is this sleep paralysis?

[viktoriag]

Hi all,

It's 1:30am and I just had the scariest experience! I was asleep with a pillow under my arm for some reason. I woke up and wanted to move that arm, but all I could do was move the hand just the slightest bit. I began to panic, kept trying and it was as if my brain just couldn't get the arm to move! The rest of me was fine, and I used my right arm (the one I had been lying on) to pull the pillow out. Slowly, I was able to move the arm again. I pulled it back behind me to try to shake it up, and got a sudden burst of tingling in the tricep, which passed quickly. Then, all was normal, and I was left to wonder if this had really happened.

I was worried it was a stroke and am afraid to go back to sleep !! I have had a kink in that side of my neck all day, and have had other issues with this left shoulder,  but this wasn't a pain problem, it was as if my arm just wouldn't work. Now that it works, it's like it never happened. Of course, I still have the kink in my neck. I'm 44 and this has never happened to me before although I have had the sensation of being lifted up really quickly during sleep a couple of times, which has also scared me awake and left me feeling very disoriented and afraid to go back to sleep.

Has anyone experienced a paralysis of just one limb upon waking? I had been asleep for a couple of hours before this happened.

[viktoriag]

Thank you for the reply. I just wanted to add that I am not on any drugs at all, although I did have a glass of wine that night, but that is not unusual, just one glass is all I ever usually have.

I was a bit stressed falling asleep, worrying about some issues (like how to pay for college :/) so maybe this was a contributing factor. Whatever it was, I hope it will not happen again as it was terribly alarming. Last night all night I would wake up and move my arms just to make sure I could!!

[Dr Rajput]

Hi, welcome to the forum, yes it can be sleep paralysis. You may be having sleep disorder such as a form of parasomnias.

Few of the individuals are known to suffer from parasomnias esp. when they are on non-benzodiazepine sedatives, drug abuse etc. otherwise no definitive cause exists in few individuals apart from stress, positive past history of abuse etc.

The associated symptoms with the following disorder are confusional wakefulness, sleep paralysis, nightmares and night terrors. This can occur in any sleep stage (REM and non-REM stage).

Take care and regards.