Have you ever woke up but could not move your body?

@Sha033 (29)
United States
August 30, 2010 6:48am CST
Sometimes i wake up and for some reason i can't move my body. Atleast i think im awake. It's like i have to really force my eyes to open, force myself to move. I can see things in the room around me, but it feels like something is holding me down. A few minutes later i'll finally be able to get up. Does this happen to anyone else? What do you think this is?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@l4ur33 (72)
• Finland
30 Aug 10
i have had this many times on one of my limbs, but never on whole body. it is realy anoying if i can't move my another leg and i just jump out of bed and ... CRASH ... happened to me couple of times. Medical reason is something about me sleeping over my legs, no idea how that is possible
• United States
24 Sep 10
Oh my god thank you for posting this! This happened to me this morning and it has me freaked out. I got up to use the restroom and as I got out of bed I just collapsed on the floor. I was confused and decided to stand up and again I ended up on the floor. My left leg was completely gone; I had lost control over it. I started dragging my self across my room and realized my leg felt weird if I held it at a 90 degree angle. I do not know if it was the change in blood circulation or some sort of panic attack but I quickly felt like throwing up and almost passed out. In fact, I would have if my boyfriend would not have helped me. I started seeing black/hazy and some light patches. My boyfriend got me some water to drink, placed a wet cloth on my face/forehead, and tried his best to keep me calm. After some time, I started to feel better and started being able to see again. It freaked me out and I have searched on the internet and it appears you are the only one that mentioned this happening to them. Also the waking up and not being able to talk/move/breathe well happened to me once before. I am now 21 but when I was in middle school (so 12 or 13) I remember waking up and being completely paralyzed. I wanted to get up or scream and I could not. Finally after some time I came out of it and got up. I have also had episodes where I wake up because I had like stopped breathing. However, I simply thought it had to do with my asthma.
• United States
30 Aug 10
Yes, it's happened to me. It's called "sleep paralysis" and it happens to loads of completely healthy people. You see, while in the deep stages of REM sleep your body sends messages down your spine to keep you from moving (So you're not acting out your dreams). Sleep paralysis happens when you wake up suddenly, straight out of deep REM sleep and your brain continues to send those messages for awhile. Other symptoms are feeling like you can't breathe, like a weight is pressing down on your chest, hallucinations (because sometimes you're still partly asleep), etc.
@syvels (258)
• Philippines
30 Aug 10
awwww... it never happened to me, but sometimes, i woke up feeling numb.. :P