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Is this sleep paralysis?
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MedHelp Member's Question

Is this sleep paralysis?

by lynette, Jan 21, 2000 12:00AM
My husband is 55 years old and has had experiences since childhood during sleep which I thought might be sleep paralysis. Last night he had another episode which I found very frightening and now I'm not sure what it might be.

My husband is 55 years old and has had experiences since childhood during sleep, which I thought, might be sleep paralysis. Last night he had another episode, which I found very frightening and now I'm not sure what it might be.



After he has fallen asleep he begins to awaken or dreams he is awakening. He is aware of sounds around him in the room and he can actually see what is in front of him as he lies in bed, but he feels like he is in the grip of something he must struggle against. He can't fall asleep again nor can he pull out of the paralyzing feeling unless he or someone else can move an arm or leg. If that happens he is then immediately released from the grip.



Last night I was awakened by what felt like him trembling all over and making sounds like muffled screams. When I grabbed him arm he came out of it and told me he had been trying to get my attention to rescue him as this time he wasn't able to break out on his own.  These episodes happened infrequently as a child but in the past few years they are coming at a rate of about one a month.  Is this real sleep paralysis or something else? And could it be dangerous?



Thank you very much for considering my questions.



- Lynette
Doctor's Answer

by CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS, Jan 21, 2000 12:00AM
Dear Lynette:



Sorry to hear about your husband.  What you describe might be sleep paralysis.  I would recommend that he see a sleep expert.  There are sleep disorders that may accompany sleep paralysis.  This would be especially true if he has daytime sleepiness or trouble sleeping at night.



Sincerely,



CCF Neuro MD
Member Comments (30)

by Leah Neal, Feb 06, 2000 12:00AM
I just HAD to respond to Lynette, whose husband experiences some sort of sleep paralysis.



I don't blame the CCF Neuro MD for recommending that her husband be tested for sleep disorders.

And I sure it won't hurt.  Since 1962, I have been to countless neurologists and been tested in

countless sleep labs, through the years.  - for the same experience Lynettes husband has.



But I have experienced the exact same episodes since I was a child. They were [and still are] very,

very scary.   Mine happen in that peroid of 'just drifting off' when ones brain waves go from Beta

to Alpha.   I also have the same episodes as her husband, IE during the night.



I am paralyzed all over, cannot speak, cannot gesture, and so far I've never, ever been able to make

a sound so that anyone will ever hear me.



I just looked on the computer couple of weeks ago.  Since I was just diagnosed with a thryoid tumor,

solid 'cold' tumor and just had a biopsy, I am preparing to have a thyroid-ectomy next week. In

the course of surfing the net and reading about thryoid stuff in general, my  jaw dropped open

when I saw a paper entitled "Sleep Periodic Paralysis".  It is a condition just like Lynettes husband

and mine.  It has been primarily reported by Asian men.  [Go figure]



I am a Caucasian female, aged 54. The only other paper on the topic was a Black man in his late '40's

brought into an Emergency Room in Florida in 1997.



Come to find out, the cause is a sudden drop in blood Potassium.  To further complicate things, the

patients who have these, will always show normal potassium levels in our blood all during the day.

The research does not say what can be done about it.  It implies that it is NOT a sleep problem, but

more of a Blood Gas problem, and/or inability to regulate ones blood pressure and other blood

distribution while in a supine position (lying down).



Us patients who get it have potassium levels which are fine all day long.  Then right after we fall asleep,

lying down, BAM....potassium level drops to an alarming degree.  The articles did not give the cause, nor

a preventative.   But it is MORE related to thyroid and endocrine malfunction than it is to sleep disorders.

Or at least the article kept talking about the thyroid and never once said anything about sleep lab tests as necessary.



For myself I would assume [probably incorrectly] that more potassium would be the answer, especially

before bedtime -- but not only is that dangerous for me to assume that, it might be fatal. I know there is

a very delicate balance between the electrolytes, and potassium/magnesium balance which is crucial

to keep ones heart beating.  I don't want to mess around with that.  But I don't trust doctors anymore than

I trust myself -- after all, I've been describing this for the last 54 years, and not one of hundreds of

physicians has ever had a clue.  They either shrugged their shoulders or sent me to a neurologist to

be treated for atypical, unknown 'seizures' - or sent me to a sleep lab.   In other words, I HAD TO DO THE

RESEARCH and look it uup myself.  I will never give any physician credit for my finding out what the

sleep paralysis was caused by.  In all fairness, since I am a clinician, I know it's impossible for any

clinician to sit and do hours of research for every client/patient.  That would take lifetimes.



But, each time I take a potassium supplement [they are often found in diuretics, anyway] I have

found that the Potassium makes my "mind race" and causes me to have insomnia.  I hope this all makes

sense.  But instead of going back to a sleep clinic [where they said I have severe sleep apnea] I'm NOT

going to stop there.  I will go to an endocrinologist, or someone who knows about blood gas,etc. At least

i know it's thyroid/potassium related and can start from that point.



I am scheduled for surgery for cancer on my thyroid next week.  One of the other research articles

warns physicians to be SURE and check all patients blood Potassium level just 5 minutes before surgery;

while patient on the gurney in supine position. That research artlcle was fairly new, just published in

the last year.  I shudder to think of patients like me or Lynettes husband who perhaps have had other health problems or surgery which 'didn't go right' but nobody  knew what happened.  I am going to FORCE my surgeon to read the research  article -- or I'd rather not have the surgery.  When I had a C-section in 1967 for birth of second son, I woke up during surgery, was not fully anesthesized, but could not speak.



It maysound like a  tiny detail to others,  but for me [especially preparing for surgery] this is life or death detail. My surgeon AND my anesthesiologist  will ALL be expected by me to know about, BEFORE I consent to surgery. Thank you for reading such a long post. But its worth it.  Leah Neal, ***@****

by Leah Neal, Feb 06, 2000 12:00AM
About Lynette's husband and 'sleep paralysis'.



I just submitted a post about the info I found about my sleep paralysis, which is actually caused

by a drop in potassium level [which is fine all day, but not after lying down at night].



I also mentioned that I found it while researching "Thyroid" since I've been diagnosed with

thyroid cancer.  I am posting again, in hopes that Lynette and/or her husband will read this.



I also surfed on over to a web site at :   http://www.downwinders.com



It's about the effects of radiation on the thyroids of baby-boomer aged kids back in the

1950'.s  Lynette husband and I are about the same age.  Come to find out, many of us are

having thryoid problems [Tipper Gore just had a thryoid biopsy, her's was benign]. But

still, there is proof that there are is a vast, inordinate amount of people who were kids

under the age of ten years, between 1950 and 1956.  A person did not have to live anywhere

near Nevada to be exposed to any of the radiation.  As a matter of fact, the winds carried more

stuff to New Jersery.  Now there are more people on the East Coast with thryoid problems

in the early or mid'50's - than persons who lived several miles from the nuclear testing site

itself in Nevada.  It depended on which way the wind was blowing and which day/year the nuke

test was conducted.



Since I read about Potassium and related thryoid cancers/whether benign or not, I couldn't help

but mention it.  I'd hate for people who are paralyzed in their sleep to be told like me, it's

just 'sleep apnea