Waking Dreams

[Amanda300]

Hello,
I'm 18 year old female and for as long as I can remember I've suffered from dreaming while i'm awake. It doesn't happen every night, sometimes a  night or so a week for a few months then I go a couple of months and i'm fine then it comes back again. Normally I'll settle down to go to sleep and then suddenly my whole body becomes paralysed and I can't move at all and there is a pressure on my chest. It's like i'm having a nightmare but i know i'm still fully conscious. I can open and close my eyes though. When my eyes a closed I can see the dream but when they're open I the dream is overlapping my room so I can see both at the same time. Normally I come out of this when I focus on trying to move just my fingers but it seems to last for quite a few minutes.

Other times when this doesn't happen I have immense difficulty in falling asleep anyway and I always wake up incredibly tired like I haven't slept at all even if I have managed to fall asleep at a decent hour.
Is this sort of thing normal?
Normally it hasn't bothered me too much apart from being terrifying but University is a lot harder then school and it's getting harder to get my work done.

[Suri123]

You might be probably having sleep terrors which is common around your age caused by bad sleeping habits, going to sleep very late at night, not having day time nap, might have witnessed a terrifying incident and not able to come out if and stress due to daily activities. You might have had an occasional sleep paralysis episode. How severe do you think this is interfering in your studies or routine daily activities? Do observe for some more time and follow few of healthy sleep habits like a regular sleep-wake up cycle, going to bed as early as you can, avoiding excessive coffee/tea, spicy food at night times. Regular exercises or stretches are beneficial. A warm bath, soft music and gentle body massage before sleep can put you to sleep without much disturbance. If it is continuing, consult your doctor for a sleep study and evaluation. Take care and post your thoughts.

[Amanda300]

Thank you for the reply.
I have previously had hyperthyroidism when I was younger and because I have regular blood tests as a result it's likely that it's not the cause of an illness. I also don't seem to have any other symptoms that are not sleep related.
A sleep neurologist sounds like a good idea though...I just have to find one.

[KatEyes]

Some of what you describe does sound like descriptions of sleep paralysis. An occasional episode shouldn't make you feel so tired every day no matter how much sleep you get. It may be that you have more than one thing going on. Life and it stresses can cause odd things but I wouldn't just write this off as stress. And certain illnesses can cause fatigue (hypothyroid, diabetes, anemia).

If you have sleep disorders and/or your sleep stages are out of kilter, you will feel tired during the day. A sleep neurologist could be helpful, and will probably want to do a sleep study to get a full picture of what's happening while you sleep.