Sleep Paralysis: Symptoms, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment

What is Sleep Paralysis?

The brain sends signals that relax the muscles in your arms and legs when you fall asleep or wake up. The result that is muscle atonia helps you stay calm during rapid eye movement sleep. With sleep paralysis, you regain consciousness but cannot move.

During a sleep paralysis episode, you are aware of your surroundings but unable to move or speak. But you can still move your eyes and breathe. Many people hear or see things that are not there, and experiencing hallucinations makes the episodes even more frightening.

Rare or isolated sleep paralysis can occur in people of all ages. And it’s more common in a sleep-deprived environment with a changing sleep schedule, which can happen if you’re a college student or shift worker. Recurrent sleep paralysis is a symptom of narcolepsy, a disorder of unstable sleep-wake boundaries. (Source)

Also Read: Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Symptoms, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment

Symptoms of Sleeping Paralysis: 

During the REM stage of sleep, you are likely to have dreams. The brain prevents the muscles in your limbs from moving to protect yourself from dream acting and injury. It occurs when you regain awareness of entering or exiting REM. Because narcolepsy is characterized by unstable wakefulness and unstable sleep, people with narcolepsy experience frequent night awakenings that may be associated with sleep paralysis.

Some symptoms include: 

1. Paralysis in your limbs.
2. Inability to speak.
3. Feeling of suffocation
4. Hallucination.
5. Fear.
6. Panic.
7. Powerlessness.
8. Tightening around the neck.

Causes: 

Causes of sleep paralysis include:

1. Narcolepsy.
2. Shift work.
3. Lack of sleep.
4. Obstructive sleep apnea.

Treatment: 

Your healthcare provider may recommend testing if they suspect a sleep disorder. You might need:

1. Overnight sleep study: The test monitors your breathing, heart rate, and brain activity while you sleep. It can allow healthcare providers to observe an episode of sleep paralysis or detect problems such as sleep apnea.

2. Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT): This test measures how quickly you fall asleep and what kind of sleep you experience during sleep. The test helps detect problems such as narcolepsy, which is the most common cause of sleep paralysis.

There are no proven therapies to stop an episode of this paralysis, but most people who experience it commonly report that focusing on making small body movements such as moving one finger and then the other helps them recover more quickly. 

Your healthcare provider can recommend treatment to reduce the risk of future episodes. It can also help to consolidate sleep, try to prevent sleep deprivation, and avoid alcohol and recreational drug use.

Prevention: 

It isn’t much you can do to prevent sleep paralysis. However, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk.

1. Have a set sleep schedule with specific times to go to bed and get up.
2. Creating a comfortable sleep environment that is dark and quiet.
3. Putting away phones, tablets, e-readers, and computers before bed.
4. Relax before bed with a bath, reading, or listening to soothing music.

Facts: 

1. A person can only experience one episode in a lifetime. But it can also come and go. 

2. It is natural to feel tired, emotional and scared after recovering from sleep paralysis, and for good reason. Sleep paralysis is a terrifying experience. Be kind to yourself, including taking extra rest if you need it. Talk to a loved one for comfort or see your healthcare provider if you are concerned.

3. Sleep paralysis is rare. But many people are afraid after the episode. You may have found the experience so strange that you may wonder if anyone will believe what happened. Do not stop this from getting treatment or feel ashamed. Do not suffer in silence. 

Also Read: Insomnia: Symptoms, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment