra drowsy in the morning. Also I may be a little "drunk" if I get up in the night to use the bathroom. When I take either one, I find I don't have sleep onset SP or HH and if I remember any dreams it is just one or two before waking rather than the whole nights worth like I will without anything. The night before last I kept waking up and freaking out with HH 3 times, my poor boyfriend was kept up half the night, got up took some melatonin, waited 15 min, went back to bed and slept all night. Because I fall asleep so fast and have a hard time waking up I use the lowest dosage but everyone's different. I thought those supplements were just to help insomnia, but they help to regulate sleep as well, so I found they do help with the HH and nightmares, I was hoping they would make me feel more rested too, but I haven't really noticed that, but they definately have not made me feel worse.

Something to get rid of nightmares would change my life. I'll deff ask my sleep doctor about those things next week.

Danielle, it's funny you mention waking up from the spelling. I find that doing math in my head helps me come out of stuff. Focusing on wiggling a finger helps, too. When I'm feeling REALLY fuzzy, like the weakness and slurs, at home, I like to COLOR because I think that simple motor stuff makes a difference in waking everything back up.

Shlay, do you have any other symptoms other than SP and vivid dreaming? I'm curious to know. As Danielle mentioned, there are some tricks that might help with those. I like to have my "sleepy time tea," which is how it's labeled, but it's minty green tea decaf. I like to use aromatherapy-- lavender helps me sleep and get relaxed. I also like heat-- try a bath :) One thing that really helps me is thinking about what I'm going to dream about while I'm falling asleep, like selective dreaming. If I create the dream there, it tends to follow me into sleepland.

I have nightmares almost every night. Always have! And when I close my eyes to go to sleep, its like the dreams start instantly. I see vivid horrible things. That used to scare me very much when I was little. I used to sing the barny song to calm myself. It still shakes me up a bit even now. I have to take a xanax, my bipolar meds and allergy medication if I even want to THINK about sleeping.

It's hard not to react to the paralysis, but I think if you can try to relax, it can help to end the episode - so the tips on trying to wriggle your toes, etc, are doing this by shifting your focus. When someone or something external brings you out of it, it must be doing the same thing.

I had severe attacks for months last year. Was also living alone,& though have had SP all my life, have never been through anyhing so disturbing before. After months of SSRI's & rest, am virtually episode free. Want to come off the meds soon though, so hope to keep any SP in control with tips like these.